Coming up on this week's news, the alarm is raised over thousands of electricians who are unprepared for big tax changes next month. Wales makes solar panels compulsory on new buildings. And two firms are fined after a father of three is electrocuted in a cherry picker. Welcome to Electrical News Weekly. 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. We're being lit by Flex 7 with their lightning fast pre-wired modular lighting connection system that keeps your installation times razor sharp. 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 this exclusive cap branded with Friends of the Show QuickWire and ChumpTools. And while you're there, click the links in the show notes to check out what our sponsors offer. The alarm is being raised this week over the thousands of electricians who are said to be unprepared for major tax changes coming into effect next month. Experts are warning the trade that electricians earning over £50,000 a year, that's turnover, need to act now to comply with the government's making tax digital scheme. The plan sees the scrapping of paperbased tax returns. Instead, installers must report their income and expenses four times a year using specialist software. For many, this will mean popular paid platforms. And if you'd like to know a bit more about this, we recently hosted one of the best providers of these apps on a special episode of eFIXX TV. I'll leave a link to that in the show notes. You'll also find there a link to the Xero website where you can currently sign up for 6 months completely free of charge. If you do opt for paid software, you can expense it along with your van, your travel, and your tools. To be clear, these reports are not quarterly tax returns. They're just summaries of how your business is doing. You won't pay four tax bills a year, and the deadline for submitting a tax return and paying tax will remain at the 31st of January. Christine Naisbit, finance director at FBRC Seed, says she speaks to trades people every week who still don't realise this change is coming or how close it is. Next year, those earning over £30,000 will also need to use the software. And in 2028, you'll have to comply even if you earn as little as £20,000. In addition to filing a report every quarter, you'll also have to produce a final end ofear declaration. So, if you're working to a calendar year or other period, you'll need to switch to tax year, which runs from the 5th of April annually. You'll also need to securely store copies of receipts, invoices, and financial statements both digitally and physically in case of an inquiry from the HMRC. So, no more eyeballing expenses anymore. VAT registered firms have had to use the online platform since 2019. And if you're freaking out about the new tax rules, why not take one worry off your plate and use the brand new range of green I motion sensors from Legrand CP Electronics Arm Designed with ease of install, commissioning, and use in mind along with 75% recycled packaging. They'll cut carbon, reduce costs, and help you specify efficient, future ready buildings. It's not just green I. It'll help to make a green you. In other news, two companies have been fined after an employee was electrocuted when his cherry picker collided with an overhead power line. Willand O&M Ltd and New Wave Marine Ltd were sentenced at Exeter Crown Court following the incident in June 2020 at the Willand Biogas site in Devon.

Thirty-four year old Carl Parsons was electrocuted and colleague Luke Madavan was left with life-changing injuries.

The pair were working in a cherry picker operated by New Wave Marine when it struck an overhead power line.

The electrical current passed through the metal basket, fatally electrocuting Carl Parsons and causing a serious electric shock to Luke Madavan.

A HSE investigation found that Willand O&M had been advised by their principal contractor and Western Power Distribution to relocate the overhead power line.

Doing so would have eliminated the risk of contact during both the build and future maintenance.

Willand O&M failed to act on this advice and put no adequate control measures in place.Supervision, monitoring, and sight induction were also found to be poor. New Wave Marines risk assessment was found to be neither suitable nor sufficient. The company also lacked formal training and adequate supervision for the work being carried out. Will O&M Limited of Cullompton, Devon Devon pleaded guilty to an offence under the electricity at work regulations and was fined £51,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £28,000. New Wave Marine Limited pleaded guilty to offences under the management of health and safety at work regulations and was fined £30,000 with prosecution costs of £8,000. Thanks to friend of the show, Sergio Fernandez, for highlighting that story to us. In a major boost for the electrical trade, Wales has announced that it's making solar panels compulsory. The principality has become the first of the UK nations to mandate photovoltaics on new projects in its building regulations. The new rules are set to take effect early next year. They come ahead of England's future home standard, which is also expected to effectively mandate rooftop solar for new builds. Scotland and Northern Ireland are yet to follow suit. The Welsh regs don't explicitly set out the requirements for solar, but they do introduce a requirement for what they term a system for renewable electricity generation. The new rules will apply to new buildings that have not started construction when the regulations come into force. There is one exception to the rule. If it's not possible, for whatever reason, to install a system capable of generating at least 720 kilowatt hours per year, then the requirement won't apply. In people news, the NIC has unveiled its new chief. She's Clair Mowbray, who ran the Fire Service College and the National College for High Speed Rail. Mowbray says she's excited to get started in a £200,000 a year job. At that sort of payback, she might be interested in a top-of- the- range new EV charger. Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has unveiled a revolutionary unit that can charge a car in the same time that it takes to fill a petrol tank. The flash charging unit can deliver 1,500 kW through a single connector, according to the company. So, you can charge a car from 10% to 70% in as little as 5 minutes. A 10% to 97% recharge can be completed in 9 minutes. In the UK, the fastest charging most drivers are likely to encounter is around 250 kW with 350 kW at some sites. But there's one small problem. There are no cars on the market that can take advantage of that blistering speed. BYD says it's working on it. Its new Denza model will be able to accept flash charging and it arrives in the UK later this year. But there's another small problem facing the world of ultrafast chargers. Getting grid connections is becoming harder than finding a Griffin. Again, BYD has a plan. It hopes to pair the charges with an ultra fast discharge battery pack. We'll keep you posted on the roll out. In promo news, Sync Energy have launched a reward program. Anyone who installs two of the brands acclaimed EV charges are entitled to a bonus of a crisp £50. If you're registered on the Sync Energy app, you're automatically enrolled in the scheme. To be eligible, all installs must be fully commissioned, set up correctly in the app, and have the end user complete their first charge. You can choose your reward in two ways. a simple digital voucher that you can redeem at over 500 outlets including Screwfix and John Lewis. Alternatively, if you do 20 installs and are due over 500 pounds, Sync will give you cash back with an invoice. To do this, you'll need to be set up as a supplier and VAT registered. The promotion runs until April. Ajax Systems has launched a promotion that's based on an ambitious survey of the fire industry. The security system manufacturer wants to explore the UK fire detection market and identify the company's competitive position. The survey takes just four minutes to complete. As a thank you for your time, the firm will randomly select three participants to receive an Ajax EN54 demo case and branded merch. Two more entrance will get a limited edition Ajax merch gift box. The winners will be drawn live during the EIX TV show on Wednesday the 25th of March. I've put the link to the promo in the show notes. Now, have you ever asked yourself why installing a socket is such a palava? You know, the lack of space, the cables that barely reach, and the terminal that you can't quite see. Well, a company called Sockets, appropriately, set out to ask a simple question. Why are we doing it this way? The key issue they identified is that the frustrating part of fitting a socket isn't the fitting, it's the wiring. So, the designers at Sockets set about rethinking the socket from the inside out. In fact, they stripped the problem back to its core and came up with something different. A socket designed around an industry first, a two-part connection. The terminal separates from the body of the fitting. This allows you to wire with lots of space and a clear view. The result is faster, safer, and smarter. The socket is also modular, upgradeable, and replaceable by design. The company says its terminals are engineered to last 25 years, so you can reuse them across multiple styles and generations. Now, do you ever lose tools on a busy site or spend ages working out what bits of equipment is in which van, then you'll really appreciate an innovative and cost-effective system from Brady. It uses radio frequency RFID tags attached to your kit. These simple tags give you a real-time list of your gear and its location. You can, for instance, see instantly what's in a van and what's missing. You can also trigger alerts for incomplete inventories. It works like this. The passive battery-free labels bounce back radio signals from a portable RFID reader. You can detect stuff that's up to 15 m away. The portable RFID readers can actually guide you towards a specific tool. When closing in, you get sound and visual feedback as you get closer to the kit. You can also use RFID labels with a built-in LED so that you can find anything in a massive tools. I'll leave a link to that in the show notes. I think that's brilliant. Socket C has unveiled a new multi-function tester. The MFT 5000 is an advanced 18th edition tester which incorporates all your vital functions. For loop testing, it's got high current two wire and low trip three-wire modes for assessing line neutral and line earth loop impedances. For insulation testing, you can select 250 volts, 500 volts, or 1,000 volts. There's comprehensive RCD testing with multiple selectable types as well as automated 30 milliamp tests for an easy pass fail assessment. The ramp test can help with diagnosing nuisance tripping by identifying RCD tripping levels. And a really unique feature is that you can display any picture you like on the startup screen, maybe your company logo. There's automatic phase rotation detection when connected to a three-phase supply. As you'd expect, it's also got a socket testing function for quick wiring checks. These are just some of its many functions. I've put a link to the full list in the show notes. Now, how about this for a bright idea? It's the Paul Russell's lamp of the week, and today we're giving a shout out to a super retro design. This light source features a distinctive spiral LED filament inside a smoked glass globe. What's lovely about this one is that it's super warm at 1,800 Kelvin. It has an equivalent output to a 25 watt at 250 lumens, but only draws 4 W. It's got an ES base and has a lifetime of 15,000 hours. 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 Excess Training with their online electrical courses for beginners and experienced Sparks covering inspection and testing, solar, battery storage, EV charging, and their specialism NVQs and AM2 online prep. And our learner this week is Harry Suter, who's a level two learner at Hertfordshire College. Tutor Dave Baker tells us that Harry is performing really well both academically and in his practical work. He's got a really strong commitment to his studies and has been smashing his theory exams. Harry also works really well on his own initiative and maintains a positive attitude in sessions. He is super motivated to secure a position with a local employer and shows real ambition for his future in the trade. In short, Harry is the perfect candidate for this feature. We wish you well, Harry, and look forward to your contribution to the industry. Congratulations on being the eFIXX learner of the week in association with excess training. Click the link in the show notes to view their wide range of courses. And now to the light side of the electrical news. Yes, it's time for a tea break with Quickwire and its range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors. A Scottish electrician is being recognised for his prompt response to two medical emergencies. 28-year-old Kieran Docherty, who’s in the electrical department at Midlothian Council, has been shortlisted for the Inspirational Colleague of the Year Award. While attending a late evening call out for a powerful fault, Kieran noticed the tenant he had been helping suddenly became unresponsive. Although shocked, he stayed calm and immediately called 999. With guidance from the call handler, he checked the woman's breathing and monitored her condition until the ambulance arrived. In an earlier incident, he was working in a family home when a teenage boy suffered a seizure. Kieran stepped in to help the boy's mother. He placed the teen in the recovery position, made sure he wasn't choking, cleared the area to keep him safe, and phoned an ambulance. Kieran says the first aid training during his apprenticeship really helped him. He says he's shocked and honoured to be put forward for the award. 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 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 that I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments. will take all the 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 fox gloves and goofballs, and the person to come out of electronic hat was Dennis M1G. Well done to you, Dennis. Make sure you click the get involved link in the show notes to claim your prize. This week, we've been lit by Flex 7 with their lightning fast pre-wired modular lighting connection system that keeps your installation times razor sharp. Don't forget to click the links in the show notes to find out more. Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly. 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.