Certificates are used to document the electrical installation and condition testing processes. Every certificate is important to ensure the safety and quality of electrical components.
Let’s have a closer look at what electrical certificates are and the best ways to complete them. We’ll also explore how you can use certification software tools to make your electrical certificates more professional and impress your clients.
What Are Electrical Certificates?
Electrical certificates document the process of installing and maintaining electricals and wiring. They are typically devised of forms, assessments and reports. These documents confirm the work meets necessary safety requirements They also highlight the condition of the installation and recommend the next inspection date.
When carrying out any kind of electrical work, it is important to keep copies of paperwork to show the work carried out and the results of any tests. Certification ensures all work is recorded for both you and your customers’ records.
Electrical certificates come in many different shapes, sizes and formats. Previously, it was standard practice to fill out physical copies of the paperwork and file those away for your records. Nowadays, it’s a lot more streamlined with the help of certification software programs. Whether it’s an installation or condition report, every certificate has the fields required, ready for your engineers to complete.
What Makes a Professional Electrical Certificate?
So, what makes an electrical certificate professional?
Electrical certificate software can help take your electrical certificates to the next level. It takes away the manual process of filling out test results, removing any potential issues that can arise with work filled out with a pen and paper.
A couple of clicks or taps and you’re already on your way to completion when using certification software. Embracing technology takes the stress out of the electrical certification process.
Digitally filling in your paperwork gives you the chance to utilise tools and produce professional-looking forms every time.
4 Ways to Make Your Electrical Certificates More Professional
With such a competitive industry, you need to stand out from the other electrical contractors in the market. There are many ways you can take improve the way you fill out your electrical certificates to keep your customers coming back.
Here are a few ways you can improve your certification process with electrical certification software.
1. Validate Your Work
Checking and validating work is important for any type of work. When it comes to producing NICEIC certificates, checking your work ensures that work is completed to a high standard every time. This saves you time and helps you identify potential mistakes before completing certificates.
The validation tool in the NICEIC Cert Software acts as a guide to highlight areas that haven’t been filled in or are missing a value. It checks each page of your certificate for certain rules that need to be completed to pass the validation. This will highlight fields such as engineer signatures, dates, client details and more.
Validation also flags up when the max measured Zs is less or equal to the max permitted Zs, so you can adjust any incorrect values. It works for values within the 80% range as well, so no matter what job you have, you can accurately record and document results.
2. Comply with the latest amendments
The 18th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS 7671) sets out the British Standard requirements for electricians to follow when carrying out any electrical installation or maintenance. They not only affect the way you carry out work but also affect the way you document your work.
With electrical certificate software such as the NICEIC Cert Software, you always have the most up-to-date certificates that comply with the latest wiring regulations. This way, you can continue to produce paperwork that documents everything required by the most up-to-date amendments.
It’s important to be aware of any changes to the regulations. It keeps everyone safe and gives your clients peace of mind knowing that their electrical installations are in good hands.
With Clik, all your updates and any amendment changes are included as part of your Clik Cover. The NICEIC Cert Software has the latest 18th Edition Amendment 2 (BS 7671:2018+A2:2022) certificates already included, so you can produce the latest forms without interruption.
3. Customise with your company logo
Brand awareness is a crucial tool to keep customers coming back for your services. Including your logo on the electrical certificate given to the client after the work is completed is a great way to share your business. It’s an easy way to build brand recognition and create trust between you and your customers.
With Clik’s NICEIC Cert Software, you can easily load and insert your logo onto every certificate you fill out. This way, every printout and every PDF will have your branding visible when you send them out to the client.
4. Automatically calculate Max Zs
Recording circuit details and documenting the maximum measured values of earth fault loop impedance (max Zs) is an important step for electrical installations.
With paper certificates, you would need to work out what the maximum value is for each circuit manually. Certification software takes out the headaches from this process and automates the process for you.
Start filling out the details of the protective device as usual and the max permitted Zs Ω value will automatically populate once all required fields are complete. Removing the need for paper sheets and estimated values.
When onsite, it can be particularly difficult to calculate the max Zs on the spot there and then. We’re not always going to have guides at hand to help or have every fuse type memorised.
With electrical certificate apps such as Clik Cert Electrical, you don’t need to carry around a big manual or try and add the values based on memory alone. As you add your values to the circuit details page of your certificate, the app does the arduous work for you and populates the max Zs automatically.
Field licensing also enables your users to access their certificates on a laptop. It has similar capabilities to using the app on a mobile device or tablet but also gives you similar ease as the office program. With a bigger screen and keyboard, you can utilise shortcut keys on the circuit details page and finish certs in no time.
That’s only a few ways to take your electrical certification to the next level. With the right tools and the right software, you can make long-winded processes a thing of the past. If you haven’t already tried electrical certification software, download a free demo of the NICEIC Cert Software to try out these tips for yourself.
