Help meeee

[sparky lou]

Right, basically ive been working in the commercial sector for about 8 yrs, stood my apprenticeship through this company and Next, as in the dept. store is all i know... a few weeks i made the bosses son cry for making a royal **** up of a job i was running, anyway i was stabbed in the back and pretty much, forced to leave...
Im thinking.. this is my time to make something of myself, but i genuinely have no idea where to start... so im a qualified electrician, well.. to the 16th edition n e way..i went to look at a private job yesterday, its a restaraunt of a decent size thats already been 1st fixed, im guessing allot of you are thinking ahh all the hard work is done then!! but i have no experience on cctv systems or intruder alarms AND before i can even touch it i need to know where i stand with regs etc. ive taken a look at a few of these threads and ive basically got it in my head now that all il need to complete this job legally would b too register with the likes of the NICEIC, elecsa etc and they could give me a heads up on everything id need........ so , any advice you could give me on which direction to take id b very very grateful, cheers

 

[spud1]

I think you would need some 17th edition training before you can register with a body like NICEIC or ELECSA. As a commercial install though its not Part P Applicable so you dont have to be registered to do this particualar job. Bit of a nightmare picking up from where someone else has 1st fixed though ! especially if your not farmiliar with the systems installed (e.g.CCTV) I would get some help from someone you know who is experienced in those areas

 

[Electricalserv]

I've done f all CCTV but i still advertise for it because its a piece of **** so I've heard. The instruction manual will give you the jist of things. 2 cables to each camera can't be hard

 

[Bradzz]

Hi, i would first have a good look at what has been completed by the first fixer, before doing any of the work, give it a PIR inspection, find out, what is going to be used for what, as you dont just want to come in and find out that cables are under rated have been instaled, and you have already given a price for the job. just a thought. Aslo did the owner say why the other sparks has stopped?

 

[i=p/u]

well said bradley, he didnt walk away for nothing, pir is good advice and id say essiential

 

[sparky lou]

I genuinely have no idea what a pir check is, please enlighten me! all I did yesterday was take a look at the job, no price has yet been given.. I'm gonna have a propper look at it this afternoon and give him a price, also any ideas on how to price the job, would you just get the cash for materials as and when you need them off the client, and just try and give a figure for labour on how long you think the job will take?!

 

[spud1]

Pir stands for periodic inspection report. soon to be electrical installation condition report ! Do you have testing experience? It really sounds like you d be better off starting a bit smaller mate if Im honest. Pricing a job of that size when so inexperienced could end up in tears

 

[Bradzz]

Not to be rude, but i would not do the job if i was you, a PIR is an inspection of the condition of the installation, its a bit like an MOT for your car see whats wrong and put it right, NOT FOR FREE, as the person down the MOT station wont do the wrok for free, but it sounds like you may be lacking the knowledge to undertake such a job, please correct me if im wrong.

what is your location, maybe one of the lads might beable to pop along and give you some help, for a small fee.
and if your in my area i might beable to help,
London

 

[Goody]

I genuinely have no idea what a pir check is, please enlighten me! all I did yesterday was take a look at the job, no price has yet been given.. I'm gonna have a propper look at it this afternoon and give him a price, also any ideas on how to price the job, would you just get the cash for materials as and when you need them off the client, and just try and give a figure for labour on how long you think the job will take?!

Plz, check this out -> PIRs Explained : Electrical Safety Council

 

[i=p/u]

your saying first fix is complete, you could walk round with client and ask whats going to be at these points and work out the demand, just in case someone has installed wrong size cables, you could dead test them, case they have been damaged etc.. and ask sneakily why he left job as it is..... maybe he didnt pay him, maybe he installed the cables himself... once you work out what needs done, you convert into hours thatwork for you and say you like £20 a hour and materials tell him to suppply or you supply and 20% on for all the running around and odd mistake maybee... only you'l decide, but testing all the points would be good start as you will be signing your name to it..good luck

 

[sparky lou]

Haha, by all means say what you think gents.. Perhaps inexperienced in the restaraunt area, I have been foreman on 20,000 sq ft + jobs so the pressure won't phase me, I maybe jumping in at the deep end here however, and I'm Nottingham based also.
Im a pretty confident guy and I'm sure I'll get a grasp of things once I get my teeth into It..
When the 2nd fix is completed, how would I go about getting it signed off if I don't have my 2392? Really appreciate this lads keep loading me up

 

[johnboy6083]

you dont need any qualification apart from an electrical technical certificate (2330, 2360 ect). 2391 and 2392 are the best recognised ways of proving your competence.
however make sure that you do know what you are doing, as you will be liable if it isnt right.

 

[Bradzz]

Do you have public liability insurance and what are you going to offer the client in the way of guaranty and for how long, test equipment that is calibrated.

 

[FatBob]

At the very least you need to be 17th compliant, and cctv is generally ip based now. Not too difficult, and you can marry it in with some commercial alarm systems.