From electrician to UPS engineer

Ask a room of UPS engineers how they got into it and plenty will say the same thing: they were electricians first. UPS service companies regularly take on qualified electricians and train them, because the electrical foundation is the hard part to teach.

If you’re an electrician looking for something more specialised, here’s what the move involves.

What employers ask for

Look at UPS service adverts and the same requirements come up again and again:

• 18th Edition. Most adverts treat it as essential.
• An ECS card. It’s often preferred, though not always required.
• A full UK driving licence. Nearly all UPS roles are field based.
• Three-phase experience, and confidence with test equipment such as meters, clamps and scopes.

Experienced UPS roles usually ask for several years of UPS service work. Trainee field service roles exist specifically for electricians making the move, with the employer providing the UPS training.

What’s different

Power electronics. A UPS is rectifiers, inverters, static switches and a DC bus, not just distribution. Fault-finding means understanding how those parts behave, and manufacturer training is where most engineers learn it.

Batteries. Most UPS systems sit on battery strings at DC voltages well above anything in a domestic or commercial install. Lead-acid batteries also give off hydrogen. Stationary battery safety has its own standards: BS EN IEC 62485-2 for lead-acid and nickel-based batteries, and BS EN IEC 62485-5 for lithium-ion, which is increasingly common.

The load can’t go down. UPS systems protect data centres, hospitals and control rooms. Much of the skill is in doing the work without dropping the load: following the site’s method statement, transferring to maintenance bypass correctly, and knowing when to stop and ask.

Customers and travel. Most UPS engineers cover a region, sometimes nationally, and work on an on-call rota. You’re the face of the company on site, so how you deal with the customer matters as much as the fault.

Manufacturer or independent?

You can train with a manufacturer, which goes deep on one product range, or an independent service company, which covers several brands. Both are good routes in. Our piece on manufacturer, independent or end user compares them.

How to make the move

• Lead with your fault-finding. Prepare two or three jobs where you diagnosed something that wasn’t obvious, ideally on three-phase systems. Our interview guide for service and commissioning engineers covers what to expect.
• Ask what the training involves. Find out which courses, on which products, and when, and get it in writing. Our piece on what to check when an employer says “we’ll train you” covers training repayment clauses.
• Be realistic about the first year. You’ll spend time shadowing before you’re sent out alone, and that’s what you want.

Where it leads

UPS experience opens doors. Engineers move into commissioning, data centre operations, generators and switchgear, and increasingly battery storage. Our piece on moving from generators and CHP into battery storage covers that last route. Others move into supervisor and service manager roles.

If you’re an electrician thinking about UPS, talk to us. We know which employers train well, and we handle the package for you.

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Sources: BSI, BS EN IEC 62485-2 Stationary batteries; BSI, BS EN IEC 62485-5 Safe operation of stationary lithium ion batteries; JIB, Electrotechnical Certification Scheme.