Recruiting electricians: electrotechnical competence in the Czech Republic

"Decree 50" and "paragraph 6": what those words mean now

Decree 50/1978 Sb. was in force for decades, and its numbering became so established that it is still used on both sides — an employer writes "paragraph 6" into an advertisement and a candidate answers with the same in a CV. Electrotechnical competence is now governed by Czech government regulation 194/2022 Sb., which replaced that decree. The colloquial label therefore has no basis in the regulation in force, and the old and new structures cannot be mapped onto one another mechanically.

The government regulation distinguishes several levels of competence, which follow from the vocational education attained, the length of practice and the passing of an examination, and it separates — among other things — work under supervision, independent activity and the management of activity. The definition of each level, the practice required and the particulars of the document are deliberately not cited here item by item; they belong in the current wording of the regulation and should be checked there.

The practical approach for recruitment follows simply from that: do not rely on what is written in the advertisement or in a CV, and ask for the document itself. From it you can see who issued it, what activity and what equipment it covers, and until when it is valid.

Competence attaches to an activity and to equipment, not only to a person

A document evidencing competence is not a universal licence. What decides is a combination of three things: what activity is to be performed, on what equipment, and under what regime. Operating a switchboard presupposes different competence from installation and repair, working on de-energised equipment different competence from working near live parts. The voltage level matters too — low voltage is not the same as high voltage.

A brief of the kind "we are looking for an electrician with the papers" therefore gives selection nothing to work with. Once the voltage level, the type of equipment and the activity appear in the request, it becomes clear whom you are looking for, and the candidate is able to answer whether their document covers it. It protects you as well: responsibility for what work is assigned to a worker, and for whether they hold the competence required for it, rests with the employer, not with the worker.

The dimensions a request has to fix:

• Voltage level — low, high, or where relevant very high voltage
• Type of equipment — switchboards, the electrical equipment of machines, drives, distribution systems, photovoltaics
• Activity — operating, work (installation, repair, maintenance), inspection, design
• Work regime — de-energised, in the vicinity of live parts, or live working
• Degree of independence — work under supervision, independent activity, or the management of activity

Reserved technical equipment, and what follows from it

Electrical equipment, together with lifting, pressure and gas equipment, falls among reserved technical equipment under Czech Act 250/2021 Sb. That Act governs requirements for their safe operation and for the competence of the persons and organisations performing activities on them; the government regulation on electrotechnical competence is its implementing regulation.

Two levels follow for an employer, and they are frequently confused in requests. The first concerns persons — who may do what. The second concerns the organisation and the equipment — authorisation for activities on reserved equipment, inspections and checks, documentation and intervals. Inspection is itself a separate activity, performed by a person holding the relevant certificate; a plant electrician’s profile does not normally include it, and if you need it covered it belongs in the request explicitly.

Maintenance electrician, plant electrician, installation electrician

The three most commonly requested profiles differ enough in the nature of the work that they do not substitute for one another. A maintenance electrician finds and clears faults on machines while production runs: reads schematics, is at home with the periphery of control systems, with frequency converters, drives and sensors, and decides under the pressure of a stoppage. Diagnosis is the point, not routine.

A plant electrician looks after the site’s electrical equipment and its operation — distribution, switchboards, lighting, minor modifications, material for inspections and clearing the faults they identify. An installation electrician, by contrast, works to projects: installs cable routes, fits and wires switchboards, and follows the project documentation, often in a team and on contracts away from the company. Each of these profiles draws on a different pool of candidates and is therefore differently easy to fill. A combination of roles can be asked for, but it has to appear both in the brief and in the pay grading.

What this page does not supply is the pay itself: we state no wage figures for electricians and do not invent them. Earnings data broken down by occupation are published by the Czech average-earnings information system (ISPV), and the current picture of the Czech labour market by the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV), the Czech Labour Office (Úřad práce ČR) and the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ).

Validity, re-examination and fitness for work

A document evidencing competence is not permanent. The regulation provides for competence to be verified again at given intervals, and the document has limited validity; the specific intervals and the form of re-examination are set by the government regulation and should be checked against its current wording.

Personnel records therefore need not only a copy of the document but the date its validity ends — something to watch in advance, not at the moment a worker may no longer go near the equipment.

Alongside that, the usual joining obligations apply. For work on electrical equipment, particular weight attaches to fitness for work assessed as part of the occupational-medical examination, and to thorough familiarisation with the specific workplace and its risks over and above general safety training. Provision of protective equipment matched to the work and the environment is normally part of it.

With a candidate whose qualification was obtained abroad, expect that a document issued in another country is not automatically taken over. Recognition of a professional qualification obtained in another EU member state, in an EEA state or in Switzerland is governed by Czech Act 18/2004 Sb.; documents from third countries follow a different route, and the procedure varies further according to the activity involved. Information on the recognition of foreign education is published by the Czech Ministry of Education. It is worth starting this step before you agree a start date with the candidate.

What to put in the request so selection can work

A reliable check on a brief is whether an electrician who does not know your company could answer from it. If they could, the selection is not decided when documents are checked before a start date but much earlier — and among candidates who genuinely hold competence for that work.

A brief described that way also speeds up pre-selection: knowing the equipment and the activity, the document can be gone through with the candidate before the interview, verified against originals along with identity.

The wording of those transitional provisions is not interpreted here; for a specific certificate, go by its content and its validity date.

What the request should carry:

• The voltage level and the type of equipment that will be worked on
• The activity and the degree of independence required, including management of activity where that applies
• Whether inspection activity is part of the role, or only the preparation of material for inspections
• The environment and the operation — production hall, site, contracts away from the company, shift work or on-call standby
• The documents required, including their scope and their period of validity