NEW RULES: Thousands Of Electricians Unqualified Overnight

Are YOU still a qualified electrician? The trade reacts to sweeping changes that could limit the work you can do…

…the MCS suspends three contracting firms in a cash-for-certs scandal…

…and a power firm fined is £80,000 after an electrical technician suffers life-changing injuries from an arc flash…

Welcome to Electrical News Weekly in association with Sungrow , making every Watt count since 1997 , whether you're listening in the van, on site, or down at the wholesale counter.

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Show Notes:

Catch all the stories, links, and product info from this episode - it’s all waiting for you in the show notes at 👉 http://www.efixx.co.uk/new-rules-thousands-of-electricians-unqualified-overnight

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Time Stamps ⏱️
00:00 Electrical News Weekly 08/12/2025
00:49 Are You Still Qualified As An Electrician?
02:43 MCS Suspends 3 Members After Cash For Cert Scandal
03:32 Fine For Company After Wind Farm Injury
04:36 Contractor Pays Homeowner £390,000 After Fire
05:05 An eFIXX Recommended Safe Isolation Kit
05:55 Loft Crawl Board For Electricians
06:27 Linian Unveils Clip For Cable Trays
07:01 UKs First Sungrow Powerstack Install
07:47 Learner Of The Week
08:30 Tea Break With Quickwire
09:05 eFIXX Fantasy League Roundup
11:30 Thanks To Our Premium Partners
12:00 Challenge Words & Winners
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#enw #electricians #electricalinstallation

Transcript

Coming up on this week's news, are you still a qualified electrician? The trade reacts to sweeping changes that could limit the work you can do. The MCS suspends three contracting firms in a cash for cert scandal. And a power firm is fined £80,000 after an electrical technician suffers life-changing injuries from an arc flash. Welcome to Electrical News Weekly in association with Sungrow, making every watt count, literally since 1997. Whether you're listening in the van, on site, or down at the wholesale counter, I'm Joe Robinson, and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. This week, we're being powered by Schneider with their top quality SPDs in both the KQ and Acti 9 ranges. They'll keep you surging ahead in protecting your installations. And if you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment with them below for the chance to win a prize. And while you're there, click the links in the show notes to check out what our sponsors offer. Are you still qualified to do all the work you've been doing for years? That's a question that's being put to electricians as a major shakeup of competence requirements gets underway. A number of rule changes affect the electrotechnical assessment specification or EAS. From October next year, you'll need qualifications before you can work on EV chargers, solar panels, or battery packs. You'll also be required to have the standards and codes of practice documents as well as the right tools. Additionally, qualified supervisors and employed persons who do periodic inspection and testing will have to have at least 2 years experience. They'll also have to hold what's termed acceptable qualifications. Finally, they'll have to show proof of continuing professional development. In January, there are big changes too for new applicants for EAS certification. From then, you won't be able to use a level three from LCL awards. However, if you get the qualification before January, you will still be eligible via the older qualifications route. If you're an electrician, these changes could affect your scope, your sign off rights, and your future work opportunities. The trade reacted with anger to what it sees as more red tape and expense from the governing organisations. One electrician, Michael Loftus, said he had to pay £4,400 to retrain after the NIC said it no longer recognised his qualifications. Another said the qualification bodies are always moving the goalposts. But Kevin Sparrow of EAL defended the move, saying, "Everyone says they want to raise the bar on installation standards in the industry. These new rules will do just that." Sparrow says we're in a post-Grenfell environment where safety standards are top of the agenda. He advises electricians to take action now to ensure that they're meeting the requirements both for work they do now and work they plan on doing in the future. The issue was hotly debated on eFIXX's most recent live stream. In the stream, Gary Hayers, Joe Hammond, Kevin Sparrow, and Michael Collins of Flexi Orb break down what's changing, why it matters, and how electricians can protect their ability to work. I've popped the link to that in the show notes. And speaking of protection, with their top-of-the-line smoke detectors, they'll keep watch over you and your loved ones even when you can't. It's this week's fire protection sponsor, Fire Angel. Now, still on standards, the microgeneration certification scheme has suspended three of its members in a cash for certificate scandal. The organisation says the firms provided certificates to a non-certified installer, allowing them to claim boiler upgrade scheme vouchers from OFGEM on his behalf. He in turn paid them a fee for the Certs. MCS says the members have had their ability to operate as certified installers removed. They've also been formally notified with the findings of its investigation. The probe found that the certified installers did not carry out the installations of heat pumps. They did not hold direct contracts with the customers receiving the installations and they did not have formal subcontracting agreements in place with the non-certified installer in question. This decision has been supported by the installer certification bodies who have withdrawn certification and their consumer code. The MCS says it takes compliance very seriously and that if an installer falls short, it will take action to ensure that customers are protected. In the courts, a power firm has been fined £80,000 after a technician was seriously injured by an arc flash. Natural Power Services Limited sent the then 38-year-old to carry out maintenance work in an electrical substation in the Tom Nan Clach Wind Farm near Inverness in June 2020. The man sustained life-changing injuries that have required multiple surgeries. A probe by the health and safety executive found that the incident happened following a departure from the prepared switching program. This meant work was allowed to be carried out on one of the two electrical cabinets while the other remained live. This allowed part of the electrical system to be energised during the work. Investigators found that had the initial switching program prepared by Natural Power Services Limited been correctly followed, the incident would not have occurred. The company didn't have a suitable process in place to check switching programs and procedures were correctly observed at all times. Nor did it have a formal method of approving any changes to the initial switching programs. At Inverness Sheriff Court, Natural Power Services Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £80,000. An HSSE spokesperson said it was a wholly avoidable incident caused by the failure of the company to implement a safe system of work. In other news, an electrical contracting firm has paid £390,000 to a householder over a fire in his Kent home. Folkestone-based Sean Davey Electrical Limited which carried out work at the property before the blaze in 2020, said the payment came without an admission of liability. David Sercombe carried his daughter Bronte through thick black smoke when the fire erupted at their seven-bedroom detached house in Saltwood. The pair escaped by jumping from an upstairs balcony. Sercombe had been pursuing a personal injury claim against the firm before this week's settlement. Now, knowing how passionate we are about safe isolation, you won't be surprised to learn that we love this electrical lockout kit from CK brand Kasp. It has everything you need to prevent circuits being re-energised while you're working on them. It includes two brass padlocks, one 25 mil and the other 40 mil. There's a special lockout for MCBs as well as a pinout wide lockout. Both are non-conductive. Both are built tough enough to survive being chucked in a toolbox, and both mean you're not stood there sweating at a circuit board when you could be getting paid. Also included is a lock off clasp, a tag out marker pen, and danger tag. All the items come in a handy red lockout pouch. The company also supplies a dedicated MCB lockout kit, which includes the easy fit lockout, a brass padlock, a danger tag, and a carabiner. Everything you need for single circuit jobs in one pack. And if you think that's smart, then check out the direct easy lighting control system from Ledvance. When your lights are this clever, you'll swear they've got a degree in illumination. Oxford Safety Components are promoting their special crawl board for working in lofts and similar spaces. The Covers Safe Spark Board is a lightweight working platform formulated with GRP used to prevent falls through ceilings. GRP was developed for aerospace and Formula 1 racing, and this has been woven into the product's design to provide a full protection system that's super lightweight. The mat is light and portable and closes down to just 1,150 x 480 mil to fit into a carry case, so it's easy to get through small attic hatches. When opened, it covers an area of up to 2 m by 0.8 m, spreading the weight of the operator over the joists. Linian has unveiled a special clip for cable trays. It can be used with any brand of tray and doesn't need any tensioning tools or steel cable ties. You simply lock it in by hand. Linian says its customers are reporting installation times that are 90% faster than other methods. The clips are BS7671 compliant and come in five sizes ranging from 50 mil for light duty cable trays to 225 mil for medium and heavy trays. The pull out force ranges from 20 kg to 200 kg depending on size. The clips are made in the UK with fire rated steel. They're also non-corrosive and weather resistant. All of this makes them perfect for preventing the premature collapse of cables in the event of a fire. Now, last week we told you about Sungrow's power stack. It's a battery storage option for commercial and industrial applications. It boasts 314 amp hour battery cells and a 20-year design life. Best of all, it has a liquid cooling facility which allows the batteries to operate at a high efficiency. Now, the UK's first power stock install has just been completed at a factory in Selby in North Yorkshire. Just paper tubes makes an astonishing 50 million cardboard cores every year. A key to the products is getting them dry, and previously the company was spending a fortune on electricity for the dehumidification line and the drying ovens. The power stack and solar panel combination is now unlocking huge savings for the firm. That's because the batteries charge up using cheaper energy at night. There's a nice video about the install at Just Paper Tubes. I've popped a link to it in the show notes. Now, it's that great moment where we get to celebrate the sterling work being done by the next generation. Our learner of the week slot is brought to you by Elatako, German manufacturer of premium actuators, sensors, and energy meters for smart homes. And our learner this week is Joel Whitmarsh who’s training to be an electrician at the Grange School in Runcorn.. 18-year-old Joel has built a small but impressive pallet of content on LinkedIn. He's demonstrated all the fundamental qualities a potential employer would look for in an apprentice. He's shared his first ever consumer unit installation. He's posted valuable pictures of himself undertaking work experience. He's achieved his ECS health and safety certificate and he's completed a set of all important CPDs with us here at eFIXX. These elements combined to make Joel our pick for this week's eFIXX learner of the week in association with Eltako. And now to the lighter side of the electrical news. Yes, it's time for a tea break with Quickwire and its range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors. An electrician has saved a bear's life in America. The bear had climbed a power pole in Arizona and was in serious danger of electrocution. Werner Neubauer promptly de-energised the power cables and with a stick helped the bear descend without injury. The animal eventually dropped from the pole and ran off unharmed. His wife Tina captured the beautiful moment on her phone. What a zoological hero Werner is. The only way I'd have wanted to be involved in that situation is if I was using a telescope. That's the lighter side of the news in our tea break with QuickWire and their range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors. Click the link in the description to check them out for yourself. Now, just before we get to your favourite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners, we want to thank our premium partners. We couldn't make the news without you. First up, they like having an Italian Star Striker in your premiership team. It's Lewden Palazzoli. And with over 5,000 product lines, from heating, lighting, ventilation to wiring accessories, if you need it, they've got it. its electrical distributor CED Group. And the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality products, it's Doncaster Cables. Click the links in the show notes to find out more about these great brands. If you think you know the words I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments. We'll take all those correct guesses and select one at random to be the winner of an eFIXX goodie bag prize. Answers submitted after about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will not be entered into the draw. Now, let's reveal the winners of last week's challenge word competition. Last week's words were herring bone and goldfinch and it seems our repeat winners Jason and Dave are doubling down and trying harder than ever to keep their streak up. However, they were thwarted in their ambition as Timbo Sparks was the first person to come out of the electronic hat. Well done to you Timbo and make sure you click the get involved link in the show notes to claim your prize. Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly in association with Sungrow, making every what count literally since 1997. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update. Thanks for listening and until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm.