What Does A Residential Electrician Do?

There’s a real lack of qualified and experienced residential electricians in today’s society. So, making this your career choice will ensure you get a job on completion of your training. UK businesses employ around 365,000 electricians from over 20,000 electrical contracting companies.

Customary Training and Education

Apprenticeships take four years to complete – involving learning through theory and practical skill demonstrations. A certificate known as the 2357 City and Guilds Diploma in Electrotechnology will need to be taken and passed to become a qualified electrician.

For example, you’ll need to be competent in:

• Using common electrical tools such as multimeters, clamp meters, and insulated screwdrivers
• Maintaining and troubleshooting of existing systems
• Residential wiring
• Conduit installation
• Electrical fire safety systems and alarm monitoring installation
• The National Electric Code

A General Introduction

What does an electrician do? Duties depend on the field you decide to work in. A residential electrician job description may change depending on the situation and the location. This could be:

• Production – covering the construction of complex electrical and electronic appliances from wiring diagrams
• Maintenance – testing and maintaining electrical equipment in commerce and heavy industry
• Installation – installing wiring systems for lighting, security, and fire equipment

Residential Descriptions

If you choose the residential route, you need to understand the settings you may be working in:

• Holiday vacation residences – hotels and motels
• Apartments – flats, and condominiums
• Single-family homes – and multi-family properties

Specific Residential Electrician Tasks

The overall narrative is to install and maintain wiring. Inspect electrical components including circuit-breakers and transformers. Identify electrical-related issues with testing devices. And to use hand and power tools to replace defective wiring and equipment.

Basically, residential electricians will install wiring and troubleshoot electrical problems in people’s homes. In new-builds construction, outlets will need to be installed to provide power access. In maintenance and modelling sectors faulty equipment will be diagnosed and repaired.

Work schedules often include evenings and weekends. And may vary due to extreme weather conditions. Overtime will be expected during scheduled maintenance work where deadlines need to be met. And work can be physically demanding if you have to spend long hours in cramped conditions. Or on open-air sites exposed to inclement weather.

Residential Electrician Responsibilities

So, what does a residential electrician do? Undertakings will include construction and installation of electrical equipment – wiring lights and appliances, and ventilation systems. New homes also require circuit breakers, heating, and telecom systems. Here’s a more detailed guide of a residential electrician work description…

• Planning the electrical design – in both single and multi-family properties
• Determining the placement of electrical outlets – as well as lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems
• Establishing temporary power systems for new builds – and advising on the installation of other residential electrical systems
• Installation of wiring and electrical systems – in new constructions and new homes
• Running conduit and other wiring-protection measures – ensuring all safety standards are met
• Reading and following blueprints – making sure that the architect’s plans are correctly implemented
• Installation of communication systems – for instance, cameras, and Ethernet wiring
• Distributing power from the source – properly and safely to the main circuit breaker and throughout the property
• Installation and validation of grounding circuits –for apartments and other buildings
• Troubleshooting of non-functioning equipment – and resolving any problems

The Future’s Bright

Recent studies have projected that there’ll be an increase of almost 25% in growth for new jobs for electricians up until 2020. This is mainly due to new technologies like Ethernet, fibre optic communications, solar infrastructures, and advanced computer networking. Creating new jobs that need residential electricians ongoing.

You’ll be able to join a team of qualified emergency professionals getting to your destination with just a one-hour response time. A quick diagnosis of electrical problems will be made by you. And any fault or issue will be professionally fixed. At any time of the day or night.

You’ll be registered with the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting. And all jobs you carry out will conform to British Standards. And you’ll work under complete insurance protection.

As a newly-qualified residential electrician you can expect to earn up to £20k annually. With experience, your earnings will rise up to £40k within a few years. With plenty of job security, you can rely on a successful career in your chosen trade.