Electrical work to be cut out of HVAC&R training?

Comments

1. Matt Kennedy

   November 1, 2024

   I would hope that AIRAH has made representations in opposition to this change as well.

   Reply
2. Frank

   November 1, 2024

   And yet again the continuing attack of the Refrigeration trade by other parties !
   If there is an electrical training issue within the Refrigeration apprenticeship, it’s because training facility is incompetent.
   Electrical repair works are approximately 60 – 70 % of all service calls. If you diminish the ability of a HVAC tradesmen to carry out the necessary electrical repair works, required on a service call, you will increase to cost of all service works. This is once again a maneuver to cut out and or diminish the electrical license that the Refrigeration trade now works under. ESV issue two licenses to the HVAC trade, one of which is useless (the class 2) ????
   I said it before, the Refrigeration trade needs its own federal electrical license, one which allows the HVAC tradesman to carry out all the necessary electrical work as would be required in all “but the supply of incoming power cable”. This would lower the cost of installation and service. Stand up against this attack or lose the last remnants of your ability to carry out works that have always been the domain of the Refrigeration trade!

   Reply
   1. Boris Jovanovic

      November 22, 2024

      Hi Frank,
      This debate reminded me on the situation in NSW in say 1995 or before, where we had to use licensed electricians to do an associated electrical works on A/C installations. I remember myself dealing with about 40 electrical contractors on various projects, finding that only three out of them all were able to do a basic ducted system controls without much of my assistance or supervision (the success rate of less than 7%, taking in account that even those three good ones were ‘just -just’). Bottom line, electricians were only good in providing power supply circuit and also roughing required control cables as per given specifications from the nominated point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. At the end I would have to check the whole installation, correct errors or terminate wires that had not been terminated by electricians.
      Then the initiative has come to put an experienced A/C and refrigeration technicians (many of them being 20 years or more in the trade) through some exams to gain electrical license. This was done through the Building Services Corporation then, now the Department of Fair Trading.
      All went well, briefs, training and exams done, but then the electrician’s union has put complaint that this might take some work of them, so in a last minute some compromise was done and A/C and refrigeration trades people were indorsed with the licence to carry only a trade associated electrical works, excluding works in the meter box or switchboard.
      I got feeling that some structures in our society are desperately trying to put us back, some 30 years in the past.
      Another ridiculous situation is with the invention of the of the new specie of trades people called ‘the fire practicioners’ (just happened a couple years ago). To ilustrate this, say I’ve designed a smoke detection system and arranged it for the automatic shut down of the large A/C system (around 300 kW capacity) in case of detection of smoke / fire (works on detection of smoke in the A/C supply duct, also on the fire trip signal from the Fire Panel, and also on an Emergency Stop button at the foyer of the reception centre..
      It was a complex task to blend this with the rather complex controls on this system. So, myself and my technicians were calibrating associated sensors and doing an annual inspections including simulations of the shut down conditions and testing the whole system. This was as the part of the annual certifications on fire services. However, since the ‘fire practicioners’ are introduced, we can not certify anything any more, so they have to do the tests and certifications. But then they do not know even how to operate the system. So at the end our client has to engage both, us to guide the ‘fire practicioners’ step by step through the procedure (and also to fix if something is out of order), so that they could then certify the system.
      And what if we refuse to assist the ‘fire practicioners’ ? Possibly the reception centre would have to be closed untill some other solution is found.
      Cheers, Boris

      Reply
3. Doc Davey

   November 7, 2024

   The electrical contractors have enough very serious issues of non compliance with standard 60079/10/1/1 wiring regulation both in the field and the administration of standards by the dept of energy safety , one would have thought that the pending legal consequences evolving around this standard by tradespeople whom have been given a cert 2 certificate to instal splits to 18 kws and have no knowledge of refrigeration fundamentals designed to protect our industry safety requirements with regards to flammability and stored energy that it would be a major deterrent for most electricians to attempt to takeover a comprehensive trade such as refrigeration without the proper qualifications to be able to safely apply there skills needed to maintain human and property safety.

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4. Martyn

   November 26, 2024

   These changes would destroy the trade completely.

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5. John c

   December 4, 2024

   Cutting electrical work from HVAC&R training would be a mistake. Technicians need comprehensive skills to handle entire systems efficiently. Removing this training could increase safety risks, create industry inconsistencies, and raise operational costs. Maintaining electrical training ensures technicians are well-rounded and competent, providing safe and effective service.

   Reply