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British Marine Electronics Technician (BMET) Scheme

The British Marine Federation (BMF) and British Marine Electronics Association (BMEA) have established the British Marine Electronics Technicians (BMET) Scheme to provide a standard for marine electronics engineers. The aim of this scheme is to give all those in the marine electronics industry (consumers, dealers, and manufacturers) a standard to ensure quality installation and service of marine electronics equipment. In doing this everyone involved in the chain will know the expected standard of workmanship and those who obtain the qualification will receive the recognition they rightly deserve.

The advantage of this scheme can be seen across the board. From the Consumer's perspective it will tell them that the company they are dealing with has engineers that have reached a certain standard and are participating in a scheme designed to create uniformity across the marine industry.

Andy Haines, Director of Greenham Regis (www.greenham-regis.com) said, 'the BMET Scheme is as close as we're going to get to something like the CORGI scheme for Gas Installers. Although it is not a legal requirement like the gas industry, it does at least tell the customer that the company is conforming to a recognised qualification and standard.' From the Dealers perspective the scheme is a good way to ensure continual development of engineers and to differentiate from those dealers without the certificate. Andy said, 'it is good for young engineer's to participate in something which hopefully in the long run will be recognised as a proper Marine Electronic / Electrical qualification. We can also use it as part of the engineer's training and salary structure.'

Finally from the manufacturers a perspective, using a dealer who meets the BMET standards means they are likely to receive a higher level of workmanship than those without. Again Andy points out the benefits of the scheme, 'manufacturers will know that dealers who meet these standards and use trained engineers are much more likely to deliver a high standard of work which will mean fewer problems for the manufacturer and less unhappy customers.'

The scheme is being run by the Association of Marine Electronics and Radio Colleges (AMERC). AMERC acts as the examining body for a range of operator and maintenance certificates on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), through an international network of colleges spanning the university, further education and private sector, offering a wide range of electronics and communications related courses.

For more details of the BMET scheme, visit www.britishmarine.co.uk

Icom UK Marketing - marketing@icomuk.co.uk