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SPARKSAFE ARRIVES ON THE MAINLAND

John Peckham
I saw the announcement at the Elex show in Harrogate that NAPIT had formed a partnership with Sparksafe. I assume all NAPIT registered contractors will gain automatic status for the License to Practice without needing the qualifications for direct membership?


I did hear that a well known rail contractor walked away from a contract as they did not have enough operatives that met the LtP criteria.


I am thinking that if it did gain traction a lot of contractors would be in the brown stuff as they would no longer be able to use cheap unqualified labour.


Google Sparksafe to see what it is all about. They don't seem to have many members at the moment.
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    Zs:

    For those of you that don't know, I'm a lady and I've been knocking about around this block for years and done rather well thanks to this forum.  So, these fellas call me and ask things like 'is twin and earth low smoke and fume and can I use it in a house?'.  I'll check stuff or them, maybe fish out an old spread sheet or  tell them to use this forum. They don't, I have noticed that.




    Zs, I'm glad that you are alive and kickin'.


    What a wonderful forum this is - loads of advice when you ask for it; the questions keep you up to date; and it's free! ?

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    I'm not overly comfortable with the use of the term 'licence' as given the commonly understood meaning of the term (e.g. driving licence) it could be interpreted to mean that anyone who is not part of the scheme and is therefore 'unlicenced' and is doing something illegal by undertaking electrical work, when (subject to the requirements of EAWR Regulation 16 being met) this is not the case.


    I'm all for the raising of the the academic and practical standards within the electrical industry - however it seems there is a proliferation of schemes each with a different purpose and scope, which are often poorly understood within the industry, let alone by clients and potential clients.


    Answers on a postcard? ?
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    I started college two evenings a week in September 1999, passed the C&G 2360 part 1 in August 2000, part 2 in 2001 then the 16th In Jan 2002, inspection and testing in May 2002 and the Design, erection and verification in July 2003.


    That was what I agreed I would do as evening classes over three years with the head of department at the college back in September 1999. We had a discussion about the NVQ which I would have to have funded myself along with the courses I did for as I was over the age of twenty seven at that time. The head of department said it was highly unlikely that anyone would ever expect me to have a NVQ given my age, but one day I might have to do the AM2.


    Unofficially I did the AM2 in the college workshop, but the college had lost its registration at a NVQ centre which meant I would have needed to go to another college to do it as a officially. With everything else that was going on in my life that never happened, but actually it would not have been enough to now join Sparksafe as they are stating 1999 as the cut off date for gaining the 2360 Parts 1&2 and AM2 saying I need a full NVQ.


    I don’t think I will be bothering to trying to get a NVQ to join Sparksafe twenty years after deciding to give it a miss back in 1999, if it had just been a matter of doing the AM2 I may of given it  bit more consideration, but probably not for long.


    Apart from that, claiming they are a licensing authority seems a bit rich.


     Andy
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    jcm:

    That appears to be NI scheme spreading to the mainland.


    sparksafeltp.co.uk/.../


    Myself , I have just re-registered as MIET and REng with EC ,but JIB is gold card renewal is it now worth all this bother. 

    From 01 July 2019, any existing Installation or Maintenance Electrician gold card holders who have let their card lapse for more than a year will be required to renew as a Registered Electrician. 


    www.jib.org.uk/changes-to-the-ecs-card-scheme-from-2019

    regards

    jcm


     




    What is R Eng? Nothing on google?

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    However, it seems like I may not have to sort out a NVQ or do an AM2 twenty years after he main event if you read what is being said:


    ”NAPIT have committed to endorsing the SparkSafe LtP model and we will be working closely with them in the coming months to develop a fourth Licence type, which brings together the qualifications, requirements and the UKAS accredited certification body technical onsite assessment model operated by NAPIT. NAPIT members who meet the qualification requirements of SparkSafe’s Qualified Electrician and have been technically assessed onsite will be awarded the higher standard fourth Licence type."


    It all depends on what criteria they decide the fourth type of electrician needs as qualifications along with a name for them.


    I should point out I had it straight from the top that the proposed plumbing competent person scheme failed to get off the ground because the government insisted that scheme entrants had to have a NVQ 3 and there aren’t enough plumbers in the country with a NVQ 3 to get a plumbing CPS going.


     I do wonder if anyone actually knows the qualifications most electricians have? I suspect less than a third of the electricians in England and Wales have a NVQ 3.


    May the fourth be with you ?


    Andy
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    To me, it screams SCAM!! very loudly. It looks to be very very parasitic in nature and in it's objectives. 'Those that can't - create a scheme instead'.
  • 0


    Russell Bulley asked  What is R Eng? Nothing on google?

    That was just a dig, onetime REng was suggested to replace the meanless name IEng.   So should have said IEng.  Another post (Feedback and questions) Re: Australia. RPEng is going shortly to become mandato.. They have nice certificates for CEng and IEng on their web site was wondering how they will handle IEng when it will be mandatory to be a RPEng. Or will they be still classed as second class.

    Please go back to sparksafe land it is more interesting.

    regards

    jcm

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    tattyinengland:

    If an NVQ3 is required to be qualified then I could not join (Much the same as a JIB scheme)- I only ever did level 1 &2 and then inspection and testing and then 16 years experience in commercial environments.


    The problem is that I'm the director of a small electrical company, the NICEIC QS (10 years this year) and in charge of health and safety (No H&S qualifications I just implement what my H&S advisers tell me to)


    We primarily do Commercial office installs from lighting to sockets, DBs of any size or shape, small to large chillers, plant rooms, controls etc etc and I advise the clients within my limitations.


    All for want of an NVQ3 I cannot join JIB or probably Sparksafe. It is very hard to get an NVQ3 as a stand alone qualification; I was doing it over the internet a few years ago and that company went into administration before I could complete. I could not be bothered after that.






    I suspect with your level of experience you would only need some 'competent' person to shadow your work for a couple of days across a couple of sites doing a variety of work and sign off your write ups. Then submit the portfolio to an awarding body. If only it was that simple. The problem is that the definition of clown and competent gets confused which then over complicates a rather basic assessment process.


    Legh

  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member

    Sparkingchip:

    However, it seems like I may not have to sort out a NVQ or do an AM2 twenty years after he main event if you read what is being said:


    ”NAPIT have committed to endorsing the SparkSafe LtP model and we will be working closely with them in the coming months to develop a fourth Licence type, which brings together the qualifications, requirements and the UKAS accredited certification body technical onsite assessment model operated by NAPIT. NAPIT members who meet the qualification requirements of SparkSafe’s Qualified Electrician and have been technically assessed onsite will be awarded the higher standard fourth Licence type."


    It all depends on what criteria they decide the fourth type of electrician needs as qualifications along with a name for them.


    I should point out I had it straight from the top that the proposed plumbing competent person scheme failed to get off the ground because the government insisted that scheme entrants had to have a NVQ 3 and there aren’t enough plumbers in the country with a NVQ 3 to get a plumbing CPS going.


     I do wonder if anyone actually knows the qualifications most electricians have? I suspect less than a third of the electricians in England and Wales have a NVQ 3.


    May the fourth be with you ?


     




    Hi Andy presuming your quote is from this link there doesn't seem to be any relaxation of the rules for napits registered 'members'? :

    https://www.napit.org.uk/news/article/napit-endorse-sparksafe-ltp.aspx


     

  • 0
    You mean it will be for premier league electricians, the best of the best?


    That's me out then.

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