Good morning all

[sgtbuppers]

Firstly thank you for having me here. Im hoping this will be the beginning of a new life and career for me with a little help and guidance from you guys. 

So, my name is Shu and I'm currently being made redundant from my current job after serving 8 longs years with them. However, all is not that bad as they are offering to pay for all employees to do whatever course they would like to help them move on with their lives start a new career. As you can guess I've chosen to work in the electrical sector. 

Now my issue getting started is going to be a long one so please bear with me. 

So I was hoping I could get some help here in understand courses and what qualifications I should be getting and these qualifications allow me to do. I can do wiring on a DIY level and I'm confident I could even rewire a house, but can i do it to legal specs is what I really want to learn and understand. 

Now my basic understanding of what a course will allow me to do is sign work off, which makes it legal. But I don't actually know what that means in reality.

I've spoken to 2 different training facilities. One says the course they offer will teach me all the theory and practical side of things to become competent enough to get work with someone. I then have to work with an already accredited person/company who will assess my work on a continuous basis and notify the relevant body of my work which then allow me to become fully qualified??  Please correct me if I am understanding this wrong and who is the relevant body, NICIEC?? Now the first facility said something important. Once accredited I can only sign off work I do and nobody else's, not that i was going to sign anyone else's work. My question to the guy was I always thought if I did work in the house, I had to call a qualified electrician to check it over and sign it off, but I feel like we can't even DIY electrics anymore. 

The second training centre says I can do thier Pro course which will allow me to immediately work as a qualified electrician and sign my own work off immediately. 

This is what the 2nd companies course entails

Professional Electrical Course (Cardiff training centre)
20/04/2020 Electrics - Theory Module - Theory Training
TBC Electrics - Theory Module - Week of Theory Exams
TBC Electrics - Practical Module - Practical Training
TBC Electrics - Practical Module - 3 Days of Practical Assessments
Normal Price £4,995.00
30% discount £1,498.50
Total Price £3,496.50
Theory Module - Theory Training
During this 15 days long module you will received comprehensive theory training on the Part
P, Wiring Regulations, 18th Edition, PAT Testing, Level 2 Initial Verification Inspection and
Testing and Level 3 in Periodical Inspection and Testing.
Theory Module - Week of Theory Exams
Once you've completed the theory training and the Online Homework that will be allocated to
you, you will be able to contact the Administration Department to book your week of online
theory exams. You will be tested on 6 online theory exams. It is essential that you pass all
online exams before you can book the next part of your training. All exams take place during
the week only.
Practical Module - Practical Training
Once you've passed all your online exams, you will be able to book the practical training part of
your course. This is a 10 day long module that will give you the opportunity to develop your
skills on installations, testing and inspections.
Practical Module - Day of Practical Assessments
Once you've completed the practical training part of your course, you will be able to book your
3 days of practical assessments for the inspection and testing subjects of your course. All
practical assessments take place during the week only.
This course leads to EAL and LCL Awards / LOGIC Certification qualifications. 

So who is correct. And what should I really be doing to get a small business started and what should I aim to achieve in terms of qualifications. I'm happy just doing domestic work but I may want to go into industrial at some point. 

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you all in advance. 

Also please correct me on any of this as you seem fit. I'd rather know the brutal truth than do something wrong and then regret it.

 

[Sharpend]

Brutal truth is you’ve spoken to the wrong people, they are in the business of making money for little return, the second one you have detailed is just a scam of no useful use to you.  
so quit  wasting time and your money with these scumbags. Go to a local college and speak to the course director for electrical qualifications. Here you be told the actual qualifications required to be recognised not what they want to sell you. 
 

HTH

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

You don't say what your previous job was....

Do you have any electrical related skills, knowledge, experience...?

What maths & physics qualifications did you attain back in your school years?

If you are trying to start from scratch with zero previous electrical or similar related experience..

and little or no maths/physics understanding..

Then you are living in cloud cuckoo land, if you think you can re-train in a few days with fast-track course..

The phrase I only want to do domestic has little or no relevance IMHO,

as the electricity that enters a domestic property can still start a fire or kill someone very quickly if you haven't designed all the circuit  protective aspects correctly...

Its not just about joining three wires in the back of a socket to make a DIY job work..

Nor is it a case of, oh its a lighting circuit therefore it must be this cable..

Nor is it just clipping and fixing wires from A to B then copying connections from a book to make a system work...

Circuit design has a lot more calculations and testing and verification procedures to make sure your alteration will not seriously injure someone in the event of a fault.

Have you tried looking at the local job adverts to see what qualifications prospective employers expect from potential competent electricians?

If you have one, a local college that does electrical C&G courses is the way to go...

You should be aware that over the years we've had loads of questions on the forum from people who have done these "short-course" quick career change I Wanna Be An Electrician - but I was a postman,..  type programs..

And they struggle big time wondering why no-one will offer them a job!!!

:C

:mellow:  

 

[Evans Electric]

During this 15 days long module you will received comprehensive theory training on the Part
P, Wiring Regulations, 18th Edition, PAT Testing, Level 2 Initial Verification Inspection and
Testing and Level 3 in Periodical Inspection and Testing.

This is a disgrace  !!     Comprehensive theory training on Part P ........ Ballcocks !! .........PAT Testing ....Ballcocks........   Periodic Inspec & test  ....If you'er a Spark you just do that of the top of your head .   

And they struggle big time wondering why no-one will offer them a job!!!

As Specs says  this crops up more & more .       Local college is the way to go ...but ...be warned... there is now part of the  procedure that requires working for / with a contractor /electrician  to attain a certain qualification ....this can be difficult to achieve in this day & age  .   

Sorry to raise difficulties but it 'aint that easy starting as a mature  "Apprentice"   compared to the "Normal"  way  of a 16yr old  leaves school , gets job with electrical firm as an apprentice ,  hes working with sparks day to day , firm send him to college ,  he attains the necessary papers over ...4 yrs I think it is now.... comes "on the tools" at age 20.................................then starts to learn the trade ! 

You can't beat experience  and on a place like this there is a wealth of it  , but as we , one by one , drop off under the radar , pack up ,  get made redundant , lose interest due to mounds of  paperwork and over regulation  ...the trade will the poorer  and guys with this  wealth of experience are  not following through.  

 

[Andy™]

During this 15 days long module

an apprenticeship takes 4 years of both on site and college. do you really think youll learn enough in 15 days in a 'training' centre?

 

[kerching]

Bear with me on this...

take a bucket and fill it with water

put your elbow in the water

remove elbow after 11 seconds

the size of the hole left in the water is directly proportional to the value of the ( majority of ) courses you have listed

Practical experience is paramount   I have been doing the job for over 50 years and probably learn something new every week

i wish you luck but don't know what the answer is, sorry. But PLEASE before you commit to spend any  money on a course come back on here and run it by us.  Not promising anything BUT we may be able to save you wasting your money

 

[Evans Electric]

But PLEASE before you commit to spend any  money on a course come back on here and run it by us.  Not promising anything BUT we may be able to save you wasting your money

Good post  Kerch ....imagine the guy spends £4000  on only to find out they don't apply to the trade. 

 

[binky]

all those courses will teach you is theory, even the practical bit will on wooden boards in a workshop.  Now, I would quite happliy get your firm to pay for the theory courses, ie 18th edition regs, maybe the Inspection and testing, but what you then really need is to spend shed loads of time on forums like this, and looking at images posted of peoples work, and hopefuly pick up a job as an electricans' labourer, which will teach you the hands on bit. 

 

[Sharpend]

A couple of lads I know who want to be electricians are spending £7.5k on training doing the correct EAL qualifications however they are also working as well with an electrical outfit. So this tells you the courses for <£7k isn’t going to teach you much.  

 

[Doc Hudson]

There used to some phrases such as: "There is no such thing as a free lunch" or "You don't get something for nothing"  or "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!".  Modern day translation could be "You cannot learn a new trade in a couple of months when historically it used to take years". Best of luck if you think you can be competent, qualified, experienced with less than 12months of training / on-site-work.

Doc H.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Well there ain't going to be any college courses running for a fair while now...

Schools shut today till September...  (and some kids got bored during 6-week holiday!!!!)

Universities closing.....

So ye-olde 5WW training centres...  will also have lack of funds / students to sponge money off...

Maybe..  just maybe...   a few of them will cease trading as they go bankrupt...

:C