Hands on: Installation Electrician

Michael Ord, Supported Employment Manager at MET-UK, explains the ins and outs of the job of installation electrician

The construction industry is booming, and between 1997 and 2002 its total value rose from £55 billion to over £80 billion a year. Coupled with industry-wide skilled labour shortages, this continuing boom means that qualified trades people are at a premium. Many companies approach training providers to gain access to the best new entrants, and technical trades like electrical installation are increasingly in demand.

MoD Service leavers have a very strong reputation with civilian employers. Compare a young school leaver to a highly motivated, disciplined and enthusiastic Service leaver and you can see the attraction. Working as an installation electrician, for example, may enable you to overlay some of your Armed Forces skills, while an intensive retraining plan can help to convert Service experience into industry-recognised qualifications leading to employment.

Installation electricians install, inspect and test wiring systems in buildings. This may involve stripping out old systems and replacing them with new wiring or it may mean installing a new system. In new buildings they follow architects’ drawings showing where the electrical equipment has to be installed. They may also have to lift floorboards, bend and cut conduit (metal and PVC piping) and fix equipment to walls.

Once it has been installed, maintenance electricians maintain and repair the electrical equipment used in factories, or large manufacturing or engineering companies; while production electricians put together complex electrical and electronic appliances such as control panels or electric motors.

In fact, an installation electrician can expect to work within the construction industry installing, maintaining and repairing electrical equipment and systems in domestic, commercial and industrial buildings. They often work on dirty construction sites in all sorts of weather conditions and, as sites are all over the country, may need to get up early to travel to work.

They work closely with other crafts people like carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, painters and decorators. They need to communicate with these other trades to ensure that clashes, conflicts and problems do not occur, like chasing walls to install flush sockets after they have been painted.

Three main bodies manage the electrical contracting industry:

1. Summit Skills (the Sector Skills Council), which publishes the national standards from which NVQs are developed

2. the Joint Industry Board, which regulates labour by specifying wage rates and working terms and conditions; it also operates the national grading scheme for electricians, who should all hold a valid JIB card at the appropriate grade

3. City & Guilds offers the current technical certificate, which can be used to accredit the knowledge requirements of the NVQ; the current qualification is C&G 2330 and some other C&G qualifications that may be used as part of the NVQ process include C&G 2351 and C&G 2360 (the Crediting Electro-technical Competence (CEC) scheme is covered below).

One route into the industry is a full four-year Apprenticeship leading to City & Guilds 2330 – Electrotechnical Technology (Levels 2 & 3). Training includes on-site experience and practical/theoretical training. The current qualification held by skilled electricians is the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at Level 3.

However, this is not compatible with the resettlement time-frame. With this in mind, your resettlement retraining should be undertaken with a view to continuous development to Level 3, and one possibility is the newly developed intensive C&G 2330 Technical Certificate at Level 2. This qualification does not yet fit in the resettlement window, but delivery methods that may fit are in development.

The course is likely to be a mix of intensive practical and theoretical training, and work placement with an industry employer. For the non-electrician, this would be a good start and lead to Level 3 qualifications by transferring (through CEC) qualifications and experience coupled with C&G qualifications:

• 2391 – Inspection, Testing and Certification of Installations
• 2380 – 16th Edition Wiring Regulations.

Somebody with an electrical background in the Forces may be able to ‘CEC’ their qualifications directly to their civilian equivalents. They could then increase their employability by completing the qualifications above. (Further information on CEC may be obtained from Summit Skills, while Health & Safety qualifications are also recommended.)

Typical hourly pay rates for electrical employees for the London area vary from £9.24 for an adult trainee (over 21) with employer-provided transport, to £15.11 for a technician providing their own transport. As productivity rises with experience, so should the salary.

Many Service leavers aim at self-employment. Most electrical businesses are very small (one to five people). After two to three years’ industry experience, you may be in a position to consider self-employment because you can then control your workload and earning potential.

For more information, contact Michael Ord or Faye Croxford at MET-UK, Freefone 0800 5427201 or 01709 70525. Alternatively, you can e-mail faye.c@met-uk.com or mod@met-uk.com , or visit the website at www.met-uk.com