Your experiences of competent body schemes, and which you personally recommend ?

[smiley1609]

Hi Guys,

So over the next year I am planning to have a 'complete career change' from my current job in Electronics / Mobile phone development, to retraining as an electrician. I plan initially to do domestic work.

I have just finished my Part P Domestic Installer course, and already have scheduled the 17th Edition course at end of November... and also the (new) CG2395 course which replaces 2391 next year during first quarter 2012.

I am very interested to hear anyones views on their competent body schemes, and which is preferable with most... traders ? ... customers ? (for re-assurance)

I am aware of NICEIC and Napit are possibly the biggest of the schemes...are there any others worth thinking about ? Which in your opinion is the best ?


Kind Regards
Smiley

 

[Dan23584]

I joined NAPIT Approved Contractor scheme, this was based on knowing others who have had excellent service from them, their prices are reasonable and from what I have heard from others who are with different providers NAPIT have the highest requirements for acceptance (Which I think says more about their credibility as not just anyone can get in). I would assume joining their domestic installers scheme would be similar.

Elecsa are supposed to be quite good too.

I would stay away from the NIC as they are the most expensive and all I have ever heard is bad things about them. Apparently there technical helpline is very poor.

 

[white armour]

Hi smiley, I'm with NAPIT too. Been with them 5 years now, assessment process is straightforward and thorough. My assessor has always been very knowledgeable & approachable, after all it is a 2 way process.

They have a decent forum and have been good with any technical issues that I have had to call for, have always had my call returned within 10 minutes.

Regards wa

 

[SirKit Breaker]

I did 6 years with Elecsa then packed it in when i changed direction. Not a bad word to say about them.

You pays your money and take your chance, as far as i can tell they are all much the same, so pick the one that suits you.

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

 

[Octopus]

I'm with Elecsa and have to say not had any issues with them at all.

I'd suggest you call Elecsa and Napit and talk to them, and make your judgement on what they say and how quickly they do it.

Are you one of the many poor soles at Southwood??

 

[bodders22]

Hi I am also with ELECSA. No problems so far.The technical helpline is very good and with a very quick response. I wont be changing.

 

[aaelectric]

I am with th e nic domestic installers and there technical helpline is good and assesor is always willing to answer questions, they are a little more pricey but more recognised ny public than others... dont no why

 

[smiley1609]

Are you one of the many poor soles at Southwood??

Hi Murdoch,

Yes, I am one of the Southwood R&D engineers, soon to be redundant...so I am now moving down the path of alternate career away from Mobile phones and telecomm's in general

To be honest, most of us that have been there longer term are looking at this as a great opportunity for retraining...and with a lump sum redundancy to help in getting going in a new venture...also with the company (mostly) funding the retraining courses, I have managed to organise more than £2k of training in electrical... for a personal cost of ~ £500...a very good deal !

Thanks to everyone for your input...I will do some investigation with Napit and Elecsa, and see which I think is the best option for me.

Kind Regards
Smiley

 

[nick182]

I would stay away from the NIC as they are the most expensive and all I have ever heard is bad things about them. Apparently there technical helpline is very poor.

Stay away from NIC? really? hmmm iv heard that they are expensive but i didnt know that they wernt any good? What things have you heard about them? I have my sights on them in the next few months.

im keen to hear

 

[High Tower]

The NICEIC are ok, a little expensive and dont bend over backwards as much as others, but they are the best known and for anyone that wants to do commercial work then any other choice would turn out to be a hindrance.

 

[cpugwash]

I am in a similar situation myself. although a qualified spark i have not worked in the nidustry for some years and I am currently jumping through all the hoops to be part p complient.

I have found elecsa very helpful, some one always answers the phone, I get a propmt reply to emails. I have had good advice regarding training providers. no hard sell.

They have been very helpful guiding toward the assement and providng me with some of the required documentation.all in all very proffessional and friendly.

The assesment does not seem so intimidating after speaking to them.

I hope this helps

good luck with your new career

 

[Octopus]

Hi Murdoch,

Yes, I am one of the Southwood R&D engineers, soon to be redundant...so I am now moving down the path of alternate career away from Mobile phones and telecomm's in general

To be honest, most of us that have been there longer term are looking at this as a great opportunity for retraining...and with a lump sum redundancy to help in getting going in a new venture...also with the company (mostly) funding the retraining courses, I have managed to organise more than £2k of training in electrical... for a personal cost of ~ £500...a very good deal !

Thanks to everyone for your input...I will do some investigation with Napit and Elecsa, and see which I think is the best option for me.

Kind Regards
Smiley

2 of my friends are also in the same boat as you at Southwood and neither, as yet, appear to have decided what to do next!

 

[Dan23584]

Stay away from NIC? really? hmmm iv heard that they are expensive but i didnt know that they wernt any good? What things have you heard about them? I have my sights on them in the next few months.

im keen to hear

Quite a number of people I know have left them to join NAPIT and Elecsa, there main reasons I remember where that the technical helpline was not up to much, they were slow to return phone calls and could often not help with problems. I also know of a few 'sparks' that are with NIC domestic installers scheme and I have seen the work they do................ it seems like they will let anyone in!

It seems like over the years the NIC'c reputation is dwindling and the others (NAPIT and Elecsa) are coming up trumps. I have never been refused work for not being registered with the NIC and I have done work for big and small companies, even the council now don't specify NIC!

This is obviously just my opinion from my experiences.

 

[JL_Electrical]

I would just like to state my opinion with regards to some of the myths about NICEIC. For a start part P is utterly ridiculous as is the concept of allowing anyone other than time served tradesmen near electrics (no wonder there's no money in it), we should take a leaf from Australias book and register all electricians with the council and make it illegal for anyone else to touch it. As a necessary evil I am an NICEIC approved contractor. I was in NAPIT for my first two years trading, NAPIT where ok but I the assessor was clueless. He made up regs that didn't exist and then couldn't find them in the big (brown) book as it was then. NICEIC is not more expensive (only for first year) then £460+VAT thereafter. I do authority and Housing Association work and they want NICEIC most of the time.
It is all a scam, pure and simple. 0845 phone numbers, pay for this, pay for that. Come and attend this BS tech talk for £20 etc. NICEIC direct will charge you a fortune for tools and test gear. At the end of the day your workmanship talks for itself

 

[msec]

I would just like to state my opinion with regards to some of the myths about NICEIC. For a start part P is utterly ridiculous as is the concept of allowing anyone other than time served tradesmen near electrics (no wonder there's no money in it), we should take a leaf from Australias book and register all electricians with the council and make it illegal for anyone else to touch it. As a necessary evil I am an NICEIC approved contractor. I was in NAPIT for my first two years trading, NAPIT where ok but I the assessor was clueless. He made up regs that didn't exist and then couldn't find them in the big (brown) book as it was then. NICEIC is not more expensive (only for first year) then £460+VAT thereafter. I do authority and Housing Association work and they want NICEIC most of the time.
It is all a scam, pure and simple. 0845 phone numbers, pay for this, pay for that. Come and attend this BS tech talk for £20 etc. NICEIC direct will charge you a fortune for tools and test gear. At the end of the day your workmanship talks for itself

I was about to stick my twopenneth in when JL_Electrical took the words out of my mouth! I have also been with both the NICEIC and NAPIT and I thoroughly agree with everything he has said, we may have had the same assessor!

The NAPIT assessment was a LOT easier (stupidly easy in fact) than the NICEIC, anyone could have done it and I don't think the assessor was really interested. Also if doing mainly domestic work, most customers havn't heard of part p at all, however those that have tend to think you have to be NICEIC and havn't heard of anything else.

 

[Des 56]

QUOTE 30/07/2010
My advice to anyone would be do not go anywhere near the NIC, during my correspondance they have been incompetent at best and down right arrogant at worst.

Times change and opinions as well by the sounds of it (my underlining by the way)


I wont say where that quote came from,because the person who wrote it will
Its pointless proclaiming one is better than the other

An electricans self esteem wont be raised in the eyes of his fellows by being a member of one scheme over another, whether it be D.I or approved contractor

Some of the finest people I have known in this trade have never needed or never wanted to be part of the Niceic, Eca or the younger Napit

Have a look,make a choice and live with it,the differences in competence for any is none


None of these organisations have the welfare of the trade as their priority or reason for existence any more

 

[electric67]

NICEIC might be the most expensive but I find they are also most respected by big customers. I have never had a problem in last ten years with them and have always found area engineers to be most helpful. Can't say anything about the other schemes though, because i've never used them.

 

[SW1970]

Hi Guys,

So over the next year I am planning to have a 'complete career change' from my current job in Electronics / Mobile phone development, to retraining as an electrician. I plan initially to do domestic work.

I have just finished my Part P Domestic Installer course, and already have scheduled the 17th Edition course at end of November... and also the (new) CG2395 course which replaces 2391 next year during first quarter 2012.

I am very interested to hear anyones views on their competent body schemes, and which is preferable with most... traders ? ... customers ? (for re-assurance)

I am aware of NICEIC and Napit are possibly the biggest of the schemes...are there any others worth thinking about ? Which in your opinion is the best ?


Kind Regards
Smiley

My advice is don't seek opinion, but work it out yourself. Draw up a matrix of the factors that you think are important. It could include items like customer service, price, technical support, assessment requirements(?), cost of notifications etc etc etc. And then find out from each scheme operator how their service operates and score it yourself. If you need help on a specific point, then maybe the forum can help there. There's a lot of opinion out there that doesn't really steer you in the right direction. E.g. "the assessment was stupidly easy". When I did my 17th exam there were guys there as practising sparks from the 3 big scheme operators who were moaning about struggling with an ohms law question after the exam. If they couldn't deal with that they shouldn't be sparks, but they were all signed up. How does that work then? (Rhetorical question).

I did the approach I've described here and then interviewed each scheme operator at an Elex show earlier in the year. They all gave comprehensive answers and allowed me to fill out my matrix there and then. When they realised what I was doing they gave even more comprehensive answers, and allowed me to ask them what their weak areas were. Rather like a job interview. I selected Napit on the basis of my assessment. To put it mildly, I got some SHOCKING answers from one of the other scheme operators, who insisted on ramming down my throat how rubbish the other operators were without any fact to back it up. You'll only be certain you've made the right choice if you do it yourself. A bit like the undertaking you make when signing a certificate.

 

[Dale200bhp]

Im an NICEIC Approved contractor, They are the best, NAIPIT are getting there though, Although alot of customers spec NICEIC Approved contractors. i.e. local authority, schools, council ect.

 

[dave_dsh]

Im currently with Elecsa, and like others ive had no problems at all. Their assessors are friendly and easy to get along with. However due to contraints from current clients im going to be changing to the NICEIC when my next renewal is due. Its a shame but the powers at be pay my bills.

 

[JamesBrownLive]

One thing that nobody seems to have mentioned yet, is that not all schemes let you in if you are just starting out. The NICEIC used to have a requirement that you needed to have been trading for 12 months before applying, and I think that is still in place.
ELESCA don't have a 12 month trading requirement.

 

[PJK]

Hi
I have been with NICEIC as approved contractor and domestic installer for two years now, and have my second assessemnt on Tuesday. The assessor has been very helpful and it appears they want to everything they can to make you get hrough the assessment process. ( it is still a bit of a sweat though). I have to have three past customers willing to let us in their homes and mess about with their electrics for an hour or so, no everyone agrees to this. Indeed for the initial assessment it was five jobs. NICEIC are not cheap but in my opinion they are one of the most widely recognised and accepted by all potentil customers. Their standards are equally widely known and respected. Overall I am happy with NICEIC and their support.
Peter

 

[Welchyboy]

I was with elecsa for 3 years and i must say, before my assessor arrived for the first time i was a bag of nerves, but after my assessment i was thinking 'my god was that all i was worried about', the 'Assessment' was a total joke!

i am now with the NIC DI and about to upgrade to A/C, purely for business reasons.
lets not kid ourselves they are all just fighting over our money and if you are a smaller fish(elecsa) in a big market then you have to attract your members somehow! the harder the assessment is, the less people will want to do it.

bottom line is i have been asked countless times 'am i NIC registered?' not once has anybody asked me about anybody else!

Im not bashing anyone else or their chosen body but its about selling your business as best you can, and lets be honest, right now NIC are by far the market leaders, if however the ECA or NAPIT pulled it out of the bag in years to come and took over the NIC then i would change over in an instant, i have no loyalties to any of them they are a means to an end.
but i would be pretty confident if i do pass my A/C assessment i wouldnt be too concerned about passing anybody elses!

as an added comment i have not had any problems with their tech support line