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Dazed and Confused………

This is a tale of two (or several) “august” bodies.

We had an interesting series of events recently which we feel you might be interested in, and yes, it’s that hoary old chestnut; when do you need to be qualified to the 17th edition.

According to the document that is in the public domain, otherwise known as the Electrotechnical assessment specification (EAS) published by the IET. Amongst other things, it provides useful guidance on things like scope and responsibilities as well as information on test equipment. Bedtime reading it isn’t but, in the sub text and on page 9, paragraph 11.11 (sorry if we are sounding like Judge John Deed!), it highlights the requirements relating to a Qualified Supervisor, and in particular, the requirements to have adequate knowledge, and to quote directly from the document, paragraph 11.11 states very clearly:
“A proposed Qualified Supervisor shall be required to hold an appropriate BS 7671: 2008 qualification awarded by a body regulated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority or the Scottish Qualifications Authority within 12 months of acceptance by the Certification or Registration Body”…….and here it get interesting, because paragraph 11.12 goes onto to say “Registered Qualified Supervisors shall be required to hold an appropriate BS 7671: 2008 qualification awarded by a body regulated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority or the Scottish Qualifications Authority by the first surveillance visit after 31 December 2010, but by no later than 31 December 2011″…….

And it gets even better!. To quote Alan Wells, head of the electrotechnical business unit at the NICEIC, he says in the very latest issue of Electrical Engineering, “we should all maintain continuous professional development and keep abreast of changes to regulations whilst striving to improve and raise standards of fixed electrical installation work.”. But that wasn’t all. Hew went on to say something else which was a critical comment, it may have slipped under the radar so to speak; what he confirmed was that as we had suspected all along, that the NICEIC requires that all qualified supervisors will have to undertaken and achieved (passed!) a qualification that shows that the person concerned has a good understanding of the 17th edition.

So there you have it………and please don’t shoot the messenger….we are only here to try and clarify what is at the very least a confusing picture.

We will be back next month with another gem, no doubt!