Electrician ( Refugee)

[Sparky0726]

Good Day all the fellow electricians

I am a electrician from South Africa. We have applied for refugee admission to the U.S. ( I know some will have strong words).So I have been looking at the requirements for certification in the U.S as electrician and found that I need to have knowledge of NEC which in our land is SANS10142-1.

I have been in contact with NEC and found that I could do online training but the course lay out is a bit confusing as they gave a link that take me to various " segments" and I don't know how to approach this. In our SANS everything is covered in one book with 2 close book tests we need to write " Have to learn every thing word for word like a parrot and write it down exactly like in the book otherwise you will get the whole question wrong".

I had a client pay me in dollars for work I have done for him and wanted to deposit this into NEC bank account but that option does not exist and our current conversion rate is at R 16-41 but our banks only give R 15-98 per dollar.

I would like to start prepping for the US code before my arrival as I need to find employment as soon as possible when arriving in the U.S. At the age of 46 with 26 yrs experience and of which 18 having worked for myself will be a big adjustment and would like to make it as easy as possible to find employment in the U.S.

I have tried the IBEW but does not seem to keen on assisting in my enquiries.

Kind regards. ( May not post my name due to persecution and attacks from with in South Africa).

 

[suemarkp]

In the US, requirements to be an electrician are different by state. Licensing is done by state, and a license valid in one state most likely is not valid in another. Here in Washington State, you need to take a test, but you also need many hours of apprenticeship to become a Journeyman electrician. I don't believe there is a way to "test out" of the apprenticeship requirement unless you have some recognized credential and I doubt that work in a foreign country would be recognized.

I don't like this, but its the rules. As an engineer, and having studied the code book and done electrical work on my own, I could probably pass the test. But my engineering degree is worthless to become an electrician. There is no way I was going to spend 4000 hours of time being an apprentice so I could do occasional electrical work for people and get paid less than an engineer wage.

So determine what state you are going to live and work in. Then, find out their requirements to become an electrician in that state. You may have to enroll in a school to get the apprenticeship hours and many of those are run by the IBEW. Also, not all states use the National Electric Code, or if they do they may be several version behind (or different cities in that state could use different versions). Some states, especially in rural areas, may not have electrician licensing or inspection requirements.

Another option is here in WA you may be able to do work as an electrician without a license if you are employed by a company (e.g. an industrial electrician) that does electrical work for that employer on the employer's equipment and premises -- not going out an doing electrical work for others.

Finally, Mike Holt offers much electrical training. I'm not familiar with all the product offerings, but look here: https://www.mikeholt.com/
Under free stuff there is a link to schools.

 

[Eddie702]

While the NEC generally is accepted across the country different states have different requirements. The 2026 NEC is coming out and some states will adopt it shortly. But some state will remain on the 2023, 2020, 2017 or even older codes. Some states have reciprocity were if you have a license in one state another state may accept it.

I would suggest getting a code book probably a 2026 and start reading it. Both Mike Holt and Ryan Jackson have excellent you tube videos on code subjects, and other various books and other material is available on Mike Holt.com.

If I were you, I would start by selecting the state, you will be in if you know. Then look on that state website and look for the board of regulations that controls electrical licensing. You might want to check a few states they will all have differing requirements.

Then I would type up a long letter and send it to the state board even to multiple state boards.

I would include all your education experience
all your work experience
The type of buildings you did electrical work in
Copies of all licenses and certifications and credentials you have even if they are not electrical related
How long you have been licensed
ETC ETC ETC.

Bury them with paperwork
Most states have some type of loophole for persons with out of state and out of country experience. You want to exploit that. Some states may not give you any credit for what you have, other states will.

Don't lie to them but any experience you can verify will help.

Good luck on your journey.
I think in spite of all the problems the US has that you will find it very welcoming to people who want to better themselves and are willing to work

 

[zbang]

Since the 2026 code is so new, I'd suggest getting the 2023 (or 2020) NEC Handbook so you see not just the code but photos and commentary on the code; that'll help you understand how the NEC works. You should be able to find used copies on ebay.

 

[tortuga]

Good Day all the fellow electricians

I am a electrician from South Africa. We have applied for refugee admission to the U.S. ( I know some will have strong words).So I have been looking at the requirements for certification in the U.S as electrician and found that I need to have knowledge of NEC which in our land is SANS10142-1.

I have been in contact with NEC and found that I could do online training but the course lay out is a bit confusing as they gave a link that take me to various " segments" and I don't know how to approach this. In our SANS everything is covered in one

Welcome to the US, most of us are descendants of immigrants, but some tend to forget that,
Others here in the west coast states did not move over the border, rather from around 1848 - 1850 the border moved over many of them, but I digress and political talk is not permitted on this forum.

The NEC would actually cover topics in three SANS books:
SANS 10142‐1 The wiring of premises — Part 1: Low‐voltage installations
SANS 10142-2 The wiring of premises Part 2: Medium-voltage installations above 1 kV a.c. not exceeding 22 kV a.c. and up to and including 3 MVA installed capacity
SANS 60364-7-712 Low voltage electrical installations – Part 7-712: Requirements for special installations or locations – Solar photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems

The the most common grid system here is 60 HZ based with single phase transformers that are center tapped on the secondary, instead of end grounded,
So instead of 230V Line -- Neutral we have 120V Line A --- Neutral --- 120V Line B.
Lines A and B are 'in phase' and between them you get 240 volts.
Its called a 'split phase' system, never refer to it as two-phase, in old parts of the north eastern US there actually exists a two-phase system, its extremely rare. Also in that region there exists 25hz systems for electric rail transit.

Star transformers are called 'wye' or Y.
There are also many delta transformer configurations used here.

Conductors with white or gray insulation are typically reserved for the neutral or grounded phase conductor, light blue is not permitted for neutral other than equipment cords and inside equipment.

The earthing conductor is called equipment ground, typically green, or bare but green with yellow stripe is also accepted.
The voltage notation here is the Line - Line voltage then the Line - Neutral voltage after the slash.
The other three most common voltages are 208/120 and 480/277 from wye systems and a 240V delta three phase system.
In industry you may find niche specialty voltages like 600/347
In some heavy industry you might find 480V in every imaginable configuration, ungrounded, to various delta transformer connections also wye 240/416, 400/690, 415/720, systems do exist.
For utility grid systems 1000V or less utilities we use a TN-C earthing system, the NEC refers to a TN-C system as 'service conductors'.
TN-C Earhting is forbidden after the service disconnect, except in residences for certain old existing circuits such as Electric Cookers.
After the first fuse or circuit breaker (main disconnect) for a building the TN-S system is used almost exclusively, the term for this is 'Feeders'.
TT Earhting is strictly forbidden.
IT Earhting can be found in industry and solar.
People here were spooked by solar in the early days of PV so residential solar systems are in some views vastly over regulated or in other views extra safe.
I have had the privilege of working for some south African immigrants here and if your as hard working as they were you'll be very successful here.
Cheers and good luck.