Qualifications Or Not!

[Sharpend]

That's a fair argument Steve, but the difference is a company is only responsible for itself, the Niceic claim to have a responsiblity for the industry. ?

 

[Evans Electric]

Frazer  ,  be very careful what you sign for .     There is an ongoing legal case here in the Midlands , following a fatality .

I'd have to refresh my memory on the details but so called testing was being done by , basically, an electrician's mate I believe,  filling in certs by copying the last one , and a supervising QM  was signing them off . 

I think they were both sentenced to prison terms  but  I'm sure its ongoing  at the moment .

I followed the case at the time and I don't believe any normal testing would have found this existing fault  but you there was other stuff ....I think RCD trip times were recorded but there was no RCD .    Something on those lines .

The fault , by the way ,  was a plasterboard screw into a metal stud wall vertical,  digging into the live of a cable , ( from when flats were built)  Stud wall on floorboards,  not connected to earth, completly encased in plasterboard ...but actually live .    A leak on the plumbing made everything live and a fatality occured .   

BUT........I would say ...not the direct fault of the two people in court ...although their testing procedure left much to be desired . 

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

That's a fair argument Steve, but the difference is a company is only responsible for itself, the Niceic claim to have a responsiblity for the industry. ?

Sorry...

But the INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES are responsible for the industry.. NOT the NIC ..

or any other trade body.

Nic can offer guidance as to how they would like companies to operate.. 

and they can refuse membership if companies do not follow their guidance..

BUT..

they have no legal authority nor can they tell any company how to run its own business..

Just the same as the AA & RAC may recommend you follow good practice for servicing your car....

such as authorised dealer and recommended service intervals....

But they cannot force anyone to service their car correctly..

And they are NOT responsible for the safety of the cars that all of their members own!

It is down to the owners..

Just as electrical safety is down to the contractors doing the work..

Not the NIC etc al'

THEY ARE A VOLUNTARY BODY..

NOT A STATUTORY BODY!!!!

Guinness

 

[Sharpend]

Ok I'll rephrase that for you for the purpose of clarity.

Individual firms of electrical contractors may represent the electrical industry, individual firms (factories etc as Steve referred) with maintenence departments only represent their own business, the NIC and the lines are seen (by those outside the industry) to represent the electrical industry.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

I understand what you are saying Sharpend...

But...

Unfortunately ALL scheme membership is at this point in time VOLUNTARY...

whether its NIC / ECA / ELECSA / BSI / NAPITT  etc...  etc...

So IMHO unless something is compuslary..

then IT IS NOT representative of the whole industry...

Some stoopid idjuts may think the AA or RAC represent ALL motorists...

or that the Caravan Club.. represent the whole of the caravan industry..

or that the BBC represent the whole of the TV broadcast industry..

Just because some idjut customers think the NIC may or may not represent most of / all of /. part of the electrical industy..

Then that is not going to be helped by "educated electricians" implying that that statement is true on Internet sites! 

opcorn

 

[Bob1954]

You need to be competent to inspect and test with a qualification to do so.  The tests have not really changed over the years, so experience with testing is very important, the changes are the paperwork.  I would not like to sign work off that may be suspect and become just a formality.

 

[maddfridge]

hi there

i have recently just had to do some testing for a new company which are niceic and had not filled any forms in since 2004

and was surprised now at the amount of filling in not applicable by writing in na everywhere !

the  people who bought up to scratch so to speak knew how to test and fill the forms in but only were interested in filling out the form

and getting it signed off as quick as possible 

with all the technology now amtech etc do qs actually look at the records orl eave to a computer program to say yes it comply s or not

hence only one   qs per company of loads of sparkies????

cheers mf