Is our future secure as electricians???

[wigwam86]

I have only just joined this forum today, but have used it numerous times over the past few years. One thing that seems to be commonly spoke of on the forum, is the need for one regulatory body to which all electricians are registered with. As we all know, part P was an attempt on bringing some sort of regulation into force, where by if you were not registered under part p it was implied you were not able to install in a domestic premises. This in my eyes has been a failure, a welcomed attempt, but inevitably a failure.
A few weeks ago i was at my local wholesalers waiting in line to be served. The gentleman in front of me was ordering vast amounts of twin and earth, boxes, pendants and so on. Once he had ordered all of his kit the chap behind the counter(pete), asked him where his usual electrician was and if he was ill. The gentleman replied "Ive f****d him off, he was too expensive. Gonna do it myself, piece of p**s init.....electrics!" The man then went on to say that he had managed to get on to a part P course in yeovil, and that once he had completed this course he was going to sign his builds off himself and building control would be satisfied. Then the would be 'electrician' picked up his kit and left. After speaking to pete i found out that the gentleman was infact a local farmer who was converting 4 out building on his farm into dwellings.
To me this is a complete failure of what the part P course should be or atleast how it should be run. If Freddy farmer can just walk in off the street and get on to this course and then be able to wire his own houses without any back ground knowledge of electrical installation atall, then surely the system has failed. I cant help thinking maybe the colleges and centres that run the part P courses are maybe more interested in the pound signs rather than the knowledge of their students. I hope the farmer fails like a chocolate teapot for the sake of the prospective buyers.
I am not a part P electrician due to the fact that i hate house bashing. I have obviously done some but none recently. I would be interested in hearing if anyone else knows of situations such as these and if its common place for colleges to accept any one on the course.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Well the first thing that springs to mind is there's no such thing as part p qualified...and those thinking that by doing a 'part p course' they will be part p qualified are being conned. Just taking one of these part p con-courses will not enable Freddy farmer to sign off his own work,he will still need to register with a scam,and to do that he will have to prove competance and part with a pile of cash.
That said there is a lot of truth in your post.

 

[markythesparky]

My view on this has always been that the part p courses, be it through colleges or the privately run trade skills organisations, should have only been available to qualified electricians. The training centres should have set a criteria that all previous qualifications should be shown on applying for the part p course.

It's not hard!

 

[markythesparky]

And to answer your question, yes I see it all the time. Most chipped who fit kitchens have done the course so that they can do the whole job. Even though the kitchen circuits are probably the most important in the property.

 

[tigi]

Hi guys
Been in this game too many years and until our
regulations become statutory these jokers will
continue to thrive and we will continue to be the
most technically qualified of all the trades and
the least respected and paid
Sorry that's the hard facts

 

[DJ Ovengloves]

No, the future is not secure, but in fairness this applies to 90% of jobs out there. Life is indeed a bitch, you just have to keep a stiff upper lip and solider on

 

[oldtimer]

Part P was brought out for Farmer Fred , Builder Bob and Joiner Jim and has ended up devaluing the trade by the Scheme providers who are more interested in sales ie bagging members never mind about are they fit to do the job more like here you are son put that badged T shirt on you belong to us now. Living in Scotland and watching this from afar I despair when I see these companies say get qualified in X weeks and start earning up to £54k a year AYE RIGHT and what is worse there are people in dead end jobs who are desperate to get out of it so puts these 2 together and this sums up the state we are in . Also it does not help when a couple of years ago the BBC show Homes under the Hammer were saying remember get a qualified electrician to look at it and slapping a guy on the back because he took early retirement bought a few properties and because he was bored did an electrics course and the presenter said well done your now a qualified electrician and the reply was Yea it was a doddle.

I think this sums up the state we are in and after 38 years in the trade it aint going to get better any time soon

 

[Guitarist]

Unfortunately, the internet (this forum included), along with "how to" books and leaflets have over-simplified what being a qualified electrician is all about, and the general public is now even more convinced that you just "pull a wire in and connect it up". I've lost count of the number of times I've come across a piece of 1mm 3-core flex feeding a light or extra socket straight off the RFC, fitted by the householder. The biggest problem we face when trying to explain how dangerous these situations can be, is that "it works", regardless of how unsafe it is.
Of course, every trade has people "having a go", but the worst thing that happens in most other trades is that it looks a mess if not done properly.
I'm afraid that while organisations can see pound signs for offering training and memberships, the profession will continue to go downhill. The phrase I hear most when someone hears that I'm an electrician...."There's good money in that." If only they knew....