Can anyone please advise me on the best energy assessor course provider for domestic and non-domestic. I am rapidly loosing faith in people that only wish to purchase the cheap wooden floors with absolutely no traceability whatsoever. Sorry, at this stage i should mention that i am a FSC certified wooden flooring supplier based in Cornwall. I took the decision to offer only FSC certified wooden flooring products along with wood waste flooring and wooden recycled floors.Unfortunately, probably due to recession, i am constantly battling with price being the only consideration. Sad really! (not that were expensive)
Anyway i was hoping to do this course a couple of years back and now would love to start this. Can anyone tell me if this course would suit a mere timber man like me. I do have a loose understanding of the building trade as i have been involved for some twenty years.

I went with the NHER after initially being with elmhurst because i found their software almost unusable from bugs. I've no idea what it is like now but this was about 4 years go for reference.
The question as mentioned above however is how far you are willing to go. Personally i don't think there is much room or money in the domestic energy front (DEA) - Its saturated. More potential is in the on construction domestic energy assessment (OCDEA) where by you work with architects at design level. To do this properly though you really really have to spent time after the 5 day course to learn about buildings and energy efficiency. The course only scratches the surface and there is so much to learn to be useful to architects and to get even near the knowledge level of the guys on here who have their specific degrees etc. They really know their stuff, regs are getting tighter all the time and so only the knowledgeable will survive!

I would suggest that NHER is a good one, I find the software works well ( most of the time), the staff are helpful when you call with enquires, but they aren't cheap! (I'm an OCDEA by the way). What I would say is that I don't really see the link between your current work and the energy assessment, are you looking to move into a new field?

Well i am thinking of doing the course with property professionals any comments welcome....they offer the extension courses as well....if the market is flooded with assessors why is the training going on ...if anyone knows of a better course and cheaper please let me know thanks

<blockquote><cite>Posted By: sheilaa2</cite>if the market is flooded with assessors why is the training going on .</blockquote>
Becuase training companies make money from training people. To get trainees to sign up they need to imply there's a high demand for assessors. They don't have to tell you that although there are 1.5 million assessments needed there are already 10,000 assessors, meaning an average of 150 each @ £45-50 gross income (before expenses) of £7500.

Do they stop training driving instructors just becuase there are already enough? Nope, training makes money regardless of whether the candidate gets a job or not.

Which is why I said unless you have expectional business skills. You need to know how to gain market share, and increase your fee at the same time, or you won't earn enough to live on (unless you live with mom an dad and pay no board!).

It took less than a year for there to be more energy assessors than "required full time staff".

Me, I discontinued my accrediation and stayed in IT. Skills and experiance are a barrier to entry unlike being an energy assessor.

PS If anyone is mad enough to decide to do it, see an accountant and form a limited company first. That way you might be able to claim the training expense as a business cost, and will be offset against profits (ha!). Disclaimer: I'm not a tax expert.