Professional Competence Examination in Electrical Engineering: Procedure, Examination Board and What to Prepare

Enquiries usually come in two forms: either “we need to retrain five people under the old ‘Vyhláška 50’ rules” or “a new electrician has joined us—when can you examine them?” The question the client does not expect in return is: what do these people actually do at the workplace, and on what equipment?

A certificate is issued to a specific person for a precisely defined scope of work. It states the voltage, type of equipment and whether the work covers premises with an explosion hazard—and anything not stated in it is not covered. Choosing a course based solely on a job title can therefore result in a certificate that does not match the actual work: it may be too narrow, or formally broad but unsupported by training in local conditions.

We will explain what “electrician examinations” mean today, who may organise them, how the examination works, which documents to prepare and how to tell whether the certificate is worth the money the company paid for it.

Vyhláška 50 Has Ended; Scope Is What Matters

Vyhláška č. 50/1978 Sb. was repealed on 1 July 2022. Professional competence in electrical engineering is now governed by zákon č. 250/2021 Sb. and nařízení vlády č. 194/2022 Sb., as amended. Companies still commonly refer to “Vyhláška 50” and its former “paragraphs”, but certificates are issued under the new legislation—we explain how the former competence levels correspond to the current system in a separate article.

At the outset, it is useful to distinguish between three things that are regularly conflated in enquiries:

• an instructed person under Section 4 of the regulation—there is no examination before a board; knowledge is verified through company training;
• an electrician under Section 6 and a supervising electrician under Section 7—an examination before a three-member board and a certificate covering a precisely defined scope;
• an electrical inspection technician—the certificate is issued by an authorised organisation (Technická inspekce České republiky) under a separate procedure pursuant to zákon č. 250/2021 Sb.

A certificate under Section 6 or Section 7 authorises the activities stated within its scope; by itself, it is not sufficient for inspecting designated electrical equipment. We discuss the competence required for different activities in our article on conducting appliance inspections in-house.

Define the Scope Before Choosing a Date

The experience requirements differ for each level. For an electrician, the responsible person determines the minimum required professional experience in accordance with the risk assessment for the individual activities performed and incorporates it into the local operational safety rules—the regulation specifies no fixed period. A separate condition applies to a person with no electrical engineering experience: under Section 6(2) of the regulation, the local operational safety rules must require supervision by a knowledgeable person with at least two years of experience, for a period of at least one year. For a supervising electrician, the required experience is set directly by the regulation according to the type and voltage of the equipment—it is longer for higher voltages and premises with an explosion hazard. Before enrolling anyone, ask the organiser to confirm the specific requirement for your case under Section 7 of the regulation. The certificate’s scope is based on documented qualifications and experience, not on what the company would like the document to say.

Who May Conduct the Examination and What to Request Before Ordering

The examination for both electricians and supervising electricians is conducted by a three-member examination board. Its chair must be professionally competent to perform inspections—in other words, an electrical inspection technician holding a certificate with the appropriate scope. This safeguard is worth verifying in advance: without it, the examination does not comply with the regulation, no matter how impressive the certificate issued at the end may look.

The employer usually arranges the examination for its employees. It does not need to establish its own board: it may use an organiser whose registered business activities include providing training, examinations or knowledge assessments. A self-employed person arranges the examination for themselves.

Before booking a date, request:

• the name of the board chair and the number of their electrical inspection technician certificate;
• written confirmation that the examination will cover the required scope—voltage, type of equipment and premises with an explosion hazard;
• an anonymised sample of the certificate to be issued;
• the schedule for the day.

The final point is not a formality. A schedule will tell you within a minute whether the programme actually leaves time for an oral examination before the board, or whether it consists only of a lecture and a test.

How the Examination Works

The examination has two parts. Under the regulation, the written test must contain at least 10 questions, and a score of 80% correct answers is required to pass. It focuses on rules for safe work on electrical equipment and first aid following an electric shock. The oral interview takes place only after the candidate has passed the written test—the board reviews any errors, verifies professional knowledge and asks about working procedures, operational instructions and risks relevant to the candidate’s actual work.

Attending a lecture alone therefore does not result in a certificate. Anyone who fails to reach the required score in the test does not proceed to the oral part.

The legislation does not specify the length of either the preparation or the examination. Publicly available courses usually take approximately one working day; elsewhere, the preparation and examination are split over two days. If you are releasing several employees from work at once, ask about the schedule before asking about the price—and assume they will not return to their shift that day.

What the Board Cannot Know but the Company Does

Preparation is not about memorising section numbers. Candidates must understand the principles of safe work with equipment de-energised, near live parts and, in specified cases, on live equipment; protection against electric shock; procedures for securing the workplace; and first aid following an electric shock. An external trainer can cover this half, which is also addressed by ČSN EN 50110-1 ed. 3 for the operation of and work on electrical installations.

The other half belongs to your company, and nobody else can supply it for you: the risks associated with the equipment on which the person actually works, the company’s working and technological procedures, and its operational and safety instructions. An external trainer does not know how your switchboards are wired, the order of your local isolation and securing steps, or which areas you have classified as environments with an explosion hazard. These are not limited to chemical plants: they also include paint shops, filling facilities, flammable-liquid stores and dusty operations such as mills or woodworking workshops. Classification must be based on your documentation, not on an impression formed at the site.

This is where issues that a general course cannot cover tend to arise:

• After the main circuit breaker has been switched off, the incoming side of the switchboard may remain live. The wiring diagram and the location of the isolating devices determine where the equipment is actually disconnected—securing the workplace may therefore need to begin somewhere other than at the lever closest to hand.
• Power-factor correction switchboards, converters and drives may retain charge in their capacitors after disconnection. The time required for safe discharge is specified in the manufacturer’s documentation; it must not be estimated.
• Switching off the inverter may not disconnect the entire photovoltaic installation. While light reaches the panels, the DC strings may remain live all the way to the inverter—unless the installation has a DC isolator on the panel side or a rapid shutdown system and that system has been activated. Similarly, battery storage may remain live after the inverter has been switched off; the wiring diagram and the manufacturer’s documentation for the particular system determine which components are used to disconnect it.
• UPS systems and backup power supplies may continue to energise socket circuits after the incoming supply has been disconnected—and in server rooms, the wiring may make this far from obvious at first glance.

What remains live in a particular installation is therefore determined not by a general rule, but by the wiring diagram, the manufacturer’s documentation and the isolating devices used. The workplace must consequently be secured in accordance with the prescribed isolation procedure, and the de-energised state must always be verified by measurement rather than assumption.

Subject to the specified conditions, the part of the training concerning working and technological procedures may be documented by confirmation from the company’s responsible person. The confirmation should make clear that the employee regularly receives this training and undergoes knowledge assessments. This presupposes, however, that the procedures have been documented and reflect current operations. If you are unsure, request a non-binding quotation—we can set up the local operational safety rules, define the scope of activities and establish records that track certificate validity as part of your occupational health and safety documentation.

Documents to Prepare for the Examination

Confirm the precise list with the organiser before paying; it varies according to the competence level and the intended scope of the examination. Send the organiser the required voltage range, environment and the employee’s specific activities in advance—otherwise, the certificate’s scope will be based on guesswork. We explain the education and experience required for each level in our article on obtaining electrical competence levels.

Price: What It Should Include for Offers to Be Comparable

The legislation does not set the examination fee, so offers cannot be compared by looking at a single figure. Before comparing two offers, ask each provider to confirm whether the price includes preparatory training and study materials, the written and oral parts before the examination board, issuance of the certificate, any on-site company training and travel, a repeat attempt following failure, and VAT. Some price lists show prices excluding tax and others include it, so the first figure displayed does not determine which offer is cheaper.

For a larger group, on-site training is often more practical: it eliminates travel and keeps employees away from operations for less time. It is worthwhile only if the service includes a properly constituted board and an individual assessment of every participant. A group test followed by a single signature does not meet this requirement.

How to Recognise a Properly Issued Certificate

After passing the examination, the employee receives a certificate confirming successful completion of the examination—not an electrical inspection technician certificate. Check that it includes:

• a registration number;
• identification of the candidate;
• professional or vocational qualifications and length of experience;
• the competence level—that is, electrician or supervising electrician;
• the voltage range and type of equipment;
• whether it covers equipment in premises without an explosion hazard or premises with an explosion hazard;
• any additional restrictions on activities;
• the expiry date;
• identification and signature of the examination board chair and, for an electrical inspection technician, their certificate number.

The design and a round stamp are not what matter. What matters is the information, the signature, the board’s qualifications—and, above all, whether the defined scope corresponds to the work the person performs at your workplace. The chair prepares a record of the examination procedure and content, which remains with the organiser. The company should retain a copy of the issued certificate in its own records and monitor its expiry date.

Three Years of Validity—and What Does Not End There

Certificates for both electricians and supervising electricians are valid for three years from the date of issue. It makes sense to begin arranging renewal well in advance—dates are often fully booked in spring and autumn, and evidence of qualifications and experience must be assembled again. We explain the procedure in our article on renewing and retaking electrical competence examinations.

Once the certificate expires, the employee no longer meets the conditions for independent work within the scope it defined. What they may continue to do, and under what supervision, must be redefined in accordance with the regulation and the local operational safety rules—it must not be left to an informal agreement made during a shift.

A three-year certificate is also no substitute for regular training. Under Section 103(2) and (3) of zákoník práce, the employer must provide employees with training on legal and other regulations concerning occupational health and safety and determine its content, frequency, method of knowledge assessment and documentation. For electrical work, this obligation is supplemented by the company’s internal rules and usually also by ČSN EN 50110-1 ed. 3.

The standard is not, in itself, a generally binding legal regulation—Section 4 of zákon č. 22/1997 Sb. expressly states that a Czech technical standard is not generally binding. Its binding force or relevance to a particular workplace arises from something else: a reference in legislation, a contract, the company’s internal rules, the manufacturer’s documentation, or simply the fact that the company has chosen it as the means by which it meets safety requirements. Once operations rely on it, it belongs in the training: Section 349(1) of zákoník práce includes technical standards among the “legal and other regulations concerning occupational health and safety” covered by training under Section 103(2).

Checklist Before Booking

For each person, answer the following questions before picking up the phone:

• What equipment and voltage do they work with—and do they operate, maintain, install or repair it?
• Do they work independently, or do they manage the work of other people?
• Do they enter areas classified as environments with an explosion hazard?
• Does their education meet the required qualification, and is this clear from the relevant document?
• Is their experience documented in a way that identifies both the type and voltage of the equipment?
• Who is the company’s responsible person, and has this been designated in writing?
• Do you have local operational safety rules and working procedures for the activities covered by the examination?
• When does the existing certificate expire?

Only these answers can determine the scope you should order. A course chosen by job title answers the question, “Did they receive training?” After an accident or during an inspection, however, a different question will be asked: were they competent to perform the specific activity they were carrying out?

Sources for This Article

• Occupational health and safety, fire safety and electrical safety training – a service provided by SOHE.
• How to obtain electrical competence levels – the education and experience required for each professional competence level.
• Renewal and re-examination of electrical competence – what to address before the certificate’s three-year validity period ends.
• Vyhláška 50 is no longer valid: a guide to the former competence levels – how the former levels correspond to the current legislation.
• Zákon č. 250/2021 Sb. – on occupational safety in connection with the operation of designated technical equipment; the framework for professional competence and electrical inspection technician certificates issued by an authorised organisation.
• Nařízení vlády č. 194/2022 Sb. – requirements for professional competence to perform work on electrical equipment; levels under Sections 4, 6 and 7, Section 6(2) concerning experience and supervision, the composition of the examination board, the examination procedure and required documents.
• Zákon č. 262/2006 Sb. – zákoník práce; Section 103(2) and (3) concerning training on occupational health and safety regulations, its content and frequency, and Section 349(1) defining legal and other regulations.
• Zákon č. 22/1997 Sb. – on technical requirements for products; Section 4 states that a Czech technical standard is not generally binding.
• Vyhláška č. 50/1978 Sb. – repealed on 1 July 2022; included solely as a reference for older certificates.
• ČSN EN 50110-1 ed. 3 – operation of and work on electrical installations; the standard is not freely available and is not generally binding.

This article is for information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. The specific professional competence regime, scope of activities, required experience and training content must be determined according to the actual workplace, the manufacturer’s documentation, the environment of use and the risk assessment.

We prepare companies for examinations in the areas the organiser cannot handle on their behalf: defining the scope of activities, drafting local operational safety rules and working procedures, and establishing certificate records that track the three-year validity period. This is complemented by occupational health and safety, fire safety and electrical safety training tailored to your equipment rather than a generic syllabus. Request a non-binding quotation or email info@sohe.cz, and we will review who needs to be enrolled and for what scope.

Exam dates for § 6 and § 7: open sessions in Brno are scheduled regularly, repeat examination online for CZK 1,400 per person — details on Electrical training and examinations.