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benmason030

A relative of mine recently has a free boiler through ECO as she is on benefits, and I have had a new boiler paid for through the Green Deal.

The guy that came out and did the assessments seemed pretty flush, nice car, nice watch, nice clothes and since I have been looking just out of interest to be able to do what he does and to train as an energy assessor and a green deal assessor will cost me around £1500-£2000.

From what I can tell i'd be able to charge around £150 for a green deal assessment and around £50 for an EPC, to me it seems pretty good earning potential because the guy was in and out in no time!

I know people have criticized these things in the past but I thought with all these new schemes around the Green Deal, Energy Companies Obligation, Renewable Heat Incentive, Feed in Tariff and more which all require some kind of energy assessment it could be a good opportunity.

Would be nice to hear from people who have done it, thanks.

Sorry typo in the title don't know how to change it...

Flyonthewall

I don't know anything about the job or earnings, but just to point out having a nice car, watch and clothes doesn't mean he's earning a lot.

Nice car - company car, on finance, partner makes a lot of money etc.
Watch - gift, saved up for it etc.
Clothes - wants to look good for work

Assuming you can charge that, you'd have to consider how many you can do in a day or how much work there is for that, travel costs, tax and so on. I mean, I know you're asking to hear from others so you've obviously given it some thought and want opinions, but that's just things to consider.

GDADEA

benmason030 wrote: »

A relative of mine recently has a free boiler through ECO as she is on benefits, and I have had a new boiler paid for through the Green Deal.

The guy that came out and did the assessments seemed pretty flush, nice car, nice watch, nice clothes and since I have been looking just out of interest to be able to do what he does and to train as an energy assessor and a green deal assessor will cost me around £1500-£2000.

From what I can tell i'd be able to charge around £150 for a green deal assessment and around £50 for an EPC, to me it seems pretty good earning potential because the guy was in and out in no time!

I know people have criticized these things in the past but I thought with all these new schemes around the Green Deal, Energy Companies Obligation, Renewable Heat Incentive, Feed in Tariff and more which all require some kind of energy assessment it could be a good opportunity.

Would be nice to hear from people who have done it, thanks.

Sorry typo in the title don't know how to change it...

Hi Ben,

I have been a DEA since the EPC came in (2007) and a GDA for just over a year. It is a varied job, especially if you stay self employed as you could be doing EPCs for letting and estate agents one day then Green Deal Assessments for a Green Deal Provider the next. You seem to have looked into it which is good. A few years ago I would not have advised anyone to come into this job as there were far too many trained and because of this the fees hit rock bottom (reverse auction panels paying less than £15.00 for an EPC) but when the qualification was beefed up to prepare for Green Deal a lot of DEAs dropped out so now there is a steady stream of work and demand for our services.

I would add that you can't just get the GDA qualification and start charging £150.00 for a report as it differs from the DEA qualification. The DEA is accredited themselves and so as soon as you pass your exam and join an accreditation scheme you can start earning, however a GDA has to work for an assessor organisation, you can become one yourself but it is not that cheap (well over £1000.00 and then some!) so you will find yourself at the mercy of the panels and employers to a certain extent unless you pay out to become an assessor organisation yourself.

I gave up a good job in HMRC with the promise of OTE £50k as an energy assessor and have never got anywhere near that amount of income, so don't think it is a route to riches, but that said it is a rewarding career where no two days are the same and I for one enjoy it.

Good Luck!

Dean

captainhindsight_2

I run a construction company part of what we do is installing free measures through ECO (we are a GDI and GDAO), we employ 2 energy assessors they get a decent salary +car, fuel, insurance, annual training etc

We expect them to do around 6 assessments a day.

When we are busy we sub contract out, last year we were very busy. We subcontracted to 5 additional assessors. We paid 45+vat per EPC then extras for filling out forms with customers etc and £75+vat for a green deal assessment (the customer will pay around 125+vat but there is a lot of pre and post survey admin involved) plus money for leads and referrals etc Then out of this they obviously had to pay there own fuel insurance, training, annual training, fees etc...

Its not an easy qualification to get though if you get it from a proper training supplier, if you go on one of these express courses you will make mistakes and fail when it comes to auditing and it all would have been a waste of money.

Also many assessors join the industry thinking they can do 10-15 jobs a day and see £££ signs. It is possible but you'll make mistakes and fail at auditing, these assessments aren't just 'tick box' exercises like many people say. Experience and knowledge is required.

Also like anything, there are loads of people out there fighting for the work so its not easy.

Just be aware, ECO ends in 2017 and so will the majority of the work. We have to wait and see if the Green Deal has staying power.

There are also other revenues, estate agents, renewable installations etc they all require epc/gdas good luck with it.

captainhindsight_2

GDA/DEA wrote: »

I would add that you can't just get the GDA qualification and start charging £150.00 for a report as it differs from the DEA qualification. The DEA is accredited themselves and so as soon as you pass your exam and join an accreditation scheme you can start earning, however a GDA has to work for an assessor organisation, you can become one yourself but it is not that cheap (well over £1000.00 and then some!) so you will find yourself at the mercy of the panels and employers to a certain extent unless you pay out to become an assessor organisation yourself.

Good advice, the customer would pay around that expect to get around £75 +VAT because there is the cost of the lodgements plus lots of pre and post assessment admin.

Yes its not cheap becoming a GDAO, our insurance alone for just being a GDAO is £800+vat, then cost of QMS min £500+vat for a basic one, Certification £600, annual auditing £150 +vat per assessor.

Best thing would be to find a good GDAO that will easily allow you to lodge through them, we offer that service for £30+vat I think thats pretty much the standard price and you should be able to find one pretty easily.

Also try and get in with installers as they will pay handsomely for leads that go through to completion, as you are in a great position as you will be dealing with landlords people selling buying etc.

benmason030

Hi guys thanks for your responses definitely something worth doing I think.