My understanding is as below - because electrical training companies have a habit of giving different answers to the same simple question and thus leaving confusion in everyone's mind
As I understand it then, to register with a Competent Person Self-Certification Scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA, you will be expected to be Competent in electrical installation, have your 18th edition wiring Regs, know how to inspect and test, and be able to install in line with the latest Part P building Regs. This is achieved by undertaking a number of training courses and gaining a series of training qualifications.
You will need therefore as a minimum :-
(1) C&G 4141-01 Domestic Installation,
(2) C&G Level 3 Certificate in the Building Regulations for Electrical Installations in Dwellings (2393-10),
(3) City & Guilds 2382-18 18th Edition Course, and finally
(4) C&G 2392-10 Inspection & Testing Course
or EAL equivalents.
Having obtained these skills and qualifications you then need apply to a Part P registration scheme which will allow you to self-certify your installation work once Registered. The scheme provider will then provide your customers with a Part P electrical certificate removing the need for the Building Controls to inspect.
However will not be registered until you have had a workplace inspection of your work which means finding work that can wait for an assessor to turn up.
As I say this is my (current) understanding but given the unbelievable state of the Industry I have no doubt somebody will come along and point out that something else that needs to be achieved.
Quite why something so simple is being made so complicated by different opinions and advice from the different training Companies is beyond me.
There are three people who are on my course at the moment who are landlords in waiting, and who were told by the training company sales offices that all they needed to do was to undertake Courses (1) and (2) above and they could certify their own work.
When they started the course the Instructor said in answer to that question "..well YES but no-one will accept your certification as you need to be Part P registered - and you will need to also do these extra courses (3) and (4) ....or pay a lot of money and have Building Control inspect it..." As you can imagine that went down really well !
Now these guys had joined in the expectation that being trained was simply completing the two one-week courses which would have been cheaper than getting a qualified electrician in to do their house re-wiring, and this was suggested by the training organisation's sales advisor as being the best reason to join the course. In some cases they are already in employment and have taken time off work to undergo the two-week training programme.
Now of course they face the dilemma that if they do sit the further training, then they will have paid far MORE in training costs than they would have done had they gone to an electrician in the first place The alternative is to walk away having spent over ÂŁ1000 with nothing useful to show, and no way of recouping the money by installing the electrical work themselves.
I think I have maybe also pee'd them off somewhat by also pointing out that technically doing the work as a landlord is not a domestic install but actually commercial work - as they will be renting out the properties they have bought as a business venture! That naturally means yet another series of week-long or two-week long Courses, and more money.
I also do not think either that they are aware of the cost of buying the very expensive test equipment and proper tools that will be needed ultimately to complete the testing should they go down that road - something which NO training organisation I have spoken tells you about. So right now all these guys think that a ÂŁ5 meter from a diy shop or off ebay together with a testing screwdriver will be suitable.
I am hearing comments such as that they can now do the odd job here and there for their friends and neighbours to either re-coup the costs of the training or to make money for their holidays or the pub. When you talk about professional indemnity and sole trader insurance you get blank looks. This all seems to me to be a bad way to enter the Industry.
If this is the state of the of the Industry within which the training companies are operating, then no wonder that people who are being passed out do more-so on the basis that it is a "distress purchase" rather than having any specific desire to actually "be" an electrician.
Coming from a highly regulated Industry I am stunned at the lack of understanding/clarity, find the whole thing totally bizarre as it does not appear to be supplying suitably competent people, and most worrying of all is that the training process appears to be driving into the profession people who, in some cases I am sure, must be thoroughly unsuitable and are here for the wrong reasons.
Finally whilst I can understand to a degree the animosity that is shown on here to people who are entering the Industry through this route, please consider that not all of us are w**kers, and some of us may already have a good understanding of electricity, fancy a change of direction, and WANT to do a good job. I fear that the attitudes shown by some on here are stopping those with a basic knowledge from learning from their more experienced peers ?
The Industry has now changed and the genie is out of the bottle and will never likely go back in. Surely it is better to be nice to people who come seeking advice from a genuine desire and help them ? It is not our fault that the Industry has moved to where it is.
Being unpleasant - in addition to making the Forum less attractive - does nothing positive but to me at least appears to be driving a wedge between experienced people and those willing and able to learn. I appreciate that is some cases the questions asked could well have been phrased a lot better but you do not need a Degree in English language to be an electrician.
I am sorry for such a long reply but quite frankly having lurked for a few months, I really do not have to desire to ask a question and be subjected to abuse and denigration and you will see I have posted no questions whatsoever.
Given what I have seen and read I am in two minds as to whether to stay or to go, as the whole point of the forum is to enable questions to be answered by knowledgeable and experienced electricians.
I am sorry if this offends anyone
