How do “C & M” and “D & R” electricians compare?

How do “C & M” and “D & R” electricians compare?

Both, the Construction and Maintenance “C & M” and the Domestic and Rural “D & R” electricians, work in the construction sector of the electrical trade.

So, what do C & M electricians actually do to practice their trade?

That question can best be answered with the scope of practice for a C & M electrician:

· lays out, assembles, installs, repairs, maintains, connects and/or tests electrical systems

· plans installations from blueprints, sketches and specifications, and installs all electrical and electronic devices

· systematically diagnoses faults in electrical and electronic components, as required

· measures, cuts, threads, bends, assembles and installs conduits and other electrical conductor raceways

· splices and terminates electrical conductors

· tests electrical and electronic equipment to ensure that they are functioning properly

What is the worksite for a C & M electrician?

· residential, commercial, industrial and institutional

So, what do D & R electricians actually do to practice their trade?

That question can best be answered with the scope of practice for a D & R electrician:

· lays out, assembles, installs, repairs, maintains, connects and/or tests electrical systems

· plans installations from blueprints, sketches/specifications, and installs all electrical and electronic devices

· systematically diagnoses faults in electrical and electronic components

· measures, cuts, threads, bends, assembles and installs conduits and other electrical conductor enclosures

· splices and terminates electrical conductors

· tests electrical and electronic equipment to ensure they are functioning properly

What is the worksite for a D & R electrician?

· houses, small dwellings and farms

So, specifically, what’s the exact difference in the work description or scope of practice for C & M and D & R electricians?

As we have seen above, the scope of practice for the D & R electrician is the same as that of a C & M electrician, that is, they both work in construction, erection, repair, remodelling or alteration of electrical projects. However, the exception or the actual difference is that the D & R worksites are limited to:

· houses or multiple dwelling buildings containing six or fewer dwellings, or

· buildings or structures used for farming.

As well, the performance of maintenance to electrical equipment worksites are limited to:

· houses or multiple dwelling buildings containing six or fewer dwellings, or

· farms.

In Ontario, the C & M trade code is 309A while the D & R trade code is 309C and both of these construction sector electricians are classified as compulsory trades as denoted by the number 3 in their respective trade codes. The compulsory trade designation means a trade in which registration as an apprentice, journeyperson candidate or as a journeyperson is mandatory and therefore required by law to be members of the Ontario College of Trades. Having said that, only the C & M is available to be a part of the Interprovincial Red Seal Program—the national standard for the trade across Canada —under the title Construction Electrician.

In Ontario, both the C & M and the D & R are eligible for a Masters Electrician License, which we will leave, for now, as another topic for another day.

Marvin Rosenberg is an authority and creator of electrical exam preparation. He is a Red Seal Endorsed Master Electrician who has worked for more than 30 years in the electrical trade in the residential, industrial, commercial and institutional sectors.

The experience of working as an Electrical Service Inspector as well as a Master Electrician Examiner led Marvin to start teaching journeypersons and apprentices exam preparation. He is the electrical course developer and advisor in the Centre for Continuous Learning and teaches in the Electrical Apprenticeship and Skilled Trades program at George Brown College in Toronto.

Marvin continues to enjoy teaching Pre-exam courses for Construction and Maintenance Electrician, Domestic and Rural Electrician, as well as Master Electrician.