Is this really the state of the industry?
Yes GTB, it can but look how this looks to the public! Both these men need a nasty shock. Two "electricians" saying that they do not know the regulations well enough to get the derisory pass mark without the BBB. Unfortunately that appears true of 90% of the industry, and I have taught them, and the problem is not the teaching, they simply have insufficient knowledge. My biggest shock has been that they don't know haw to use the index at all, and largely don't know the term to look up from the fairly simple question. Only a few of the questions are significantly tricky. I have yet to see a student get 100%, it is perfectly possible to do this in less than 2 hours, looking up every answer.
David,
Totally agree with your sentiments, basic electrical engineering theory and the correct application of the Regs is sadly getting worse. Im involved in assessing those technicians who are or wishing to work in potentially flammable atmospheres, and the vast majority we are seeing now have poor handskills, cant carry out basic isolation procedures and also basic testing of circuits. Unfortunately we are now seeing generation/s coming through that have never had to retain and then use technical information after a long period of time, I remember many sleepness nights going over two years of electrical engineering detail hopeing a lot of that would come up in the three hour written end of year exams.
Many of those I see are children of continual assessment, so personally their memory retention is not great,, why? they simply have not had to do that before, also alass, people are looking for a guaranteed pass, and too many so called training providers do just that, they are training people to pass rather than ensuring those candidates can actually apply that knowledge.
Having watched that video and listened to their comments, I'm totally embarressed by that video. Having served my own craft apprenticeship in the early 80's, in fact we were the first class cohort to use the first 15th Edition book!
The industry needs to really sort itself out, I have been reading with intrest the thread on this forum on certification and the article about costs and validity of EICR's, given it is myself that worked and provided factual evidence to the writer of the article.
Regards GTB
Departing from the technical aspect and not meaning to be supercilious but facing facts - it's just life's pecking order.
There are many factors to consider; it's George's Animal Farm at play - upbringing, motivation, finances, life experience, retentive memory and .......... intelligence are probably the main players; education needs the latter two. The lowly skill of electrician is not particulary challenging to the human ape; not wanting to be disparging in any way, I just accept it. As long as folks are happy, in whatever niche they're in and importantly ........... a recognition of requirements for supervision.
Jaymack
Well, 'sam' does blow his trumpet rather loudly - I quote:
"A industrial and commercial electrician who worked in London on every major project for the last 10 years, expert in industrial relations between agency electricians and tier 1 contractors. Still on the tools managing projects for the NHS and private hospitals."
Despite this, he had still never heard of ADS.
I am really out of kilter with exam methodology.
To my simple mind I imagine that to show an understanding of the regs to a 70% pass rate then each one of us should be able to answer to pass rate without referring to the book . We really should have enough knowledge before attempting the Regs questions exam.
However, in the Inspect and test exam I believe it is reasonable to imagine that in real life the candidate might actually have relevant text books on site in a real situation or at least back at the office when doing relevant paperwork.
As I said, I`m out on my own in these thoughts I think.
To answer David’s question, is this really the state of the industry, I would say, emphatically yes. However, much is being done to improve matters with the apparent ambition being that an electrician should be an autonomous unit able to plan and manage his work effectively and safely and to be able to erect a wide range of wiring systems, connect equipment, inspect, test, commission his work and carry out basic fault diagnostics. These are the tenets of the Level 3 NVQ qualification which is often required to be supplemented with the wiring regulations and, at least, the 2391 initial verification qualifications.
These are laudable aspirations with most electricians having no difficulty with the practical considerations. It is with the more academic concepts that issues arise. As an NVQ assessor, I often find that chaps breeze through the practical units but fall foul of a basic understanding of the systems they are working on and how they should be verified in accordance with the current edition of the wiring regulations.
Whether we need every electrician to be an autonomous operative is quite another matter. We do, however, need people, perhaps like the guy in the video, who can safely follow instructions, bend the conduit, dress the pyro, install miles of cable tray, connect their cables, fit a thousand luminaires etc. They are the backbone of the electrical installation industry, without them all the clever folk are lost!
Morning All,
Unless something has changed by C&G, there is no formal requirements for sitting the 2382 exam, you do not need to be an electrician, technician Electrical Engineer. Although from memory some basic electrical theory understanding would help. Somebody with no electrical knowledge can be tought and can get 100% in the exam.
The 2382 exam as far as Im aware is assessing peoples ability to find the critical detail in the Regs book and say what it says. It is not at all indicating the person can then apply the statement made in the appropriate Reg. Only an electrical practitioner thats competent would then know how that Reg could be satisfactory addressed.
GTB
We're about to take you to the IET registration website. Don't worry though, you'll be sent straight back to the community after completing the registration.
Continue to the IET registration site
