Bolier servicing buisness

beantins

Hi all, qualified plumber toying with the idea of setting up an oil boiler servicing buisness. Any body have experience in this buisness? I do quite a bit of boiler work and quite enjoy the trouble shooting aspect so know the work but just wondering is it viable? Also what would u consider essentials? Metac course obv along with oftec registration and flue analyser. Any other expensive kit and qualifications im missing? How much stock would u usually carry? Thanks for taking the time for reading this and all answers greatly appreciated!

Tom44

PSV licence.

beantins

Why would u need a psv?

Dtp1979

beantins wrote: »

Why would u need a psv?

It depends on the area your based. If they'res a lot of boilers and not a lot of competition you should do well

Wearb

Dtp1979 wrote: »

It depends on the area your based. If they'res a lot of boilers and not a lot of competition you should do well

Otherwise you need your PSV

beantins

Im in the north west 99% oil here. Good few competitors but il try cut my terth at it.

agusta

i dont see any benefit of oftec registration.
Flue gas analyser,smoke pump,pressure and vacuum gauge.
Maybe stock 100 nozzles,but you wouldnt need that many to make a start.
manuals,i got mine on a usb stick in metac
All spare part for riello burners,its save you going to the plumbing merchants for a part while on a job or just have a new rdb and g3b burner,you can take any part from these.Fuel pump,flexibale hoses and photocell are the most common parts that need changing.
Gasket board,Bearing pullers,multimeter,You will get a feel for what other items you need as you go along

beantins

I was thinkin more oftec for insurance and to be honest to a cudtomer might look better, wud u have a preference in flue analysers? Was thinking kane myself.

agusta

beantins wrote: »

I was thinkin more oftec for insurance and to be honest to a cudtomer might look better, wud u have a preference in flue analysers? Was thinking kane myself.

I use anton evo2.ive never used a kane but im sure there good too.the metac course is blueflame certified and this is good for the insurance.you can join oftec too but you dont have to do it straight away.i would be inclined to put the money into spare parts

Robbie.G

I'm oftec reg myself but the only reason I reg was due to doing a lot for councils.
I'm up for my oftec reassessment and my gas one this year so I don't know if I will renew oftec.

JamesM

Tom44 wrote: »

PSV licence.

Typical answer from a Co. Clare taxi driver who messes around with boilers part time

JamesM

Building up numbers may be a problem, unless you can get in with an oil company. I was lucky when I went out on my own in 1974. I had worked for service companies for 4 years. I lived close to four new estates, all on oil and less than five years old - over 1,000 houses. I never had to advertise after the first year. 500+ customers in less than 2 years. I found that service agreements kept them signed up. Lost a few every year (moved house, died etc) - always replaced them, no problem.
Be personal, be available, keep them happy and you will keep the customer.
Jim.

jimf

imho give it a shot you are coming from the right background as you will have a lot of customers already its just another service that you can offer them

there a very good post here in the stickies of whats expected on a boiler service

just on the fga I use an anton hes in limerick are the agents and I must say they offer a great service easy to deal with and Charlie is a gent

best of luck

Billy Bunting

I use a Kane and while its never been a problem, calibration and service is a pain in the ars, plan on loosing a week.

K.Flyer

jimf wrote: »

[...]
just on the fga I use an anton hes in limerick are the agents and I must say they offer a great service easy to deal with and Charlie is a gent

best of luck

Anton for me as well.
I preferred the menu set up on the Anton, more because while you are using it you can have all of the data on the one screen.
But it was the after sales service that sold it for me as well. Charlie is great and will do his best to keep the calibration turn around time down to a minimum.
I would recommend the Oftec course as it should give you all you need including recognised certification. But not sure if there is any great benefit to registering with Oftec themselves.
Wishing you every success.