Thinking of starting a maintenance company

[Nihilist]

Hello,
I work in electrical maintenance for a big company, maybe time to start my own firm. From what I have read Part P will be needed for domestic works. What is required for works in shops etc?
Has anybody any advice on where to begin on starting their own company? I'm 17th edition, part 1 & 2, HV authorised person, pat testing. I'm sure I will have to go back to college!
New to the forum.
Thanks

 

[mattmoo1974]

From what I have read Part P will be needed for domestic works<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< you answered you own question....

 

[nick182]

u need to be insured thats for sure.. have a look at this website.. Business Insurance - tailored cover with up to 50% no claims bonus its fairly cheap.

u only need part p for domestic and as for commercial work part p isnt needed. An understanding of 3 phase testing will help.

good luck and welcome to the forum mate..

 

[Plonker 3]

What sort of customer base will you have?

Do you already have some work lined up?

If yes to either of them, I would ask them directly if they have any insurance requirements if outside of the Part P scope. Some retail companies do stipulate NICEIC contractors to carry out installation work so maybe it would be similar to carrying out their maintenance too.

 

[dasa NE1]

Hi welcome to the forum, First I find from your OP that you do not have a grasp on the legal requirements for electrical maintenance work. I find it difficult to understand how somebody who works for a large firm in that game that you do not know the certification or requirements for commercial work. Please don’t take this as an insult or a personal snipe at you as it’s not. I work for probably the biggest electrical safety company in Europe. Through that I have worked for virtually every middle to large scale FM and Maintenance Company in the country. This field is cut throat you have to be more than confident more than competent and have some serious capital behind you or at best a excellent relationship with your suppliers as this is all 30 to 90 days payments.
I would advise you strongly unless you can meet the above criteria to say where you are for the time being and do more research into this field as the impression you give is that you lack the underlying knowledge for this type of business. I have no idea of your background but I would expect an all round competent spark would not need a forum to answer such a basic question. Again this is not a dig at you as your qualifications suggest you have skill set that is valuable to your employer but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s an easy jump from this to running a successful maintenance firm there is many a post on here about firms paying off guys as they are failing in this climate. Do your research into this field and you will find you appear to be very under prepared. I hope you can take this advice and not somebody having a go and I wish you success for your future.

Kind Regards Das

 

[Nihilist]

Thanks buddy.

 

[Nihilist]

OK. I put the post on here to get some advice if anybody knows where to start on setting up a business. I'm not self employed and thought I would join a forum where I could ask for pointers.
As far as I'm aware I'm an electrician (testing and inspecting etc) I have reread my post and maybe I should have said become self-employed and not start a maintenance company.
Thank for taking the time to respond!

 

[Nihilist]

Thats not the question I asked!

 

[dasa NE1]

Hi mate. To start with you need to apply to the inland revenue to get your UTR (unique tax reference number) number which you need to start trading after registering with the tax man I would look for some small type jobs or sub contract work to build up your reputation as posted above you need insurance sorted out as soon as possible. I would honestly say keep your job and grow your business round it for now this allows you to make a living and puts less demand on your business for cash. The only problem I can see is you are technically competing against your current employer so he may take the hump. If your dead set on the route to self employment then this is your first step. There is a excellent post on here somewhere about promoting your business if you search it or maybe one of the other sparks will link it for you. If you don’t mind me asking what’s your motivation for wanting to go self employed as for the first couple of years its likely your take home pay will drop your stress level will go up and holidays and free time become a distant memory . After all of this if you still want to go for it then I tip my hat to you and I genuinely mean this then THE VERY BEST OF LUCK TO YOU and I hope you can post again in the future as to the positive impact it has had for you

Best wishes for the future

Kind Regards Das