C&G Indicates lack of qualifications for Electricians and EV charger installs

All domestic EVSE in England and Wales comes under Part P of the Building Regulations as they require the installation of a new circuit, so installer competence issues should be picked up through the system that is already in place.

That is of course assuming that the installation work assessed by the scheme operators actually includes EVSE, because it doesn’t have to.

The CPS assessing individual competence of EVSE in on an ongoing basis might actually be the best way forward. 

Bearing in mind you now need a NVQ to register with a CPS as well now, so that’s a double whammy for an electrician over the age of forty who may for one reason or another decide to become a self employed electrician and install EVSE.

Disenfranchising half the workforce rather than working with them to raise standards really doesn’t seem a good idea.

Actually determining where new entrants to the industry are coming from would also be a good idea, are they actually school leavers or mature career changers coming from the Armed Forces or other jobs and possibly people who have previously been Smart Meter installers who have trained to do one specific electrical job safely but lacking full electrical training and qualifications, how easy is it going to be for mature entrants to gain a NVQ, what support is there in place for them or older electricians to do so.

And of course there’s the question of who provides the training and who pays for it, I have paid for all my electrical training apart from the EU paying for my PV training, but most of my training was at local technical colleges including the PV training which was at Dudley College.

Are there any local colleges running the C&G EVSE course?

If electricians could attend a part funded C&G EVSE as evening classes at a local technical college without having to take a couple of days off work to do it would the uptake of training actually be a lot higher, I have always found that most electricians generally enjoy training courses and other trade related events look how many turn up for them.

As I said above I have already spent a couple of thousand pounds on the book, training course, time off work, traveling and other expenses along with buying a testing adapter, now I’m working my way through some manufacturers training and by the time I’m finished the cost is going to be pushing three thousand pounds to get set up, if I had to get the NVQ as well the cost would be prohibitive.

To put it more simply.

If electricians are travelling long distances and some are staying away from home in hotels for the duration of the training course there’s several possibilities:

• It is a specialist training course for which there is little demand.
• The training provider has an excellent reputation for delivering quality training.
• Local training providers are inadequate or nonexistent.
• A combination of all three. 

Indeed. And with high cost to value ratio comes low demand so 1&3 interact. I agree with your (2) a queue round the block for a really good course would be a good thing, but I'm not so sure. Nor am I too sure why it has to cost the equivalent of  2/3 of a term of university fees for something lasting a few days that is probably re-run repeatedly without a lot of new work for the presenters to prepare.
Mike

Sparkingchip -

So what wrong with this course (Other than I don't think I leaned anything new on it)

NICEIC | Electric Vehicle Charging Course | Only £155.00 +VAT

£155+VAT. 

Is that a C&G certificate? if not - the C&G lot might be quite miffed - Loads of us have done it. Darned if I know where my certificate has gone, certainly printed and filed but I cant find it on my computer now. Perhaps this knocks a hole in the C&G argument as to how many are trained to install EV Chargers? 

Wheres the thousands of pounds coming from? The EV suppliers course? 

I certainly did the NICEIC one but the BP Chargemaster lot said no to me doing their specific training course - they had no need for more electricians in my areas. I've installed quite a few (35) of their EV chargers (at one site) but they've supplied the electrical vehicle chargers direct to the customer and carried out the commissioning and claimed the government grant. I had to do design, install and testing of the fixed electrical wiring. 

tattyinengland 

That read's as an in-house NICEIC training course and certification, which matches the new version of the C&G, as in it’s theory only and  you there’s no practical assessments of installation or testing abilities,  so it can be done in a day.

Half the price or more all round, as it’s one day instead of two, so only half the training course fee, half or more of the traveling costs, no need for overnight accommodation as the courses are being run locally around the country and in particular no C&G fees.

Plus the pre-qualification requirements is CPS membership rather than a NVQ, it looks to me like the NICEIC will now sign up all the electricians who are already registered with a CPS for this course, particularly the over forties who don’t have a NVQ.

It begs the question, have C&G shot themselves in the foot?

Time will tell.

The “thousands” for getting set up came from (ball park figures):

• IET COP £80
• C&G course £420
• Two days off work £500
• Travelling £100
• Megger testing adapter £380
• A couple of days off work attending manufacturers training £500
• More traveling £100
• It soon starts to add up, bearing in mind I already have all the other kit and caboodle.

As a subbie if I drive to Burton or Hull to do a job that’s what I would get paid plus mileage, so I’m not being daft about it.

To be honest having done some manufacturers online training I am actually quite prepared to lose a couple of days pay and pay for the traveling to go to do some real face to face training with the opportunity to see, touch and feel the products they have available and learn about them.

In amongst all this I updated my chainsaw training certificate back in January, as well as doing brushcutter, hedge cutter, polesaw and First Aid at Work + Forestry training over the Autumn and Winter, So I can actually hold a conversation on the subject of LANTRA versus C&G training certificates, C&G are seen as being more prestigious, but the training course is the same and I was training next to people doing C&G whilst doing the LANTRA.

The thing is; how hard can it be? I gather that these days, modern EV chargers no longer require the installation of earth rods or those funny MATTE thingys, so just a straight forward radial circuit with a Type A RCD/RCBO at one end and a EV box at the other.

Here's is my humble understanding of a typical EV install -

A typical EV install comprises of a swap-out of, or provision if none exists, of a Type A RCD in the board, then a run of (usually) 6.00mm cable in whichever flavor - SWA or T&E which eventually terminates into a wall-mounted, readymade, IP rated box with a socket or lead on it. All the EV gubbins are prefitted and prewired inside the box - so why the necessity for a specialist course?

I ask again, how hard can it be?

An upfront RCD is not generally required unless it's a TT earthed installation and/or the circuit cable is concealed within a wall. 

So on the face of it it is simpler than that, as I commented above for some jobs less than thirty quid worth of additional materials. 

But perhaps surprisingly some installers have not got a Scooby Doo as to what is required for any electrical installation work, not just EVSE. 

You also have to remember that the EVSE installation and the vehicle's themselves have only really started to become mainstream in the last few years,  probably about eight years and in that time the technology and regulations have moved on considerably, so what is being done now is different to only a couple of years ago in many circumstances. 

I am supposed to be doing an EICR in the next few days and the house has an EV charger installed just over five years ago, I really won't be surprised if if fail an inspection just on RCD selection.