Need some opinions

[FreshSpark]

I've recently completed a domestic electricians course over the past 6 weeks and have C&G 2393,2382 & 2392. My knowledge of circuit design is good (Ib,In,It , volt drop etc). I've pretty good construction skills also.

Having completed a basic rewire of my small 2 bed home (tested (loop continuity on the rings and r1-r2 on the radials, and insulation tests on the lot) I feel I could do this for someone else, and charge for it.

Obviously there are some gaping holes in my experience but would advertising as a domestic electrician be biting off more than I can chew?

Has anyone here followed this (or a similar) path? Any opinions?

 

[Silly Sausage]

Freshdude, I wish you all the best.
You obviously know your limitations and are not going to go out there guns a blazing.
That, and you've got the balls to come on here on a Friday night asking for advice!

Respect!!!

 

[FreshSpark]

stuartcourt - "what are you working as at moment"

I was made redundant 18 months ago, worked in sales. I've been living on savings and doing odd-jobs for friends and had 2 mind-numbing part-time jobs. This is a new direction for me.

 

[FreshSpark]

This happens more than you think lol.

Only you know in yourself how competent you feel - so just go with the gut and the best of look.

Not trying to scaremonger, because it's the same for all of us on here - if you do something wrong, and someone gets hurt then you're guilty until proven innocent in this trade im afraid.

Now I get the feeling the short intensive courses get a bad rap but one of things that was drummed into us is safety and correctly matching breakers to load and cable correction factors taking into account reference methods and volt drop, correct testing procedures, making sure terminations are sound, the guy who taught us had been an electrician for 25 years! I'm well versed on part p and feel i know the OSG very well. All in the sanitized environment of a training center, i know, but good knowledge of 2392, 2393 and 2382 means i'm unlikely to do something life threatening! I'm not foolish enough to put peoples lives at risk.

 

[markc123]

I'm not saying everything isn't covered in the Electrical Trainee course - it's just i remember from my apprentership, that there is noway in hell what i learnt i could learn in 5weeks. Also, every job is different and you can't learn experience, each house or whatever has it's own problems that are there to test you and it's being able to adapt yourself. You may go into one home, all tests are fine and nothing untoward and then in the next and it's a diy nightmare.

If you feel your competent then fair play to you and crack on with it.

 

[FreshSpark]

cheers mark and many thanks for everyone taking the time to reply with all your opinions. It's been a great conversation. I'll be sure to let you know how things pan out. Might even have a few more questions sometime down the line!

 

[onions1066]

Good luck mate to be honesti haven't read the whole thread. All I will say is know your limitations and stay well within them.

 

[oldtimer]

Remember the 5 week course is the very small tip of a large iceberg so by all means get stuck in but know your limits and stay within your area until you gain more experience I said this before I have no problem with anybody learning at any age but don't expect to get respect by cutting corners or expecting people to solve your problems when you won't attempt them yourself.

 

[Engineer54]

Thousands of other people are doing it, so, if you're 100% comfortable with your personal skill level, Go For It!


Personally, I wouldn't.

Well that's really ripe, coming from the same person that wants Tony and myself to start lobbying and hassel those that are perpetuating all this rubbish!! And here he is encouraging the very people that are bringing our industry into disrepute to ''Go For It'' !! No wonder this industry is on it's knees, with this type of double standard going on!!

Well big boys, Tony and E54 etc, if you're that passionate about it, why don't you start hassling the people who are perpetrating all this rubbish.

Whinging away on an Internet forum will get you now where.
I don't know the answer,but I'm sure there is one.

Tony, you're retired now, start lobbying or something (I don't know!), with Wifi you can do it from the pub.

As for the OP, he is just another that has blindly convinced himself that after a 5 week course, his circuit design is ''Good'' and that he's pretty good at construction skills!!! In reality he hasn't got a bloody clue!! He just knows that he's paid an extortionate amount of cash, for a set of basically worthless qualification certificates, and is now out to get some sort of return from that cash!! ..And so the cycle continues, and it seems with the blessings of some here too!! Quite Amazing!!

 

[Silly Sausage]

Re 1st ref, there are quite a few lads on here who have gone the short course route and will make top class electricians.

As for the 2nd quote, you, Tony and 'another', you've got over a 100 years experience between you, that must have value?!?!
I'll repeat, if you're really that bothered about it, use your centuries worth of experience and hassle 'them' in charge to make a change!

Otherwise, you're just like a bloke I know who still continually whinges about Thatcher, when you ask him what have you ever done to counter act it..... errrr, nothing, he's not even a Labour Party member, just another a pub bore droaning on and on and on blah blah blah...

I know what the root cause is, but I can't be bothered now.

 

[ipf]

Aye, and with the concent of a teacher with 25 years experience. Not much help with the lobbying there, I'm afraid.

 

[Engineer54]

Re 1st ref, there are quite a few lads on here who have gone the short course route and will make top class electricians.

As for the 2nd quote, you, Tony and 'another', you've got over a 100 years experience between you, that must have value?!?!
I'll repeat, if you're really that bothered about it, use your centuries worth of experience and hassle 'them' in charge to make a change!

Otherwise, you're just like a bloke I know who still continually whinges about Thatcher, when you ask him what have you ever done to counter act it..... errrr, nothing, he's not even a Labour Party member, just another a pub bore droaning on and on and on blah blah blah...

I know what the root cause is, but I can't be bothered now.

Not without extensive further training and a good few years of experience!! That argument really is a dead duck!!

Why the hell should we be bothered, it's you and others like you, that have allowed the present situation to manifest itself, ...How about you getting off your arse and doing something about it?? Hmm thought not!!

When i left the UK to work overseas, the industry was in good stead, those were the day's when British trained Electricians /Engineers were highly respected around the world, as they were in the UK!! Now we are basically surviving on the older fully trained electricians, and the very few that are coming through company apprenticeships!! For how long that can work, god only knows!! So I consider that i have every right to complain and /or whinge as you put it!!

There are several route causes, and attitudes and double standards like yours, is one of those main route causes.

 

[Knobhead]

Why should a non resident and a pensioner fight to preserve something we’ve lost faith in.

Archy, for once sober up and think:
What have you done to prevent the lowering of standards?

 

[monkeyelectric]

I think that if anyone wants to fight to stop the short courses then they would need a good few million or even a billion in the bank because you'd be fighting the training centres, the scams and the government, nothing will change unless somebody is killed as a direct result of a botched install by a Electrical Trainee (thats if they haven't already and it hasn't made the news!)and even then it would probably be glossed over. I love my job and i've got a great customer base but when i get undercut on new work by someone i know full well is unqualified and inexperienced it really f-ing annoys me! There is one guy near me that is getting a very bad reputation and its only a matter of time until he's gone! He only gets work because he's cheap and why is he cheap? He done a course in 5 weeks using redundency money! The public will never change their attitude and always want things cheaper so you just have to do the best you can to make them realise cheaper is not better!

 

[varilite]

You are right about the public monkey electric they no nothing about part p and schemes and LABC they just want some extra sockets and lights and that's it

 

[FreshSpark]

Ok so let me get this straight. By passing courses (2392,93,83) that the government sanctions and then passing further assessment for niceic membership (which entails 3 further checks of work completed to an acceptable standard), the general consensus is this person is still unfit to safely install/troubleshoot in a domestic environment?

I disagree. If you have a good head on your shoulders (by that i mean a good memory for the facts, rules and figures and an understanding of from where these figures come and why they are as they are) domestic electrics is possible to practice safely. What isn't taught (and can't really be in a classroom/workshop environment) are the multitudes of varying installations that have been added to by DIY'ers connecting sso's to a ring without completing it, or crossing circuits, using incorrectly rated mcb's etc. I'd be able to troubleshoot these to some extent, but of course a more experienced electrician would pick these things up right away, right?

What i'm saying is, if the Electrical Trainee was proving to be life threatening and people houses were burning down and blocks of flats full of kids were going up in smoke then these courses would be banned. In reality they're providing a portion of knowledge suitable for starting out in domestic electrics, not a degree or NVQ in electrical engineering of industrial systems.