Polish Qualified Electricial transferable skills to UK?

Does anyone know how to 'transfer' skills from Poland to UK. My mate is a Polish-qualified electrician (obtained in Poland), now living in the UK. Rather than study again in the UK (for the UK recognised qualification), can he somehow transfer his skills so he can work as a Certified Electrician in the UK (using his Polish-obtained qualification)? Hope that makes sense?

As far as I understand it, his qualifications are automatically recognised in the UK, there's no need for him to do anything else. If he has the rights to work in Poland, he has the right to work in the UK.

Could be wrong however.

Thanks for your reply Delphiandomine

Maybe in the long term but I shouldn't think it would be easy in the short term. The UK has strict regulations for anything to do with electricity wiring/rewiring nowadays. Every installation has to be certified by a qualified electrician who can certify he or she knows all the British wiring regulations etc, and has completed the right exams to prove this.

It would be unfair to expect someone from a foreign country to know all these regulations straight away and for safety reasons there would have to be some type of test. Electricity is a dangerous necessity and sometimes even professional electricians can get it wrong. Just a few months ago in my city, a young plumber was electrocuted plumbing in a new washing machine. He was found dead beside the machine which was wired by an electrician shortly before, and unbelievably he had two wires connected to the wrong terminals leaving electricity flowing through the metal casing of the machine.

Your friend is probably a very competent electrician in Poland, but may still have have to sit an exam to prove he is competent with British wiring regulations.

Polish and UK systems differ considerably. Spurs vs Ring mains. Without country specific certification I can't see how skills would be transferable in either direction. I believe ring mains are peculiar to the UK but you could correct me on that.

I hope you are wrong.

Qualifications obtained in another country can't / shouldn't be enough to mean that someone is regarded as competent enough to start re-wiring someone's home.

You'll know what this is, but it seems that it is doable - they need to prove their competence, they should get an "ECS card" and they need the "the Level 3 Award in Requirements for Electrical Installations BS7671". So - you're completely right - they need to prove it via some sort of test.


Looks like they are, subject to the above criteria. It's all about proving your skills - if you can do that, then there's no need to do anything else.

Well, I would still be reluctant to use a foreigner for such work. I'm not doubting their ability, but it still feels risky to me if their experiences are all based on different set-ups.

Merged:

Electricians in Poland

Guys..
I posted here regarding electrical work in Poland and the state my house was left in after a rewire by a substandard electrician.

So can you advise me if you think that polish electricians should hold an approved qualification like the UK 17th edition wiring regs and be a member of a governing body like the NICIEC.