New ECS License To Practice?

[Joshua]

ECS Card News | ECS Scheme - https://www.ecscard.org.uk/News/ECS-to-embrace-the-18th-Edition

After reading this article about the ECS planning to incorporated the 18th Edition in to the ECS Test, (I'm assuming they're just going to offer it as a separate test so you can get it on your card if you haven't got the formal qualification), at the bottom of the article it says something a long the lines of 'This is one step closer to introducing a license to practice"

So it looks like in the next coming years we'll all end up paying another yearly fee just so we can go to work.

 

[Octopus]

Whilst Bob down the pub, Barry the builder, Gary the gas man, Kev the kitchen fitter crack on doing rubbish work.....

Yup... another scheme isn't going to help.

 

[Specialist]

@Jay: You already do mate, it's called tax & insurance.
They keep adding on crap like licences etc, people won't be able to afford to work.

 

[telectrix]

an ECS card showing qualifications should form a licence to work in the industry, irrespective of any scam membership, and scrap LABCs involvment with part pee. a £50/year subscription should cover it.

 

[Toneyz]

an ECS card showing qualifications should form a licence to work in the industry, irrespective of any scam membership, and scrap LABCs involvment with part pee. a £50/year subscription should cover it.

This is what I have been saying in a roundabout way in other posts regarding this subject, but I'm not sure about a watered down version of the 18th regs exam.

 

[Specialist]

Surely before they introduce a Qualification based Licence to work, they need to put the framework in place, to ensure those qualifications mean the same nationwide.
From what I've seen, training is not always equal. A lot of it is about getting bums on seats & out the door as that's how colleges get paid.
You may have an NVQ 3 for example taught in 5 different places. Bet if you assessed trainees from each that had passed, they'd all be at different skill levels.
Exactly the same would happen with the C & G.

 

[Joshua]

Surely before they introduce a Qualification based Licence to work, they need to put the framework in place, to ensure those qualifications mean the same nationwide.
From what I've seen, training is not always equal. A lot of it is about getting bums on seats & out the door as that's how colleges get paid.
You may have an NVQ 3 for example taught in 5 different places. Bet if you assessed trainees from each that had passed, they'd all be at different skill levels.
Exactly the same would happen with the C & G.

I completely agree with you.

for example, I've got my Gold card but I still have a lot to learn while I'm working next to guys who have more experience and knowledge. There's a guy who has his 2391, 17th Edition and a HND but he can't get a gold card because he's not taken pictures at work of him working.
I find it very funny that this system allows me to have a gold card but not someone who has the 2391, which in my opinion should be the benchmark for a gold card not a portfolio of pictures that can be faked.

 

[Specialist]

Hi Jay: Had the disparity in training brought home to me a few years back, so happens the firm I was working for had 3 apprentices all at different colleges. We got to talking about their training one day & although all three were at the same point in college, their training & knowledge levels were a lot different.
We sat listening to them talking about what they were being taught & were surprised by the differences in the way they were being taught & levels they were at despite having all just passed year two.

In one of the colleges, the electrical course was being taught by someone not Electrically qualified who was teaching from course notes. Any problems the students had, were referred to another lecturer & may or may not get resolved.
Depending on how much work he had on with his own students.

 

[Joshua]

Hi Jay: Had the disparity in training brought home to me a few years back, so happens the firm I was working for had 3 apprentices all at different colleges. We got to talking about their training one day & although all three were at the same point in college, their training & knowledge levels were a lot different.
We sat listening to them talking about what they were being taught & were surprised by the differences in the way they were being taught & levels they were at despite having all just passed year two.

In one of the colleges, the electrical course was being taught by someone not Electrically qualified who was teaching from course notes. Any problems the students had, were referred to another lecturer & may or may not get resolved.
Depending on how much work he had on with his own students.

I had a similar experience with my level 2, we were given someone else's coarse work to copy in our own words. . . I now have an NVQ level 2 in Performing Engineering Operations that I honestly don't remember doing and we were pretty much dragged through our 2330 level 2 practical.

I started working 6 years ago after finishing college with my 2330 level 2 and level 3, Nvq level 1 and 2 in Performing Engineering Operations and I had no clue what I was doing, I finished my NVQ level 3 last year and because I had my 2330 level 3 I didn't have to do any of the knowledge questions and because I had done the old NVQ (Enrolled for it in 2013) I was except from doing the AM2.

Now luckily I've taken it upon myself to make sure I know everything I'm meant to know at this stage but it's worrying that if I wanted I could have blagged my way a gold card, done a 1 day part p course and then started working in somebody's house without any supervision... I'd probably end up becoming a domestic installer with the NIC and nobody would have stopped me because if you complain to one of these schemes they don't do anything.

 

[Specialist]

Nice to see someone honest enough to admit that, well done mate.
Nice to see you've got the gumption to do something about it & bring yourself up to the standard of training your college should have brought you to.
We've all seen the results of work done by people who've done the training, got the paperwork & then set themselves on the unsuspecting public. It's not pretty.
Sadly this isn't a recent thing, it's been going on for many years.
Good luck with what your doing, hope you do well at it.

 

[Risteard]

This is what I have been saying in a roundabout way in other posts regarding this subject, but I'm not sure about a watered down version of the 18th regs exam.

That's not what they said though - they simply stated that they would like to promote the ECS (JIB) card as a Licence to Practice in the long term - this is nothing to do with the 18th Edition or simply holding a qualification pertaining to it.

 

[Risteard]

I find it very funny that this system allows me to have a gold card but not someone who has the 2391, which in my opinion should be the benchmark for a gold card not a portfolio of pictures that can be faked.

As a holder of both 2391-10 (Inspection & Testing) and 2391-20 (Design, Erection & Verification) I don't agree - these are simply add-on qualifications to the basic Electrician's qualification which is the NVQ - this is the one which proves on-site experience etc.

 

[Joshua]

As a holder of both 2391-10 (Inspection & Testing) and 2391-20 (Design, Erection & Verification) I don't agree - these are simply add-on qualifications to the basic Electrician's qualification which is the NVQ - this is the one which proves on-site experience etc.

don't get me wrong I think you Should have the NVQ along side the 2391 to have a gold card. There's a lot of installation Electricians who can install but can't test effectively, I'm one of them.

I also believe that under the right circumstances someone should be able to skip the NVQ if they've got the 2391 and relevant experience.
I'd even go as far as saying the AM2 and 2391 hold more clout together than just the NVQ.

 

[Deleted member 26818]

Not sure what exactly is being discussed here?
As far as I can see, the link is to a statement by the ECS that they are gearing up for the 18th Exam to be a requirement to obtain a card.
No different from the current requirement to hold the 17th, or the previous requirement to hold the 16th.

 

[Risteard]

Not sure what exactly is being discussed here?
As far as I can see, the link is to a statement by the ECS that they are gearing up for the 18th Exam to be a requirement to obtain a card.
No different from the current requirement to hold the 17th, or the previous requirement to hold the 16th.

Essentially that is all that is stated there, however it also states that they wish to push the ECS/JIB card as a licence to practice (in the future) - however this was wrongly interpreted by the OP as suggesting that the 18th Edition qualification was the standard for achieving this licence to practice which wasn't the case. The same criteria will apply for achieving a JIB card.