I see quiet a few ads in the local paper for electricians that say they have Part P and that allows them to self-certify the work they do. Is that in fact correct? If so how it it obtained. Job ads for electricians say must have Edition xx(?) of the regs - and again how is it obtained?
In brief - just what is needed to work as a "self-certifying" electrician (domestic installations only) these days? Some idea of what it might cost (Part P/Ed 14 etc) would be appreciated.
They don't "have part P" - this is simply an Approved Document to the Building Regulations making major electrical work a controlled activity.
There are several ways to address this:
- Employ a contractor who is a member of one of the approved trade associations such as NICEIC. Despite what NICEIC would have people believe, they are not the only game in town - there are 4-5 others. Such a contractor can self certify his work.
- Do the work yourself and submit a Building Notice at your local authority. They will provide an inspection with a fee based on the commercial value of the work done (not what it cost you in materials)
- Ignore the whole thing.
BS7671 or Edition 16 of the Wiring Regulations is the reference and there are some C&G qualifications using it as the basis.
I don't know what the cost of training is (local technical college/further education place should have this but it is not high. Then there is a set of required test gear.
The significant cost is in hte ongoing membership to the medieval guild that grants dispensation to sprinkle holy water over work you do however good you are at it (or not). Of course, there's an initiation ceremony involving rolling up of trouser legs and picking up of bars of soap on the floor but we'll leave that to one side ;-)
On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 07:37:15 +0000, Andy Hall mused:
An ad in the paper caught my mates eye the other week, something about a C&G 2391and a couple of other bits, but basically a 3 day course for gaining qualifications to become approved.
The cost for this 3 day refresher event? £2300+VAT but if we booked early we could save the £300, how kind!
Ah yes, so there is a closed shop for most people then competent or not. I did a 5 year elec apprenticeship in the dark ages (+ 5 years day release at college for what was then called Elec Technicions course) - now it seems I can't even do that work if I wanted to. And I would like to return to it and maybe even start my own business.
btw Just in case, - anyone in a similar position looking to join forces on such an enterprise in the Nottingham area?
I have seen it advertised down here as a five day course for £600 + vat. It the qualifies you to apply to join one of the named mobs such as NICEC. It is basically the CO & G 2381 and 2391. There is a firm on the web that will sell you a CD with both courses, test exam papers etc, all you need is tech college who will let you sit the exam.
Nice money if you can get it. I think I'll set up a training school.
Ten punters at a time once a week and it's nearly £100k a month.
I could set up 2 courses and then it would begin to become interesting.
Oh Andy your on. Joint venture? Mind you a slight snag is don't have that qual. myself. (Only a elec eng. degree, and the Elec Tech thang etc). ps I do however think your projections are slightly optimistic - but then I think so do you really? :-)
IIRC C&G 2391 is only the testing and inspection "bolt on", and is only good for working up to 1000V. Not sure how they're going to drag it out over 3 days ;o)
How ludicrous - the IEE's own 3-day 2391 course is half that, with discounts for early booking and members:
The body count is now 11 eleven.
Just like the work itself (even doing it correctly), that's the easy part, becoming certified to do it is the difficult and expensive part.
Lots of group hugs and meditation?
Owain
Oh don't bother about that. So have I, but I wouldn't let it be a hindrance.
Of course, but then even if it was only a third of this it is at the borderline of being interesting.
The question is then does one go for a high price or for volume, or perhaps both?
Of course. This can be explained by the standard maxim of
"Those who can, do; those who can't, teach"
(punctuation incorrect but the point is still clear)..
Listen. If the punters are paying £2k3 it has to last 3 days. That would be the minimum acceptable level for them not to feel ripped off.
By making the numbers a little odd it looks as though it is a carefully constructed package.
The trainers can get more than £500 a day, so make it £750. That comes to £2250 so round it up to a nice £2300
put enough bums on seats?
If so, the price doesn't matter. If not, he can reduce it a bit.
With respect to the IEE, people may not *want* to go to London. I can completely understand why they wouldn't want to go to Stevenage.
I did mention that there's an initiation ceremony.
Another point to note is that it's only applicable to domestic dwellings, the past few jobs we have done have been offices, shops and a pub - these can be rewired by anyone and then checked by a suitably qualified person, wheras with domestic, the SQ person has to actually do the work
On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:41:12 GMT, "Phil L" mused:
Not neccesarily domestics, but anywhere where the supply to the installation you're working on also supplies a dwelling, like a pub with living accomodation above from a shared source for instance.
Gawd - I'm really losing the plot now. You mean "unquaified" Mr Bloggs can't rewire domestics and then get it certified by a "SQPerson". I thought that was virtually the only way to do this work without being an SQPerson onself?
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