OLEV worth it to take the course?

[Sb8389]

hi guys
I’m thinking of taking the c&g 2919 course
Has anyone taken this course and found they get much work through being OLEV registered. I know there is a big push over the next year so wondering weather it’s worth jumping on it now.
Would be nice to get some advice from people currently doing these and weather it’s worth it?

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

I am OLEV approved for both domestic and commercial chargers, Rolec and EV:Box, installing a ev charger is no more difficult than fitting a consumer unit in a garage and whacking a rod in.
I never did the city and guilds course, instead did the one day NICEIC course then went on a EV:BOX installer day, the ev:box course was free. NICEIC one had to pay for. could then get olev approval for both types.
With Rolec you normally have to push the chargers and find the jobs yourself. With EV:Box they send me good leads. the customer contacts them via their website, they then put me in touch with customer, with a price for the charger and leads. I then bill customer a final price above this to include materials and labour etc and factor in the £500 olev subsidy. Also worth noting that sometime next year the subsidy may reduce to £250 as its a finite pot of money.
If you are unsure if you will have much demand, then do the free one day ev:box course, that plus being in scheme is sufficient to get OLEV approval. saves yourself a few hundred quid too.

 

[Sb8389]

Where did you do the course Gavin as it says EV box is based in Amsterdam, can’t see that being right surely.

 

[suffolkspark]

I spotted in the regs you can just add a supplementary stake to a pme property you dont have to seperate the charge point from pme.... Have i read that correctly?

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Where did you do the course Gavin as it says EV box is based in Amsterdam, can’t see that being right surely.

yes they are a dutch company but have a uk base, if you give the uk support team a call on 07494909296 and they will be able to give you dates and locations for the course, its easy and gets you the paperwork needed to get olev approval. comes with free buffet lunch and drinks too!

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

I spotted in the regs you can just add a supplementary stake to a pme property you dont have to seperate the charge point from pme.... Have i read that correctly?

I queried this very issue with the NICEIC technical help, The answer i got was if you are putting a rod in then is it not just easier to use it for the charger rather than use it as supplementary to pme, also went on about something to do with suppliers earth failing then the supplementary rod could in theory be the earth for half the street. drifted out at this point but not 100%. you could of course just change to whole property to tt and do away with the pme? also unless you are 100% the tns is tns back to the transformer, it should be considered pme.

 

[suffolkspark]

@Gavin John Hyde

Yea i asked about the rod becoming the earth for the downstream properties in a street if the N failed upstream at my last napit inspection before we knew that supplementary stakes werent being included in the 18th... Just got "good point" and that was it...

Ive just gotta put a supply in for one and its easier to locate the rod at the origin

 

[The Ghost]

I am not up on OLEV at all apart from understanding the principles involved. We had an EV point installed in the car park of one of the commercial buildings I work on. There is no earth rod anywhere on the installation. Is it therefore installed incorrectly? Is it a must have thing?

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

I am not up on OLEV at all apart from understanding the principles involved. We had an EV point installed in the car park of one of the commercial buildings I work on. There is no earth rod anywhere on the installation. Is it therefore installed incorrectly? Is it a must have thing?

Depends on whether the building is itself on a tt system or they may have been cheeky and used structural steel. you are only meant to use tns for ev chargers if the dno confirm its tns back to the substation, which i have never got wpd to commit to, as they do so much work and convert to pme.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

This link might be useful, its rolecs free training day.Rolec - The First Name in Marina Services - http://mstat290.co.uk/service.php?s=webversion&mm=2CHO003002310020652510155500956800006926000072827f7

 

[JK-Electrical]

hi guys
I’m thinking of taking the c&g 2919 course
Has anyone taken this course and found they get much work through being OLEV registered. I know there is a big push over the next year so wondering weather it’s worth jumping on it now.
Would be nice to get some advice from people currently doing these and weather it’s worth it?

I did the course earlier this week. The content is based entirely on what you'll find in the Code of Practice for Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Installation.

Apart from the open-book exam, you'll also have to carry-out an initial verification on either an 'on-street', 'commercial' or 'domestic' charger that has been installed in the workshop. You are assessed on both modules, not just the open-book exam. Would I recommend the course? Definitely.

 

[JK-Electrical]

I queried this very issue with the NICEIC technical help, The answer i got was if you are putting a rod in then is it not just easier to use it for the charger rather than use it as supplementary to pme, also went on about something to do with suppliers earth failing then the supplementary rod could in theory be the earth for half the street. drifted out at this point but not 100%. you could of course just change to whole property to tt and do away with the pme? also unless you are 100% the tns is tns back to the transformer, it should be considered pme.

I should add that a TN-S installation must be considered to be a TN-C-S installation unless the DNO have provided * written confirmation * that they have no intention of converting from TN-S to TN-C-S in the future.

 

[leebut]

Depends on whether the building is itself on a tt system or they may have been cheeky and used structural steel. you are only meant to use tns for ev chargers if the dno confirm its tns back to the substation, which i have never got wpd to commit to, as they do so much work and convert to pme.

Your correct NO TN-S can be relied upon Not to be converted to a PME supply in the future

 

[superk]

EVs are the future so it should be worth it