Cofely Besix Facility Management, a leading integrated facilities management company based in Dubai, UAE, has received the region’s first accreditation from the UK’s National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC).

The NICEIC is a privately-owned body and is one of several providers given government approval to regulate the training and work of electrical enterprises, and offer schemes to oversee electrical work within the electrical industry.

Its aim is to protect everyone who uses electricity from unsafe installations in their homes, places of work and leisure. To achieve this, it maintains a register of contractors that it assesses as complying with various standards and codes of practice, a statement said.

“Basically customers of NICEIC-registered contractors will have the confidence that the work is performed by competent contractors and that it complies with the relevant safety standards,” explained Ian Harfield, CEO of Cofely Besix Facility Management.

The body also guarantees that all registered contractors have adequate insurance and that essential documentation, training, technical capability and equipment is maintained and up to date. NICEIC has an independent complaints procedure and all the work is protected by the NICEIC Platinum Promise if any problems should arise.

“Being NICEIC accredited is very important to us. This means that all our electricians, no matter where they have come from and what country they have learnt their trade, they all have to pass a specific test and standard which focuses on electrical safety and adhering to doing the task properly and in a controlled way,” added Harfield.

“These electricians are given a 17th edition accreditation and this is like an independent approval to say they are competent, and we are very proud to say that currently we are the only company in the region that currently holds this standard.”

The NICEIC is owned by Certsure, and was formed from a partnership between the Electrical Safety Council of Great Britain and the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA).

"Certsure LLP is very pleased to be working with Cofely Besix Facility Management in their NICEIC Approved Contractor scheme - the benchmark standard for electrical competence," added Steve Mitchell, director of Certification Certsure.

Cofely Besix Facility Management is a joint venture established in 2008 by Cofely Services and the Besix Group, to provide first-class integrated facility management services in the Middle East. – TradeArabia News Service