ELECTRICAL TESTING IN GLASGOW

WES ELECTRICAL WESTEND GLASGOW 01418405236

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Safe method of isolation.



The recommended procedure for proving dead and safe isolation should be by use of a test lamp or two pole voltage detector as recommended in HSE Guidance Note GS38 regulations.
Non-contact voltage indicators and multi-meters should not be used. The test instrument should be proved to be working on a known live source or proprietary proving unit before and after use. All phases of the supply and the neutral should be tested and proved dead before any work is commenced by a qualified electrician.




Test sequence and descriptions of test procedures.



The following tests are carried out with the main board / Consumers main switch isolated



1. Extenal earth fault loop impedance (ohms)


Reason: To establish that a good earth exists at the electrical installation in order for the remaining tests to go ahead.


Method: Disconnect the main earthing conductor from the main earthing terminal at the main distribution board. An earth fault loop impedance tester is connected at line and earth (main earthing conductor) at the supply side of the electrical installation and a test performed. Reconnect the main earthing conductor. The result is Ze and recorded on the test sheet. The prospective fault current is measured at the same time after the reconnection of the main earthing conductor at the main board.


2. Continuity of protective and equipotental bonding conductors


Reason: To check that all circuit protective conductors are continuous and are present at every electrical outlet / accessory on the circuit. Also to check that the main earthing conductor and main bonding conductors are continuous and correctly connected at the terminals.


Method 1: The line conductor is connected to the circuit protective conductor of the same circuit at the consumer unit and a measurement taken at ALL accesories on that circuit between line and c.p.c. The highest measurement obtained is recorded on the test report. 
Test result is R1 + R2. The line conductor and neutral conductor are then connected and the above repeated to obtain R1 + Rn


Method 2 (used for main earth and main bonding conductors): A wandering lead is connected to one end of the conductor to be tested and a measurement taken between the other end of this lead and the other end of the conductor. 
Test result is R2.
During this test polarity can be checked as well. The continuity of the neutral conductor can also be checked to determine R2.


3. Continuity of ring final circuit conductors


Reason: This test ensures that all ring final circuits are indeed a continuous ring with no interconnects or breaks within it.

Method: The line, neutral and earth conductors of the circuit are identified and a measurement from one end to the other end of each is taken. These results are r1, r2 and rn. 
The incoming line conductor is then connected to the outgoing earth conductor and the outgoing line conductor is connected to the incoming earth conductor. A measurement is then taken at ALL socket outlets on the ring. The highest of which is recorded on the report. 
This result is R1+R2 for that circuit. The above is then repeated using the neutral conductor instead of the earth conductor. This test provides R1+Rn which does not need to be recorded on the report but is essential to check the circuit correctly.


4. Insulation Resisitance testing


Reason: This test checks whether the insulation around a cable is still intact and has not broken down over time or has been separated from the rest of the ring. It is a good indicator of the age of an installation.

Method: An insulation resistance tester is connected across line and neutral tails at the origin of the supply. 500V are then pumped down the conductors to see if any voltage leaks across from one conductor to the other. The same is then done for the line and earth and the earth and neutral conductors.


5. Polarity checks


Reason: To check that all accesories are correctly connected to line, neutral and earth and that all switches and circuit breakers are connected in the line conductor only.

Method: The method for this is the same as for continuity and is usually done at the same time by operating switches etc whilst conducting the test.


6. Earth electrode resistance


Reason: To make sure that any earth electrode used is of a sufficiently low impedance to allow the timely operation of the RCD protecting the installation.

Method: An earth fault loop impedance tester is connected between line and earth at the origin of the supply and a test performed. The result of which is considered the resistance of the electrode (Ra).



The following tests are carried out with the Consumers main switch switch in the on position




7. Live polarity testing


Reason: To verify polarity of supply authorities system.


Method: An approved voltage indicator shall be used or test lamp to GS38. Using the approved voltage indicator, one probe shall be placed on the incoming neutral, and the other on the incoming line conductor, on the main breaker. The indicator should show it is live. One probe shall now be placed on the CPC and the other on the incoming line conductor. The indicator should show it is live. A test shall be preformed between CPC & incoming neutral. The indicator should show that it is not live.


8. Earth fault loop impedance


Reason: This test is done at the furthest point on a circuit in order to make sure the impedance of the earth path is not too high even at the furthest point so that sufficient current will flow under fault conditions to take out the circuit breaker protecting the circuit.

Method: An earth fault loop impedance tester is connected to line and earth at the furthest point on the circuit and the test performed.


9. RCD testing


Reason: To make sure RCD's trip within the correct time

Method: An RCD tester is connected and a test at 1/2 times, 1 times and 5 times the trip current is performed on each side of the cycle and a time of trip obtained. Usually milli-seconds with the highest being recorded. The manual test button is then pressed.


10. Functional testing

Reason: To make sure all switches, isolators, MCB's etc. work as they should.

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PAT TESTING GLASGOW

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Almost every person responsible for Health and Safety In Glasgow, at the workplace has, at some point, had to consider how important the need for PAT testing is. Many people claim it’s a legal requirement – but is that a fact or a myth?

As we know that Health and Safety is so important to employers – yet surrounded by so much confusion - we offer a 4-day comprehensive Health and Safety course which is accredited by IOSH (the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health). Of course, protecting your employees from harm is your number one priority – but there are lots of other benefits of Health and Safety training as well.

Here are words from our trainer, Andrea, on the subject of PAT testing - and other Health and Safety myths.

What are PAT Tests?

Portable Appliance Testing is simply a way of checking electrical items to ensure they don’t pose a danger Tested by a qualified person / electrician in Glasgow

The Big Question - Do You Need PAT Testing?

Whilst the Health and Safety at Work Act places an obligation on employers to take practical steps – such as PAT testing – to ensure their employees don’t come to harm, the truth is thatPAT testing is not a legal requirement at the moment in the UK. The fact that it’s one of the most frequent – and hard-sold – services by cold callers means that many companies are lead to believe that they have to test their portable appliances every year. But one of the most important things about PAT Testing, is the fact that the testing is done to ensure the safety of people using the equipment. It can also help in isolating a fault that is plugged into a circuit.Call today for a free quote in the west end Glasgow

Health and Safety in the News

We read so much about daft rules made in the name of health and safety that we could be forgiven for believing that much, if not all, health and safety legislation is stupid, bureaucratic, over-complicated and unnecessary -  a view which seems to be promoted by certain sections of the press at regular intervals.

Headlines such as “Bosses at Butlins Ban Bumper Cars Over Health and Safety Fears”, “Conker Time Dangers” and “Housing Association Warns of Ban on Hanging Baskets Amid Safety Fears” frequently appear and purport to reflect requirements of health and safety legislation – all refuted by the HSE as myth.

You may have read in the newspapers or seen on the television last year a report about the Royal Academy painter who was told to move his easel from Trafalgar Square over health and safety fears.  But you probably won’t have seen the letter sent from Judith Hackitt, Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in response:

“I share your dismay with the petty limitations and restrictions with which some seem intent on burdening those of us who just want to get on with living our lives. I would be interested to know whether there is any real or valid reason for the restrictions you continue to encounter, because I can promise you they have absolutely nothing to do with health and safety.

“Real health and safety is about dealing with risks that are likely to cause serious harm or even death to those in workplaces. I would urge you to challenge those jobsworths who persist in devaluing the real and important stuff by using "elf 'n' safety" as an easy excuse for spoiling everyone else's enjoyment.”

Health and Safety Myth-Busters

The ridicule of health and safety in the press is far more widespread than just the media - the promulgation of these popular myths trivialises genuine health and safety requirements and legislation. This has become such a concern that the HSE has set up a Myth Busters Challenge Panel. The purpose of the panel is to “provide a mechanism for anyone (whether on behalf of a company or organisation, or as an individual), who receives advice or is told that a decision has been taken in the name of health and safety that they believe to be disproportionate or inaccurate, to challenge that advice.”

The question of PAT testing under the Electricity at work Regulations is a very good illustration of this point. Here is the advice from the HSE following a question given to the panel:

“Unnecessary electrical safety tests cost office-based businesses an estimated £30 million a year.

“It's a myth that every portable electrical appliance in the workplace needs to be tested once a year - and what's more it's a costly one.

“Misleading advice and advertising, often by companies who offer the testing, is contributing to low-risk businesses such as offices, shops and hotels paying unnecessarily for over-the-top maintenance regimes.

“The law simply requires an employer to ensure that electrical equipment is maintained in order to prevent danger - it does not state that every item has to be tested or how often testing needs to be carried out.

"Testing appliances to ensure that they are safe to use can contribute to an effective maintenance regime, but in a low-risk environment most dangerous defects can be found simply by checking the appliances for obvious signs of damage such as frayed cables.”

So, in essence, although you are not legally required to pat test your electrical equipment annually (or at all); common sense would suggest that if electrical equipment is used in such a way that it is likely to become damaged in use, then inspections at regular timed intervals would be a wise precaution to prevent potential accident or injury.

Still not sure what to do?

First, have a look at the Direct Gov website for details of what is required in terms of employers’ health and safety responsibilities.

Proper Health and Safety training is then needed to ensure you have proper understanding of your responsibilities and practical training in risk assessment, hazard identification and measuring performance. Our 4-day Health and Safety training is accredited by IOSH – and is a firm favourite with our clients.

There is some very useful information, including a very interesting case study on the HSE website, which also gives helpful and practical guidance and advice on portable appliance testing - although probably not such good reading for those jobsworths who use elf ‘n’ safety as an easy excuse for spoiling everyone else’s enjoyment!

WESTEND GLASGOW ELECTRICIANS

Smoke Detector Installations Westend Glasgow

                   SMOKE DETECTOR INSTALLATION

 

Friday afternoon is usually a quiet one maby for a trip to braehead or maby a game of gold with some business friends but not this friday. Today we had some smoke detectors to install for one of my clients. One the one hand i only had 5 smoke detectors hard wired and 1 co2 detector to install, but on the other hand i was doing this job on my own. At first look the job look as if it would be straight forward in and out as it was a top floor flat and that means i have access above the ceiling. If i only took 5 extra mins to have a look in the attic as it was not even double floored it was tripple floored for some strange reason meaning i cant just drill a whole from inside the flat and catch the cable in the attic, i would need to drill through the other 2 floors to catch the cable, so what has been a couple hour job, had turned into a 5 hour monster as i had no one to call at 1pm on a friday.

 

As a mark of quality we use kidde products as i feel they are the best and are standard for landlord installations. 5 of them on a loop with the co2 detector.

 

WES Electrical are the leading electrical contractor in the Westend Glasgow For landlords, HMO Flats and specialist installations

 

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LED Lighting In the home.

For most of my customers in Glasgow the issue of lighting is never a dull subject to discuss, with the advancement in LED technology, the dawn of the new more powerful and colourful led lamps is upon us. I can assure customers that if the purchase the led lamps i recommend for their lighting the would not notice much in a way of difference in light but a significant reduction in the cost of running their lighting in the home.

The UK is in the top five nations in Europe for buying energy saving light bulbs, but lagging behind in the purchase of ‘next generation’ lighting such as LEDs.

More testing, information and certification of the kind we’re involved in through the PremiumLight scheme should certainly help increase consumer confidence. But outside the domestic market, it seems companies do not need much extra convincing.

Forbes grandly decreed recently that “LED retrofits are the ‘Trojan horse’ of the Internet of Things” with the market for just sensors and applications related to LED lighting set to more than double to 2020. This is not so surprising at all if we are to take the Carbon Trust’s director of implementation Myles McCarthy at his word:

A business, such as a warehouse or large hotel, can save up to 70% of its electricity costs by switching to LED lights with motion sensors…and receive a payback on the capital outlay within two years.”

Efficiency, cost reductions and the kind of light quality benefits that we saw in our Lit Up report on LED lighting in social housing schemes in Westend Glasgow are a potent combination.

Increased take-up of new technologies tends to mean falling prices and a growth in demand for fittings and extras – in this case those extras which play into the idea of a future of smart energy management. The future is suddenly looking very rosy indeed for LEDs. And that’s before we’ve even touched ‘Li-fi’.

Yes, that’s right – LED-based Wi-Fi connectivity may be another imminent boom to the LED industry, with a tussle for technological supremacy seemingly opening up between the UK and China.  Visible light communications, or VLC, can produce high data speeds at low cost, and while there was some scepticism about recent claims of a breakthrough in Shanghai, a British collaborative study seems to have backed them up.

Micro LED bulbs can handle millions of changes of light intensity, which can in turn transmit data. Parallel streams of light can multiply the amount of data transmitted – something likened water out of showerhead by a University of Strathclyde scientist.

Whether we’re bathing in an LED glow or using LED light to stream a video, this is certainly a technology we’re going to be well acquainted with over the coming years.

WES ELECTRICAL 

westend glasgow electricians

Landlords (EICR) Electrical Testing (PIR)

Periodic Inspection Report (PIR) & Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR)

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An Electrical Installation Condition Report (E.I.C.R.) previously known as a Periodic Inspection Report (P.I.R) is like a M.O.T for the mains power electrical installation and wiring of your property.

Some properties are required by law to conduct an E.I.C.R. at set intervals, depending on the type of use and if the public have access.

There is no obligation for private domestic properties which are not rented out to have a valid E.I.C.R. but many property owners employ the services of a qualified electrician to conduct an E.I.C.R. to be aware in what condition the installation is.

A report is only issued once all the circuits have been visually inspected and electrically tested.

If the installation is considered to be in a good condition and complies with the regulations a ‘Satisfactory’ certificate is applied which gives the property a good bill of health until the next inspection.

A date for the next inspection will also be entered on the report, and depending upon the condition of the installation and the purpose of use.

If the property does not meet requirements an ‘Unsatisfactory’ report will be issued, with a list of remedial works that need to be fixed before a the installation can pass the test.

If you are about to conduct a major renovation project it is advisable to conduct an E.I.C.Rhttps://www.facebook.com/westendglasgowelectrician to give you an accurate picture of the condition of the electrical installation and wiring in the building. If you need to some works on your installation it would probably be better to do so before you finalise all your decorating works.

Remember: – electricity can be dangerous. Overheated cables can start fire. Don’t risk your own safety as well as of the other occupants of the property. Maintain your electrical installation in safe condition.

wes electrical  have a great reputation for conducting electrical certification to all types of property, both domestic and commercial, with minimum disruption to the tenants and owners.

Westend Glasgow Electricians

EMERGENCY LIGHTING TESTING GLASGOW

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Testing Emergency Lighting

Maintaining your emergency lighting units is important to ensure that lighting tubes are actually working and that the backup battery is capable to last the full duration required by the standards. The "responsible person" of a business or organisations ensures that the periodic checks are carried out and documented in a fire safety logbook. Below we have provided an overview of the testing procedure to give an overview of the testing frequencies.

Please note that when you purchase emergency lighting from Safelincs you will be offered to register for a free emergency lighting test reminder at the end of the checkout process. We will then email you to remind you when the tests are due. 

To make the testing of your emergency lighting units quicker you can install self-test emergency lighting. These units automatically replicate a power cut, checking their own circuitry and functionality and should a fault be found the units create both a visual and audible warning .

Standards BS 5266-8:2004 and BS EN 50172:2004 describe the testing of emergency lighting units.  

Monthly

Switch off the mains power supply to the lighting unit. Often, a separate switch with a 'fish key' is installed allowing the testing of emergency lights without having to switch off all power. Walk past all emergency lights to ensure they are working. Note any defects and get repaired immediately. Record your results in your fire safety logbook. 

Yearly

Switch off the mains power supply to the lighting unit. Leave the units illuminated for the rated period (usually three hours). The lights should be on for the whole period. If lights fail within this time, replace the backup battery.

electricians westend glasgow

Electrician Partick Glasgow

Partick

Tip No. 1 — Pamper your contact database

You wouldn't try to manage your accounting and job costing with everyone keeping track of their own (with little or no management oversight), yet many contractors keep their contacts in haphazard systems, ranging from business card files to personal Microsoft Outlook files. Even those companies that do have a consolidated contact management system rarely have clean, complete, and current data in their files (The Three Cs of Contact Data Management).

Your first step in improving your business development processes should be to consolidate all your contacts into one central database. Most companies use Microsoft Exchange for e-mail, and simply using a public folder for contacts can work well. Beyond that, there are many customer relationship management (CRM) systems out there that can be customized to fit your needs.

Make sure that this becomes an ongoing activity with regular reporting to show you the status of contacts, including last contact date, new contacts, and missing contact data. The importance of this activity cannot be overstated. While the work of consolidating the contact data is tedious, it's well worth the effort.

Tip No. 2 — Leverage the meet-and-greet opportunity

If you're a larger contractor with what many would consider an impressive building, fleet of vehicles, extensive staff, and a way to showcase your capabilities, by all means bring owners and general contractors (GCs) to you. Show them you're not what they view as a typical subcontractor — and that you have the facility and operational capability to handle their highest-level projects and needs. Office equipment that can easily handle their drawings and quickly generate submittals, tool management and tracking systems, on-site material storage, and dedicated pre-fab areas all demonstrate your professionalism and capability to roll at a moment's notice.

If your facility is still a “work in progress,” you might want to consider taking your team to your customer's office. There are some definite advantages to this approach, the most important of which is that you don't have to worry about them not showing up. While people generally have good intentions, you do run the risk of a small showing when you invite potential customers to your facility. Not only do you have an opportunity for more face time with more key players, but your customers are also more comfortable at their own place of business. Recommend a mid-morning meeting; people have had their coffee and are still fresh. It will give you at least an hour before noon and sets up an opportunity to take people to lunch after the meeting. Make sure you're aware of upcoming bid deadlines and coordinate office visits accordingly so as to not be rushed or have customers too focused on getting back to work.

The purpose of these meetings is to expand your company's relationships by getting out there to meet new people. You will want to make as many connections as possible during this event (click here to see Figure). Bring your best team together of two to five people. Depending on the size of the meeting or potential client, gather up your strongest players and leave the marketing collateral and other fancy props behind. People want to do business with others who have common experiences, goals, and business philosophies. That's what you are there to discuss.

Tip No. 3 — Cultivate team relationships

Projects are awarded to people by people. Of course, there are other dynamics at stake, such as pricing, but the information that can lead to an electrical contractor successfully winning a contract is very closely related to relationships.

Think about the vendor who gives you a break on pricing and notifies you of potential projects on the market. Think about that great contact with the GC who “advises” you about your scope and pricing — even on public works projects. Think about that facility manager who you're on a “nickname basis” (better than first-name basis) with who gives you all of his work and never questions the bill.

If these things rarely or never happen for your company, then you definitely need to increase your focus on relationships. If they do, then think about their value and contemplate what it would be worth to significantly increase the number of those relationships.

Relationships are the building blocks to most — if not all — business transactions. Within your organization, every individual has undoubtedly established a relationship with someone who can bring value to your company. Imagine how many relationships you'd have if you were to take all of your service technicians, foremen, project managers, estimators, etc., together and harness each of their experiences.

Depending on the number of employees you have and their work history, you'll need to determine the most effective way to gather warm leads within your organization. If there is a small group, setting up a roundtable session to compare notes with regard to previous and existing customers can be effective. This opens up discussion and gets people to think of connections they might not have otherwise considered. It also gives you a chance to identify as a group some important target customers based on previous relationships. With a larger group, it's best to either break the team into smaller groups of three to five people or assign a single individual to manage the process, going to each person individually and working to consolidate their contacts into a centralized database (as noted in Tip No. 1).

Simply encouraging everyone in the organization to make contact with old relationships and some new ones each week will produce amazing results. A team of five people making five contacts (new or old) per week equals more than 1,200 customer connections per year! The key here is consistency.

Tip No. 4 — Inspire mouth-to-mouth references

When we consider painting our home, very rarely do we open up the yellow pages to the “painters” section and start dialing. You most likely know a neighbor, friend, or relative who has recently had his house painted. This is the person you first make contact with for a referral. Word of mouth is a simple concept that can lead to widespread success — or failure.

So how do make this opportunity work for you? Of course, the absolute best “brand-building” tool is providing amazing service to your customers (as defined by the customer). How do you blow this opportunity? Provide poor customer service, and you'll quickly realize how powerful this form of communication can be. As they say, bad news travels fast.

Name branding is an excellent way to stick in someone's mind. Your brand recognition is the accumulation of experiences that invoke the values of your company. Anywhere you may have a potential customer can be a brand touch point — your business card at a meeting, attitude, service of your employees in public, clean company vehicles, professional-looking attire, hard hats with your logo, and stickers placed strategically at the completion of a project.

Tip No. 5 — Leverage your design capabilities

In-house drawing and drafting capabilities can give you a competitive edge in negotiating projects. Value engineering and the ability to solve a customer's problems through design and modifications (i.e., design-build) can be an even stronger selling point when developing relationships with architects, engineers, and owners. Almost every contractor is involved in the design in some way — even if it's merely through a partnering initiative with a local electrical engineering firm. It's your job to showcase these capabilities and work hard to expand them.

Although the details of building your design capabilities are beyond the scope of this article, we would like to touch on some key points.

1. Work on planning the jobs with CAD tools for areas such as underslab and power rooms rather than having the foreman sketch it out in the field. Even if it seems inefficient in the short term, the skills you gain will serve you in the long term.
2. If you're involved in new building construction, start learning about 3D BIM technology — if you aren't already using it. This is a design technology that will have a significant impact on the entire industry. It looks a lot scarier than it actually is — start small by detailing power rooms and ceilings after you have mastered them in 2D.
3. Look at the GPS location technologies that tie to your layout. These save time and improve quality.
4. Learn to showcase this work with your clients. Create examples and case studies showing your capabilities and quantify the results in terms of schedule days saved, minimized re-work, improved quality, and/or lowered costs.

Tip No. 6 — Expand your reach via service offerings

The job is done and you're out of there, right? Wrong! Warranty calls are one of the last things a contractor wants to hear about once a project is completed. Undoubtedly, it means something has gone wrong and the minimal profits you made on a job are now in jeopardy as you make repairs on your dime.

Instead of looking at a warranty period as the time you have to wait before you are out of the woods, look at it as a way to introduce your company to the facility owner. As an electrical contractor, your exposure during a project is typically with the GC. You work for them, communicate with them, and wait for them to pay you.

When the job is complete, there is still an owner or an end-user that most likely will need your services in the future. An easy way to start a relationship with that end-user is to introduce your “warranty team.” When you make a visit or a phone call, explaining that you want to ensure the end-user has all of your contact information in case there are any problems with the systems that were installed, you immediately establish yourself and your team as a proactive contractor.

You aren't asking for business. You're offering solutions while separating yourself from the GC. Setting up a meeting or handoff from a site foreman/project manager to a service manager or warranty team with the owner or end-user gives you an opportunity to further sell your company. As you are managing the warranty period, you can work on presenting additional services, such as lighting maintenance, tenant improvements, and emergency service.

Remember that word-of-mouth thing? This is the perfect opportunity to shine in this area and help differentiate your company. In addition, remember that while service revenues may be relatively small compared to contract revenues, the profit margins are much higher and the risk much lower. Building up your service department will help grow the top line, bottom line, and overall value of your business.

Tip No. 7 — Define your marketing strategy

Successful organizations, both large or small, have a clearly defined marketing strategy and plan. Can you clearly define the following?

• What types of work have generated your revenue/profits over the last three years? How much for each?
• Where do you see your revenue/profits coming from in the future?
• What geographical areas do you now serve? Which ones do you want to serve in the future?
• Do you have the skills and resources to deliver on the answers to the second and third questions? If so, are you presenting this effectively in your marketing materials and presentations? If not, what are you doing to build these skills and resources?

If nearly everyone in your company can't answer these questions, then you will have a hard time pulling everyone together to work on a specific marketing project. Marketing of your company is a group effort. Everything from the way the receptionist handles calls to the delivery of a proposal will either move you closer to (or farther away from) the next customer or project.

Communicating your efforts, successes, and failures helps eliminate wasted time and repeated mistakes. Make sure your team understands that your overall goal is to produce income, not waste scarce expense dollars.

Tip No. 8 — Survey your customers

Do your customers remember you six months after you've completed a project? If they do, is it in a positive manner? If you can't answer this question, then ask them. People in general spend so much time “selling and telling” potential clients what they can do, they often forget to step back and listen.

Calling up past customers and asking them a few simple questions can lead to fantastic insight, which often results in referrals and additional jobs. There are many ways to perform a client survey. The important items to address when developing your survey are to make sure it is: (1) structured, (2) happens on a regular basis, (3) the feedback gets back to the project team so they can make changes, and (4) the customer is notified of the changes you made based on his feedback.

Surveys will also help you clean up your contact database and refine your marketing strategy. The simple process of talking to all of your past customers — and then relaying that feedback to your team — can be an extremely valuable tool.

Tip No. 9 — Force open lines of communication

Educate everyone on selling the company and its full breadth of capabilities. Project managers and foremen should be comfortable talking with owner's reps and GCs during a project. Open lines of communication often will result in hearing about upcoming project opportunities and being introduced to other potential customers and decision makers. Regularly communicating progress, problems, and solutions with your customers will instill the level of confidence necessary for strong relationships.

Rarely do the people you work for understand the intricacies of the work you are completing or the service you are providing, nor do they care to. The systems in place behind the walls are not nearly as important to them as the fact that a project is done on time, on budget, and that everything works as it's supposed to when you leave. What they do understand is communication.

Doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it is a powerful tool. While on the surface this doesn't seem like marketing, it is the essence of building your business. It is why you will (or will not) be invited to bid on the next project. It's also the reason you will or will not be referred to the next owner, architect, or GC.

Tip No. 10 — Pay attention to emerging trends

Investing a few dollars and a little bit of time to learn about solar and wind technologies, green building requirements, lean construction practices, and building information modeling (BIM) software can pay big dividends in relationship building. Going to a seminar on lean construction with your project team will not only improve your bottom line, but will also likely introduce you to some GCs you didn't know before. Going through the LEED (green building) certification process will put you in the same room with architects and possibly building owners. Spending a bit of time learning about alternative energy and becoming an information source for your customers and potential customers will make a huge difference in how you are perceived.

Although we purposely haven't covered certain marketing basics, such as direct mail, newsletters, and marketing collateral, this doesn't mean we don't believe in them. These topics have been covered extensively in other articles, and we typically don't see as many problems in these areas as we do with companies not delivering on the 10 tips discussed in this article.

You will get better results from having a 10-minute marketing meeting and spending the next hour trying to set up “meet and greets” with several target customers than you will from spending months preparing the “perfect” marketing plan.

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TESLA WIRELESS POWER

An artist\'s rendition of the Tesla Model III

£30K ELECTRIC CAR EXPECTED TO APPEAL TO THE MASSES

04SEP 2014

ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR

Tesla Motors, the company responsible for producing the all-electric Model S, a car that Consumer Reports rated the “Best Car Ever Tested” in 2013, is expected to today announce plans to build a new $5 billion dollar plant in Nevada which will produce electric car batteries for their upcoming 2017 model.

Being dubbed the “Gen III,” the new Tesla all-electric car is expected to have a range of 200 miles per charge and retail for approximately $35,000 dollars – A price point which is expected to appeal to the masses. The Tesla “Gigafactory” is projected to produce 500,000 battery packs for electric cars each year by 2020. Sources familiar with the project have indicated that the Nevada location was selected due to its proximity to America’s only active lithium mine.

Designed to reduce battery costs by 30 percent, the Gigafactory is Tesla’s company advantage in producing a more affordable, mass-market electric car. For industry watchers, however, the move also translates to a lot more demand for lithium.

In a note sent to shareholders in late March, Lithium Exploration Group CEO Alex Walsh said Tesla is expected to consume up to 15,000 additional tons of lithium carbonate once its Gigafactory operations are in full swing in 2017. To put the amount in perspective, total global demand for lithium carbonate in 2012 was around 160,000 tons, according to international metals and minerals research and consulting firm Roskill.

A MATTER OF TIME

“It’s just a matter of time before electric vehicles take over the market,” said Dennis Bryan, senior vice president of Western Lithium. “Given the continued growth factor in lithium, we expect demand to increase substantially.”

Sales and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) like the Tesla Model S, Tesla Roadster, and Nissan Leaf have been steadily increasing over the past few years thanks to the financial savings associated with “fueling” a car with electricity. The cost to “fill up” is under $5 dollars, as opposed to $40 dollars or more to refill an automobile with gasoline. Financial savings can be even greater when you install a home solar energy system to collect sunlight and recharge an EV with solar power.

Previous reports have shown Tesla’s new Gigafactory will be powered by on-site renewables including solar and wind power: solar panels

SOLAR POWERED TESLA GIGAFACTORY AT A GLANCE:

• Expected to drive down the per kWh cost of EV battery packs by more than 30 percent
• Forecasted to produce approximately 500,000 EVs per year by 2020
• Will take up approximately 500-1,000 acres
• Will employ approximately 6,500 workers
• Model 3/Model III will be 20% smaller than Model S,
• Expected to have electric range of 200 miles at approximate cost of $35k
• Design expected to be unveiled in 2016, car available for purchase in 2017

TESLA SOLAR POWERED SUPERCHARGING

Tesla Motors is simultaneously building a national network of solar powered electric vehicle fast charging stations.

Tesla’s EV ‘Supercharger’ technology provides a half charge (approximately 150 miles of driving range) in as little as 20 minutes, all compliments of a beautiful solar panel canopy which adorns the top of the EV charging station.

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