What electrical qualification would be most appropriate to wire caravans/mobile homes?

[Saul G]

We have started a business building garden rooms/caravans/mobile homes under the caravan act. We have only done one so far and I got an electrician in to wire it out and certificate it. Effectively it was a small house, plumbed bathroom, mains gas boiler to feed rads and shower, and electrics off a spur from the main house consumer board to isolator and then its own consumer board. I think if it was a similar scope I would just want to use a fully qualified electrician but we are getting jobs to quote for which are much simpler, shepherds hut with lighting and a few power sockets where the biggest draw items would be a 1-2kw oil rad and microwave, maybe an undersink instant water heater. Most caravan hook ups on touring sites are 16 or 10A.

My question is, is there a qualification I could take that would get me to the point of understanding and doing a good job and signing off the caravan itself?

I had looked at the domestic installers course but had seen some websites saying that all new wiring was notifiable. Of course its all new build structure, but caravans/mobile homes don't come under the usual building regs as they are not actually buildings so there is no building inspector. They are on their own BS1647 or BS3632. BS 1647 is more caravan orientated and has low voltage in accordance with HD60364, and BS 3632 is more mobile home/static van orientated and directs to BS 7671, Requirements for electrical installations – IET Wiring Regulations, BS EN 14604, Smoke alarm devices BS EN 14749, , Electrical apparatus for the detection of carbon monoxide in domestic premises – Part 1: Test methods and performance requirements.

Many thanks for any pointers.

 

[James]

Don't be fooled by the idea that it is just a small thing because it is only 1-2kw plus a microwave.
provide a double socket and one will be used to charge a car whilst the wife uses a 2kw hair drier.
all of a sudden the expected consumption has gone from 1-2kw to 6kw.

however, also remember that it is possible to die from electrocution with only a few mAmps (100w through the right part of the body and you are destined for the mortuary)
BS 7671 has most of the requirements however if you are designing small buildings that are portable, there may well be other standards to adhere to.
A good starting place might be to discuss this with your insurers and check what they require to keep within your policy requirements.

 

[Saul G]

I hope my post didn't give any impression that I wasn't taking it seriously. The intention was to understand if there was an appropriate base level qualification that would enable me to do the job well and safely.

 

[Welchyboy1]

I hope my post didn't give any impression that I wasn't taking it seriously. The intention was to understand if there was an appropriate base level qualification that would enable me to do the job well and safely.

Its all well and good obtaining a bare bones set of quailfications but that would be the first part to a pile of other requirements, like working experience for a start

Your in it either with both feet or not at all im afraid

The hardest part is sometimes how you deal with what you find when you first arrive on site, not just what your adding to it

What you may consider just a couple of sockets can have a range of other implications

Part P registration, insurance, appropriate tools, test gear, calibration, certification software, updating amendments to BS7671 blah, blah, blah the list just goes on believe me

Just work reguarly with a local electrician it will be much easier and less stressful for you

I have a very similiar set up with a company that installs only garden rooms, he just prices for the basic allowance of the cabin e.g. 4x double sockets 6x downlighters within his price to the customer and I charge him a rate per cabin

I then deal with the customer direct for getting the supply to the cabin etc myself, all he has to concern himself with is building the cabins, now we have done a load together it runs like clockwork, we dont even have to talk to eachother, I know exactly what he needs from me and its great