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Article published: January 2012
Building - Electrical

Overview
Construction is the UK’s biggest industry, responsible for £81 billion of outputs (£203 billion turnover) every year and up to 8% of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is three times the contribution of agriculture and makes it larger than any single manufacturing industry. The sector accounts for half the UK’s total investment, and employs around 2.4 million people in over 700 types of job.

THE SECTOR AT A GLANCE

2.4 million
number of people employed in the UK construction industry

175,000
number of construction firms in the UK

100,000
target number of workers to be qualified to NVQ 2 standard each year

95%
percentage of construction firms employing fewer than ten people

50,000
average number of new recruits required every year over the next four years

Skills analysis reveals a significant shortage in managerial positions. Although the highest skills requirement is currently for workers with wood trade skills, there is also demand for managers, clerical staff, architects, engineers, and other design and technical professionals. A major concern is the lack of young entrants into an ageing workforce. According to ConstructionSkills (the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry) an average of 50,000 construction workers will be required a year over the next four years, allowing for replacement as well as new jobs, in line with workforce turnover (however, most of this increase will take place from 2011 onwards, as output begins to grow again). Construction growth is expected to shift from the north to the south and east.

Building trades skills gained in the Services

Apart from a handful of people employed in units to carry out minor carpentry and repair jobs, and Army pioneers who have basic building skills, all three Services rely on the Royal Engineers for construction. Non-commissioned ranks will have completed anything from NVQs at level 2 in basic training and level 3 after higher training, to an apprenticeship. Trades vary from surveyor to plant operator, and from draughtsman to bricklayer.

A brief overview of craft careers

Craftsmen and women are the people who actually make things. Some major skills in which they are trained include:

  • electrical installation and maintenance
  • plumbing
  • bricklaying
  • plastering
  • carpentry and joinery (woodworking)
  • gas installation and maintenance.

We will look at each of these in turn.

Electrical installation and maintenance

Electrical engineers deal with power generation and power supply. Modern manufacturing techniques tend to make replacement of a faulty component more cost-effective for the consumer than mending it in situ. Much of the traditional role of the maintenance engineer has therefore changed, with removal and reinstallation the norm. For electrical engineering, the basic requirement is 17th Edition Wiring Regulations, which shows that the individual knows the necessary regulations and how to use them – it is virtually impossible to start in the industry without it. The next step may be the Inspection and Testing of Electrical Installation award and, after that, further qualifications to level 4 and beyond through Energy & Utility Skills – the Sector Skills Council for electricity, gas, waste management and water – and other bodies.

ConstructionSkills estimates that there will be a growing need for qualified electricians over the next two years, so the prospects are good. However, those Service people wishing to qualify as a civilian electrician will find that this involves a significant amount of study/training (even if, while serving, they have been an electrical fitter or mechanic, or even an electrical artificer). Would-be electricians must pass the Electrotechnical Services NVQ at level 3. You may be able to qualify through an apprenticeship scheme with an electrical contractor, but the range of apprenticeships available will depend on the local jobs market and the types of skills employers need from their workers. If you are not eligible for such a scheme, you could learn the theory and some of the practical skills needed for the NVQ by taking the City & Guilds Technical Certificate in Electrotechnical Technology, levels 2 and 3, at a college. However, to become fully qualified you must complete the work-based NVQ. Industry bodies strongly recommend that you gain a placement or employment with an electrical contractor as soon as possible after you start the Certificate, so that you can complete the NVQ.

Electrical safety, Part P and the ‘competent persons’ scheme

Part P of the Building Regulations states that certain types of household electrical work must, by law, be approved by a certified contractor or building inspector. For domestic installers – those who carry out electrical work within the home, including installation and replacement of electrical components, installing and/or re-routing cables and lighting installations – to be able to carry out such work and self-certify, it is a legal requirement for them to be registered on a ‘competent persons’ scheme – otherwise known as ‘Part P’.

In order to become registered, an application is made to a scheme provider by completing and returning an application form. (Companies that run such schemes include NAPIT, NICEIC, ELECSA and BSi.) On receipt of the completed form, the scheme provider will arrange to send an inspector to the applicant’s place of work to assess their compliance with BS7671 and visit a selection of recently completed installations. On passing this assessment and being registered as a ‘competent person’ the installer is permitted to certify his or her own work (self-certify). Thereafter, the scheme provider is notified following each completed installation and keeps records of completed work, which it can provide as required to local authorities and customers. Individuals pay an annual fee to the provider to remain registered on the ‘competent persons’ scheme.

Training courses are available that will help installers pass this assessment. As a minimum, a scheme provider will require candidates to have their City & Guilds 2382-10 17th Edition Wiring Regulations and, ideally, City & Guilds 2392-10 Testing and Inspection. If you are thinking about training to become a domestic electrician by taking one of the intensive full-time courses available, it is worth checking that the modules include those qualifications required to meet the Part P standard – but always check with the provider before committing to a course.

 

The Construction Skills Certification Scheme


The CSCS was set up to help the construction industry improve quality and reduce accidents. CSCS cards are increasingly demanded as proof of occupational competence by contractors, public and private clients and others. They cover hundreds of construction-related occupations so there is a card suitable for all roles (for example, ‘Craft and Operative’ cards include those for bricklayers, carpenters and joiners, formworkers and plasterers). More than 1.6 million cards have been issued to date.

To find out more, visit: www.cscs.uk.com

Training

Many of the trades discussed above are learned on the job, but the construction industry has training schemes that combine working and education to produce qualifications that the individual can build up over time to develop expertise in a particular area. While one person might start by learning the basics of a trade, and go on to become an expert in a particular part of it, another might build a portfolio in a number of skills to qualify them for supervisory and then general management.

ConstructionSkills’ National Construction College is a network of colleges training and assessing construction skills throughout the UK. It is increasingly becoming necessary to hold registration or certification of competence and/or training in particular aspects of building skills to obtain employment in the industry.

The industry has its own vocational qualifications, apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships, and a construction apprentice scheme for the younger entrant. Ambitious people can start by gaining vocational qualifications in any of these trades while working as a craftsman or woman, develop their skills through technical training, perhaps gaining certificates or diplomas, eventually becoming fully professionally qualified, with a degree. 
  

KEY contacts

General
Find out more about the Building and Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council (BATJIC), via the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), Gordon Fisher House, 14–15 Great James Street, London WC1N 3DP Tel: 020 7242 7583 Website: www.fmb.org.uk

Electrical installation and maintenance
SEMTA (Sector Skills Council for Science Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies), 14 Upton Road, Watford, Herts WD18 0JT Tel: 01923 238441
Website: www.semta.org.uk

Joint Industry Board, Kingswood House, 47/51 Sidcup Hill, Sidcup, Kent DA14 6HP Tel: 020 8302 0031 Website: www.jib.org.uk

City & Guilds, 1 Giltspur Street, London EC1A 9DD
Tel: 0844 543 0000 Website: www.cityandguilds.com Twitter: @city_and_guilds


Resettlement Training
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Tradeskills4u Ltd Trade Skills 4U offer the full range of electrical courses and renewable energy courses. ...West SussexProfile
Able Skills What electrical qualifications and experience will employers look for? There are many electricial...LondonProfile
Taiga Training Ltd Air Conditioning & Refrigeration NVQ’s Technical Theory Basic to Advanced Electri...NATIONWIDEvisit websiteProfile
EBO ACTIVITIES LTD NIC EIC Domestic Installers Scheme Qualification (DISQ) Including Part 'P' Cith & Gui...CornwallProfile
West Anglia Training Association Limited NEBOSH National Diploma, Certificate and International CertificateCambridgeshireProfile
Clarkson Evans Training Ltd During the course candidates will be given the opportunity to achieve the following industry-recog...GloucestershireProfile
Construction Skills College We offer a number of accredited training courses and qualifications in plastering, plumbing, ...Staffordshire,
West Midlands
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MET-UKMulti Skilled Gas Engineer: - City & Guilds 6132 Certificate in Domestic Natural Gas Installation & ...South YorkshireProfile
GasTec Construction Skills is acknowledged, by many, as the most prestigious certification body within t...BuckinghamshireProfile
EBO ACTIVITIES LTD City and Guilds 17th Edition Wiring RegulationsCornwallProfile

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