Building Inspections, Design and Technical Standards

A home inspection is a non-invasive visual inspection of a residential dwelling, performed for a fee. The inspection identifies material defects within specific components of the dwelling. Components may include any combination of mechanical, structural, electrical, plumbing or other essential systems or portions of the home, and the components to be inspected are agreed upon by the client and the inspector prior to the inspection process. You must be licensed to practice as a home inspector in South Carolina (unless you hold a South Carolina license as an architect, engineer, residential builder or general contractor). Successful completion of this 45-hour training course exempts the license candidate from meeting the usual experience requirement to be eligible to take the South Carolina home inspector examination, a two-hour exam consisting of 100 multiple-choice questions. This course is approved by the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI) for continuing education credit. Instructor: Rob Bolus.  Books not included

Construction and Contracting

Are you under contract to the Navy Facilities Engineering Command or the Army Corps of Engineers for construction work? This seven-hour course familiarizes students with the construction quality management concepts and procedures required for risk management in some federal construction contracts. Students who successfully complete this course receive a five-year certificate that is required for many federal construction contracts. The course includes introduction to construction quality management, contractor review of documents, quality management planning, teamwork and building trust, submittals, quality management during construction. Instructor: John E. Parker III 

LOW VOLTAGE WIRING / STRUCTURED WIRING / INTEGRATED WIRING

This introductory 3-day fiber optic tech training course prepares each student to become a Certified Fiber Optics Technician (CFOT). This basic course combines theory with 75% hands-on activities that prepare each student for the  Fiber Optics Association(FOA) CFOT exam, which is given on the final class day.  This course introduces industry standards governing FTTD (Fiber To The Desk), FTTH (Fiber To The Home), K-12 (Schools), and explains Zone Vs. Distribution Cabling.  Students learn to recognize various connectors used in fiber installation,  identify fiber types and learn to install, terminate, splice, and properly test installed fiber cable to existing industry standards.  This course explores the history and future of fiber optics and fiber optics capabilities, and cost of installation.   The course is recognized for BICSI CECs (Continuing Education Credits): RCDD 21, Installation 12.  Study materials, text Book, and CD are provided.

This advanced 2-day course, with 75% hands-on activities, offers specialist fiber optics training to students involved with testing and maintenance of multimode and single, and long and short haul fiber optics networks. This is an advanced, but practical, fiber optics training course, providing more background information content than basic courses.  This enrichment allows students to better understand both the "what" and "how" when they are testing or troubleshooting network problems.  The course teaches current day technologies rather than obsolete theory and practice and outlines specific procedures to use when testing any and all fiber optics networks.  The course uses an easy to understand general approach to fiber optics testing standards, explaining a wide variety of testing standards, equipment and technological approaches, covering the spectrum of those used in the fiber network testing and maintenance industry.  The course explores how to choose among those options without deference to any one specific application, technology or manufacturer.  Subject matter includes a detailed study of ANSI/TIA/EIA-526-14A, OTDR Fundamentals and Uses, OTDR Vs. Insertion Loss Testing, Return Loss Testing, and Proper Maintenance of High-Performance Fiber Networks.  The Certified Fiber Optics Specialist/Testing (CFOS/T) Exam is given and graded the last class day.  All study materials, and a PC-Based OTDR Simulator are provided. Prerequisite: CFOT

This advanced 2-day splicing specialist training includes 75% hands-on classroom activities with training in both fusion and mechanical splicing of single and multi mode cables of both inside and outside plant fiber optic cable types, including splice trays and trays in enclosures.  Enclosures will include both rack and wall mounted splice enclosures, as well as, outside plant enclosures. The student will need to achieve a splice loss of less than 0.15 dB for all splices and demonstrate proficiency in interpretation of splice losses using OTDR splice traces.  Instruction includes a complete PowerPoint presentation explaining, in depth, the importance of high performance splicing and outlining the points necessary to achieve these splices.  OTDR functions and trace understanding are provided. The CFOS/S exam is given the last class day.  Prerequisite: CFOT

Electrical (Power/High Voltage)

Examinations for journeyman and master electrician are administered through the Municipal Association of South Carolina. Visit www.masc.sc for more information on qualifications, the application process, fees and exam schedules for these trade certifications. Information on business licensing in S.C. can be found at www.llr.state.sc.us.

For more information about these electrical courses or for special courses tailored to your specific needs, contact Bill Spaulding at 843.574.6778 or bill.spaulding@tridenttech.edu. The electrical courses below are listed in the general order of difficulty and in the recommended order of completion.

This 24-hour course covers direct current (DC) device circuits and materials. Topics include resistance, voltage and current flow in simple series, parallel and compound circuits, bell circuits, switch and remote control of lighting circuits, and wiring materials.  Books not included  

This course helps prepare the electrician for the NEC portion of the journeyman electrician licensure examination. Learn to read, understand and apply the National Electric Code (NEC) to safely and effectively install electrical systems. This 30-hour course is an effective study of the NEC manual. Prerequisites: Electricity Basics 1 and 2 or instructor approval. Books not included 

*No class of 11/26

This eight-hour course for safety directors, electrical contractors, maintenance electricians and others working daily around low-voltage (<600 volts) electrical hazards provides a thorough knowledge of the dangers and recommended safe behaviors. This course goes beyond theory and provides a complete understanding of electrical safety regulations and how to apply them. Differences in the 2009 NFPA 70E standard from the 2004 version are detailed. Topics include NFPA 70E 2009 assessments, arc ratings and their application, choosing PPE, dos and don’ts for workers exposed to shock and arc hazards. Books included 

Learn to read and interpret the typical views, lines, sections and symbols used in residential construction drawings in this 36-hour course. Students inexperienced with residential construction should begin this course before taking the estimating course or the home builder license preparation course. Books not included 

Learn the basic principles of material cost estimating for residential construction in this 30-hour course. Prerequisite: Students should be able to read and interpret residential blueprints through experience or be currently enrolled in the blueprint reading course. Students inexperienced with residential construction may wish to begin this course before taking the residential builder license preparation course. Books not included 

*No class on 11/25

This course prepares you to pass the S.C. Residential Builder’s exam. This 14-hour course prepares you for these examination topics: math, material and cost estimating, construction business management and the law, cost accounting methods, and more. Books not included