Securing accreditation is a key part of ensuring competence across your business, but what does the process of getting certified involve? Find out in the second of our three-part series taken from Brother’s report, ‘Competent, compliant and ready to grow – A guide for electrical contractors to build stronger businesses’.
Ensuring your business has the right certification
Different providers in different countries will vary, but there are some general principles that apply across the industry.
Remember, it’s not individual electricians who get certified, but the registered business and its designated qualified supervisor. They are the electrically competent person with responsibility for the safety, technical standard and quality of electrical installation work completed under their supervision. A qualified supervisor must be a full-time employee, directly employed by the business, with at least two consecutive years supervisory or managerial responsibility.
They must also have a good understanding of the Electricity at Work Regulations, BS 7671 and the Codes of Practice and guidance documents relevant to the range of electrical work firms undertake, while being familiar with inspection, testing, verification, certification and reporting procedures.
Which accreditations to target
The right independent body and certification to choose depends on the kind of work a contractor does – or wants to do.
Each organisation will offer a range of schemes, from more general qualifications to those tailored to specialised work. In the UK, for example, the NICEIC offers a wide-ranging approved contractor scheme, which covers all types of electrical work including, design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of commercial, industrial and domestic electrical installations.
More specialist programmes include microgeneration certification, which incorporates the installation of renewable and green technologies, like solar photovoltaic panels and wind turbines.
Using a certified supplier for renewables work like this is often a pre-requisite for homeowners and businesses to access government funds and grants.
What’s the process?
The accreditation process can take up to a full day and starts with an initial assessment by an engineer, which generally has two elements: in the office and on-site.
The office assessment will check that the right paperwork and processes are in place, including adequate public liability insurance, as well as the right equipment for the range and scale of electrical work being undertaken.
The site assessment would then confirm that the work done in the field is competent. Among other things, they’ll be checking for adequate and compliant labelling.
How to prepare
There are some simple steps to prepare for an assessment, and the certifier will often provide support by sending a checklist in advance.
Before the office visit, firms should make sure that all relevant policies, procedures and insurance documents are readily available. That includes the latest technical reference documents, installation records and certificates raised against completed work, such as applicable building regulations notifications.
Equipment, including instruments to test voltage, continuity, residual current, insulation resistance and earth fault loop impedance, must all have up-to-date service records and accuracy logs too.
If the assessor finds any shortcomings, they may ask for evidence that any non-compliant processes or documents have been fixed or schedule a repeat assessment.
Benchmarking your employees
While individual electricians can’t be certified in the same way, they should ensure that they are assessed against a recognised benchmark to provide clients with the assurance that each of a firm’s employees are competent, smart professionals.
In the UK, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) works with the Engineering Council (the regulatory body for the UK engineering profession) to award electricians with professional qualifications and registration, such as the Chartered Engineer (CEng) or the Electrician Technician (EngTech).
Contractors who meet the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC) demonstrate their engineering competence and commitment. Each individual is rigorously assessed by a peer-reviewed panel, made up of qualified electricians – it’s not something which will be achieved by those who have just done a week-long course.
Continuous internal training to remain compliant
To maintain membership of a professional body, contractors are generally reassessed every year. Part of this focuses on the processes in place for ongoing CPD, which ensures electricians are kept abreast of any changes to wiring regulations and compliance laws.
Updates don’t happen that regularly – in the UK the rulebook has only been refreshed 10 times in the last century – but when they do, they can have wide-reaching repercussions for contractors.
The 2019 edition of the UK rules, which came into effect last year, include significant revisions on safety, energy efficiency and electric vehicles, for example.
At the same time, an effective CPD programme is vital for bringing new skills into an organisation. There are dozens of training providers offering CPD training, both in person and online, and businesses should research to find one that fits their specific needs.
Done well, CPD doesn’t just support competency, it creates versatile, smart professionals who can also support younger colleagues who are just setting out on their learning journey.
To read the full report, ‘Competent, compliant and ready to grow – A guide for electrical contractors to build stronger businesses’, click here.
To learn how the latest in label printing technology can ensure simple, durable and compliant electrical labelling, click here.