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In addition to the 4 main, well known competent persons schemes (NICEIC, ELECSA, NAPIT and STROMA), there is apparently another, lesser known option: You can (allegedly) register with Blue Flame Certification and notify all your notifiables through them. I attempted to register with them earlier this year, and unfortunately it didn't go as I'd hoped.
This would be the first competent persons scheme I had applied for. I chose Blue Flame over the other CPS's as they seemed cheaper, have apparently few members (I don't tend to follow the herd), and there were enough people complaining about the other CPS's to warrant trying something different.
Back in February I emailed BFC to enquire about their electrical CPS (the website wasn't really clear as to what they were offering). They replied to me saying yes, they have a CPS for domestic electrical work, and included an application form. Coronavirus came, business died, and I forgot about it for a while as I worked as a delivery driver for a couple of months.
In late May, with business gradually picking up again, I completed the application form and returned it to BFC. They got back to me with a quote, pointing out that a site visit was usually required, but with the pandemic it would be done remotely. I told them I was interested in proceeding with the application, and was referred to (who i assumed was) their assessor. He sent me a list of site and office requirements for the scheme. I guess these are the same as required by the other CP schemes - liability insurance, BS7671 and OSG, complaints procedure and so on.
At this point, I emailed the assessor, asking him to confirm that my qualifications and experience were adequate. For those that don't know, I am a 3 wk wonder, AKA a Domestic Cabbage. I have the 18th edition, level 2 inspect/test/initial verification, and part p (a useless qualification I'm told), so entry level qualifications. I appreciate that this knowledge may invite the wrath of some forum members, and so, with my pants down, I invite those members to take a carefully aimed running kick at my testimonials. Enjoy yourselves, it's Christmas! Anyway, I sent the assessor a list of my qualifications, 3 years experience, and scans of my exam results, and he replied that yes, they were indeed adequate.
I was sent an invoice, which i settled immediately, and set about getting all the required documentation together. This took a little while, as I was fairly busy at that time, but got the bulk of it sent over by mid August, bar a piece of notifiable work for assessment. While I was busy, I hadn't done any notifiable work up to that point this year.
So far so good, up to this point I couldn't really fault BFC. My assessor had even taken the trouble to get in touch with me after not hearing from me for a couple of weeks, to see how things were going. However, from mid August, communication from BFC suddenly dried up. I had emailed my assessor to tell him about some notifiable work I was about to start, and was it suitable for assessment? It took 4 weeks to get a reply, when he told me it would be suitable, but by this time the job was done and dusted, and notified though a 3rd party certifier. I was about to start another notifiable job, so emailed back with info about that. A couple of days later, the job being complete, I created a write-up of the job, detailing what I did and how I did it, including photos, and emailed it over to my assessor. No reply, I followed it up with other emails that also went unanswered. Eventually I phoned BFC's office to learn that my assessor had left the company, and a replacement would be in touch soon.
Some time passed without any word from BFC, so I sent more emails to their office, again these went unanswered. Eventually, in mid November, BFC re-engaged with me. I was told in an email that that the assessor had left, that his emails were being accessed, and all info I had sent was being reviewed. Also, a site audit was now necessary, but the extra cost would be waived as this rule had changed since i had applied. I was also sent a contract to sign and return.
The same day, the scheme manager emailed me to tell me that he would be responsible for auditing my application. He told me that my qualifications were adequate for what I had applied for, but that other work types were now available (periodic test+inspect), and was I interested? No thanks, I just want to be able to notify my own work myself. He followed up with an email telling me I needed "level 3 qualifications" to join the scheme, and did I have them? Well what's going on here, he'd just told me my qualifications were fine, just as I'd been told back in June when I specifically asked about them. I again listed my qualifications, and asked again if these were adequate. After several more emails exchanged, he finally stated that I couldn't join their CPS as I didn't have a level 3 test and inspect qualification.
I was pretty Pee'd off. 5 months after specifically asking BFC if my quals were ok, being told they were, having paid the joining fee, and mucked around gathering all the nonsense they'd asked for, I get told that actually my quals aren't up to the job, and I can't join. Equally annoying is that I know for a fact people have joined NICEIC in the meantime with the same quals, and with less experience. I wrote an official letter of complaint, and eventually got my money back.
So overall, not that impressed with Blue Flame Certification.
This would be the first competent persons scheme I had applied for. I chose Blue Flame over the other CPS's as they seemed cheaper, have apparently few members (I don't tend to follow the herd), and there were enough people complaining about the other CPS's to warrant trying something different.
Back in February I emailed BFC to enquire about their electrical CPS (the website wasn't really clear as to what they were offering). They replied to me saying yes, they have a CPS for domestic electrical work, and included an application form. Coronavirus came, business died, and I forgot about it for a while as I worked as a delivery driver for a couple of months.
In late May, with business gradually picking up again, I completed the application form and returned it to BFC. They got back to me with a quote, pointing out that a site visit was usually required, but with the pandemic it would be done remotely. I told them I was interested in proceeding with the application, and was referred to (who i assumed was) their assessor. He sent me a list of site and office requirements for the scheme. I guess these are the same as required by the other CP schemes - liability insurance, BS7671 and OSG, complaints procedure and so on.
At this point, I emailed the assessor, asking him to confirm that my qualifications and experience were adequate. For those that don't know, I am a 3 wk wonder, AKA a Domestic Cabbage. I have the 18th edition, level 2 inspect/test/initial verification, and part p (a useless qualification I'm told), so entry level qualifications. I appreciate that this knowledge may invite the wrath of some forum members, and so, with my pants down, I invite those members to take a carefully aimed running kick at my testimonials. Enjoy yourselves, it's Christmas! Anyway, I sent the assessor a list of my qualifications, 3 years experience, and scans of my exam results, and he replied that yes, they were indeed adequate.
I was sent an invoice, which i settled immediately, and set about getting all the required documentation together. This took a little while, as I was fairly busy at that time, but got the bulk of it sent over by mid August, bar a piece of notifiable work for assessment. While I was busy, I hadn't done any notifiable work up to that point this year.
So far so good, up to this point I couldn't really fault BFC. My assessor had even taken the trouble to get in touch with me after not hearing from me for a couple of weeks, to see how things were going. However, from mid August, communication from BFC suddenly dried up. I had emailed my assessor to tell him about some notifiable work I was about to start, and was it suitable for assessment? It took 4 weeks to get a reply, when he told me it would be suitable, but by this time the job was done and dusted, and notified though a 3rd party certifier. I was about to start another notifiable job, so emailed back with info about that. A couple of days later, the job being complete, I created a write-up of the job, detailing what I did and how I did it, including photos, and emailed it over to my assessor. No reply, I followed it up with other emails that also went unanswered. Eventually I phoned BFC's office to learn that my assessor had left the company, and a replacement would be in touch soon.
Some time passed without any word from BFC, so I sent more emails to their office, again these went unanswered. Eventually, in mid November, BFC re-engaged with me. I was told in an email that that the assessor had left, that his emails were being accessed, and all info I had sent was being reviewed. Also, a site audit was now necessary, but the extra cost would be waived as this rule had changed since i had applied. I was also sent a contract to sign and return.
The same day, the scheme manager emailed me to tell me that he would be responsible for auditing my application. He told me that my qualifications were adequate for what I had applied for, but that other work types were now available (periodic test+inspect), and was I interested? No thanks, I just want to be able to notify my own work myself. He followed up with an email telling me I needed "level 3 qualifications" to join the scheme, and did I have them? Well what's going on here, he'd just told me my qualifications were fine, just as I'd been told back in June when I specifically asked about them. I again listed my qualifications, and asked again if these were adequate. After several more emails exchanged, he finally stated that I couldn't join their CPS as I didn't have a level 3 test and inspect qualification.
I was pretty Pee'd off. 5 months after specifically asking BFC if my quals were ok, being told they were, having paid the joining fee, and mucked around gathering all the nonsense they'd asked for, I get told that actually my quals aren't up to the job, and I can't join. Equally annoying is that I know for a fact people have joined NICEIC in the meantime with the same quals, and with less experience. I wrote an official letter of complaint, and eventually got my money back.
So overall, not that impressed with Blue Flame Certification.
