The building services industry will enter a new era at the end of this year with the removal of so-called ‘Grandfather Rights’ for engineering professions.
December 31st will mark the end of a nine-year journey towards all building services engineers being required to have relevant and up-to-date qualifications that allow them to apply for the appropriate CSCS SKILLcard so they can continue working legally.
‘Grandfather Rights’ have been used by many industries as a way of helping experienced professionals transition gradually to new rules and regulations. These rights recognised the value of existing skills and prior qualifications, which for our sector meant that some operatives could still hold the relevant SKILLcard that gives them access to projects despite not having updated their qualifications.
These rights will be removed on December 31 this year, and everyone will need up-to-date qualifications to continue working in our industry.
This has been the subject of robust discussion for some years but the time for debate is now over. Despite repeated lobbying by BESA on behalf of the industry for the rights to be retained, serious issues in the wider construction industry hardened the stance taken by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC).
BESA is running a webinar on November 13 at noon: Industry Accreditation Explained where a group of experts will go into the fine details and implications of the new rules and answer any questions. To register visit the website.
Pathway
The pathway to this change began in 2015 and BESA has been actively trying to find solutions for our industry ever since. There are now routes to competence via a series of targeted training courses and the accreditation process is established for many of the affected roles.
In 2018, the sector’s standard setting body, ‘The Skills Partnership,’ approved an ‘Experienced Worker Route’ for some affected roles. Subsequently, BESA Launched the ‘Experienced Worker’ programme, but unfortunately this had to be withdrawn due to low participation and completion rates.
BESA, along with other industry bodies and the trade press, continued to promote the looming changes which led to several sectors setting up their own specific requirements. Many building services professionals have already completed their accreditation and are now able to apply for the new SKILLcards with their new vocational qualifications (NVQs) achieved.
And the good news for those who have not completed the transition is that there is still time. If they have registered for the relevant training by January 1st next year, operatives will be given an exemption to keep working by way of a trainee/experienced worker card, but…if you haven’t, you can’t. More details can be found here.
Understandably, many in our sector questioned the need for this change. Existing skills and experience retain huge value and respect among employers and clients, so it is only right that they are recognised.
That is why BESA argued on the sector’s behalf for certain delays and exemptions over the years where it felt there was real justification.
However, there is a much bigger picture here
14 June 2017 changed everything. That night the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in London caught fire and 72 people died, including 18 children. The collective failures subsequently identified as the causes behind that tragedy reinforced the need for everyone in the construction and related sectors to be fully competent for the specific jobs for which they are employed and paid.
And to be able to provide proof of that competence measurable against nationally recognised standards.
The CLC was already well into a long-term plan to ensure the industry had a fully trained and competent workforce and Grenfell simply meant it doubled down on that strategy with no option of reversing the decisions made.
But ultimately, should we have to be told to do this?
Doesn’t every occupant in a residential block, every leisure centre user, shopper, hospital patient, schoolchild, care home resident etc. etc deserve to be safe and to benefit from the facilities of a high-quality building? And shouldn’t we, therefore, feel some moral obligation to be able to prove our technical and professional ability to that end – regardless of levels of experience or testimonials of previous good work.
In fact, should we not be proud to showcase our skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours in this way?
The Engineering Building Services Skills Authority (EBSSA) is now the lead organisation on industry competence, and BESA is running its Competency Framework Group as part of EBSSA. It is this body, which comprises employers and trade associations from across the sector that will define routes to competence for all our trades. Training Providers and educational establishments will join this process at implementation phase.
This exercise is a direct outcome of the Grenfell tragedy as it was quickly identified that construction and the specialist trades within it, lacked properly defined competencies – and without those competencies how could we go about establishing competence?
BESA has now appointed a Skills Policy Team to provide advice and guidance to industry colleagues and to improve the training resources and provision available that can help employers get their people through the process. It also signposts employers to a range of training providers.
We will, of course, continue to lobby the CLC and the government to ensure the system is fair and our companies have a decent chance to meet the requirements, but this has been in the melting pot for nine years.
It’s time for everyone to step up and do the right thing.
BESA is running a webinar on November 13 at noon: Industry Accreditation Explained where a group of experts will go into the fine details and implications of the new rules and answer any questions. To register visit the website.