Doing Dual Trade in Western Australia

[jbomba]

Hey guys thinking about signing up for my dual trade and getting put through my electrical time. Can anyone tell me how long this takes. Ive been told by people at work 18 months if your already a fridgie. Can someone please confirm this?

[Scramjetman]

Queensland rules are perfomance based - not sure about WA. I've done both trades. Did Electrical at 15 years old first then Fridgie shortly after. Qld used to have a 5 year apprenticeship and you came out with both trades. When I did mine you had to prove competency with an assessor, so after I had done all the study, I had to do exams and practical tests to show we had got it all, then they gave you a ticket and set you loose.

As I understand most states use this model now, so if you can study well and do TAFE training for the practical side you can get through it in a year. What you can't get is the hands on experience. Granted, the first year or so in the apprenticeship is sweeping floors polishing pipe and handing the Tradie tools. But we still learn by looking and questioning and are able to see work procedures and job organisation in action. A good apprentice needs a good tradie to learn from.

In Oz, a Fridge has a restricted electrical ticket, so you are trained in the fundamentals. To have an open electrical ticket can be a little daunting to a fridgie because there are a lot more formula to remember (we counted 105 of them in our first year - and it can be done,,, just takes a lot of discipline and focus) and use in the exams. Some you will never use again - some you will use all the time - depends in what field of specialisation you end up in.

That being said, it is worth doing because the knowledge gives you a more holistic view of refrigeration and takes some of the mystery out of the hidden electrical side if you haven't had the training.

[Magoo]

Hi jbomba.
I see you are based in NZ and working in WA Perth., thats one hellava drive to work everyday. If NZ trade qual'd you will have an electrical licence anyway.
I admire your enthusiasum to learn and grow, but you have to decide what trade you want be in. There is only 24 hours in a day, 25 if you stop for lunch.

[jbomba]

Yeah I already have my restricted ticket. The reason I want to get my unrestricted license is so I can one day go out on my own. It really frustrates me getting electricians in just to wire tps to the board

[Scramjetman]

It's true. Once you have that ticket, there's a whole lot of stuff you can do and the margins on your work increase because you don't have to outsource so much. Hope you can manage it. It's a fair bit of effort and theres quite a few hoops to jump through but the results are worth it.

See if you can find a sympathetic TAFE teacher or Trade Assessor to help you. They can RPL (Recognised Prior Learning) a lot of stuff which shortens the training time and helps you hit your goal sooner.

[Magoo]

Hi jbomba.
basically comes down to an economy of scale. You spend time effort and money getting an unrestricted ticket, thats cool. You already know the cable rating and sizing, you do the grunt work and all down stream connections etc., get a sparkie in to terminate to supply. What half an hour to check test and terminate. It will take years of your time recovery rate to break even on costs encurred getting a full ticket.
Plus he will do the paper work and filing with local power supply