Right,

I've just passed my PAT testing and 16th Edition.

What's gonna be the best way forward for me to becoming a domestic sparky type person???

There's a 2 year course on Domestic installation I can do or I can do one in Inspection, Testing and Certification.

Or something else I don't know about?

Cheers,

Pat...

get a gob with a local spark, do jobs on the side untill you get enough customers

oh btw thanks for the parts arrived in good nick many thanks


[Edited on 20/7/06 by graememk]

surely with those qualifications you can get straight out grafting pat? If you want to build practical experience, get a job as an assistant until you are set up.

failing that, do some free work for friends and get two sites ready for inspection by a body, ie NICEIC etc. Once registered, you can easily advertise for work.

[Edited on 20/7/06 by JoelP]

Hi Pat

Do you really want to be a domestic only electrician? house bashing is crap, compared to factory / office's

to be a fully qualified sparky used to take 3 years at collage, plus on site training

Adrian

Fair point on the domestic side, but my main aim when I started was to be able to do garages and jobs for folks on an evening and weekend.

the only problem is I'm in a really secure and cushy job with easy hours and loads of holidays - 37 hour weeks and 32 days holiday - trouble is it's only paying £15k.

Moving house next week as well and my mortgage is going to double so have to minimise risks.

Any further thoughts?

Pat...

Graeme - no probs.

Pat...

I think you will have to do C+G 236 Parts 1 and 2 as a minimum.

The past test and regulations are really an add on to the 236.

If you want to do industrial / office / large building stuff you will also need 236 part 3 known in the trade as 'c' certificate.

If you can persuade your work that it's a useful back up to your 16th and PAT they may send you day release (I work at a Uni and that's what I did). Other than that you've about 3/4 years night class.

Also after that you may need to go through the whole registration thing that came in as new legislation a year or two ago. You need to do it to work on any installation other than minor modifications.I looked in to it at the time and decided you needed to be a business to do it. The other approach is to say to your customer, I'm qualified and competent but not registered and the job will cost you X if you go to a registered chap it will cost you 3X. Also the local authorities who are meant to be policing it haven't got the resources so do it so I think it may have become a non-issue.

Pity you dont live in Stoke Pat I'm after an engineer though our work is mainly Telecoms and Data with a bit of sparking thrown in. Wiring is pretty basic its more fault finding that you need practical experience for.
Cheers,
Bob

To self certify any electrical work you carry out in special locations such as bathrooms, kitchens, garages etc you will need to be 'Part P' registered. That means you need to become a registered 'competent person' under an approved goverment scheme run by the likes of ECA / NICEIC/ ELECSA / NAPIT .
To become a member you need to show that you not only have have the necessary qualifications (C&Guilds 2391 inspection and testing, 2381 16th edition, 2377 PAT testing) but also 'experience', plus ... pub liability insurances, test instrument calibration certs, have a complaint procedure, health & safety policy, risk assessments etc etc.... Works out very expensive with costs for the initial assessment circa £500 then annual subscription of circa £350. You need plenty of business to make it worthwhile.

There has recently been cases of people / companies prosecuted for not notifying electrical work under Part P, one in Newcastle was fined £16000, one in Somerset fined £2500