A Guide To What Electricians Actually Do

Where would we be without electricians and do you truly know what they do?
It is easy to forget what a crucial role they play in our everyday life. Electrical engineers deal with all things related to electricity. They specialise in the installation, routine maintenance and repairs of all electronic systems in homes, businesses and any number of facilities from government buildings to electrical power plants.

Electrical engineers are a crucial part of the process when a new property is built. They will draft plans which will specify the electrical circuitry maps and put conduits into the wall cavities - these contain the wiring ensuring it is safely enclosed. The conduits also send the electricity to the plugs sockets and any power outlets, this obviously has to be done early on in the building process prior to plastering and decorating. When all this has been finished it is time to install the plug sockets and wire up any home appliances like cookers, dishwashers and washing machines.

The electrical contractor we are most likely to come across is the one you find in the Telephone Book probably a 24 hour emergency electrician. Fortunately electricity is a robust system and does not go wrong very often. For this reason we rarely need to call anyone out but when we do it is usually an expensive business needing immediate attention so it is often a good idea to have a number to hand should the need arise. Other skilled electricians may work exclusively for a company or corporation where their services are in daily demand perhaps with generators, computer systems and similar equipment.

The path to becoming a certified electrician is quite hard work requiring completion of examinations and certificates to become qualified. Many trainee electricians become certified by way of an apprenticeship which is a traditional route into the industry. This degree of certification is very important because at the end of the day electricity might be lethal if an electrician is unsure of what he or she is doing, not only can they put themselves at risk but the rest of us as well, resulting in potential injury and even fatality. For this reason you should always check the qualifications of any electrical contractor you may employ, even if it is someone you have called out in an emergency and you simply want to get the job done, this is one profession when there cannot be too much Health & Safety!

Here in the United Kingdom we have the City and Guilds body which is the industry recognised education standards body and it is vital to ensure that any training scheme to become a qualified electrician is approved by them.

Their requirements to become a basic electrician are:
City & Guilds 2330 Technical Certificate In Electro technical Technology level 2.
City & Guilds 2330 Technical Certificate In Electro technical Technology level 3.
C&G 2382 Level 3 Certificate in the Requirements for Electrical Installations.
C&G 2377 Level 3 Certificate for the Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment.
EAL VRQ Level 2 Certificate for Domestic Electrical Installers.
C&G 2391 Level 3 Certificate in Inspection, Testing and Certification.

After obtaining these formal qualifications there are many more other certificates to obtain to be able to progress to specialised work.

As you can see from this, our electricians are well qualified and deserve our respect for their efforts on our behalf.

David A Griffiths works in association with Masterfix electricians in London. He has prepared a series of articles on property maintenance.