Cookie said:
JW Electric,
Were there classes you had to take beforehand? The course load for Inspecting, I imagine you will be trained on code, but what are some of the other classes? I ask this because will you only know what to look for in passing/failing certain plumbing things? Will that be enough? I imagine any registered plumber can take the same classes you are doing. What if you added on some other plumbing classes or worked with one for a while? More education and more experience.
In NC any person can take a course at a community college for each of the three levels of inspection in all of the trades, ie; building, mechanical, plumbing, electrical and fire.
The course at the community college must be passed with a score of 70 or better. This is an 80 question test with a two hour time limit and will be based on the North Carolina Code for the trade. This is a time of 1.5 minutes per question and with a lot of calculations it is not an easy test.
Not patting my own back but today some of plumbing contractors in the class did not pass and will be required to take the course again before they can sit for the test at the Qualification Board.
After passing the course at the community college and doing inspections in the field for a period of not less than six months under the supervision of someone that holds a Standard Certificate a 150 question test taken in three and a half hours given by the State Qualification Board. This test must be passed with a score of 70 or better and then the person will receive a Standard Certificate in that field. This test has 1.4 minutes per question and there will be about 35 calculations on this test.
I have already passed the Level III for electrical and can receive my Standard Certificate and passed the community college course for Level I plumbing. Upon employment at a jurisdiction I will be issued a Standard Certificate for Level III Electrical and a Probationary Certificate for Level I Plumbing.