Journey Starting a Business

Set up a machinery repair and installation business

Learning path for new repair and installation businesses — general machinery repair and industrial installation, and the specialist gas, refrigeration, pressure-systems, marine and aircraft trades. Work out which rules apply, put a safe business in place, get the specialist approvals for the systems you work on, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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What this journey is for

Repairing, maintaining and installing machinery puts you among the engineering service trades, with duties that begin before your first job. You have to keep your people safe — in your own workshop and on customers' sites — meet your obligations as an employer, and, for certain equipment, hold a specific approval or certification before you are even allowed to do the work. This journey walks you through that path in the order you will live it, from working out which rules apply through to checking you have everything in place.

It does not give you the step-by-step instructions or the figures — those live in the guides it points to. Think of this as the map: it tells you where you are, why each stage matters, and which guide to open next.

Step 1: Work out which regulations apply to you

Start by getting the picture right. Every repair and installation business shares the same workplace-safety foundation, but what you add on top depends entirely on what you work on: a gas engineer needs Gas Safe registration, a refrigeration engineer F-gas certification, an aircraft maintainer a CAA approval. Working this out first tells you which specialist approvals you must hold before you start. Use the router guide to find your route before you commit.

Step 2: Put your safe-business foundations in place

Whatever you work on, this is the universal spine. Risk-assess your workshop and on-site work — machinery, electrical, lifting, working at height and confined spaces — control exposure to solvents, fume and lubricants under COSHH, keep your own tools and rigs safe under PUWER and — under section 6 of the Health and Safety at Work Act — make sure anything you install or repair for use at work is safe before it goes back into service, manage manual handling, fire and hot work, hold employers' liability insurance, and meet your equality and data protection duties. Build this in from the start.

Set up and run a safe repair and installation business

The duties every business shares — general health and safety on site and in the workshop, COSHH controls, work equipment (PUWER and LOLER), manual handling, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.

Step 3: Get the specialist approvals for the systems you work on

This is what sets the specialist trades apart. Some equipment can only be worked on under a specific registration or certification, and doing the work without it is usually an offence. If you work on gas appliances you need Gas Safe registration; on refrigeration and air-conditioning, company and engineer F-gas certification; on pressure systems, safe installation and supporting the written scheme of examination; on ships, work that preserves MCA compliance; and on aircraft, a CAA Part-145 approval. Get the right approval in place before you take the work on.

Step 4: Verify you have covered everything

Once the moving parts are in motion, take a step back and check the whole picture holds together. A compliance checklist lets you confirm, in one place, that each obligation — workplace, employment, and the specialist approvals for the systems you work on — is genuinely met rather than assumed. Use it as your readiness review before you take on work, and come back to it as you move into new kinds of equipment.

You will also need the general business set-up duties

Alongside the sector-specific path above, every business carries general obligations that are not unique to repair and installation but are just as compulsory. As you build the business you will also need to:

  • protect the people who work for you — meet your workplace health and safety duties, including the COSHH assessments that bite around solvents, fume and lubricants.
  • hold employers' liability insurance once you take anyone on.
  • handle personal data lawfully — most businesses must complete data protection registration with the ICO.
  • meet your fire safety duties for the premises you work from, alongside the hot-work controls you run on customers' sites.

These general duties run in parallel with the sector path rather than after it, so set them up as you establish the business. The safe-business spine and the compliance checklist bring the core duties together so you can confirm they are covered.

Where this leaves you

You now have the shape of the whole task: work out which rules apply, put a safe business in place, get the specialist approvals for the systems you work on, and verify the lot. Work the guides in order and you will have a clear, defensible position before you take on work.

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Set up a tobacco manufacturing business

Learning path for new tobacco manufacturers — cigarette, cigar, hand-rolling and pipe tobacco makers and leaf processors. Work out which rules apply, put a safe factory and your employment duties in place, meet the tobacco-specific product standards, standardised packaging, excise duty and track-and-trace obligations, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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Set up a printing or media reproduction business

Learning path for new printers and reproduction businesses — commercial, digital, screen and large-format printers, packaging and label printers, and reproduction of recorded media. Work out which rules apply, put a safe print works and your employment duties in place, manage your solvents, inks and emissions if you use solvent-based chemicals, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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Set up a non-metallic mineral products manufacturing business

Learning path for new manufacturers of glass, ceramics, cement, lime, plaster, concrete products and cut stone. Work out which rules apply, put a safe factory and your respirable-silica controls in place, meet the conformity rules for construction and consumer products you sell, handle your environmental permit and UK Emissions Trading Scheme duties if you run a kiln or furnace, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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Set up a machinery manufacturing business

Learning path for new machinery and equipment manufacturers — engines, pumps and compressors, machine tools, lifting and handling equipment, agricultural machinery and industrial plant. Work out which rules apply, put a safe factory and your employment duties in place, meet the conformity and type-approval regimes for what you make, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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Set up a furniture manufacturing business

Learning path for new furniture manufacturers — upholstered furniture and mattresses, wooden, kitchen and office furniture. Work out which rules apply, put a safe factory and your wood-dust controls in place, meet the furniture fire-safety and product-safety rules, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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Set up a wood-products manufacturing business

Learning path for new wood-products manufacturers — sawmilling, veneers, plywood and panels, joinery, wooden packaging and cork goods. Work out which rules apply, put a safe plant and your wood-dust controls in place, meet the product-market rules, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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Set up a paper manufacturing business

Learning path for new paper manufacturers — pulp and paper mills, board, corrugating, converting and paper products. Work out which rules apply, put a safe mill in place, manage your environmental permits and water, meet the product-market rules, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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Set up a coke or petroleum manufacturing business

Learning path for new operators of oil refineries, coke works and refined-petroleum plants. Work out which rules apply, set up a safe major-hazard installation (COMAH, DSEAR, environmental permit and UK ETS), meet the fuel-quality and excise-duty rules, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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Set up an other-manufacturing business

Learning path for new makers in Division 32 — jewellery, instruments, sports goods, toys, medical and dental devices and other goods. Work out which rules apply, put a safe workshop in place, meet the product-conformity regime for what you make, and verify everything with a compliance checklist.

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