Electricial Qualifications in Spain (and other queries)

[eshock44]

My wife and i are in our thirties and most of our kids (the older 3) are just finishing or will be finishing school in the next year or two so we were thinking of taking our youngest 2 kids (7 and 1) and moving to spain like we have discussed a number of times over the last few years, neither of us have any property here in the UK or other ties to keep us here other than our children and wanted to do this sooner rather than later if it is possible.

Firstly can anyone tell me or point me in the right direction to find out how relevant my qualifications as an electrician from the UK would be in spain and pay rates/job availability over there?

Secondly would anyone know if a discharged bankrupt (my wife) would affect our prospects in spain?

I have a number of other questions i need to find answers too but these two are foremost in my mind atm.

Thanks in advance

Nick

[Big Pete]

Originally Posted by eshock44

My wife and i are in our thirties and most of our kids (the older 3) are just finishing or will be finishing school in the next year or two so we were thinking of taking our youngest 2 kids (7 and 1) and moving to spain like we have discussed a number of times over the last few years, neither of us have any property here in the UK or other ties to keep us here other than our children and wanted to do this sooner rather than later if it is possible.

Firstly can anyone tell me or point me in the right direction to find out how relevant my qualifications as an electrician from the UK would be in spain and pay rates/job availability over there?

Secondly would anyone know if a discharged bankrupt (my wife) would affect our prospects in spain?

I have a number of other questions i need to find answers too but these two are foremost in my mind atm.

Thanks in advance

Nick

Hi and welcome eshock

Cant help on the qualifications and job side , but dont worry on the wife being ex bankcrupt etc, wont make any odds at all ..

[eshock44]

Thanks pete thats good to know

As far as i am able to tell it seems that if i went back a couple of sets of regulations in the uk i would be at about the level of current spanish electrical regulations, other than that its is superficial stuff like outlets and fittings being different.

Since the new change here in the uk from a "red yellow blue" to a "brown black grey" three phase system about 2 years ago to bring us in line with the rest of europe it seems there is virtually no difference other than the uk are a little stricter on the installation side of things.

I still cant get anything concrete as to if i would need to have my qualifications verified as yet but i have a couple of years yet to find out the answers and will post here what i find out

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by eshock44

Thanks pete thats good to know

As far as i am able to tell it seems that if i went back a couple of sets of regulations in the uk i would be at about the level of current spanish electrical regulations, other than that its is superficial stuff like outlets and fittings being different.

Since the new change here in the uk from a "red yellow blue" to a "brown black grey" three phase system about 2 years ago to bring us in line with the rest of europe it seems there is virtually no difference other than the uk are a little stricter on the installation side of things.

I still cant get anything concrete as to if i would need to have my qualifications verified as yet but i have a couple of years yet to find out the answers and will post here what i find out

You need special certification here in Spain to be a fullt fledged electrician. Basically you may be able to do the work here without these qualifications, but it will need to be written off by a certificated electrician for which you will have to pay

[eshock44]

Yeah i read about that somewhere last night, something about needing to sit some exams to get my certification in spain, i have not found anything more on it though so may have to contact the embassy perhaps.

[Stravinsky]

Originally Posted by eshock44

Yeah i read about that somewhere last night, something about needing to sit some exams to get my certification in spain, i have not found anything more on it though so may have to contact the embassy perhaps.

Maybe, but I think your problem will be that the exams are in Spanish

[eshock44]

Hehe Yeah thats what i was thinking but i am not so bothered about remaining an electrician tbh i just figured stick with what you are good at and know.

[Big Pete]

Originally Posted by eshock44

Hehe Yeah thats what i was thinking but i am not so bothered about remaining an electrician tbh i just figured stick with what you are good at and know.

Well once you have learnt a little Spanish you will be fine , i have seen the way they wire here and being honest , its pretty much the same as in UK .

They use a lot of the same isolators and earth trips etc.. so dont panic to early .

You can still do wiring as long as its signed off by a registered Spanish qualified one, and here they do anything for a back hander so go for it ..

[eshock44]

Been looking into it today and as long as i am working in an employed status i shouldn't need to worry about certifying my work so in that respect it is pretty much the same as here in the UK when working for a company recognised by one of the national regulatory bodies.

We just started to learn spanish from internet, books, cd's and spanish radio stations (via the internet) and are looking at doing a spanish course in september since that is the biggest single hurdle right now.

So to boil it down for any other sparkys out there looking at spain as an option to live, your qualifications from the UK should qualify you to work in spain since EU qualifications among member states for professional tradesmen are supposed to be recognised, although if you plan to work self employed you may need to have yourself certified in spain which requires you to sit an exam (afaik in spanish) or find a spanish sparks to certify your work for you.

We aren't looking to move to spain for another 2 / 3 years (once our middle child finishes his exams) so we have a bit of time, however if the right job opportunity came up i would go out ahead of my family hence we are moving quickly on learning to speak and read spanish.

On that note does anyone have any idea of the sort of wage commanded by electricians in spain?

I can't find anything solid atm on that and i understand a lot of jobs do not specify a wage however it would be good to have a base idea so i can do income-expenditure calculations to see how affordable living in spain is, i am used to long hours and a tight budget so that does not worry me, also a rough idea of the kind of bills associated with living would be good from those who actually live there atm if it is not too much of an imposition.

Thanks

Nick

[Stravinsky]

For sure, because you will be working for a company that has accredited electricians I guess ..... Sorry I thought you were talking about self employment, my mistake

Dunno about wages though, sorry. I know it cost me €3000 to have my underbuild wired. Two people two days.

Originally Posted by eshock44

Been looking into it today and as long as i am working in an employed status i shouldn't need to worry about certifying my work so in that respect it is pretty much the same as here in the UK when working for a company recognised by one of the national regulatory bodies.

We just started to learn spanish from internet, books, cd's and spanish radio stations (via the internet) and are looking at doing a spanish course in september since that is the biggest single hurdle right now.

So to boil it down for any other sparkys out there looking at spain as an option to live, your qualifications from the UK should qualify you to work in spain since EU qualifications among member states for professional tradesmen are supposed to be recognised, although if you plan to work self employed you may need to have yourself certified in spain which requires you to sit an exam (afaik in spanish) or find a spanish sparks to certify your work for you.

We aren't looking to move to spain for another 2 / 3 years (once our middle child finishes his exams) so we have a bit of time, however if the right job opportunity came up i would go out ahead of my family hence we are moving quickly on learning to speak and read spanish.

On that note does anyone have any idea of the sort of wage commanded by electricians in spain?

I can't find anything solid atm on that and i understand a lot of jobs do not specify a wage however it would be good to have a base idea so i can do income-expenditure calculations to see how affordable living in spain is, i am used to long hours and a tight budget so that does not worry me, also a rough idea of the kind of bills associated with living would be good from those who actually live there atm if it is not too much of an imposition.

Thanks

Nick