My daughter wants to start a business, I don't know how to help her.

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I missed the “qualified” post

As she has been doing supervision, a mixture of small jobs and inspection will work well, all new installations have to be tested so so rented and industrial equipment.

To cover the overheads she will need to charge around £30 an hour, insurance a travel costs are high.

Whatever niche in the Electrical installation field a qualification is needed, that is everything, a home owner can change a plug or a lightbulb a third party doing it is liable for any problems.

There are several occupations that a “ home handy person” can do, plumbing, carpentry, gardening, without any formal qualifications, electrical and gas are illegal.

Germanshepherdsmum

Is there much of a future, or a living, in just doing small household jobs? Might she be better off working for a firm which does mainly domestic work, such as rewiring houses rather than working on construction sites, in order to build confidence in that area before going it alone?

Oh, I would think so - try getting hold of a trades person these days!

However, your suggestion of working for a firm which does mainly domestic work or even a medium sized building firm is a sensible one, learning the practicalities.
She will need to learn the business side of running a small firm too.

Is there much of a future, or a living, in just doing small household jobs? Might she be better off working for a firm which does mainly domestic work, such as rewiring houses rather than working on construction sites, in order to build confidence in that area before going it alone?

Well that is very different information from what was in the original post.

Sorry for the late replies everyone, didn't intend to be gone so long but I went for a long weekend camping trip with my son. Thank you all for the quick and helpful replies, to answer a few questions: we are UK based currently, she has done her apprenticeship, fully qualified. Has been working for the most part with that same company as an overseer on construction sights. She is feeling quite nervous about the prospect of going out on her own so she wants to start with doing small electrics work, mainly for households. I believe she has booked an appointment to see an accountant and told me this morning she was going to be sifting through the government sites for all the helpful information. I suppose at this point I should sit back and let her work things out and stick to fatherly advice (monetary support as well I'm sure).

My tight-fisted neighbor doesn’t want to pay for an electrician to re-wire his house so he’s going to try and do it himself.

“How hard can it be?” he said.

I think he’s in for a shock.

You're such a bright spark, Bluebelle!

No I put my finger in the socket ?

BlueBelle

Perhaps David was just teasing us

Have you had a lightbulb moment, Bluebelle?
???????

Perhaps David was just teasing us

21 posts and still nothing from DavidJR!

Oh dear Davie fixing things around the house isnt nearly enough as everyone here has said she needs to be fully qualified, preferable served time as an apprentice but you’re talking about a few years before she can do any jobs other than changing plugs and light bulbs in the house

All this great advice but where is DavieJR?

My SIL is an electrician and runs his own business and it's not for the faint-hearted. Apart from keeping the accounts, ordering parts and preparing quotes and invoices you also have to keep up to date with electrical specifications. These are very detailed and technical, hence the training required to start up, but as new quality standards are introduced you have to keep up to date with them.

She needs to sign up to Elecricians training at the local technical college, then she will probably do 3 or 4 yrs training in college and on the job. From there she can either install new, or test existing installations.

There is a big opportunity testing existing systems, well
paid too.

It’s illegal to do electrical work without proper qualifications and supervision

Householders are allowed to do small jobs eg changing a socket, a ceiling rose etc in their own home if unqualified as an electrician, but any work carried out should be checked, approved and certificated by a qualified electrician.

Part P Building Regulations

I'd suggest she looks for work as an electricians mate and while working can learn on the job and work towards her city and guilds qualification (in the uk) or equivalent.

I agree. You don’t just need to be suitably qualified at what you do, you need a good business head on your shoulders and to be able to keep up to date with and comply with whatever regulations affect what you do. I’m not certain that this girl is properly qualified to work alone as an electrician - is she qualified and working for a firm of electricians or just fixing things round the house? It’s illegal to do electrical work without proper qualifications and supervision.

Not wanting to rain on anyone’s parade, but the phrase my daughter wants to start a business with no idea how to go about it, is the main reason why so many small start ups fail quite quickly.

blog.i24app.com/ has blogs about becoming self employed and starting out etc, she'll probably find it useful to look at but i do think she'll need electrician qualifications too to show she's capable and properly trained.

If you are in the UK she needs to have an Electrical qualifications, NVQ level 3 probably also all new electrical work ( e.g adding new electrical power sources of installation ) needs to be signed off by someone who has a further qualifications and the client is then giving a certificate it I under the Electrical installations regulations 18th edition. How about setting herself as a "handy Person" doing odd jobs inside and out. I use a girl who is a qualified plumber but does those small jobs that bigger builders are not interested in. She changed our toilet seat re-sealed the shower and jet washed our back, she also does decorating and garden maintenance and putting together flat pack furniture. She is booked up months ahead for bigger jobs but fits in smaller jobs around them charges a reasonable rate. Might be easier to set with a local face book page. I would imagine she would need public liability insurance.

I think it is illegal to work as an electrician in the Uk without a recognised Qualification so that must be the first step she takes.

Has she qualified or it just a hobby? If it’s the latter, I’d advise her to take the necessary certified qualifications before she attempts any major electrical work, even if it’s in her hone or your home . Household insurance will not cover her if anything goes wrong. But I do wish her luck !