Wow.  Thank you for those replies.

The NVQ3, to me, is an expensive time and money inconvenience but I can do it. I'm  leaving every notifiable job on this journey a bit unfinished and I will complete and notify later.  I assume that is the portfolio you mention Tatty?  The AM2E, on the other hand fills me with dread reading your words.  Largely because of working to a time slot and of course because I never really was a boiler person. I did the Honeywell boiler wiring course course way back and since then always had time to scratch my head and research any boiler I was dealing with.

Surely things have moved on from S plan and Y plan in recent 'smart' years?   Hey ho. 

I didn't realise AM2E was so involved in terms of regs and guidance notes.  I should be OK with them because I  use them daily,  but will reinstate the books on the sofa.    Ooh, I must digress - I bought a copy of Birds Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology recently.  What an amazing book.  Nerd enhancing.  

I shall be practising hard before AM2E comes along.  Lyle, I'm going to be asking you about whether or not you can run me through a mock AM2E when the time comes.  I reckon that would do me right and I love NI.

What I'm seeing in this conversation is trauma.  I was planning to get it all bagged before posting but the support thing, you know.  People must be leaving in droves?  I know what you do and how well you do it Tatty - it must have been a backward step for you. Did you have to do this despite being registered with the NIC and not letting it go?  I sort of thought I was in this situation because I gave my registration up for a couple of years.   So is this affecting everyone with our type of qualification and industry experience?    Mine is almost identical to yours - 2360 2391 etc. and I have the 2396. 

Chris, I want to see your birth certificate!  I don't believe you ;).  I'm too old to be doing this kind of thing myself but the wheels aren't falling off yet so I suppose I'm not thinking that far ahead.    I know the local BC are supposed to accept I&T from anyone,  but they've got it into their heads that registered is required and I've not got the mojo to fight it.   Nor would the insurers of a thatched cottage I have always looked after in terms of I&T. 

What I do notice though is that our newcomers to the industry like to work with me, probably not scary, and I'm giving something back nowadays. They struggle to know which end of a screwdriver to hold but they have the required badges. so that's alright then. ...

This isn't supported by the company I work for and I don't need it for them so I'm glad to read yours.  Sticking with it.  This might be turning into a personal pride issue.  Watch this space.

thank you, Zs

Wow.  Thank you for those replies.

The NVQ3, to me, is an expensive time and money inconvenience but I can do it. I'm  leaving every notifiable job on this journey a bit unfinished and I will complete and notify later.  I assume that is the portfolio you mention Tatty?  The AM2E, on the other hand fills me with dread reading your words.  Largely because of working to a time slot and of course because I never really was a boiler person. I did the Honeywell boiler wiring course course way back and since then always had time to scratch my head and research any boiler I was dealing with.

Surely things have moved on from S plan and Y plan in recent 'smart' years?   Hey ho. 

I didn't realise AM2E was so involved in terms of regs and guidance notes.  I should be OK with them because I  use them daily,  but will reinstate the books on the sofa.    Ooh, I must digress - I bought a copy of Birds Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology recently.  What an amazing book.  Nerd enhancing.  

I shall be practising hard before AM2E comes along.  Lyle, I'm going to be asking you about whether or not you can run me through a mock AM2E when the time comes.  I reckon that would do me right and I love NI.

What I'm seeing in this conversation is trauma.  I was planning to get it all bagged before posting but the support thing, you know.  People must be leaving in droves?  I know what you do and how well you do it Tatty - it must have been a backward step for you. Did you have to do this despite being registered with the NIC and not letting it go?  I sort of thought I was in this situation because I gave my registration up for a couple of years.   So is this affecting everyone with our type of qualification and industry experience?    Mine is almost identical to yours - 2360 2391 etc. and I have the 2396. 

Chris, I want to see your birth certificate!  I don't believe you ;).  I'm too old to be doing this kind of thing myself but the wheels aren't falling off yet so I suppose I'm not thinking that far ahead.    I know the local BC are supposed to accept I&T from anyone,  but they've got it into their heads that registered is required and I've not got the mojo to fight it.   Nor would the insurers of a thatched cottage I have always looked after in terms of I&T. 

What I do notice though is that our newcomers to the industry like to work with me, probably not scary, and I'm giving something back nowadays. They struggle to know which end of a screwdriver to hold but they have the required badges. so that's alright then. ...

This isn't supported by the company I work for and I don't need it for them so I'm glad to read yours.  Sticking with it.  This might be turning into a personal pride issue.  Watch this space.

thank you, Zs

I'm in the same boat. I've paid my fee, but havent had time to do the portfolio yet, I've been doing an ASHP design course for the last month. To make you sick, I paid £1350 with 'The Guilds'.

I've just spent 9 months on a large site, so, hopefully, there will be enough pics for me. Of the 15 or so sparkies on site, I was the only one without a Gold Card. Site Supervisor card got me on, and, I was the only one they trusted to fit out the plant rooms. Strange that, on paper, I was the least qualified one on site!

As for new entrants with Gold Cards, well, I've met quite a few recently, and I wouldnt trust many of them. The last day on site was wiring up some outside bollard lights. A feed of 3 core SWA from one light to the next. Terminated in plastic Wiska boxes. I started to do a part finished one, and asked where the SWA banjos were. I was told they werent required, as the boxes are plastic. When I pointed out that it was to protect the outgoing cable, I was told to not bother as it was the last day on site. They all got a rocket up their backsides because of that. Not the type of people you'd want wiring anything without supervision, yet they had their Gold Cards!

Zs said:

What I'm seeing in this conversation is trauma.  I was planning to get it all bagged before posting but the support thing, you know.  People must be leaving in droves?  I know what you do and how well you do it Tatty - it must have been a backward step for you. Did you have to do this despite being registered with the NIC and not letting it go?  I sort of thought I was in this situation because I gave my registration up for a couple of years.   So is this affecting everyone with our type of qualification and industry experience?    Mine is almost identical to yours - 2360 2391 etc. and I have the 2396. 

I've done this because - in September last year - the NICEIC effectively said (my interpretation here) that I'm not qualified without this........I can remain as a QS going forward but should I wish to change roles or let my membership lapse, then back into the unqualified bin I shall go. 

I have the 2396 too - so tried to go straight for the JIB black card, but it seems you have to get the gold card first? 

The NICEIC - in the industries I find my self running around in these last 10 years especially, seems to be becoming less and less valuable and the JIB more and more valuable. I've lost a couple of contracts because I'm not JIB and not a JIB company so I need to move towards JIB anyway.

Also I see individual competency being unavoidable in the near future where we will all have to be able prove individual competencies........which is OK, tentatively; I fear, though, this will turn into licencing and we'll also all get pigeonholed into sectors of the electrical world that we are "licenced" to do. So if my card says I'm a domestic electrician for example, I'll be barred from doing commercial, or BMS, or simply install fire alarms or what ever the case might be. "Thin edge" and "wedge" come to mind.....Certainly in bigger commercial sites only the JIB gold card has ever held any relevance for the individual electricians working on the project. For myself, a black card would be more useful, so I'll probably try to sort that out next. (assuming I pass the AM2E and get approved for a gold card of course)

Kind Regards

Tatty