Fire Alarm training courses

[tazz]

Most designers have full time cad technicians. A proper firm of designers don't have £40k plus engineers to use cad.

Yet your £40K a year designers need to ask a question on a Basic fire alarm design course!!!
Most fire alarm firms don`t have that privilage of paying for seperate cad designers.

 

[Guest77]

Most designers have full time cad technicians. A proper firm of designers don't have £40k plus engineers to use cad.

Name 3 :biggrin:

 

[atm84]

I don't need to name any as I'm not bothered about trying to prove myself. I don't need to know cad and that is all. Thanks for the advice about FIA courses.

 

[alanl]

Atkins, Bam Nuttall, and Carillion are 3 Companies who have Designers to design, then CAD workers to put those designs onto the plan.
Pretty much any large construction Company will have separate roles for their staff - CAD is specialised, so is done by the CAD guy/girl.
Imagine you have to overlay the design you've done onto the master drawings?
No-one but a skilled CAD man could do that with the assurance that it is beiung overlaid correctly.
It helps to have a little knowledge of the CAD systems in use, and a basic understanding of its workings, but they really are separate roles.

 

[Guest77]

I don't need to name any as I'm not bothered about trying to prove myself. I don't need to know cad and that is all. Thanks for the advice about FIA courses.

Chuckle, I was throwing a line out and you took the bait,True, you don't need cad, I can use cad and have the software, it isn't easy to use agreed, a course is a good starting point, anything relating to fire alarms in my view is now a specialist design, I have designed fire alarms myself and thought I knew a fair bit, I was wrong, it is a lot more complex than I expected, I now leave it to the experts, I am not one of those regarding FA system design.

 

[tazz]

Again all fine and dandy if your work for a large corperate company.
If you don`t, then any smaller fire alarm company will require you to design & cad.

Now I know why we always win the school & council contracts....we`re not paying £40K for designers & £30k for cad engineers...

 

[atm84]

Atkins, Bam Nuttall, and Carillion are 3 Companies who have Designers to design, then CAD workers to put those designs onto the plan.
Pretty much any large construction Company will have separate roles for their staff - CAD is specialised, so is done by the CAD guy/girl.
Imagine you have to overlay the design you've done onto the master drawings?
No-one but a skilled CAD man could do that with the assurance that it is beiung overlaid correctly.
It helps to have a little knowledge of the CAD systems in use, and a basic understanding of its workings, but they really are separate roles.

Agree.

 

[tazz]

Apart for Atkins

 

[shanky887614]

do people really struggle this much with cad programs?

they take a bit of getting used to but there is help built in and if you take your time and keep seperate copies to compare them at the end to make sure you havent changed anything you shouldn't have all is fine and dandy

 

[tazz]

I`ve tried so many times to explain this....and the be all of it, if your are a fire alarm company, most of your tenders will be sent by the construction companies in cad. Large companies like Dixons, Laings, Baily`s and Atkins, although having cad designers, don`t want to get involved with design and install of fire & security...so the sub it to the likes of me. I design an new fire alarm layer on the drawing, then submit it back for approval, along with install cost. At the end of the project, we hand over a O&M file with as fitted drawings, zone charts and full specifications. Result is Construction company don`t have any cost outlay and add 20% on cost, our sparks get install work, end client and BC are happy. The difference in cost can be £20k on tender compared to Major contractors