Electrical Contractors Warned of Big Changes To Payments

- Coming up on this week's news. The government launches a crackdown on late payments. We reveal the best town in the UK in which to be an electrical contractor. And the water-cooled EV charge point that can add hundreds of miles in mere minutes. Welcome to "Electrical News Weekly" in association with The Electric Heating Company. 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. And as always, 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. The government has announced a major crackdown on late payments. From April, 2024 companies bidding for large government contracts will need to demonstrate they pay invoices from their contractors and other suppliers within an average of 55 days. This limit will taper to 30 days in the coming years to bring it into line with standard practise outside the construction industry. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says he wants to end the scourge of late payments. Currently if contractors cannot prove they pay 90% of invoices within 60 days, they're likely to be excluded from government contracts. Rob Driscoll, chairman of the government's Advisory Payment Group and director of Legal and Business for the Electrical Contractors Association said the move was a huge achievement for the ECA and its long-term support for tougher rules. One company that appears confident that faster payments are on the way is the job management app BigChange. The company has just added a new function to its platform that allows electricians to take instant payment on site. After viewing an invoice summary on your mobile, a customer receives a payment app link. This can be via a QR code, an SMS, or an email. A pay now screen then pops up on their phone for one click payment. BigChange Pay was developed for the post COVID world as an option to a traditional sign on glass. It allows jobs to be signed off on the customer's phone, even from remote locations such as at home. In other news, the best place in the UK in which to be an electrical contractor has been revealed in a new survey. The city with the greatest shortage of electricians compared to searches per 10,000 people has been identified as Norwich. The study by Markel Direct also found that the East Anglian Conurbation was chronically short of eight other trades, including bricklayers and carpenters. Four cities were also found to have shortages including Peterborough, Swansea, York, and Plymouth. The researchers say that 46% of UK homeowners have struggled to hire a tradesperson for their projects or repairs. However, the top demand wasn't for electricians, but for handymen and women. Commenting on the results, Rob Rees of Markel Direct warned homeowners against the temptation to attempt repairs or DIY tasks themselves as the risk of getting something wrong could result in only more problems to fix. In product news this month, an electrician turned inventor has come up with a way of securing metal back boxes to plasterboard walls. The newly developed Box Strap Bracket is an alternative to the traditional telescopic bracket or caddy strap. The idea came to Josh Estrada while working on jobs with no access to the stud work. His client didn't want a plastic dry lining box as they're combustible and the lip of the plastic box stops the electrical switchgear from sitting flush with the wall. The bracket is fixed from the front of the plasterboard cutter with two drywall screws. This differs from the traditional method that requires you to go behind the wall to instal the telescopic bracket between studs. Estrada says that one of the benefits is that it will put a stop to earth parallel paths during r1 plus r2 testing. That's because the metal stud work that's causing the parallel paths in a new build installation doesn't come under an exposed conductive part or an extraneous conductive part, as the bracket can also be installed vertically to avoid having to cut it. This also means there is no requirement to cut the brackets to fit in between studs. I've popped a link to the website. If you want to check it out you'll find that in the show notes. Our last question of the week was on the subject of RCD socket outlets for additional protection and asked which variant of BS 7671 allowed for the use of sockets with built-in RCD protection to comply with regulation 411.3.3. The correct answer was of course, the second amendment to the 18th Edition, and only about 58% of people got that one right on YouTube. However, they absolutely smashed LinkedIn voters where only 25% got it right. Lots of guesswork going on there, me thinks. Check out our free training package we made on underfloor wiring systems with Marshall Tufflex for some more information on that subject amongst much else. The link is in the show notes and don't forget to check out this week's question two. Now in news that will have EV owners tripping the light fandango with their sports car, maker Lotus has unveiled what it says is the fastest charger currently available to the UK public. It boasts speeds of up to 450 kilowatts, a full 100 kilowatts over the next most powerful plug-in point. Lotus says its chargers have the ability to add 400 kilometres of range in just 15 minutes. They're fully compatible with any CCS-equipped car. The company also has a 480 kilowatt option, which is so powerful, it has to be liquid cooled. Finally, the brand has launched a cabinet that's rated at 600 amps and can simultaneously charge up to four vehicles. As you'd expect, that's water-cooled too. Still on EV charging, Scotland's trade body for electrical contracting has launched a one day installation training course. The one day module, which can be delivered in person or online is rated at level seven by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, the first EV course to get this rating. You'll be given an introduction to the technology and an overview of its electrical requirements before getting hands-on with the units and being taught through the installation process. The course is open to qualified electricians with a current BS 7671 qualification and who are a minimum of 18 years old. I've popped a link to the course in the show notes. And don't forget, of course, to check out all of our free training packages on EV Charger installation. You'll find links to those in the show notes as well. Still on products, a three-in-one continuity tester has taken top honours in the "Professional Electrician Magazines Awards." The 33-856 VDV Tester is designed to check the connections on telecoms, data and coaxial cables. A wire map test shows visually pin by pin whether a cable is terminated properly at both ends, and if there is continuity from end to end. The LCD display shows a simple pass or error after each test. Also, leaving the stage with a gong was the Fergus admin app for electricians. The job management software sits on your phone and allows you to keep track of all your customers as well as invoicing and payments. Before we go, a reminder that we're in the market for your stories, your projects, and your recommendations as we'd like to share them with the wider eFIXX community. We're particularly interested in those of you who have made the switch to electric vans. Which model did you choose? How are you finding it? Would you recommend switching to your colleagues? Don't bury your head in the sand ostrich style, send us a picture of yourself and your van and indeed, send us pictures of your instals or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's making your job easier. And 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're the people who've created the Swiss Army Knife of solar inverters, along with all weather batteries, very much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry. It's Sunsynk. Up next for all your circuit protection needs, they're like having an Italian star striker in your Premiership team, it's Lewden Palazzoli. And for the ultimate experience in wireless sound and home cinema with their most powerful portable speaker yet, it's the home of the Roam, Sonos. The best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, it's Doncaster Cables, the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality cables. And finally, celebrating their 60th anniversary this year with an incredible range of equipment from EV charge points through industrial sockets and switches to kit for explosive areas, plus, they supplied gear for a Campari factory, so they'll always have a place in my heart, it's Scame. Big thanks to you all. We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news. If you think you know the words that I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize to the first to get the right answers. Last week's words were brontosaurus and shenanigans. And it doesn't happen often, but last week the first person to get both right was from LinkedIn rather than YouTube, and it was Helen Kemp. So very well done to you, Helen. Make sure you click the link in the description below to claim your prize. Thanks for listening to this episode of "Electrical News Weekly" in association with The Electric Heating Company. 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 taut calibrated arm.