cricket1again

My husband was born in the UK but left when he was 6 (still has a British passport) and grew up in NZ. He qualified as an electrician in NZ but went back to the UK when he was 23 and worked as an electrician before moving to Australia where he's been ever since. I left the UK 5 years ago (by accident).

Anyway, I have a business which i can transport back to the UK and as my husband is a brilliant Mr Fixit/DIY man, I think he could start his own business (he gets seperation anxiety symptons if he's not holding a hammer). But, he always refers back to 1979 and has just told me that he won't be allowed to start his own business until he's been in the UK 2 years. Does anyone know if this is true?

Nu-Shooz

I don't think there is any truth in that at all.
We are starting up our business in UK when we get back after nearly 3 year absence.
Not sure if you need licences for the UK though. Didn't used to unless it's all changed.

cricket1again

I didn't think it was true by current standards anyway. Might have been the case back in 1979 but I thought it might have changed. I'm posting on a UK business forum so I'll find out a bit more then post any info on here. Things have changed, there are some annoying new rules for small businesses but I'm still at the asking questions stage so far.

Nu-Shooz

We have been self-employed in UK for 20 years, so coming to OZ with the same business and having to go back to college, pay for licencesx4 was a shock
So we are hoping we don't have to do all that back in UK that is one of the reasons why we are going back.

cricket1again

Can I ask what business you're in? Why did you need 4 licences?

Nu-Shooz

OH repairs/service/install Air-Con and Refrigeration. Also repairs all domestic white goods. So he needed a licence for Refrigeration, Electrical, Air-con and Gas handling. All took about 2 years all in all to get, now we are off back

He is fed up of the red tape, too much like hard work trying to prove yourself all the time, life was so much easier back home. New advert in Yellow Pages in UK already published, so we just need to plug the phone in and off we go

cricket1again

Ah, so he's an electrician? You might be able to answer another question. My husband is a senior electrician but qualified in NZ. Do you know if his current qualifications would meet the UK criteria? Or how we would find out?

Nu-Shooz

Not sure, but my BIL is an electrician in UK and he doesn't need a licence.

But not sure about newbies to the UK.

deborahjane

No this isn't true. We have been away 5 years and will be starting up our new business in Feb/ March in the UK.

FlyergirlUK

You might want to take a look at NICEIC for qualifications.

I'm not an electrician but the company I work for employs electricians, plumbers, carpenters and the like to maintain properties.

If your husband will be doing any work for the construction industry, (as a subby) then he will need to have a CIS number, which is gotten through the HMRC, for taxation purposes.

Hope that helps.

scrubbedexpat055

I think that he will need to be Part P certified if he is going to do any domestic works.

Pete

cricket1again

I've been asking questions on an electrical forum, great btw, and it seems he might just need 17th edition. His 30 years of experience and level of skill seem to meet all other requirements plus he's a grade A electrical fitter-mechanic/technician with advanced trades and heavy industry.
I don't know what all this means (I'm a fashion designer) but it seems like he's got enough although he might have to do part p.

Sherpa

Although i do understand that too much red tape can be a real drag but one must ask themselves would they let an unlicenced electrician or any other tradesman loose on there home my parents have employed many door to door cowboys and the chancers from the local rag only to be left with a big mess anything that protects the public is a plus,ever heard of the plummer who prefered to bend the pipes on his knee yep a few of them about :curse: of the plummer who used a sewer snake to unblock a toilet meanwhile destroying the enamel on the bowl and then left us with no bowl after i refused to pay and then there was that new guttering looked great until it rained ....drip drip drip drip oh and i nearly forgot that mechanic who put on those new break shoes back to front ....... its like a mine field out there when looking for tradesmen

Sutherlands

Register your business within a certain time frame, if I can remember right when I ran my own business for 5 years.

Here is a link http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/startingup/index.htm all information is here.

Best of luck

The_Pom_From_Aus

cricket1;

the wiring regulation in NZ are different from the UK, its as simple as that he would have to do the 17th edition of the wiring regs + he would have to get registered with NIC then get the licence there now