James22

Hello all

My name is James I am new to this forum, hope you guys don't mind me asking for your advice any would be greatly appreciated

I am 22 am a fully qualified uk sparky have got city and guilds part 1 +2 16th edition and am2 and today got my results back from my 2391!!!! passed so am very happy. the reason for my thread is that my girfreind and I are travelling to oz in june starting of in Melbourne, and are generally travelling all over looking at going to perth, brisbane, sydney, etc basically looking for where we like to hopefully buy and stay. I understand by reading some of your threads that you need a licence to work in Australia depending on what state you are living in, is this hard to gain? I have worked for acompany for the last 4 years that manufacture control panels, and install them on site useing galve conduit, and galve trunking, does anybody know if there is work for control panel builders, have searched the web but haven't found that many adverts, I do have experience in commercial, domestic, as well.

Reason why we are coming out is that house prices in uk is just to much for us to afford, + have seen some stunning houses on real estate au for something more realistic and what we could afford + with the way the uk is going the quality of life is a big

Sorry about the essay guys, just we are a bit nervous about leaving so any feedback that you could give us, we would be most gratefull!!

Kind regards

James + Leone

db444

Hi james

City & Guilds is well recognised and you will probably need to take a test and thats it (oh and pay a fee) The test is very easy and the standard of work in Oz is pretty low grade.

Good luck

Alan

somme

You did't say if you had your visa's or not or are you both coming over on working holiday visa's?

Tempory work without a licence, I don't Know.

stu:0

Hi james,

Think you will struggle to find work without a licence and you wont be able to get one of those whislt traveling. From what iv heard steel conduit doesnt exist. Your best having a read through some of the other threads but im sure other people will give more advice!

Stu

sparks124

you will need a visa that will allow you to work to stand any chance of getting anywhere re a licence as you have to provide evidence that you are entitled to work when applying for your trade qualification, this being the first step in getting your licence. as its already been said traveling and getting your licence would be vertualy imposible due to the length of time involved, unless you were willing to stay in one or two places until you got your licence. one for the trade certificate and one for the licence. and on the up side at least you will be able to move between states without having to go through the process all ove again every time you changed state.

mick dundee

Hi guys i am also a UK sparky
i have worked on houses offices and factory installations and electrical breakdowns
I am emigrating to australia (queensland)
and have a perm resident visa
granted on behalf of my spouse.
Please can you tell me if i require a licence as i am currently an electrician in UK and have all my city and guilds qualifications and if i do can i apply while i am still in the UK
As i intend to be out there for Xmas as my house is for sale
As someone told me to go through the TRA but then someone else told me to go direct to queensland licence
but i am confused as the amount of categories
i would like to go for the mechanic licence but have no experience in power lines
please can you advise
again many thanks
many thanks

steve`o

you need to start with the artc

http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplac...nresidents.htm

then work your way over to

http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/electrica...nces/overseas/

and also have a look at

http://www.qet.edu.au/

re mechanics licence this has nothing to do with powerlines mate

lilstewie

Hi there,
try the following link, it's got the basic info of what you need to do for an ARTC(Australian Recognized Trade Certificate) which is a pre-requisite to applying for an electrical license

http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplac...nresidents.htm

. After that you will need to contact the relevant licensing authority for an electrical license. Steve'0' is in Qld, and is a mine of info- he's just recently got his license, so check his posts out using the search facility.
Hope that's enough to get you started.
All the best
Neil

lilstewie

Beat me to it

mick dundee

thanks steve,
but when i looked at the deir site before i was reading this abstract below
which is confusing:-

Classes of licencesElectrical mechanic licence
Electrical linesperson licence
Electrical fitter licence
Electrical jointer licence
Restricted electrical work licence
Electrical work training permit

Electrical mechanic licence is an open electrical work licence.

An electrical mechanic can perform all electrical work.

Examples:

install or change an overhead electrical line
install electrical wiring
repair any electrical equipment

i was not aware that i had to have a ARTC then the TRA to grant it.
regards

sparks124

you will have to re-apply to the TRA for a trade certifiicate as the the TRA you have done already is only for you visa, crap i know. you basicly just re send everything you did the first time so unless you have a copy of all the stuff you boss did for you then dont piss him off. youll also need copies of all you certificates as well. this can be done from he uk as long as you have an australian address to send everything to they wont send it to the uk. you will also need to get a CPR certificate before you can apply for your licence, they cost about $50-$60 with the red cross, a little more with the st johns guys. once you have all of this then you can apply for a tempary licence for 12 months in which time you have to go back to college (TAFE) and learn the regs, do an exam and get your full licence. and all that for the crap wages they pay, well at least on the sunshine coast anyway.
by the way. the TRA isue the trade certificate, they dont rubber stamp it so to speak. make sure you apply for the mechanics licnce as well or you will get the fitter which limits the work you can do.

this is for queensland, other states are different so be carefull.

all the best, sparks.

mick dundee

cheers sparks,
But i have not applied at the TRA as yet as i got my res visa via spouse.
and was told to go to the queensland licence (DEIR)
it seems alot of work as getting my resident visa was bad enough with medicals and for the kids.
do you reckon its best to wait till i get out there or get my licence before
all the best
hope to be an Aussie sparky soon
is it just sparkys with all this hassle as my mate went as a carpenter and he did not seem to have as much hassle i suppose its something to do with the volts!!!!!
cheers

Wendy

The ARTC is just an assessment to see that your UK qualifiactions are the equivalent to what a Australian qualification is, or that you have the same amount of knowledge as them if you haven't got your certificates. Also that you have the relevant amount of on the job experience, which is 4 years if you have done a formal apprentiship. 5 years if it was informal, and 7 year if you didn't do one. The TRA will assess whether you have the skills equivalent to an Electrical Mechanic, or Electrical Fitter.

On the licence front, all electricians need one to work here. In Queensland an Electrical Mechanic can apply for a full unrestricted licence, whereas an Electrical Fitter can only apply for a restricted licence and can only work supervised.

sparks124

befor you can apply for your licence you will need a trade certificate which means doing the TRA. you can either do a satortory decliation or get your boss to say what your duties are, what you do, how you do it and for how long. its a pain in the arse for them so most people do it themselfs and get the boss to sign it, thats what i did. there are plenty of people on here that will help you with it or search on here that will bring up a lot of info.
if you ever need any help just shout on here and youll get plenty of help.
good luck.

The_Pom_From_Aus

James22, can i give you some decent advice if thats OK, 1st of all if i was you i would keep in touch with Wendy on here she has it spot on when she tells you what's what regarding advice.

Also if your traveling you wont be getting a license i can assure you of that, "why is that you may ask", well you will be doing exams to gain the license in any state in Australia, the exams must be pre booked in all states, so doing what you would like to achieve is almost impossible.

Now then mate to get work without a license wont really happen especially working for a company they would be liable for the work you produce also they must be insured to cover them self & you also. So no license is illegal and you would find it hard to get someone to do that.

I have seen remarks on here by people saying the exams are easy thats just not right it can be a nightmare for people to gain the things due to a variety of things in life. Have a chat to Wendy she can give you good info about the license in south australia it seems to be somewhat more relaxed there in victoria its just bloody hard work with most people failing the exams, its not a case of taking one exam there is a mixture of exams to be achieved for the license to be granted.

I hope im not putting you of at all, but thats the way it is here, if i can be of further assistance please just ask.

arthur in melbourne