Hi Need Help & Any Advice - Starting Up Please Read

[brighter_spark]

Hi fellow sparks,

I am new to this forum and have just signed up today. I am hoping some of you out there with the experience and knowledge could take the time to read this and help a young brother out

Perhaps you have been in this situation yourself?

I have recently found myself in the situation where I currently have no job.
I am now interested in going self employed, I have my own tools, vans, tonnes of motivation, drive, ambition and am a seriously hard worker.
I need advice on what to do and how I would go about it.

I can install, fault find and test to a very good level.
I have experience in domestic, commercial and slight industrial.
I am booking my 17th and then going to take my testing and inspection exam asap.
I am also looking at getting public liability insurance.

I know it is going to be hard work and I am prepared for that but I am unsure on many things

As I do not have napit/nic what work can I undertake?

can I do a rewire? if so how do I pass it off? via local council? do they test it ?

does advertising/business cards work?

what avenues have worked for you?

any and all advice is welcomed.

thanks again for reading.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Hi fellow sparks,

I am new to this forum and have just signed up today. I am hoping some of you out there with the experience and knowledge could take the time to read this and help a young brother out

Perhaps you have been in this situation yourself?

I have recently found myself in the situation where I currently have no job.
I am now interested in going self employed, I have my own tools, vans, tonnes of motivation, drive, ambition and am a seriously hard worker.
I need advice on what to do and how I would go about it.

I can install, fault find and test to a very good level.
I have experience in domestic, commercial and slight industrial.
I am booking my 17th and then going to take my testing and inspection exam asap.
I am also looking at getting public liability insurance.

I know it is going to be hard work and I am prepared for that but I am unsure on many things

As I do not have napit/nic what work can I undertake?

can I do a rewire? if so how do I pass it off? via local council? do they test it ?

does advertising/business cards work?

what avenues have worked for you?

any and all advice is welcomed.

thanks again for reading.

whatever you feel competant in doing....

 

[brighter_spark]

ok so the only things i couldnt do is certification? such as new installation certs and condition reports?

 

[Richard Burns]

If you are doing work that is notifiable to the local building control (rewires, CU changes, new circuits, additions/alterations in bathroom zones, sauna rooms, swimming pools) and you are not registered with a CPS then you need to inform BC in advance, pay the fee and they will assess your work in stages to ensure it meets the building regulations. They can also employ an electrician to inspect and test the finished work but this should not be necessary if you are doing this.

All electrical work if if not notifiable to building control must comply with both wiring and building regulations.
The compliance with the wiring regulations , provision of installation certificates, provision of electrical installation condition reports is down to you and it is necessary that you are competent at this work.

You will need business cards and you will need to investigate what avenues for advertising are worthwhile, generally look at the cost of the advert and the likely return.
Once you are established word of mouth will be the most important, so ensure that the work you do is good.

Make sure that you do know the details of what you are doing and why and that you are competent in that area, before you start so that you are not caught unawares.

 

[ackbarthestar]

From my understanding, only those sparks who have been around for a while and have a certain disrespect about registering with a part P body tend to go it alone and pay the money up front.
I would recommend that you make contact with NICEIC/NAPIT/ELECSA and look for registration.
They will be able to give advice on
What qualifications you need, usually 17th ed regs, core qualification
Insurances such as PL and PI.
Once registered you can get all their Bureaucratic paperwork such as complaints, H&S.

Depending on the type of work you may like to consider what you will be sole trader, Ltd, CIS Subbie