2394/5 Advise please.

[jonny705]

Good Afternoon, and Hello to everyone out there!

Am currently self employed with a friend and do general building work for last 7 years or more.

Looking for a new direction as such , as getting older and seem to ache a lot more in the mornings!

And work is just too erratic, really busy then nothing, just tired of it TBH.

Thought of doing a intensive 2394/5 course but at around 2k its not cheap!

I look at the 'on the books', jobs by me - qualified to 17th edition £11 an hour , 2391 or 94/5 £16 an hour.

That's a big difference ,and I guess its because the overall poor pass rate is that its accepted that its not easy to pass.

Also just watching the amount of application's via REED Agency, there seems to be very few or Inspection & Testing, yet loads for 'normal sparky'.

Basically then, retrain, and have a better chance of getting a job, as fewer applicants, and a much potentially higher wage.

And, is there are decent market for just inspection and testing jobs?

 

[telectrix]

2394/5 courses are cheaper at local college.

 

[Jay Sparks]

Are you already a qualified electrician? If not, then I would advise you NOT to take the 2394/95 course. In fact I don't believe you can do it without being qualified (although, there will be some money grabbing training centers out there that will take your money.lol) I would suggest getting your quals first, then think about I & T courses.

If you are a qualified sparks, ignore my previous comment above and do as tel says, ask your local college. You may find they are doing them both for around £700 ish!!

Inspection & Testing, (if done properly) is NOT easy and even some qualified electricians can struggle with the concept!!lol

Jay

 

[jonny705]

Passed my 2360 years ago , i never offically took the 17th edition, but bought all the books and worked to it, along with providing test certificates, my business (electrical wise) mainly consists of things like new kitchens, extending circuits etc which normally required a new board and uprated earthing, which i done before the 17th anyway,as RCD were best invention ever IMO for avoiding death, and fitted them the first time i ever done a C/B, then always went for seperate RCBO when they became resonably priced,before that too became a requirement , as hated nuicence tripping, which you get in many old houses.(and thus take all sockets out etc).

Started to do 2391 course appox 8 years ago , as knew zilch about testing other than using a resistance meter.

Tutor, advised me to get myself a tester (i bought a megger 1502) and practice and swot up as unlikely pass with no experiance, but would be good for any future attemps.

Built a test rig, in my shed to the best i could manage to mirror C&G one i had seen. (no 415v!) and practiced and swotted up with about 5 test books and revised longer than i ever had before!

3 of us out of a class of nearly 30 passed the theory (Coventry Butts Tech), but i still had no 415v experiance, so was reluctent to take practical , at that point.

But no worries as was told I had paid and could come back and take Pratical when knowledge was better.

Eventually was able to get some 3 phase experiance, as I worked in a maintance factory with 415v welders, cranes, compressors, exposed live bus bars etc, very steep learning curve to say the least, but survived!

However Coventry tech had moved to new premises, not set up C&G Test rig at that point, so never got round to taking pratical, and then it changed to new 2394/5!

Hence postion i am in now.

 

[SJD]

As already mentioned, there is no need to pay £2k for these courses, a local college will likely offer them at less than half this. It might be a bit more spread out over a number of weeks, compared to some commercial training centre trying to do them in a week or two, but this is not a bad thing, if you are not too familiar with testing and inspection, it takes time to digest everything.

I'm not aware there is any restriction on anyone signing up and taking these exams, but as you already know, the pass rates are not high. Partly I think this is due to a lot of people attempting these courses and exams, when they don't have enough understanding of the basics. For example, if you are not familiar with concepts like earth fault loop impedance or RCD disconnection times, it is pointless trying to learn how to test them.

 

[Essex_]

If you are looking to pay this £2k then demand even £11 per hour I would say that that would be unrealistic. I am assuming you have no previous electrical experience/qualifications though.

 

[jonny705]

Hi Again .

Thanks for prompt advice, from everyone.

Unfortunately Coventry Tech , don't run 2391 equivalent anymore Warwick/Rugby/L.Spa only do 2394 @£800 approx. but no 2395.

The only place I can find locally is a Coventry Building Workshop in Baton road Exhall .

Have done quite a bit of various electrical work such as CCTV, Electronic Door engineer, Alarm's, and only got the jobs because of having 2360, and could connect to C/B etc.

Also have all my install certs on PC and have done quite a lot of Periodic for estate Agents in past.

Also done a few shop EICR reports, for Coventry Council, I try and find everything wrong ( much to the annoyance of Landlords :hurray and want at least half a day access to an empty property when doing it for Estate Agents.

They are always surprised at time I require, and say most people only need a couple hours, which I personally don't think is long enough for a thorough test!

The main lack of experience for me is multiple sub-boards in industrial type environment as done mostly domestic.

Is there a market for mainly domestic testers do you think?

I have seen most of the bodges in Domestic stuff, and had a fair few faults which I eventually find.

Just am quite pedantic, and honestly think it suits me.

Also have arthritis in 3 fingers from twisting too many wires! and its really painful n Winter!

 

[Leesparkykent]

Electrical Training Courses and Qualifications. Become an Electrician.?Coventry Building Workshop

grand here +VAT not 2grand

 

[Perryway-]

Does anybody actually know if you must be qualified or what even stands as 'qualified' as i have completed my city & guilds apprenticeship and have 10% of my NVQ outstanding but i am to sit my 2394/2395 at DCET which i understand to be a reputable company, thanks

 

[jonny705]

Cheers Leesparkykent, that it the place i could find will nip down tomorrow and have a chat with them.

 

[BES]

Have you tried nuneaton college. I did all my qualifications there 2360 1&2/2391/16th & 17th been a few years now. Good tutors when I did my courses. Give them a ring obviously 2391 had stop now but see what they have to say.