Self Employment Info

[Alio61]

Okay so I hope I'm in the right forum, I'm just after some general advice/help basically I'm currently an employed electrician and I've been thinking about going self employed.

I've been with my employer since 2006

Here are a list of my qualifications

2360 NVQ lv3

17th Edition

2394 initial verification

2395 periodic inspection and test

So to go self employed and become a registered sparky mainly on domestic work what do I have to do??

I'm aware I have to get public liability insurance etc

I'm confused with the Part-P side of things, do I need to do another course to gain a Part-P qualification?? How do I go about it?

And do I have to join a body such as ECA NICEIC??

Thanks for the help everyone

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Simple short answer....

Legally electrical work in this country can be done by DIY, unskilled, untrained, unqualified persons....

So at the very lowest level you don't need anything..

Just tell HMRC that you are commencing self employment...

BUT...

to give a professional and more competent level of work to your customers...

Then formal qualifications are probably needed..

Some customers may like you to be a member of one of the trade bodies...

If you want to you can but you don't have to..

Some say it improves your image to potential clients...

Others say it makes no difference!!

If you want to join a trade body..

check out their website for entry requirements..

 Important thing to protect yourself is having sufficient insurance cover in case things go belly up! 

 

[Sidewinder]

Also, remember, profit is not a dirty word!

Don't be afraid to charge for your services accordingly, and don't forget to work out your costs correctly.

Mind domestic work is a very cut throat environment at the moment it seems, and many are very quiet.

 

[Alio61]

Simple short answer....

Legally electrical work in this country can be done by DIY, unskilled, untrained, unqualified persons....

So at the very lowest level you don't need anything..

Just tell HMRC that you are commencing self employment...

BUT...

to give a professional and more competent level of work to your customers...

Then formal qualifications are probably needed..

Some customers may like you to be a member of one of the trade bodies...

If you want to you can but you don't have to..

Some say it improves your image to potential clients...

Others say it makes no difference!!

If you want to join a trade body..

check out their website for entry requirements..

Important thing to protect yourself is having sufficient insurance cover in case things go belly up!

Thanks for the answer I see insurance is a very important thing and rightly so.

Do you know much about PART P ?

I see the ECA Recruitment criteria says

"Must be registered with any one of the Government-approved Full Scope Competent Person Schemes for Part P of the Building Regulations, if you carry out domestic work"

This I'm not sure of? Any ideas?

Also, remember, profit is not a dirty word!

Don't be afraid to charge for your services accordingly, and don't forget to work out your costs correctly.

Mind domestic work is a very cut throat environment at the moment it seems, and many are very quiet.

Thanks for the reply and you're quite right domestic work is seriously cut throat at the moment luckily I live in an area where sparkys are quite rare but I'm sure that won't last long

Cheers

 

[Evans Electric]

Hi  Alio  

All Part P is ..is part of the Building Regs .

Basically it says ... electrical work must be carried out by a Competent Person"    As Specs says above ,  anyone can do electrics but they can't sign the job off to allow Building Control to issue a certificate. 

It is NOT and never has been a qualification .  

I see you are in Wales ,and they altered it there ... I've no idea what happens in Wales ....it doesn't even exist in Scotland .

But in England , to carry out work that comes under Local Building Control the electrical work MUST be undertaked bt a  "Competent Person"  

To prove you are Competent you have to join a scheme . 

So :- 

NICEIC

ELECSA     

ECA            

NAPPIT

And a few others no one has heard of .

All charging around £450  year .    They will take you , I guarantee it .  

You can function without it but you won't be able do any jobs under building control as you have to certify it to them .  

You cannot have  it certified by someone else ,  (   Actually   I heard that NAPITT  WILL test & certify other people's jobs but they'll charge you , basically , the years subscription . )  

I would advise joining ,  builders won't use you unless you are with one of the above .   

Suggest you Google Part P in Wales   , its all ballcocks but we put up with it a & pay for it.

Or to simplify it............. think of the gas fitter being Gorgi / now Gas Safe .

Becoming Self Employed ....just inform HMRC  & National Insurance  ( one & the same really)  

A word of warning .............  make sure you put aside money to pay your income tax  , best go for 20% of your earnings , you will pay that next year .      And your NI  only pays covers your  State Pension   , don't let them lapse. 

 

[Andy™]

I see you are in Wales ,and they altered it there ... I've no idea what happens in Wales ....it doesn't even exist in Scotland .

iirc, wales still use the original version... england was altered

 

[Evans Electric]

Really !!  I ought to keep with all this carp but I just can't be bovvered TBH . 

 

[Sidewinder]

Yes Deke, we are still on the tougher original version, it has been watered down in England.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Thanks for the answer I see insurance is a very important thing and rightly so.

Do you know much about PART P ?

Part-P is the section of the building regulations that specifically relates to electrical safety in dwellings..

In a nutshell it says certain types of electrical work should be notified to the LABC then have a building regulations compliance certificate issued to the person ordering the work (homeowner) within 30 days of work complete...

e.g.

Adding new circuits, replacing fuse boxes and work in some specific areas are Notifiable..

A DIY person can still do this work..

but they must apply to the LABC first then the council organise some to come and test & certify the work, for a charge, once done..

An electrician who is a member of one of the approved bodies can self certify and notify his own work.

with no additional fee to the council just a nominal fee to his scheme body...

Full bumf on Part P and be found in Approved Document P..

free download Here...

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/downloads

Notice there are OTHER approved documents that also apply to electrical work that you should also be aware of...

e.g.  Part F, L, M etc...

Some "training-rip-off-merchants" have some how concocted a Part-P test/exam/qualification..

But Part P is still just a BUILDING REGULATION!!!

Guinness

 

[Evans Electric]

Blimey  thought it was the other way round ...........I'm probably doing it wrong then :C .

It must be a nightmare for a Sparks in , say, Shrewsbury on the borders .     One day you're doing an English job ,, next day its a Welsh job. :yawn headbang

 

[Andy™]

or someone is jockland near the england border...

 

[Evans Electric]

Yes I think we discussed that once,   the Scottish sparks would have to join a scam 

 

[kerching]

Blimey  thought it was the other way round ...........I'm probably doing it wrong then :C .

It must be a nightmare for a Sparks in , say, Shrewsbury on the borders .     One day you're doing an English job ,, next day its a Welsh job. :yawn headbang

What if the Shrewsbury/ Wales boundary ran through your property?.......surely it must do somewhere!

 

[pewter]

You have the qualifications required to join NICEIC (or one of the other brands unknown by most customers) for there domestic installer scheme which will enable you to notify building control for works covered by part-p.

 

[ProDave]

Corrected for you Deke

:slap

Come on, I can't surely be the only one on this forum from haggis land?

 

[Murdoch]

The 2 questions you need to ask yourself?

How much money do I have in the bank?

How long will it last if I don't get any work?

Year 1 is about breaking even with some beer money on top....... so if you can survive with little of no income.

and remember SE means no holiday pay, no sick pay, no pension.....

 

[Evans Electric]

.....and after 2 years .....no unemployment benefits.

ProDave    Yep its looking like you are the only known , over the border,  Sparky .  We used to have a map of Forumites,  big blue lollipops stuck in it.  I think you were the furthest north.