What has happened to the trade?

[baldyspark]

It seems that every time I check out the forum, so called qualified sparks are asking the most basic questions such as help my rcd is tripping, how do I test? Etc. So many chancers about nowadays who wouldnt know the first thing about fault finding and think Ra is a school subject. As for these courses that try to make an electrician in five weeks, they should be done for putting peoples lives at risk. Please mods take note, how come so many people disagree with the 5 week wonders yet this forum must agree as one sponsor actually provides this course?
Ill not even get started with all these domestic installers whove never even touched pyro, tray, contactors etc....

 

[jamesBoater]

I think the point is that 5 weeks neither makes you qualified or competent no matter what the money making scammers tell you.

Unfortunately money talks

 

[GMES]

I'm with you on this one mate someone as just started another thread in this section about wiring I'd friends tt house and to be honest he is asking such basic questions that it scares the crap out of me, something as got to be done about these guys and the schemes that are churning them out.

 

[7029 dave]

yeah scary stuff going on, glad im out of domestic!! mugs game.

 

[Captain Custard]

Until the industry grows some balls and insists that government legistrates so that all electricians are licenced with a certified level of competence NOTHING will change!
If you agree +1 this post and when we get to 1,000 I'll forward it to my MP.

 

[Sintra]

In Northern Ireland there is no such thing as a Electrical Trainee wonder. Any person that wishes to become an electrician completes a proper 4 year apprenticeship. There is no easy way in through the door. Why can the same not apply to the rest of the uk? Obviously these short courses are backed by the government by way of this part p nonsense. Surely if an electrician had to be time served then this part p nonsense could be forgotten about.

 

[Des 56]

Sorry to pee on your thread,but you have to blame the death rate caused by faulty electrical installations
It just isn't high enough for a sympathetic hearing

If it ever was to get a lot lot higher, then there would be possibility of action
Possible but not probable

 

[micknew]

It seems that every time I check out the forum, so called qualified sparks are asking the most basic questions such as help my rcd is tripping, how do I test? Etc. So many chancers about nowadays who wouldnt know the first thing about fault finding and think Ra is a school subject. As for these courses that try to make an electrician in five weeks, they should be done for putting peoples lives at risk. Please mods take note, how come so many people disagree with the 5 week wonders yet this forum must agree as one sponsor actually provides this course?
Ill not even get started with all these domestic installers whove never even touched pyro, tray, contactors etc....

Could it be that posters are claiming to be sparks but are in fact DIYers? I think so.
The new DIY section should help.

 

[coldyron]

Get this:

A pal of mine also in the game has made the move to domestic side. He called me yesterday and is enjoying it as it's 100% testing and remedial so easy work.

However - and here is the catch - every other tester in the company (there's 5 in total I believe) doesn't have any kind of electrical qualification yet they are allowed to read Guidance Note 3, buy a Megger and go and test these properties! Apparently, he's spending most of his time going back to these jobs and doing the most basic fault finding as the others don't know how to do it!

How on earth can this even be legal? I've told him to get back into the temps game! It's more fun

 

[Engineer54]

I think post #2 and post 6, answers the OP's question in every respect!!

They together, basically give the long and short of the sorry story, without going into too much detail!!

 

[ED17]

It seems that every time I check out the forum, so called qualified sparks are asking the most basic questions such as help my rcd is tripping, how do I test? Etc. So many chancers about nowadays who wouldnt know the first thing about fault finding and think Ra is a school subject. As for these courses that try to make an electrician in five weeks, they should be done for putting peoples lives at risk. Please mods take note, how come so many people disagree with the 5 week wonders yet this forum must agree as one sponsor actually provides this course?
Ill not even get started with all these domestic installers whove never even touched pyro, tray, contactors etc....

I couldn't agree more. Not just limited to domestic now, we just lost a lighting job at a school to one! He's happy to work for 80 quid a day and let the builder supply the materials. He was also happy to extend a 6mm shower circuit, fit a 9.5kw shower and add 15 amp fusewire to the existing 30 amp 3036. No RCD, no supplementary but the builder's happy because "it works and he's a lot cheaper than you"

 

[Andy78]

Don't put up with that ED17. Get someone at the council rung and voice your concerns about safety and standards.

 

[Sintra]

If that is the case I would inform the local education authority. They must have minimum criteria required for people working on their premises.

 

[ED17]

We've worked for the builder for around 12 years. They hit a quiet period and discovered that they can submit cheaper prices by using this "spark." The blurb on their website states that "we only use NICEIC approved electricians." Looks like I've got nothing to lose by reporting them does it?

 

[Guest111]

Everywhere you look these days there are adverts saying become an electrician in x number of weeks and earn £50,000 a year the only people who win at this are the greedy people who run these courses,and sometimes I feel sorry for those who have lost their jobs and have a mortgage and family to provide for,they go into panic mode and see this as a quick fix,out of interest I wonder how many have done one of these courses and then walked away realising that they don,t know enough to make a living safely?
When my ex boss had to do a full scope part p there was a lad on the same course who knew very little and even though he passed he was ringing us up for weeks asking for advice,in the end the boss said the best advice would be to pass all his calls to us as he clearly was out of his depth.we never heard from him again.

 

[stean]

I did one of the intense courses, it was a good course and gave me a good insight into the domestic industry and through hard work I achieved some good qualifications.
However, I didnt feel that I knew enough to go out and start house bashing on my own so I enrolled at college and spent 3 years compleying the C&G 2330.
I can see the attraction of the short courses as they are some what misleading in their advertising campaigns. I did mine when I left the armed forces and it gave me a good insight into the domestic world, I think a lot of it also depends on how good the training centres/companies are as well.

 

[Guest111]

Stean,good for you going the right way,what worries me about these courses is the fact they take anyone so long as they can pay,normally there's some kind of apptitude test to see if you are capable of being a spark,as my old fella used to say "some people will never make a tradesman as long as they've got a hole in their a**e.

 

[Mikro]

I done one of those short courses with a view to becoming a domestic installer, I'd say they are only suitable for people with a similar background that would like to change the industry they work in.

Since then I decided that I couldn't be bothered with the self-employed route and ended up doing instruments and controls for an oil company.

I'm just glad that the course was paid by my voluntary redundancy, I'd be a bit peeved if it were my own money :frown:

 

[Dan]

It seems that every time I check out the forum, so called qualified sparks are asking the most basic questions such as help my rcd is tripping, how do I test? Etc. So many chancers about nowadays who wouldnt know the first thing about fault finding and think Ra is a school subject. As for these courses that try to make an electrician in five weeks, they should be done for putting peoples lives at risk. Please mods take note, how come so many people disagree with the 5 week wonders yet this forum must agree as one sponsor actually provides this course?
Ill not even get started with all these domestic installers whove never even touched pyro, tray, contactors etc....

Forumwise I think you have to remember that we have guys on here doing training, guys on here who have only just completed a course, guys on here who are just even thinking about a course and asking about what they're reading online about the courses etc.

Coursewise I think you have to remember that there are all types of courses available for all types of reasons. Short and long ones. Doesn't make a sparky any better or worse if they've passed a short course or a long one, they're still new to the trade and will yet to learn the experience side of things.

The industry as a whole has suffered a lot since 2008 and it's not repaired yet. People will always want to get into a trade, and sparky's and plumbers are common trades people like to think they'll enjoy doing.

I think when you spot a lot of sparks asking basic questions, you'd find they've only done one certain course for one certain type of job they want to take on - maybe? Not everybody wants to do the full works for domestic, commercial, etc etc etc.

 

[guest119]

Hmm, not a good reply Dan, full of holes and wrong terminology (ie, short course , long course still a spark. No, Only JIB/ apprenticeship produces a spark. As most agencies are now realising and specifying so. )

This forum is titled Electricians Forum.(sparks)

Boydy