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Hi all.. I have been self employed for the past year but mainly working for a single company with only a handful of my own jobs. I am starting to get fed up working for this guy so decided its time to set up on my own. I know there is already loads of posts like thsi on here but i've spent nearly 2 hours on the internet trying to find answers to my questions and all i've doen is give myself a headache..

I have C&G2330 level 3 and 17th edition upgrade. I have 3 years experience testing domestic, commercial and industrial for the previous company.

I want to set up on my own but I dont really know if I need 2391 etc or if i have to join nic/nappit/elecsa..

I'm planning on starting just doing little odd jobs around my area - already had quite a lot of interest just by posting flyers/business cards etc - then hopefully expanding later on.

I need someone to give me a nice clear, helping hand as to where I need to go next.

Thanks in advance!
Joel.
 
Definitely join one of the bodies, otherwise you'll be forever asking and paying building control to check your work.
Which they mainly no nothing about!

2391 would be a must especailly if you thinking of carrying out any Landlord type work etc. Can be a bit pricey fro the courses though upwards of £600 +VAT.
 
It depends what you want to do,

If you are planning on doing mostly domestic, and doing notifiable work then you would need to be registered with one of the part P schemes if in England and Wales.

If you are planning on doing mostly commercial and industrial then you don't need to be registered (see later*).

If you are going to be doing work for local council or schools and the like then the Niceic is probably a requirement * the LA's usually want approved contractors.

Have a look at each schemes (Niceic, Napit or Elecsa) website for the requirements of entry, they are all broadly similar for part P or domestic installers.

At the moment you can get in as a DI with just the 17th ed, although that is rumoured to be changing, Napit I think you have to do their own version of the 2391 within the first year, but this is not the same as the 2391 and is little use outside of Napit, Iam not registered with Napit so maybe other posters who are could confirm or deny this.

If you are considering doing EICR's through a scheme I think they all require 2391, although you don't actually require to be registered with anyone to do EICR's.

This is just a brief summary, and I probably have missed something.
 
Start by writing a list of all your needs with a price against each line and make sure you include at the very least the following:

scheme membership
PI & PL insurance,
van
Van tax
van insurance,
tools,
advertising,
tester,
calibration,
accountant,
fuel,
certificate software,

etc, etc and don't be surprised if it it well above £5k

Then you need to think about what you may earn, i.e. how much work you may get..... and this will be not much at first.

Target for your first year would be to break even - i.e. work on and off for a year for little of no income.

Sorry to be negative BUT you have to be realistic.

You don't say where you are but it could take you 3 to 4 years to get a regular income.
 
Definitely join one of the bodies, otherwise you'll be forever asking and paying building control to check your work.
Which they mainly no nothing about!

2391 would be a must especailly if you thinking of carrying out any Landlord type work etc. Can be a bit pricey fro the courses though upwards of £600 +VAT.

Absolute nonsense. 2391 is pointless if you are working for yourself. You dont need it to register as a competent person.
 
you will have to get registered with someone.napit will ask you next year for 2391(after one year registration)niceic is asking only for17 edition but you need more things,if you need any information about registering with niceic approved contractor i will be happy to help you
 
And exactly why would you want to do this? The EICR has almost no requirements so why pay a scam scheme more than you need to?

The only reason to pay the NICEIC or whoever would be if you want to use their specific scheme certificates. Unfortunately because of good marketing & these DIY programs lots of people want to know your registered with someone.
 
The only reason to pay the NICEIC or whoever would be if you want to use their specific scheme certificates. Unfortunately because of good marketing & these DIY programs lots of people want to know your registered with someone.

I can't see how you can use the words "good marketing" and scheme names such as Elecsa, Napit or NICEIC in the same sentence.
 
I can't see how you can use the words "good marketing" and scheme names such as Elecsa, Napit or NICEIC in the same sentence.

Surely it's got to be good marketing if people are asking for it even if they don't need it?

Are you registered with any of them?
 
Sorry to Hijack this post! But i'm new on here and i posted a couple of questions yesterday and they havent shown up. Can anyone help please?
 
The only reason to pay the NICEIC or whoever would be if you want to use their specific scheme certificates. Unfortunately because of good marketing & these DIY programs lots of people want to know your registered with someone.

You're right but aside from the notification aspects and potential LABC charges, I think it's also important to qualify that not being a member of scheme and having the appropriate qualifications means sparks needs to be very sure of his competency. It's all well and good until you make a mistake and end up best case in legal wranglings and worst case defending negligence in an injury case. If you don't have scheme membership and the appropriate qualifications and all the rest of it, it's not going to look very good to the prosecution unless sparks is able to argue his actions very clearly. And here's the point: can he? This can only come with a lot of experience. It's certainly not something a newbie or a Electrical Trainee should be considering.
 
thanks for all the replies so far, didnt mean to start an argument though! You've definatley given me something to think about. i'm going to give nic a call tomorrow and see what they say. one more quick Q, can i do periodics on the nic domestic installer scheme?

cheers,
joel.
 
Please refer to previous post. The same applies. Do you really think you're competent enough to do electrical inspections based on your profile as laid out in this thread?
 

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