Do CPS schemes like NICEIC and NAPIT have a duty of care to get their members over the line?

Do CPS (Competent Person Schemes)like NICEIC and NAPIT have a duty of care to get their members over the line?


Qualifications Guide (June 2025) for EAS Appendix 4 - Mandatory Technical Competence Requirements by Work Category
Produced by The Electrotechnical Skills Partnership
on behalf of the EAS Management Committee

Should the CPS be helping their members meet the requirements for EAS in the correct way?
Do the CPS even know the statistics for which of their members meet the requirements?
What about Non-CPS members, will they by default lose their title of electrician even if they have been doing the job for twenty or so years?

The UK electrical industry as a whole needs to increase its numbers but it seems there are many people who will fall foul of the system which means they will have to take complex routes to maintain their status as an electrician.  There are many electricians out there in the UK who do not own/possess a gold card or the requirements for a gold card.  

In my opinion I think that the CPS and industry as a whole have duty of care to work on a system that helps get the people that are 3/4 or less qualified to the qualifies status without it being a massive financial burden on the electrician itself.  As an example there are several well know YouTube electricians who don't have an NVQ but they have many hours of video showing their work, thus industry lead body or representative should asses their skill and convert the hours of YouTube videos (other social media platforms are available) into the NVQ and get them one stage close to Gold Card status.  

If the industry and the CPS do not help it members then there will be a very accelerated natural attrition of the UK electrician because when they go and renew the next membership or BS7671 19th edition they will no longer meet the requirements for entry of that course or membership. 


I do understand the reason for having the EAS showing the requirements for title/role but whole construction and engineer industry needs to help.  I recently heard of a plasterer who was teaching and working but was refused a a certification card for their trade.  

I wonder how many Electrical tutors there are in FE colleges in the UK?  Of those how many are fully qualified as an Electrician according to the EAS so that they are qualified to teach the courses?  I suspect it is highly possible that some tutors may need to sit there AM2 and/or produce a NVQ portfolio.




As always please be polite and respectful in this purely academic debate.





Come on everybody let’s help inspire the future.

Parents
  • To be honest I have never bothered with any of this nonsense.I did my 16th ed and my 2391 when I went self employed back in 2003 and have left it at that.

    Moving forward I just bought the various 'guide to' when the regs changed. Many others have followed suit and are shunning the courses and assessments which conrpise of 75% on the likes of how to put on a hi viz vest and how to use a ladder the right way round, with the other 25% (if you're lucky) comprising of actual electrical content. The whole thing has become a sham. We had none of this nonsense back in the 70s when I did my G&Gs - it was taken as read that each uneducated candidate possessed the requisite amount of common sense from day 1.

    Two guys I formerly worked with when we all worked for the same company and subseqeuntly left after I did, went for NIC Approved contractor status and that was it. They stuck it for around 10 years and jacked the NIC in altogther. No one gives a monkeys about the scams because they see them for what they truly are. NIC, CIS, all of these mysterious acronyms and the likes of gold card lanyard holdesr are just a load of tosh.

    It need only bother someone is they go to work on a over-regualted building site. For the self employed like me who doesn't do housing estates, the whole thing has become a complete nonsense and is best left ignored. I work on domestic, industrial and commercila and have never been asked for anything.

Reply
  • To be honest I have never bothered with any of this nonsense.I did my 16th ed and my 2391 when I went self employed back in 2003 and have left it at that.

    Moving forward I just bought the various 'guide to' when the regs changed. Many others have followed suit and are shunning the courses and assessments which conrpise of 75% on the likes of how to put on a hi viz vest and how to use a ladder the right way round, with the other 25% (if you're lucky) comprising of actual electrical content. The whole thing has become a sham. We had none of this nonsense back in the 70s when I did my G&Gs - it was taken as read that each uneducated candidate possessed the requisite amount of common sense from day 1.

    Two guys I formerly worked with when we all worked for the same company and subseqeuntly left after I did, went for NIC Approved contractor status and that was it. They stuck it for around 10 years and jacked the NIC in altogther. No one gives a monkeys about the scams because they see them for what they truly are. NIC, CIS, all of these mysterious acronyms and the likes of gold card lanyard holdesr are just a load of tosh.

    It need only bother someone is they go to work on a over-regualted building site. For the self employed like me who doesn't do housing estates, the whole thing has become a complete nonsense and is best left ignored. I work on domestic, industrial and commercila and have never been asked for anything.

Children
  • It need only bother someone is they go to work on a over-regualted building site. For the self employed like me who doesn't do housing estates, the whole thing has become a complete nonsense and is best left ignored. I work on domestic, industrial and commercila and have never been asked for anything.

    Exactly.

    In answer to Sergio's question, no. That is not their purpose.