How do “Industrial Electricians” qualify for the “C & M” Read Seal Endorsement?

Industrial Electricians with experience in the “construction sector” may qualify to challenge the Construction and Maintenance “C & M” Read Seal exam.

There are 2 options available.

Each option requires an assessment that will be reviewed on a case by case basis which factors in the time spent in the specific electrical work categories that were performed.

Both options are looking for official paperwork, from an employer or employers in or outside of Canada, that details a further five years of work experience in the C & M scope of practice, which is:

· 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

This C & M work is not to include providing on-going electrical maintenance services, typically, in single site industrial, manufacturing or power plant facilities within the “industrial sector.”

This additional C & M work experience must take place in the “construction sector” working in construction, erection, repair, remodeling or alteration of electrical projectsin a mix of the residential, commercial, industrial and institutional worksites. Since the applicant is applying for the actual qualification then the full 9,000 hour or “5 year” requirement is in full force.

Option #1 Apply for Trade Equivalency with your provincial licensing body, such as Ontario College of Trades (OCOT), meaning that the applicant can demonstrate documented full work experience including a record of employment from the employer(s) with the understanding that the applicant has already met the equivalent of an apprenticeship.

Option #2 Apply for an Apprenticeship with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU), meaning that the applicant demonstrates time spent to be credited towards the C & M apprenticeship, or in fact, having already met the provincial apprenticeship requirements. Again, full work experience documentation including a record of employment from the employer(s) is required.

In each option, if OCOT or the MCU equalizes the previous work experience as being equivalent education and time required to be spent in an apprenticeship, then the applicant would be able to bypass any further apprenticeship requirement and may challenge the C & M red seal exam.

I am looking forward to our next topic about Industrial Electricians, along with C & M and D & R electricians eligibility for a Masters Electrician License.

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.