Its all wrong !!!

[Evans Electric]

A guy I work with a lot , is a good tradesman, chippy by trade, also does plumbing ,tiling, bricklaying , plastering , roofing, partitioning , kitchen fitting etc. All to a top standard.

Tells me about this guy , does a 5 week plumbing wonder course now calls himself a plumber , seems to think he can tile etc.

He was some sort of salesman before , now he has advertising in place, van lettered up etc . Wins work all over but totally useless.

 

[kerching]

If I remember correctly back in the day...Canary Wharf needed all trades so a new Job was created as a 'conduit fitter/ tray fitter' and another as 'cable puller' or some such other pile of fricking bo!!ox. Course lasted about 8 weeks and at the end of it they were given a full set of tools, and I think the course was paid for by de gubbermint............... :coat

I could well be mistaken, see wife for details!

 

[Evans Electric]

You remind me of what used to happen years ago, an example was :- certain large contractor working on a Lurgey ( Spelling ???) Gas Plant in the Midlands. The site was Unionised so all sparks in the ETU . Miles of tray and millions of brackets to be welded on but how to class the welders they employed for union card purposes , ? So they were given a "Skilled "card same as the sparks.

Then moved on from that site , complete with Skilled card that said they were an electrician and so they were from then on .

 

[Manator]

If I remember correctly back in the day...Canary Wharf needed all trades so a new Job was created as a 'conduit fitter/ tray fitter' and another as 'cable puller' or some such other pile of fricking bo!!ox. Course lasted about 8 weeks and at the end of it they were given a full set of tools, and I think the course was paid for by de gubbermint............... :coat I could well be mistaken, see wife for details!

I also remember this, some of these guys thought that they were electricians at the end of the course.

 

[batty]

funny how the five week courses have returned though.

 

[kerching]

I also remember this, some of these guys thought that they were electricians at the end of the course.

Thankfully all different now! Jayzus, can you imagine the outcry if something like that was to be allowed nowadays!!!!.............. :coat

 

[Evans Electric]

Thing is , this guy goes swanning off to see customers, prices up , wins the work , forever getting my M8 to bail him out . ( Dunno why he does it) Guy is totally useless at everything .

 

[jameseye12]

Don't tar all 5 week wonders with the same brush. I know a few people who have done them, falsely led into them by the salesmen and are taught the bare minimum. I used such a course to gain my qualifications. I learned jack all more than I already knew. They are not out to make electricians, they are out to make money.

Two people who were on the course with me changed a CU after a homeowner melted his with his dodgy wiring. All the lights were fed from a single circuit so they put it on a 16A breaker. Why? God knows. They also wired in a load of circuits that they didn't bother to verify. I asked why and they said 'I dunno but the Zs reading was alright. Again Why?

And another guy who asked me for advice after the CU he had changed wouldn't work. Turns out he had wired all the neutrals for the circuits protected by the one RCD to the neutral bar for the other RCD and all the CPCs to the neutral bar for his RCD. WTF?

Yes they are wrong, yes a lot of people shouldn't still touch electrics after they do such a course. But this does not speak for everyone who does the courses. I do the job properly, but thats probably because I learned from a time served spark, not a money making course.

 

[Zeespark]

How could they get a Zs if they don't know what to test James? I am by no means having a go at you, just trying to learn their mentality is all.

AndyGuinness

 

[batty]

Jimmy that is the problem people can get the quals maybe not in five days but in a short time then they are going out doing the work with no practical experience. At least you have the practical experience as well. I personally did not do an apprentiship as one was not available so trained with a firm for 3 years and did my qualifications evening classes at college.

 

[jameseye12]

That is exactly what confused me. The state the installation was in to begin with, I personally would not have reconnected any of the circuits. Some wired in very degraded VIR, others bodged by homeowner. He had caused the problem by wiring in a new ring final into the extension, brought both legs back to the board, terminated in a JB and connected to the board via 6.0mm t&e. Why? He had somehow fused the neutral bar in his 3036 board to the live incoming terminal and taken out the service fuse. DNO engineer came out, laughed and took the fuse away with him. Surprisingly though he put it back in for them after they had bodged the board change.

 

[Zeespark]

These training companies and those who allowed them the licence to teach like this need to curtailed badly.

AndyGuinness

 

[jameseye12]

Jimmy that is the problem people can get the quals maybe not in five days but in a short time then they are going out doing the work with no practical experience. At least you have the practical experience as well. I personally did not do an apprentiship as one was not available so trained with a firm for 3 years and did my qualifications evening classes at college.

It is also not always the people who do the courses faults. The people who run these courses disillusion people saying 'oh you'll be able to go into anyones house and wire anything, you'll be fully qualified'. But the only training they give you is on boards and work bays wired to the 17th edition, all perfect, so they have no idea how to apply what they do learn to real life scenarios

 

[Zeespark]

James I made enquiries with one company, almost smacked the rep for the amount of BS he was trying to feed Me, so I do know

AndyGuinness

 

[jameseye12]

At the end of the day, I look at as, I am now qualified and with or without the 'training I have recieved' I am competent to work on electrics. As for everyone else, they will get caught out sooner or later (like part P assessments). I think I'll just worry about what I do, not what everyone else bodges.

 

[Zeespark]

Aggh that's where you are slightly wrong James, EAW Act states you have to have been on the tools for at least 10 years before being classed as competent. You might be qualified, but qualified doesn't mean competent I am afraid.

AndyGuinness

 

[jameseye12]

Not this discussion again. Let me rephrase that, I am eligible to work on electrical installations and meet the requirements to join a competent persons scam so legally there is nothing wrong with me touching electrical installations

 

[Zeespark]

That's fine. I have no issue with that Myself James, I have been in and out of this industry for the last 14 years now, because of time missed, I am not yet even classed as competent.

AndyGuinness

 

[Evans Electric]

Well thats obvious just by looking at your photo in the Avatar. :innocent

 

[Zeespark]

LOL but He does have the right caption] :innocent

AndyGuinness