Electrical contractors in Gibraltar have been brushing up their skills courtesy of a new training programme developed by NICEIC.
The British owned territory, located on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula has around 30 qualified electricians. Many of these are employed directly by the Gibraltar Electricity Board or as electrical contractors in their own right.
The British standard for electrical installation work, BS7671, is similarly applied in Gibraltar, but there is no requirement for contractors to be registered with an approved regulatory body.
NICEIC was invited to Gibraltar back in January this year by representatives from the local Group of Professional Engineers.
The subsequent talk and presentation was so well received that NICEIC was invited back to provide regular updates for electrical contractors.
Alan Charlton, head of training at NICEIC said: “We were initially invited out there to provide an update on Amendment 3 of the IET Wiring Regulations.
“It was apparent that there was little in the way of additional training they were keen to find out more.
“Gibraltar Electricity wanted to know what we could offer so we went back and held several courses providing updates on the 17th edition and Inspection and testing.”
The courses were delivered by NICEIC’s team of technical experts. NICEIC also transported its in-house testing facility and workshop to Gibraltar so attendees could get a full insight into the training facilities offered by NICEIC in the UK.
Around 30 employees of Gibraltar Electricity attended the courses with further courses being requested together with a proposal to provide on-going training to the electrical contractors.
“BS7671 is a national standard for the UK which is applied in many states and other nations across Europe. It was interesting to meet contractors working to the same standard as electricians in the UK and we look forward to providing more updates in due course.”
