would like some advice on training please

[uhoh]

Hi Chaps first time posting on here so dont shoot me for posting on the wrong thread or place ,I am an avid reader and find it very entertaining reading but I have a few questions and hope some of you experienced guys can help and give some advice to me basically I am looking to get some more training done.
I did the 236 parts 1 and 2 plus Am1 a lifetime ago finished them and got a job where I got paid a fiver a week by some unscrupulous electrician who said that was the rate for the first year,(didnt last long as I had a life in London to pay for)
So gave up on being a sparky and have worked in Maintenance and construction ending up in management for the past 20 years, I never needed cards or was ever asked for qualifications, Over the years I have taken on more and more "private" work in semi commercial electrical and other construction projects so I am pretty experienced although dont consider myself an electrician but since being made redundant I now find myself needing formal qualifications and wanted to get some extra training the amount of disinformation out there is mindblowing and the NIC,JIB and ECA don't seem to be very interested in helping.
Spoke to someone from a well known training organisation and was advised that all I need to do is their 17th edition course and that is all I would need to bring my qualifications up to standard.not quite what I had in mind I would like to do some inspection and testing courses and possibly a few others. What recommendations would you guys give for courses and does doing the AM2 help and finally what is the equivalent of the "C" course these days?
sorry for the long winded post Paul

 

[telectrix]

JIB have a "mature candidate assessment " scheme for electricians with older quals. speak to them. you will need 17th, or 18th as it will be next year.

 

[Richard Burns]

Welcome to posting.
With the qualifications you have you are a good way to electrical competence just out of date.
As you say that you now find you need formal qualifications it would be relevant to query why you find you need qualifications and if there are specific ones required, if so then those are the ones you should get.
There are various levels of training that you can work to and which qualifications you need does depend on what you are attempting to achieve.

Initially the 17th edition qualification is a must have to show that you are up to date with the current regulations.
Beyond that the C&G2391-52 covering initial verification and periodic inspection could well be useful to demonstrate inspection and testing competence.
If you are looking to get an ECS card then you would need to meet the required competence and training specifications for the JIB, either doing the assessment Telectrix mentioned above or completing the NVQ3 from scratch.
The AM2 is just the final part of the NVQ3 qualification even though it also stands on its own and will demonstrate practical competence in the areas tested, however on its own it has little relevance as it is not backed up by the theory learning.
Because you already have the theory it may be that someone would be prepared to provide just the AM2 even though you are not doing the NVQ3, you would have to check with training providers.
To register with one of the competent person schemes to allow self notification of jobs generally requires a certain level of competence and awareness of the requirements of the building regulations as they apply to electrical work. The specific details for each scheme would need to be checked from their websites but the 17th edition would be a minimum and there should be further training required to meet their registration criteria.
In terms of being competent this is generally just experience (unless you need pieces of paper to prove training courses taken) since you have already done the training for the general skillset. Effectively you need to be able to do all the areas required for electrical installation and this would be dependent on what you have been doing yourself within your previous work. Training and practice in areas you have not been doing would be very useful.