FIELD                 ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

 

Review of Electricity Supply qualifications

 

National Certificate in Electricity Supply (Metering Technician) (Level 4) [Ref: 1247]

National Certificate in Electricity Supply (Metering Technician) (Level 5) [Ref: 1248]

 

The Electricity Supply Industry Training Organisation (ESITO) has completed the review of the qualifications listed above.

 

Replacement qualification

 

National Certificate in Electricity Supply (Metering Technician) (Level 4) with optional strands in Low Voltage Time of Use, and High Voltage Time of Use [Ref: 1314]

 

Date new qualification published                                                    August 2007

 

The next qualification review is planned to take place during 2011.

 

Summary of review and consultation process

 

The review was carried out because industry feedback had indicated that a change in content and structure was required to meet current industry requirements.

 

Metering Technician qualifications were originally developed in 2002, but were not progressed to registration at that time.  The qualifications, which were eventually registered in July 2006, differed quite considerably to those originally developed, and after consulting with senior figures in the Metering Technician field ESITO discovered that the registered qualifications did not meet the requirements of industry.  A review was therefore undertaken in order to replace the registered qualifications with a more suitable qualification.  It was decided that the best delivery would be through one qualification with optional strands allowing for specialisation.

 

Main changes resulting from the review

 

This review has resulted in major structural change.  The Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications have been replaced with one Level 4 qualification.  With the exception of one standard, all standards outside of the Metering domain have been removed.  The qualification can be gained with 61 credits, and candidates can elect to take an optional strand in either Low Voltage Time of Use, or High Voltage Time of Use, which recognise specialisations within the metering technician field.

 

National Certificate in Electricity Supply (Metering Technician) (Level 4) [Ref: 1247]

National Certificate in Electricity Supply (Metering Technician) (Level 5) [Ref: 1248]

Replaced by

National Certificate in Electricity Supply (Metering Technician) (Level 4) with optional strands in Low Voltage Time of Use, and High Voltage Time of Use [Ref: 1314]

 

Review category

C

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

 

Summary of differences between the qualifications

·      Standards 1206, 2017, 2031, 14287, 15853, 15857, 15866, 15870, 17026, 17028, 19323, and 19950 (compulsory standards from Q1247) and 19472 (compulsory standard from Q1248) were not required in the new qualification.

·      Standards 9703 and 23784 have been introduced into the new qualification.

·      Optional strands have been added for low voltage time of use, and high voltage time of use.

 

Transition

 

The Electricity Supply Industry Training Organisation understands that there are no trainees registered under the National Certificate in Electricity Supply (Metering Technician) (Level 4) [Ref: 1247] or the National Certificate in Electricity Supply (Metering Technician) (Level 5) [Ref: 1248], therefore no transition arrangements are required.

 

All new trainees will be enrolled in programmes leading to the new qualification.

 

It is not intended that anyone is disadvantaged by this review; however, anyone who feels that they have been disadvantaged may appeal to:

 

Electricity Supply Industry Training Organisation

PO Box 1245

HAMILTON

 

Telephone       07 834 3038

Facsimile         07 834 8160

Email                info@esito.org.nz

 

Key to Qualification Review Categories

 

Category A

The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID

Changes are made to SSB name, contact details or purpose statement

No change is made to title, rules or components of the qualification

No transition arrangements are required

Category B

The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID

Changes are made to title, rules or components

The new version of the qualification recognises a similar skill set to that recognised by the previous version

The SSB is confident that people awarded the new or previous version are comparable in terms of competence

Transition arrangements are required if candidates must gain additional/different credits for the new version

Category C

A new (replacement) qualification is published with new NQF ID

Significant changes are made to the qualification in terms of components, structure, type or level

The SSB views people with the replacement qualification as being significantly different in terms of competence from those with the replaced qualification

Transition arrangements are required

Transition may be limited to phase-out dates

Category D

Qualification will expire.

There is no replacement qualification

Qualification is no longer required by industry

The qualification is designated as expiring and a last date for meeting the qualification requirements is set