Becoming self employed

[sparkdawg]

hi there,

i am new to this forum and any help would be appreciated.

I have been a fully qualified electrician for nearly two years. I completed an apprenticeship with laing o'rourke and i have just passed the 2391 test and inspection course making me an approved electrician. I am looking to start up my own business, but having a fairly sheltered apprenticeship I still have a lot to learn about domestic properties. I am doing my research every night after work and slowly becoming more clued up about the domestic side of things. I am currently in the process of buying a van, all relevant tools, drills, materials basically a fully loaded van. I would like to become a registered electrician with a governing body, the question is, what work am i limited to do in houses without being a registered electrician? Looking online and it seems like most work needs to be signed off by a registered spark. I know to be registered with the NICEIC they observe 3 of your jobs, but how would i pick up work without being registered in the first place. A few friends of friends have asked me to carry out work but i am wary about doing the work, even though i know im competent. Any tips or advice about starting my own company would be truly appreciated. I want to become self employed because i feel like im a clueless spark working on newbuilds, metal munching for months on end. I feel i am better than that and i can be successful working for myself.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I believe you get 28 days to notify the job. So if you double check with the provider you can do the job , use the job for your visit and notify the job shortly there after.
Maybe a bit of fudging the dates required but nothing to dodgy.

 

[sparkdawg]

I believe you get 28 days to notify the job. So if you double check with the provider you can do the job , use the job for your visit and notify the job shortly there after.
Maybe a bit of fudging the dates required but nothing to dodgy.

Thanks for the reply. I will take this into account. Much appreciated.

 

[jackhammerJIM]

Get a few more yours under your belt first . I can guarantee you will soon get sick of domestic work .

 

[Dustydazzler]

I think people sees domesticated work as a golden meal ticket. But it really isn’t. It’s dusty , dirty and hard work.
Yes you might land the occasional nice board change for £800 and knock it out in a day. But they are rare.
But to know this you must first spend a few years as a home basher.

 

[Megawatt]

hi there,

i am new to this forum and any help would be appreciated.

I have been a fully qualified electrician for nearly two years. I completed an apprenticeship with laing o'rourke and i have just passed the 2391 test and inspection course making me an approved electrician. I am looking to start up my own business, but having a fairly sheltered apprenticeship I still have a lot to learn about domestic properties. I am doing my research every night after work and slowly becoming more clued up about the domestic side of things. I am currently in the process of buying a van, all relevant tools, drills, materials basically a fully loaded van. I would like to become a registered electrician with a governing body, the question is, what work am i limited to do in houses without being a registered electrician? Looking online and it seems like most work needs to be signed off by a registered spark. I know to be registered with the NICEIC they observe 3 of your jobs, but how would i pick up work without being registered in the first place. A few friends of friends have asked me to carry out work but i am wary about doing the work, even though i know im competent. Any tips or advice about starting my own company would be truly appreciated. I want to become self employed because i feel like im a clueless spark working on newbuilds, metal munching for months on end. I feel i am better than that and i can be successful working for myself.

Spark dawg my suggestion is go for it at your age but I’m not going to say it is easy. Once you get your qualifications and start you own company it can be very stressful wondering where the next job is coming from. I’ve been there and done that especially if you have a family that depends on your income. I’m not trying to scare you but you have liability insurance at least $ 2,000,000 and on how many employees you have you will need workman’s comp insurance. Good luck and hope you are successful

 

[Baddegg]

Change the consumer unit in your own/parents house.....good practice with no pressure or time constraints, use something like iCertifi (couple of quid for a month licence) gets you used to issuing and filling out certificates and use that as ya first assessment job.....not sure you need 3 jobs, stroma certainly don’t and good luck mate

 

[Andy78]

Look up and download the approved documents to the building regs especially part P. This has the definitions of notifiable work. In England it is limited to new circuits, consumer unit changes/installations, and work in a special location. Special locations are not defined the same as in BS7671. In part P they are the zones of a bathroom, a swimming pool, or sauna location.

Insurance is a must.

It will take a few years to get to where you want to be with a solid reputation and customer base. You could fill in the gaps with agency work and more metal munching though.

You can't advertise/market too much, but explore and exhaust all the free channels first before paying for it.

 

[ipf]

Get a few more yours under your belt first . I can guarantee you will soon get sick of domestic work .

If you mean 'years', I agree. As regards getting sick...plenty don't, believe it or not.... and he's obviously sick of doing the 'same old' at present.
I would certainly recommend that a lot more experience is required prior to self employment, though.
I'm not sure about the 'approved electrician' bit. either. It was always a few years in the job before that came into being, not just a case of written qualification.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Experience trumps qualifications any day of the week.
AN apprenticeship is a good base though and you are far better off than some person who last month decided to change careers and do a fast track course.
To join say the NICEIC you need to show a large job which for the first assessment can be in yours or a family members house, so change the CU and install something like a small radial for an outdoors socket.
That will suffice, you have all the qualifications sorted so just need the required books - Regs, OSG, GN3 etc which you should have from the 2391
Along with insurance,H&S policy and complaints log which they provide online.
Ensure your tester is calibrated and you are sorted.
Remember if people can join with the bare bones you should fly through the assessment.
Being self employed though it is not a route to quick riches, its hard work and the admin is a second job in its own right. Work can be a bit hit and miss to begin with some weeks you are rushed off your feet and others can be a bit slow. its very much a case of getting known and building a customer base up.

 

[sparkdawg]

Experience trumps qualifications any day of the week.
AN apprenticeship is a good base though and you are far better off than some person who last month decided to change careers and do a fast track course.
To join say the NICEIC you need to show a large job which for the first assessment can be in yours or a family members house, so change the CU and install something like a small radial for an outdoors socket.
That will suffice, you have all the qualifications sorted so just need the required books - Regs, OSG, GN3 etc which you should have from the 2391
Along with insurance,H&S policy and complaints log which they provide online.
Ensure your tester is calibrated and you are sorted.
Remember if people can join with the bare bones you should fly through the assessment.
Being self employed though it is not a route to quick riches, its hard work and the admin is a second job in its own right. Work can be a bit hit and miss to begin with some weeks you are rushed off your feet and others can be a bit slow. its very much a case of getting known and building a customer base up.

Thankyou for the great reply means a lot!
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Than

Look up and download the approved documents to the building regs especially part P. This has the definitions of notifiable work. In England it is limited to new circuits, consumer unit changes/installations, and work in a special location. Special locations are not defined the same as in BS7671. In part P they are the zones of a bathroom, a swimming pool, or sauna location.

Insurance is a must.

It will take a few years to get to where you want to be with a solid reputation and customer base. You could fill in the gaps with agency work and more metal munching though.

You can't advertise/market too much, but explore and exhaust all the free channels first before paying for it.

thankyou for the reply I will take this into account