Hello From Canada

[Canadasparky]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Robert and I currently live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I am originally from London and moved here 16 years ago after leaving the Army. I re-trained in Calgary as an Electrician and then went on to receive my Master Electrician designation. I mainly work in the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as high end custom residential work. I currently work in the special projects division of a Calgary company which exposes me to a variety of disciplines. These include fire alarms, security systems, copper and fibre network solutions and controls. My family and I are now looking to move back to the UK late next year. I am currently reading up on the 17th Edition Regs and would appreciate any advice or help anyone could offer me regarding information on getting qualified as an electrician in the UK. I am researching this information but find things a bit confusing as to what I would actually need. There seems to be so many different City and Guild numbers. Does anyone know if there is a governing body that I would need to apply to?

Thanks!
Robert

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Hi Robert, Welcome to the forum.
Some of your existing qualifications may well be transferable. I've included links which will give you information about this and the current requirements in the UK.
See the links below for details:
UK NARIC - Home
Electrical Qualifications - Qualifications needed to train to become an electrician in the UK
City & Guilds | UK home

 

[Sparky Ninja]

Welcome to the forum Robert.

What kind of field do you plan on working in when you return to the UK?
I've retrained US electricians when they've landed here and normally the only thing they require is the course on our regulations (now called the 2382-12).
One thing that has cropt up before was the differences in testing and inspection and terminology. I had a guy sitting his 2391 and he failed both parts, mainly in the US they only do continuity and IR tests (according to this chap) and so he was in need of retraining for his testing. He's still yet to pass the written as his terminology keeps getting mixed up (he uses the word "landed" instead of "connected", for example). I'm not too sure as to where your methods and knowledge will fit in, but this and the requirement to study our regulations should be about it.

If you are planning on working for yourself in the domestic market as well then it gets slightly complicated..

 

[Sintra]

Hi & welcome.

 

[CRAGS]

Hi and welcome

 

[brucelee]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

[Guest123]

Welcome along.

 

[Canadasparky]

Hi Robert, Welcome to the forum.
Some of your existing qualifications may well be transferable. I've included links which will give you information about this and the current requirements in the UK.
See the links below for details:
UK NARIC - Home
Electrical Qualifications - Qualifications needed to train to become an electrician in the UK
City & Guilds | UK home

Thanks for the info I'm sure it will help.

 

[Canadasparky]

Welcome to the forum Robert.

What kind of field do you plan on working in when you return to the UK?
I've retrained US electricians when they've landed here and normally the only thing they require is the course on our regulations (now called the 2382-12).
One thing that has cropt up before was the differences in testing and inspection and terminology. I had a guy sitting his 2391 and he failed both parts, mainly in the US they only do continuity and IR tests (according to this chap) and so he was in need of retraining for his testing. He's still yet to pass the written as his terminology keeps getting mixed up (he uses the word "landed" instead of "connected", for example). I'm not too sure as to where your methods and knowledge will fit in, but this and the requirement to study our regulations should be about it.

If you are planning on working for yourself in the domestic market as well then it gets slightly complicated..

I'm looking to work in the Industrial and commercial sectors. The Canadian Electrical code is almost the same as the US NEC. I know I will need to brush up the different terminology used. As for testing, we typically test for continuity and do insulation testing. The design engineers normally state exactly what is needed in the specifications for the job. Would you advise taking a short course on the 2382-12?

 

[ElectricalAsh]

Hi & welcome

 

[Phil]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Romans99]

Welcome
If you need any help with methods or terminology then give me a shout.

 

[off_me_lid]

Gday and welcome

 

[Canadasparky]

Thanks for the reply. I do need to know what the main difference is in installation practices. (I know in the UK they use a lot of trunking as opposed to conduit). I haven't really started looking that far into the terminology yet, but I will most likely need some help along the way. Thanks, Robert.