commercial work / starting out

rigga · Feb 12, 2012

having previously worked for a company in the shopfitting / commercial side of the industry , i have recently left and started sub contracting for myself and have been lucky to secure some decent contracts which should keep me busy for the year ahead but i am looking to push on with my own company while working at the same time may be too much to handle doing both but going to give it a shot , just after some advice really.

i have a few good electricians looking for work and have been asked to price a couple of domestic jobs but due to myself being busy i have had to turn them down.
im looking to use somebody to carry out the work on behalf of me and my company but obviously clients want certification and as i am just starting out and joining a scheme like nic eic / select etc would not be proffitable and substantial to my company at the present time , some of the lads i know out of work are with schemes so could they issue certification for projects taken on by my company?

any tips / help / advice anybody could add regarding this or other ways my company could start building would be appreciated

kind regards

Dave 85 · Feb 12, 2012

If the guy doing the work is with a part p scheme then he can register the job n his name, nothing wrong with that. From a business sense taking on domestic jobs and letting someone else do all the work can be a potential nightmare, you need someone good and reliable and be very careful on pricing. The thing I find is that the difference between a decent self employed electricians wage and the money to be made on domestic jobs leaves very little room for error. You'd be better off taking a job for say 5k spend 1k on materials and give the guy 2.5-3k fixed price, cant lose then.

malcolmsanford · Feb 12, 2012

Theoretically it is the company that is the member of a Part P scheme and not the individual, be it a sole trader or someone that employs 100 sparks. when you join a scheme as a sole trader you will become the "owner" of the company and then the QS of the company. As a larger company the "owners" will be one and the QS most likely 2 0r 3 electricians in their employ

So really you'll have to sub this work out to the guys on perhaps a day rate or price, but it will be his name on the certificates, and not yours

rigga · Feb 12, 2012

thanks for your replys yeah i would need to try and secure bigger commercial jobs to really make any money aswell as the guy who is going to carry out the work .

if anybody has any advice they may wish to add that may help me or my bussiness i would very much appreciate it

thanks

Welchyboy · Feb 14, 2012

The biggest problem i have found with employing sparks with domestic work is
finding people good enough, its not like a big site where you can just throw a few muppets at a load of tray work for a week, they are in peoples homes and are working under your reputation so they gotta be polite and tidy and above all good at their job, or you will end up with irate homeowners calling you late at night asking why half there lights dont work or why theres dirty footprints all over their new shagpile carpet

for me, i tried it once or twice and it aint worth the hassle, its fine with an empty house or where you can directly supervise people but this is not allways possible

Thing is, people have the attitude that domestic is the easiest part of a sparkys work, which is electrically true but generally it can be a minefield for someone whos not switched on to their surroundings, generally finding sparks who are good enough to be left alone and do a good job within the required time is rare as rockin horse ***t, beacause blokes like that are normally working for themselves!!