NICEIC Certification Scheme Sold my soul to the Niceic

[Hellmooth]

If I could have joined Stroma I would have, couldn't care less about having the name it's just to keep myself right!

 

[NDG Elecs]

I'm just in the process of leaving the Nic and joining Napit.

One good thing with NAPIT is that you get straight through to their technical dept....

One bad thing about NAPIT is their technical dept don't seem as knowledgeable as I would like on the couple of times I rang them!

My impression was they sat firmly on the fence with the queries I had. Although sometimes a quick discussion can clarify thoughts in your own head.

 

[vxwestie]

Congratulations on joining the NicEic. Despite the additional cost it'll help distinguish yourself from the amateurs in the other scams
Youll never see a specifier, architect etc choose a stroma, Napit etc contractor over a Nic one. You will see them use phrases similar to "must be registered with the NicEic/or similar.
The Nic are far from perfect but a lot of the assessors from the other scams are those that can't get in with the Nic.
Dont let the money fool you, there is a reason they are still the No1 brand

 

[Welchyboy1]

Congratulations on joining the NicEic. Despite the additional cost it'll help distinguish yourself from the amateurs in the other scams ��
Youll never see a specifier, architect etc choose a stroma, Napit etc contractor over a Nic one. You will see them use phrases similar to "must be registered with the NicEic/or similar.
The Nic are far from perfect but a lot of the assessors from the other scams are those that can't get in with the Nic.
Dont let the money fool you, there is a reason they are still the No1 brand

It depends where your at and what kind of work you are undertaking

once your well established, i find your customers want YOU, not any logo stuck on your van they couldnt careless

i doubt many domestic installers will be coming up against tender specifiers a great deal

 

[Hellmooth]

It depends where your at and what kind of work you are undertaking

I was in your camp , have been an nic AC for a while and was always being told of the virtues of being registered with them but i find it being Just not essential

once your well established, i find your customers want YOU, not any logo stuck on your van they couldnt care less

however if you are tendering on a commercial basis for large contracts for councils/larger outfits then i would still recommend it, but probably not for a one man band/ domestic/light commercial electrician like myself nowadays

I feel the same mate, I have managed thus far without the logo and can count on the one hand how many times someone has mentioned being with either Select or NIC, and these weren't potential customers just other trades on the job, who are under the illusion that yup ou must be with a scheme or you don't know your arse from your elbow! But I am looking forward to having the back up of being in a scheme for any further works etc that may require it!

 

[rich.250]

I know their not what they used to be!
But in my area the area engineer is really good, and it shows with the contractors.
The NIC approved contractors are far better than the other approved contractors from other approvals.
I've got a lot more commercial work and tender applications since I joined 2 years ago.

But then again, your only as good as your worst bloke.

 

[uksparks]

I would rather be with the NICEIC over any other and thats down to the online interface which I think its great and also the fact that they are the most widely recognise, nothing more to it.

They seem ok to me, never had any issues, if you are going to pay, just pay and go with the bigger brand, its such a trivial difference in my opinion.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

As the title suggests, I have started the process of registering with the NIC, £540 worse off so far, let the fun begin!

Sorry HM. I keep putting HT for some unknown reason!

 

[rich.250]

As the title suggests, I have started the process of registering with the NIC, £540 worse off so far, let the fun begin!

It's exactly the same price as napit if you go for equal approval level..... Just they have it all as add ons.
Although from seeing work done by others anyone can join Napit!

 

[rich.250]

I would rather be with the NICEIC over any other and thats down to the online interface which I think its great.

And a decent free iPad app

 

[andyb]

It's exactly the same price as napit if you go for equal approval level..... Just they have it all as add ons.
Although from seeing work done by others anyone can join Napit!

Well that's a mater of opinion, there are plenty of posts on this forum that end 'and that was done by an Nic electrician'
I've got no problem with either, I've just today cancelled my Nic membership which was due for renewal Friday, I had my last Nic assessment in September and had my Napit assessment last week, so less than 4 months apart.

There was a difference, in the 10 years that I've been with the Nic the only qualification that I've been asked for is my 17th edition. Napit wanted copies of all my qualifications on application, then the assessor wanted to see them on the day.
The office part took a lot longer for the Napit assessment, he wanted to see all the same stuff but he asked me technical questions in the office then I had to sit and answer some written questions. Only 5 or 6 but not all easy ( I needed to refer to my regs for one) I never had that with the Nic.
The on site bit was remarkable similar.

But to reiterate I'm not advocating one over the other, they're both similar I'm sure with good and bad representatives. The same for Stroma or Elecsa.

Though comments like this

Congratulations on joining the NicEic. Despite the additional cost it'll help distinguish yourself from the amateurs in the other scams
The Nic are far from perfect but a lot of the assessors from the other scams are those that can't get in with the Nic.

Are just plain daft if you ask me (though no one ever does)
Seems I was a pro yesterday an amateur today.

 

[Leesparkykent]

Well that's a mater of opinion, there are plenty of posts on this forum that end 'and that was done by an Nic electrician'
I've got no problem with either, I've just today cancelled my Nic membership which was due for renewal Friday, I had my last Nic assessment in September and had my Napit assessment last week, so less than 4 months apart.

There was a difference, in the 10 years that I've been with the Nic the only qualification that I've been asked for is my 17th edition. Napit wanted copies of all my qualifications on application, then the assessor wanted to see them on the day.
The office part took a lot longer for the Napit assessment, he wanted to see all the same stuff but he asked me technical questions in the office then I had to sit and answer some written questions. Only 5 or 6 but not all easy ( I needed to refer to my regs for one) I never had that with the Nic.
The on site bit was remarkable similar.

But to reiterate I'm not advocating one over the other, they're both similar I'm sure with good and bad representatives. The same for Stroma or Elecsa.

Though comments like this

Are just plain daft if you ask me (though no one ever does)
Seems I was a pro yesterday an amateur today.

So what was the question you had to refer to the regs to? :/

 

[andyb]

So what was the question you had to refer to the regs to? :/

It was to do with firefighter's switches. Colour, height of the ground and whether off is at the top or bottom.
No problem as I could use the regs, just wasn't expecting it.

 

[Andy78]

It's exactly the same price as napit if you go for equal approval level..... Just they have it all as add ons.
Although from seeing work done by others anyone can join Napit!

From the enquiries I made Napit is a lot cheaper. There is the stated website price but if you are moving from another scheme it can be considerably cheaper.

 

[Andy78]

Congratulations on joining the NicEic. Despite the additional cost it'll help distinguish yourself from the amateurs in the other scams
Youll never see a specifier, architect etc choose a stroma, Napit etc contractor over a Nic one. You will see them use phrases similar to "must be registered with the NicEic/or similar.
The Nic are far from perfect but a lot of the assessors from the other scams are those that can't get in with the Nic.
Dont let the money fool you, there is a reason they are still the No1 brand

Really ? My Elecsa assessor was only the other day saying how his own worth was assessed on a regular basis when the scheme was separate from the NICEIC. Now he is working under a NICEIC assessor he hasn't been assessed once in approaching 2 years.

The name exists as a value brand to those who don't know any better or any different, the public, specifiers, main contractors etc.
But from my point of view, looking from the inside of the trade, it's a name to hide behind for all and sundry. Every electrician that I have urged customers to report to trading standards for non-compliant work, dangerous work and fraudulent activities have all been under the NICEIC banner, half of them approved contractors.