WHY CANNOT AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER BE A QS.

I despair I really do on all of this!!! QS entitled to be designated or not depending on academic/Vocational qualifications and these scheme operators trying to make things better and clearer for who? the end user with a high quality or rather a safe installation?

What does the actual UK Law ask for? to me its the EAWR Reg 16 and thats it the person needs to be competent simple as that.

It then becomes the “Challenge” of how one demonstrates that competency but again only needs to be for the actual work task being carried out.

Scheme providers have tried to get a formal and indicitive way of doing that for their members, but one size doesnt fit all.

In my own career served a four year craft SJIB apprenticeship, and the C&G 236 courses and continued thru to further and higher education, and run my own consultancy practice now, but I still have always retained and renewed my SJIB Technicians card which I can easily show on site and to the amusement of some of the electrical contractors I meet. And I was a QS and a Hz area QS for many years when working with an electrical contractor.

I do meet many chartered and IEng engineers that did the further and higher education part first, many are great practical engineers both on and off site, but unfortunately I also meet many that wouldnt know a a generator from a UPS if it was staring them in the face or what was T&E and what is the Armoured cable, great theorists, but sadly lacking in other areas, I do remember one telling me that while gaining his Masters degree in Electrical engineering his total time with pliers/tools and cables in his hands was no more than four hours! But Im not sure that would be true on all degree courses.

There are skills that I have gained when working on the tools that has made me very good at what I do now especially solving issues on site for clients and forensic inspections when things have went wrong, that perhaps a theory only engineer may struggle with, but again its all down to competence and what work we take on and do and engaged to do.

Unfortunately I have to review Installation certs and EICR's and the quality in general is poor, and I would actually question the ability of many ( NOT ALL) QS's countersigning certs and reports as they didnt spot the errors and ommissions, many I think just sign to get the paperwork out the door.

As I say when starting this post the whole thing is a mess and getting worse.

Absolutely nothing wrong with a registered engineer/degree/HND or whatever practitioner with no NVQ quals becoming a QS if they have up to date 2382 regs course and 2391 etc.

GTB

I despair I really do on all of this!!! QS entitled to be designated or not depending on academic/Vocational qualifications and these scheme operators trying to make things better and clearer for who? the end user with a high quality or rather a safe installation?

What does the actual UK Law ask for? to me its the EAWR Reg 16 and thats it the person needs to be competent simple as that.

It then becomes the “Challenge” of how one demonstrates that competency but again only needs to be for the actual work task being carried out.

Scheme providers have tried to get a formal and indicitive way of doing that for their members, but one size doesnt fit all.

In my own career served a four year craft SJIB apprenticeship, and the C&G 236 courses and continued thru to further and higher education, and run my own consultancy practice now, but I still have always retained and renewed my SJIB Technicians card which I can easily show on site and to the amusement of some of the electrical contractors I meet. And I was a QS and a Hz area QS for many years when working with an electrical contractor.

I do meet many chartered and IEng engineers that did the further and higher education part first, many are great practical engineers both on and off site, but unfortunately I also meet many that wouldnt know a a generator from a UPS if it was staring them in the face or what was T&E and what is the Armoured cable, great theorists, but sadly lacking in other areas, I do remember one telling me that while gaining his Masters degree in Electrical engineering his total time with pliers/tools and cables in his hands was no more than four hours! But Im not sure that would be true on all degree courses.

There are skills that I have gained when working on the tools that has made me very good at what I do now especially solving issues on site for clients and forensic inspections when things have went wrong, that perhaps a theory only engineer may struggle with, but again its all down to competence and what work we take on and do and engaged to do.

Unfortunately I have to review Installation certs and EICR's and the quality in general is poor, and I would actually question the ability of many ( NOT ALL) QS's countersigning certs and reports as they didnt spot the errors and ommissions, many I think just sign to get the paperwork out the door.

As I say when starting this post the whole thing is a mess and getting worse.

Absolutely nothing wrong with a registered engineer/degree/HND or whatever practitioner with no NVQ quals becoming a QS if they have up to date 2382 regs course and 2391 etc.

GTB