With around one quarter of UK emissions coming from energy used in homes the ‘Warm Homes, Greener Homes’ strategy is aimed at cutting emissions from the UK’s homes by 29% by 2020.

The new strategy will help people make smarter use of energy in homes, making it easier to take action and reduce bills. Installing some technologies, such as solid wall insulation, could see energy bills cut by £380 a year (average between 2013 and 2020).

The new strategy will also help boost jobs, with up to 65,000 jobs required in the green homes industry as a result, for example installing and manufacturing energy saving measures or providing home energy advice.

The demand for trained and qualified industry personnel is also likely to increase, with the focus on those training to be an electrician or looking to work as a plumber. Energy efficient heating and lighting technology is now an urgent priority and it’s becoming clear that undertaking green energy course training in Solar PV installation or ground /air source heat pumps is going to directly benefit trade skills trainees.

Knowing how to make a green energy assessment and undertake the required installation will be of direct relevance to experienced electricians and plumbers, who wish to upgrade their service provision.

The Warm Homes, Greener Homes Strategy will be implemented in a three stage plan:

• Insulation of 6 million homes by the end of 2011
• Insulation of all practical lofts and cavity walls by 2015
• Up to 7 million eco upgrades offered by 2020- all homes to have smart meters

The first demand for electrical and plumbing services looks to be from social housing. Government aims to focus efforts to reduce bills and carbon emissions with council and housing association landlords linking up with energy companies to get efficiency work done.

For those who wish to make a new career in the electrical or plumbing sector, entry level training without any prior knowledge or experience, can be undertaken on a City & Guilds NVQ Level 2 course – Electrical 2330, or Plumbing 6129 - which provides foundation knowledge and introduction to the required practical skills before qualifying to progress onto Level 3.

Known as ‘Part P’, these rules specifically enforce all ‘notifiable’ electrical work to meet legal safety standards for electrical wiring. The rules state that to ensure these standards are met, all work must either be carried out by certified electricians or the work must be tested to the satisfaction of the local Building Control Department.

This is is particularly important to know for all those who wish to enter the industry and train to be a fully qualified electrician.
Not all electrical courses have Part P included in the training, and electricians not Part P registered will be restricted in their future working prospects by being prevented to undertake a number of key electrical tasks.

The City & Guilds Electrical NVQ 2330, is the standard entry course required before progressing onto the full NVQ 2356 Level 3. There are also different combinations of courses that can be undertaken to gain elegibility for Part P registration, from a 13 day beginner course  to a three week course.  Also,  fully qualified electricians who require Part P can enroll onto a short 2393 course.

Be aware that the Part P also applies to DIY activities, and anyone carrying out DIY changes which are notifiable have to submit a building notice to the local authority before starting work and pay the fee to have the work inspected and tested.

Failure to comply with these rules is a criminal offence which can lead to a fine of up to £5,000. Furthermore, problems may be encountered when trying to sell a property which has had notifiable electrical work carried out but for which the appropriate certificate cannot be produced.

Non-notifiable electrical work - which can be carried out by a non-certified individual without notification, but for which the individual does need to be competent, covers:

• Replacement of fittings such as sockets, switches and light fittings.
• Replacement of the cable for a single circuit where it has been damaged.
• Work that is not in the bathroom or kitchen and consists of:
- Adding additional lighting, light fittings and switches, to an existing circuit.
- Adding additional sockets and fused spurs to an existing ring or radial main.
• Installing additional earth bonding.

All ‘non-notifiable electrical work’ is conditional upon the use of suitable cable and fittings for the application, that the circuit protective measures are unaffected and suitable for protecting the new circuit, and that all work complies with all other appropriate regulations.

Notifiable electrical work – which is all other work that must either be carried out by fully qualified, Part P certified individuals/companies or notified to the local Building Control before work begins, includes:

• All new or modifications to the electrical wiring within bathrooms or shower rooms.
• Installation or modification of electric underfloor or ceiling heating.
• Garden lighting or power installation.

Other specialist electrical installation, examples being, Photovoltaic Solar Systems and micro CHP (Combined Heat and Power) power systems.

Training to be a plumber offers considerable scope, as it is not always realised just how versatile a plumber’s various skills can be - of which , one or more services are bound to be in demand at any time. In today’s world, a plumber is not always unblocking drains and fixing boiler thermostats!

Although, traditionally, some may have only chosen to work as ‘wet only plumbers’, and specialise in piped systems for water such as fitting bathrooms, radiators and sprinkler systems, energy efficiency is now a big and growing part of a plumber’s knowledge area, and may be expected to be called upon to be an energy assessor and advise householders on renewable ‘green energy’ water and heating systems, such as ground/ air heat pumps.

Most recently, plumbers were called into the front line with the announcement of the government’s ‘boiler scrappage’ scheme, aiming to replace the old ‘G’ rated boiler with the new energy efficient ‘A’ rated appliances.

The starting point for all plumbing trainees, is the City & Guilds Plumbing 6129 Technical Certificate which provides understanding of first plumbing principles and introduces the various basic knowledge areas and practical skills needed to practice as a competent, qualified plumber. Moving onto NVQ Level 3 is the next stage in career development and from there onto learning to install gas central heating systems.

Plumbers also learn to undertake ‘roofing work’ – providing a skilled service that requires the working out of precise dimensions and correct angles to fix sheet lead weathering on all types of roofs, insert chimney stack flashing and install roof valley gutters to porch canopies and external dormers.

Learning how to carefully operate and use welding equipment is another important skill to be mastered, as oxy-acetylene brazing, bronze and fusion ( lead) welding is used daily by plumbers for connecting copper pipes and for lead roofing work. And of course, learning how to work with plastics technology, from pipes to plumbers traps and connectors, which requires the use of solvents and adhesives.

For many career switch students, learning plumbing may simply require an adapting or extending their present work skillsets or building upon an interest in DIY, to enable a great opportunity to work in a rewarding and fulfilling new career.

The City and Guilds 2330 Certificate in Electrotechnology is the industry standard recognised training course that you can enrol for straightaway at required entry Level 2.

There are very good reasons indeed why you should take the 2330 Course! If you want to get proper electrical training, you need to get the right qualifications! Once you have completed all the course units necessary to qualify as an electrician, you have a solid knowledge foundation to build upon and progress your career further. In other words, a job with a future!

The approved and accredited City & Guilds training schedule at AbleSkills is a progressive structure that offers to take you through all the necessary knowledge and practical training modules, starting at Level 2 and onto NVQ level 3. You also have the opportunity to train at other mandatory ability areas , such as the 17th Edition Wiring Regulations ( 2382).

Once qualified, the world of work and building up of your experience beckons! From residential and domestic projects, working on electrical installation in commercial building sites of any size or open your own business after successfully completing your electrical qualification courses. With add on specific training, you could also work in a number of specialised electrical occupations from electrical machine rewind and repair, panel building, highway electrical systems and installing instrumentation equipment.

At AbleSkills, Level 2 of the City and Guilds 2330 course is conducted in its own dedicated classroom complex with each student fully equipped with all the necessary equipment in their own training areas.

Subject areas covered will include health and safety, basic electrical principles such as resistance, relativity, and Ohms law, a.c. theory, polyphase systems, short circuits, earthing, installation techniques, specifications, and regulations.

Advancing to Level 3 of the 2330 Course will take each topic and examine it in more depth, some subjects being tested separately, and a written examination on inspections and testing, along with a practical assessment.

Gaining your electrical qualifications for City and Guilds 2330 levels 2 and 3 ensures that both theory and the practical hands-on knowledge gained during your course training means you are competent and gives you a solid springboard to confidently enter the electrical industry.

The work of a plumber, electrician or gas fitter has a clearly defined purpose which always requires their physical presence to actually carry out the installation, repair or maintenance. Practical skills cannot be electronically farmed out overseas even though the onward march of technology has enabled an ever widening array of services to become possible to accomplish over the internet!
Trade skills personnel are hands-on and in control of the entire process from start to finish!

For many in certain types of employment, instead of controlling an entire process, they are trained to do ever tinier slivers of work, which then become part of a much larger process. To be able to make your small contribution, you are required by employers to become a member of a team and if you lose your place in the process or the team, your existence is meaningless unless part of the whole.

In stark contrast, training to be an electrician, for example, means you learn to be self sufficient, and entirely reliant on your own training, experience and skill to analyse and solve a problem. An electrician or a plumber are always in demand, in person!

Even in the current economic climate, a recently conducted survey by Manpower Recruitment of employers around the world found that there was still a lack of skilled manual trades such as electricians, plumbers bricklayers, carpenters, tilers…etc.

In addition, job satisfaction and personal fulfilment always rank high with the construction trade industries. It is work with a discernible product or result that can be actually measured and see working in the real world!

It can be a bit confusing when it comes to trying to work out which trade skills training centre is really going to provide the correct courses and ultimately, approved qualifications to best serve your career prospects. Unfortunately, we hear too often from students whose choice of past trainers was not all that it should have been, often the focus of attention for trade industry regulatory bodies.

Even worse, some centres fold unexpectedly and the students will have to restart their training elsewhere.

AbleSkills has been established as one of London’s and the South East’s foremost skills training centre of excellence, offering a comprehensive range of City & Guild approved and accredited courses, the most popular of which, are the entry level Plumbing 6129  Technical certificate and Electrical NVQ 2330.

Unlike some institutions or non-accredited trainers, AbleSkills is a specifically dedicated centre with a fully developed course development structure, which can take an entry level student through all required subject knowledge in order to gain the approved and verified standard at each stage of the process to becoming a fully qualified plumber, electrician or another skilled trade, such as a  Gas fitter, tiler, bricklayer or plasterer.

AbleSkills also offers advanced courses for experienced electricians and plumbers to update their knowledge in order to compete successfully by offering a range of qualified technical services, both as a company employee and if you decide to be self-employed.

For most students, AbleSkills is their trainer of first choice because their key concerns of flexible course timings and duration, fully equipped and dedicated workshop classrooms and approved, verified and industry experienced course tutors tick all their boxes!

Don’t just take my word for it, read below a brief selection of testimonials from delighted AbleSkills students :

• “ This is my second course that I have undertaken at Able Skills ….Both courses have been excellent value for money. I would recommend Able Skills as a training centre to everyone; the teachers have great knowledge and are so helpful and informative. They deliver the course in such an easy way to understand and at a pace that you can enjoy and take it all in. I’m looking forward to booking my next course here”

• “The tuition, resourced and support that came from all staff within the facility was second to none.
There is constant updating of information across all trades and the administration support is outstanding. There is an onus on individuals to expand their knowledge by private study. I would endorse Able Skills without reservation”.

• “ Able Skills were first rate, looking after all of my needs from Accommodation through to Instruction.
I received excellent tuition from the Instructors who were superb tradesmen and very approachable from day 1.

• After finishing the course I feel more than confident to gain employment within the industry and Able Skills will continue to support me through NVQ if I choose that route. I want to thank Able Skills for an outstanding course and service and wish them all the best. The instructors are great, helpful and patient. They tell you what to do and let you get on with it, but are there for any queries or problems, giving you the benefit of their experience. I would recommend this course and able skills to anyone”.

• “All staff are helpful, and even willing to share their knowledge, during breaks. In my opinion, able skills, merits itself by being very good value for money. A professional centre, that I will definitely be using again, and recommending to my friends”.

• “I can thoroughly recommend all of the courses; the instructors are all very knowledgeable in their trades, extremely helpful and put themselves out to make the week both enjoyable and also a valuable learning experience for every one who attends”.

Established and industry approved training centres like AbleSkills have become a very popular method for most wishing to start out or retrain for a career in the key skill trades of electrician or plumber. However, unfortunately, not all training centres possess adequate facilities or are accredited for the courses they offer, which are often not the required industry qualifications to carry out specified work. 

Ultimately, the students will be paying to undertake courses which will not give them the recognised and legal standard of competency to undertake the work they then attempt to carry out. In a word they may become ‘rogue traders’!

According to the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) - the professional body for the UK plumbing and heating industry - there are approximately 120,000 people who call themselves plumbers in the UK, but not all of these plumbers hold qualifications or experience!

While the ‘cowboy’ element are a minority, they are often highlighted in the media, affecting the reputation of professional plumbers, endangering the public health and can cause costly damage to properties they work on.

The proper route to becoming a professional industry plumber is to undertake an officially accredited and verified City & Guilds Plumbing 6129 Level 2 Technical Certificate course, followed by the City & Guilds Plumbing NVQ Level 3 qualifications required.

As an approved training provider, AbleSkills has accreditation to offer qualifications on behalf of: City & Guilds, Construction Awards Alliance, NICEIC & EAL for Domestic Installer qualifications and CITB for Gas training and assessment. Fully equipped classroom workshops for each trade skill area are overseen by full time instructors, assessors and internal verifiers.

Key to becoming fully industry ready - you will be able to progress your learning through a series of courses that will qualify you to undertake most domestic and commercial work, according to the experience which will need to be built up after completing the courses.

Solar systems are not new, and have been used around the world for many years. It is sometimes assumed that solar technology is not suitable for northern European climates, but this is not true.              In Germany, for example, where a similar scheme has been in existence since 2000, the market has grown by approximately 3GW per year, creating what is now the largest and most developed market in the world. PV subsidies have been introduced in many other countries around the world with rapid market growth being achieved in each instance.

With over 40,000 systems installed in the UK alone, solar power is becoming the leading source of providing alternative energy. In the UK , we receive sufficient sunshine to provide up to 70% of our annual domestic hot water needs from a well designed solar installation,  and this type of system will also reduce harmful emissions by up to 500 kg per square metre of panel per year.

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a solar water heater is a long-term investment, representing real cost and energy saving and providing insurance against energy price increases. Solar PV systems are one of the renewable energy sources that you can have your property assessed for and have the panels easily and safely installed on your roof without the usual kind of local planning problems.

Training to be a plumber or electrician now involves working with the installation of renewable Green Energy for use in the home or workplace. AbleSkills have built dedicated renewable energy training workshops in conjunction with energy assessment courses to supply an increasingly vital service.

Solar heating course training in specially built classrooms provide the necessary theory and practical knowledge for correct and safe installation, which is undoubtedly at the tipping point of becoming an essential skillset for all trade skills trainees, from now on.

Good quality trade companies and employers always look to recruit fully trained and competent personnel with recognised qualifications who are prepared to honour codes of responsible, professional standards.

Compliance with laws, regulations, standards and codes to safeguard the environment, public health and safety, combined with the desire to constantly broaden, improve and maintain skills, knowledge and personal qualities are the distinguishing traits of both work and service excellence.

Personal qualities of integrity and workmanship are acquired as part of learning your trade in a corresponding professional training environment.  Experienced and expert tutors will naturally transfer their own standards of required adherence to quality standards of workmanship, which hold good for your entire working life, not just for passing course assessments to obtain qualifications!

Most trades currently require an NVQ at Level 2 or 3 to be classed as qualified. For those wishing to become an electrician, the City & Guilds 2330 Level 2 is the recognised entry point and for those looking to become a plumber, then the City & Guilds Plumbing 6129 Technical Certificate is the course to commence the necessary foundation knowledge.

An NVQ knowledge training takes time to achieve, using a combination of off-the-job training with a training provider and working with an employer in the sector. Remember - ‘quickie’ courses aimed at the DIY market may be useful for background or the most basic skills, but hardly prepare someone to become a skilled trades person.

At AbleSkills, an extensive trade knowledge learning path has been developed as a structured series of courses, which can be followed to naturally take an entry level student right through all the necessary training and qualifications to be ready to enter the industry at a very high level.

This can favourably put an AbleSkills graduate, who has undertaken and qualified at each step of the related course ladder, at an advantage in the employment application process.

Employers look for at least basic practical skills and essential knowledge gained from a respected City & Guilds qualification or foundation award so that they can at least put the apprentice to work alongside more experienced and qualified people. In addition, they will encourage beginners to further their knowledge and work towards an NVQ.

As an AbleSkills ‘graduate’ you will, have already attained the necessary training qualifications to impress at interview and parachute you into your chosen job destination!

Training and qualifying up to NVQ level 3, takes you to the next crucial stage, after which you have ample opportunities at AbleSkills to study important practical knowledge areas such as the 1 day Electrical PAT testing course and the 17th Edition IEE Wiring Regulations (City & Guilds 2382), over 3 days. Keeping up to date with technology changes is vital!

Government initiatives to speed up the installation of highly efficient green energy supply to reduce domestic - as well as commercial C02 emissions is high on the agenda now. At AbleSkills, there is opportunity to increase your knowledge base and employment chances by undertaking courses held in their new dedicated training workshops for energy assessment , the increasing popular Solar PV and Air/Ground Source Heat Pumps.

AbleSkills training centre has an established reputation for its duty of care to all their students! An unique career progression curriculum is set into place which allows a student’s natural development to be coordinated with the necessary approved course qualifications. By going down this learning route, a solid and comprehensive experience is built up, which significantly boosts all types of future career prospects.

You will only stand a chance of gaining employment if you have trained and obtained a recognised certificated trade ( NVQ) qualification at an approved and accredited training centre like AbleSkills. Employers will always ask what work experience you have- so building up work experience is crucial to boosting your career prospects.

Today, more than ever, to stand a chance of working in the electrical industry, the key is to remember that you do not stop learning when you have finished your qualification. AbleSkills also offer advanced courses for experienced electricians and plumbers to update their knowledge in order to compete successfully by offering a range of qualified technical services, both as a company employee and if you decide to be self-employed.