ELECSA pass or fail.

[ste_miller21]

hi, ive just booked an elecsa assessment (well yesterday) and now im waiting for a date. ive been planning to do this for the last 18 month.... ive been thinking for ages it'll be ok, ill be fine but now ive paid im pooing myself i've convinced myself i dont know what im doing and a load of what ifs. and with been unemployed at the moment and been right before xmas i think £480 on something im un sure about have i done the right thing.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

hi, ive just booked an elecsa assessment (well yesterday) and now im waiting for a date. ive been planning to do this for the last 18 month.... ive been thinking for ages it'll be ok, ill be fine but now ive paid im pooing myself i've convinced myself i dont know what im doing and a load of what ifs. and with been unemployed at the moment and been right before xmas i think £480 on something im un sure about have i done the right thing.

Right Ste,

Firstly stop cacking it. if you have applied then you already know that you are experienced etc enough.
I was with elecsa for 6 years and only left because of a change in direction.
Do you have the required test kit? and is it calibrated? do you have the Big green book, on site guide,? do you have liability insurance? are you fairly competent testing (not an expert)? are you human and do you make mistakes?

if you can answer Yes to all of the above, then you will have no problems at all Elecsa are there to help and advise you, i always got pulled on every annual surveillance visit with some minor deviation or whatever. If you can work safely then that is an end to it.

The assessors are all Electricians, who have been there and done it, got the T shirt, and bent the rules just like me.

So chill and have a beer.

Cheers.............Howard

 

[rugbynick]

If you know your stuff you will be fine! We have just had the assessment 4 weeks ago but paid a consultant (ex NICEIC) to go through the job with us first. As it's your first assessment you will be asked questions on part L of Building regs so make sure you know about depths of chases and holes through joists etc. Likely to ask about energy conservation methods such as movement sensors etc. All in the book- Electricians Guide to part L- don't need to remember everything, just where to find it!

 

[pencilpusher]

Do you need the BGB yet? I thought the BRB was in force until Jan 2012.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

well if you have just booked then i would say yes you will need the BGB as it wont be till jan at least that you are actually assessed so i would have thought your assessment will go by the current regs which will of course be the 17th (1st)......

 

[ste_miller21]

I dont currently have the BGB only the red regs book. I'll have to ask Elecsa about it. i was under the impression that the green regs was updates which should be available to download. i currently have my own tester and calibration, i'm about to take out PLI.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Yep well i am going to be applying for registration (elecsa i think) before the end of the year so.......be a CU change at my mothers house ....its an old BS3036 at the mo....so will look at either a split load or RCBOs....we`l see.....need a bit of tidying up n all in the Kitchen and i will have to check for the borrowed neutral here n all........nowt fancy just enough for em to assess.......been told by a few now in here that its a bit of an anticlimax.......seems a lot of em are more interested in what biccys you have put out for em and football results...birds n stuff....the usual things......so like Howard says....just relax and have a beer......should be ok..............

 

[ste_miller21]

I bought a £50 10way duel RCD with brakers from B&Q its a cheap one but it does the job and it doesnt look two bad. ive also got a bathroom extractor to show for assessment (AS A BACK UP) and minor works im just going to add 3 sockets to the existing ring...

hopefully i should hear from Elecsa tomorrow about a date. (only booked it on the 12/11/11) if its any help ill post the assessment date on here so you can judge the waiting time?

 

[GLENNSPARK]

I bought a £50 10way duel RCD with brakers from B&Q its a cheap one but it does the job and it doesnt look two bad. ive also got a bathroom extractor to show for assessment (AS A BACK UP) and minor works im just going to add 3 sockets to the existing ring...

hopefully i should hear from Elecsa tomorrow about a date. (only booked it on the 12/11/11) if its any help ill post the assessment date on here so you can judge the waiting time?

Yeah ...that would be useful mate....you know that with elecsa you dont have to notify this assessment work with the LABC dont you.........you just notify it through them when on the scheme.......unlike the NIC of course........

 

[DurhamSparky]

dont think negative!!

 

[GLENNSPARK]

just dragged out a pat tester what i got about a year ago........had been decommisioned so they had taken the power cable off and removed the 2 earth bond cables n all.......replaced the power cable and put a new fast acting glass fuse in it and used some 1.5mm 3 core flex for the 2 earth bond leads....just parralleled up the 3 cores at both ends and stuck a couple of battery clips on them that i had lying around........tests good so thats up and running ok.....will get it callibrated soon and that can go in the bosses van ......for now anyway.......

 

[yellowvanman]

Yeah ...that would be useful mate....you know that with elecsa you dont have to notify this assessment work with the LABC dont you.........you just notify it through them when on the scheme.......unlike the NIC of course........

Are you sure about that? Shouldn't make any difference who you register with, as long as you register it within 30 days.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Are you sure about that? Shouldn't make any difference who you register with, as long as you register it within 30 days.

as far as i know this is correct yellow but i plan to ring up the part p providers (all of em) tomorrow anyway as someone rang on my behalf the other week so i want the lowdown of em all myself....will be asking questions like what you have just mentioned yellow just to be sure and also what EXACTLY they will offer for my cash....and if it still is to change in january or whether this has been put back (as i heard it was on here the other day) so will post anything i find out on all this.....

 

[GLENNSPARK]

if it is within 30 days then i will just wait about for a week before the assessment then just do the work and when they come round and have a nosy at what has been done then go away again and say yep he`s ok then i will notify it......not paying robbin ba$tard LABC...if i can help it......they can spin on it for a while...lol........

 

[ste_miller21]

Ive not got a date for the Elecsa assessment: My assessment is on 23/12/11 @9:30 with a guy called Gary Stevens I was offered another date which would have been 18/11/11 (this friday) but that would be a bit quick: the guy from elecsa said that those two dates are the last appointments available this year.

 

[ste_miller21]

***ive not got a date

SHOULD READ

*****ive just got a date

 

[Octopus]

Get everything ready including the BGB's and yes you'll be anxious but they are there to be constructive.

You'll need to create your own copies of the health and safety assessment and complaints register - using excel this shouldn't take too long.

Good luck

 

[ste_miller21]

i asked elecsa and its ok to use the red book since the green one doesnt come in force till Jan 2012.

 

[applemac]

just payed for my first assessment, sounds strange but I'm looking forward to it reading all the comments most people say don't worry....

 

[ste_miller21]

its hard not to worry for me. if you take the following into account:
*unemployed
*in debt
*no money to spend on kids at xmass
* if fail ive spent £480 on something i failed that could have gone on kids

to be honest im worried that ive forgot everything that we went through at college.

 

[KFH]

I have found ELECSA very helpful. I believe they are trying to pass you but want to make sure you are not a complete idiot who is a risk to everyone including themselves. They send out a check list, go through it and check that you have all the documentation and insurance in place. When doing the asessment if you do not know something do not bluff, say you do not know and say where you are going to look to get the information.

You can prepare a folder of all the important stuff to help, there is much information in the stickies on here.

Also the OSG is invaluable for this.

Make sure your work is properly labelled according to the regs. e.g: different colours, RCD testing, next test date, Danger 230V etc, a small thing but easily overlooked.

Any assessement is stressful so make sure all the simple things are right and it is much easier.

The assessors I have met are friendly and fair so don't worry too much.

Good luck

 

[jase]

hi, ive just booked an elecsa assessment (well yesterday) and now im waiting for a date. ive been planning to do this for the last 18 month.... ive been thinking for ages it'll be ok, ill be fine but now ive paid im pooing myself i've convinced myself i dont know what im doing and a load of what ifs. and with been unemployed at the moment and been right before xmas i think £480 on something im un sure about have i done the right thing.

if the first 2 jobs you get are say a new shower install and an cu change then you have absolutley done the right thing, as it will only cost you £3.00 to notify instead of £300, that £480 will pay itself back over time and you have the peace of mind knowing that you can take on any work without worrying about notification and the customer has peace of mind you are registered.
you dont need the green book until 1st Jan 2012
just make sure you know what you are doing practically, and in theory
some of the paper work, Health and safety policy, contract of works etc etc can be daunting, but they send you template copies which you can use for your assesment, and your asessor will go through these with you and tell you what they are all about.
Make sure you have a cert filled out for the job you are being assesed on as he will want to know you can fill out certs.
pretty much all of the above really, i have been with elecsa scince march, TBH i think i should **** it more over the 2nd assessment cos they will be even more over my stuff to ake sure i havent slipped scince the first!!

 

[Octopus]

I had my Elecsa annual assessment in September and my assessor asked me when I was getting the BGB! In actual fact I'd ordered it earlier in the day and he seemed pleased.

IMHO you need to have it for your assessment - or at the very least call Elecsa and check what their expectation is.

 

[067256]

I passed my assessment with elecsa 2 weeks ago. Trust me, it is very relaxed and nothing too taxing. For me it was the unknown...not knowing what he might ask me.
I would do a bit of catch up on all building regs, part m,l,a etc... i got quite a few questions on that.
There is'nt really a pass or fail. The assessor will tell you about this.
If your competent? you'll be ok.
Get Regs, OSG, Part P document, PL insurance, Calibrated test kit, certs filled out correctly. RA, and H&S paperwork will come in your elecsa pack.
Plenty of tea, biscuits.
Don't BS them.

 

[cuttys]

No need for the big green book mate, red book is fine for the moment. I checked with elecsa a few weeks ago.

 

[Welchyboy]

has anyone actually ever failed an elecsa assessment??

 

[ste_miller21]

has anyone actually ever failed an elecsa assessment??

I really would like to know the answer to that. not only has anyone failed and more to the point what on?