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Discuss MCS Accreditation in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at Plumbers Forums
Hi
I just had a thought obviously you are a market expert because every trade magazine I look in I see your advert you are also sponsoring this forum, So are you actualy MCS accredited in any technology also do you have any one that does inspections on any of the MCS technologies
Having just done a quick search on the MCS website I can not see your company on there.
Regards
Mike
hi everyone, just signed up here trying to get some info, heres where i am, im a time served plumber/gas heating engineer for the last 14 years, am 30 years old, looked into the renewables last year and as got asked to do a solar thermal job, then the mcs bit came up, so went on a heat pump 3 day course and a 3 day solar course, total cost £700, then joined up with napit for heat pump and solar cost around £900 not heard from them in 9 months and their attitude is terrible but im still with them till june i think yet im nowhere nearer, then i fitted 2 solar jobs and very happy with outcome, customers are chuffed, then found easymcs, who i have payed roughly £700 for the qms, which i admit i could never provide, time spent getting to where i think im ready fiiling out that qms roughly 50 hours. Might seem a lot but im trying to get it all in my head. Got asked by builder friend doing his own house about ashp, so got nu heat to supply, finished it 2 weeks back and im more confused now than ever, commissioning engineer comes out and says right nu heat will sign it off for customer, hold on i say i need this for my assessment as it had solar too, he says youll never pass, was happy with install but said paperwork wise dont go there, basically said unless i did an umbrella for heat pumps forget it (only thing is depending who you go with you have to fit their stuff), so here i am bolloxed as customer needs it signing so let him do it, he told me if i use this as assessment i cant use any of the drawings, sap calcs etc etc as they are nu heats and not mine. so called nu heat today re umbrella scheme as to be fair id probably use them just for the heat pumps and they are offering installers free heat pump mcs with a purchace, yet to hear back so cant comment. Thing is there is no way i have the software to provide what nu heat did and if this is what they want i might as well give up, id like to be able to fit what heat pump I like but if they are going to be that bad on assessment why bother. So im going to call easymcs and see what they say as im now in a position where i have no heat pump to show and napit said they want a ground and air source example. Thing is we are not getting the jobs unless your mcs so vicious circle me thinks, i honestly doubt id fit more than 2 a year if im lucky. Option now is unless easy mcs tell me otherwise, right off napits £900 last year and go heat pumps through nu heat and do my own solar. Oh plus you need to buy heat pump book tr30 at £30ish.
Ill have a chat with nu heat and easymcs tommorrow as im of the opinion im now screwed without having any heat pumps to install.
The paperwork involved with all this is not going to improve me much at all, its all about paying money out for systems that are so over the top its untrue, I have all my qualifications and all I want is to go and fit a decent job for a customer yet we seem entangled in this paoer trail mess. I wish i could put all the file onm here and show how much bull **** is in it because im really at the point where i dont give a toss for renewables any more.
Kev Fisk
K FISK PLUMBING AND HEATING LTD
Hi Mike,
We are not an MCS Accredited Installation company as we do not install the MCS Technologies, we train installers such as yourselves and support you through MCS Accreditation. Otherwise you would be being trained by your competition.
I have been following this thread with a great deal of frustration, because I know that what most of you are saying is true. MCS accreditation is too expensive and too complicated for smaller installers!
Some of you may remember that I'm the guy that started the petition and campaign for the Boiler Scrappage scheme. Once the scheme was announced, I spent an incredible amount of time talking to the media and the main message that I gave to the public then was to make sure they get more than one quote for their boiler change. This was to ensure that the utility companies, with their massive marketing budgets, did not get the lion's share of the work. (Remember that within hours of the scheme being announced, BG & Npower matched the £400 grant with £400 of their own)
The message seems to have hit home! The utility companies were, on average, 30% more expensive than independent installers (60% in some places), BUT of all the boiler replacement jobs, only 17% were fitted by the utility companies and 83% were fitted by independent installers.
My fear is that those pleasant reading figures will be reversed when renewables take off unless something is done to remove the MCS barrier for small installers.
I don't really have any good news for you at the moment, except to say that I am in campaigning mode again!
I am currently working to unite the industry in order to get the message across to the government that they will not reach their renewables target without getting smaller installers on board and to get them on board, MCS MUST be less expensive and less complicated - my own belief is that the QMS side of accreditation should be scrapped entirely and should be competency based only.
I will keep you informed on here as the campaign progresses.
Blimey eco I only smoke after sex and I is already on forty a day!
crikey, perhaps you can register your knob as a renewable heat source!
Hi All,
I am sorry to sound like teachers pet but I cant help but think some of the meaning behind the QMS is being missed in this thread. I was of the same opinion as most in this thread when i first started looking at the QMS requirements but i soon and thank fully understood the requirement when i had my first customer complaint who tried to tell me i had said i would do somthing on the job that i had never quoted nor priced for. I had followed the procedures within my QMS to the letter and could pull out my Quotation and order confirmation along with the T&C's set out in my contract of sale leaving the customer without a leg to stand on and preventing them from holding money back on the job i had completed. I have also started to use sub contractors following the procedures outlined by MCS and i have now a record of the contractors qualifications and when they need to be reviewed to ensure they maintain compliant.
I hold a quaterly meeting (internal review) with my business partner where we get the chance to address any issues and record them to ensure they are rectified resulting in my business operating in a professional and correct manner which my customer deserve with when hadning over the money that these systems cost.
I have to say i am a big fan of my QMS and i think this will stop the "quote on the back of a *** packet " installers from entering the renewable sector, which i am extremely in favor of!
Hi All,
I am sorry to sound like teachers pet but I cant help but think some of the meaning behind the QMS is being missed in this thread. I was of the same opinion as most in this thread when i first started looking at the QMS requirements but i soon and thank fully understood the requirement when i had my first customer complaint who tried to tell me i had said i would do somthing on the job that i had never quoted nor priced for. I had followed the procedures within my QMS to the letter and could pull out my Quotation and order confirmation along with the T&C's set out in my contract of sale leaving the customer without a leg to stand on and preventing them from holding money back on the job i had completed. I have also started to use sub contractors following the procedures outlined by MCS and i have now a record of the contractors qualifications and when they need to be reviewed to ensure they maintain compliant.
I hold a quaterly meeting (internal review) with my business partner where we get the chance to address any issues and record them to ensure they are rectified resulting in my business operating in a professional and correct manner which my customer deserve with when hadning over the money that these systems cost.
I have to say i am a big fan of my QMS and i think this will stop the "quote on the back of a *** packet " installers from entering the renewable sector, which i am extremely in favor of!
Sorry, I meant to reply earlier - you are right, it is £15 now.I have heard very recently that there is a proposal to raise the 'amount per install' for an MCS installation from £5 to around £15, what would people's view be on this?
Would it make much difference in the greater scheme of things or would it be seen as another barrier to becoming registered and fitting these technologies?