Month: September 2020

Facilities management can take up a lot of time and effort for a business and it’s important to get it right. It’s a key aspect of running a successful business and if you’re struggling with time to effectively manage your business facilities, then a facilities management service may be a good idea. If you’re still unsure, we’ve put together a handy list of pros and cons, as well as what facilities management actually is.

 

What is Facilities Management?

Facilities management is the process of integrating multiple or all aspects of looking after a commercial property. This can be anything from fire door installation jobs to building and refurbishment works. Facilities management services can be tailored to suit your business needs, from one or two jobs, to multiple jobs over a longer period. They allow you to focus your attention on other aspects of the business rather than worrying about what needs to be done to the actual property.

 

Pro: Increased Expertise

By using a facilities management service, you know you’re getting access to a team of professionals who are experts in their field. This is often much more cost-effective than hiring internally or doing it yourself. With a facilities management service, you’re paying solely for the jobs they’re carrying out and you also don’t have to worry about the training time or costs of yourself or an internal hire.

Con: Costs Can Vary

In the previous point, we talked about how paying for a facilities management service can often be more cost-effective than hiring internally. Whilst this can be true, by hiring internally, you know exactly what you’re paying for as you’re likely to be paying an annual salary. With a facilities management service, you may pay for one or two services before realising that there are more jobs that need to be completed – this could cost you more when paying for services individually.

 

Pro: Timesaving

As a business owner, you often won’t have time to carry out work such as the jobs we’ve discussed above. This is where using a facilities management service can be useful; essentially, all you’ll need to do is discuss with the team what needs doing and before you know it, you’ll have one less thing to worry about! Doing this can massively save you time, allowing you to focus on other aspects of the business that require your attention.

Con: Less Control

A disadvantage of using a facilities management service is that you will have less control over the work. Of course, this will always be the case when you hire someone or a team of people to do a job. Ultimately, doing the job yourself is usually the only way of ensuring full control over the work, which, as we’ve discussed earlier, also has its drawbacks.

 

Pro: 24/7 Assistance

At Kiasu Workforce, we ensure that our team are on hand 24/7 so you can be confident you’re getting the best possible service. If you use existing staff to work on facilities management, they will usually only be available during office hours, which often isn’t suitable for a lot of businesses. That’s where outsourcing your facilities management can be useful, as you know that whenever you need us, we’ll be there.

 

Deciding whether or not facilities management is right for you can be a big decision. There are a lot of factors to consider such as savings, cost, and time; ultimately though, only you as the owner of your business can tell if it’s a good idea. If you do decide that facilities management is right for you, give us a call on 020 8988 1662 or email us.

Choosing which car to buy can be a daunting decision, yet more buyers than ever before are opting for an electric car. There are so many advantages to this, not least being better for the environment and your wallet (they’re much cheaper to maintain!), and thus an electric car is an appealing option to many.

However, a lot of people have questions about charging their car; from where to find electric car charging points, to the time it takes to charge the car. If you’re interested in finding out the answers to these questions and more, then this handy guide will detail everything you need to know.

 

Are there different types of chargers?

Electric cars will usually have either a type 1 or type 2 connector for slow and fast charging. For rapid charging via a direct current, they will usually have CHAdeMO or CCS connectors. When out and about, you’ll notice that the majority of slow and fast charging points will have a type 2 socket and most rapid charging points will have a cable already attached. Many electric car owners will go onto purchase a portable charging cable that matches their car’s connection type; this is handy as it means you can charge on public networks.

 

Where can I find electric car charging points?

Luckily for electric car drivers, there is an ever-growing network of charging points up and down the country so you’re never too far away. Many shopping centers, office car parks and even some public transport car parks have electric car charging stations; meaning that it’s unlikely you’ll have the worry of your car breaking down due to lack of available charging points!

However, sometimes you may have a long journey ahead or perhaps you’re in an unfamiliar place and are unsure of where to charge your car. This is where sites such as Zap-Map come in handy – they allow you to see where charging stations are located across the UK as well as plan your route ahead to allow you to incorporate charging stops into your journey.

 

Can I install an electric car charging point in my home?

Installing an electric car charging point in your home can be surprisingly easy and affordable. The average cost to install a charging point in your home is £1000; however, with a £500 government grant as well as a £300 grant from the Energy Saving Trust – the price can be as low as £200!

Although your electric car can technically be charged via a regular domestic socket, it’s not usually recommended as this will significantly increase charging time. The two options that will usually be available are universal socket or tethered. A universal socket is compatible with all plug-in electric cars and is used with a portable cable. A tethered charging point comes with a permanently attached cable. Whilst the tethered option is more convenient due to the pre-existing cable, the universal socket is ideal for multiple cars or cars with different connection types.

 

How long does an electric car take to charge?

The time it takes for an electric car to charge can vary greatly; it will depend on the size of your car’s battery, as well as how powerful the charger is. There are three options when charging your electric car: slow charging, fast charging, and rapid charging.

Slow charging is the process of charging your car via a regular domestic socket. As discussed earlier, this is by far the slowest option and will usually take around 8 hours. Fast charging at 7kW typically takes around half the time of the slow charging option; fast chargers can vary from delivering 7kW of power to around 22kW, with the latter being able to provide a near to full charge in a couple of hours for certain cars. With rapid charging, it can take just 30 minutes to charge your car from 0-80% – however, it’s important to note that rapid charging is usually the most expensive way to charge your car, which brings us onto pricing.

 

How much does it cost to charge my electric car?

The cost of charging your electric car can vary massively and mainly depends on charging station, type of car and type of charger. When charging at home, many energy companies will offer reduced rates at night, making this ideal for charging your car overnight while you sleep. Still though, the cost widely varies, and the overall cost can be as little as a few pounds overnight to over £10 during the day for a full charge, making the average likely to be somewhere in the middle.

Luckily, many public charging points such as in supermarkets and shopping centres offer charging free of charge for the length of your stay, this is also sometimes the case in office carparks. As previously mentioned, rapid charging is usually the most expensive way to charge your electric car, with the cost averaging around £6-£8 for a 30-minute charge.

 

Buying an electric car (or any car for that matter!) is a big decision. Ultimately you need to choose one that’s right for you and your lifestyle; however if you do feel an electric car is for you, then the questions we’ve answered today are sure to give you a step in the right direction when you’re looking to charge your car.

When a home repair emergency arises you need a quick solution. But don’t simply pick the first emergency plumber or boiler repair service you see. Different home repair tasks require certain qualifications and an under-qualified repairman may cause more damage than good. Poor repairs can be dangerous and potentially fatal. You wouldn’t try to fix your own boiler without the necessary knowledge, so why wouldn’t you check if your repairmen have the relevant qualifications.

If you’re unsure what qualifications to look for, don’t panic. We have listed some of the most important and commonly needed home repair qualifications below. In this guide, we will cover qualifications for electrical work, boiler repair and plumbing. 

 

Boiler Servicing and Repair

All boiler repairs should be carried out by a gas safe engineer. Even in an emergency, do not attempt repairs yourself or have anyone other than a Gas Safe approved engineer attempt to fix the problem. There are 24/7 emergency boiler repair services available no matter where you are so there is no reason to have repairs or boiler servicing carried out by anyone other than a gas safe engineer. You can check if your engineer is Gas Safe certified at https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/.

 

Electrical Repairs, Servicing, and Installations

The risks involved in electrical work are high, which means they should only be handled by an expert. There are a selection of electrical testing and inspection services, many of which are mandatory. All of them should be carried out by a qualified professional. PAT testing for instance simply requires that the person should have adequate knowledge of electricity and electrical works and meet a few more criteria. There is no mandated qualification. Nonetheless, PAT testers will generally take PAT training.

Fixed wire testing, on the other hand, does require a City and Guilds qualification. The C&G 2391 offers a few different awards – Level 3 Award in Initial Verification of Electrical Installations and the Level 3 Award in Periodic Inspection and Testing of Electrical Installations. The former allows an electrician to sign off work on new installations whilst the later allows for testing and inspecting existing installations. These can also be earned in a combined qualification – C&G 2391-52 Level 3 Award in Initial and Periodic Inspection and Testing of Electrical Installations.

There are several government-approved registered bodies for electricians. Not all bodies operate across all of the UK but the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC) is approved across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

 

Plumbing

Typically the minimum standard qualification for plumbers is an NVQ level 2. Before NVQ qualifications, the main certificates were issued by City and Guilds, so you may find older plumbers are C&G-qualified instead. NVQ qualifications combine learning on the job (starting with smaller tasks under supervision) alongside college study. This means you can trust your plumber has hands-on practical experience. The most convenient way to make sure your plumber is qualified is to hire a member of the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (IPHE) as all IPHE members are vetted. 

 

Repairs and testing should always be carried out by an appropriately qualified professional. Whether you are undergoing routine safety checks for your business or need emergency boiler repairs always make sure they are being carried out by someone with the correct qualifications. Using this guide as reference always check the qualifications of your repair people or work solely with a property maintenance and repair company you know you can trust.