Roofing and Cladding Competency in a Post-Grenfell Climate

There can be no doubt that roofing companies and individuals need to demonstrate competence. They always have done; however, in the present post-Grenfell climate, checks need to be in place, ensuring trade competence and providing a mechanism which ensures that skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours are discipline specific and follow standards and accreditations clear, robust and fit for purpose.

RoofCERT Scheme

In roofing, the scheme currently promoted by the NFRC trade association, is RoofCERT. RoofCERT is an accreditation scheme which assesses individual roofing contractors (rather than businesses) and provides certification to those successfully passing technical tests in their roofing discipline as well as six mandatory generic courses and NVQ Level 2. NFRC is also trialling an Experienced Worker Route (EWR) for roofers without qualifications but who have five years or more experience, through one-day practical assessments in each roofing discipline.

Launched in 2018, and funded by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), RoofCERT had an original target of 5,000 accredited roofers by 2020. Now, in July 2021, there is still some way to go towards the target, which has been amended to 2,000 accreditations by 2022. Currently, around 6 per cent of the revised target of roofers have achieved the full RoofCERT accreditation

As a project, RoofCERT’s realization of expectations has been limited. The scheme has struggled to engage with stakeholders to gain sufficient support across the industry.

As a project, RoofCERT’s realization of expectations has been limited. The scheme has struggled to engage with stakeholders to gain sufficient support across the industry. Take-up has been slow, with only 800 individuals registering an interest in the programme to date. This equates to less than 1 per NFRC member company.

RoofCERT has still to get support from the average roofing company, particularly small and micro businesses – who make up the majority of contractors - and who, it might be said, need regulation or accreditation as much as any in the industry. For individual roofers, the common understanding is that Level 2 NVQs prove competency, while Level 3 NVQs are the natural progression to show advanced technical skills or supervisory knowledge, and this has the advantage of leading to a CSCS Gold Supervisor Card, accepted as a sign of supervisor competence by contractors across the UK. This qualification attracts CITB grant of £600.

RoofCERT has three distinct sections:

1            The Technical Test in a specified discipline

2            Supporting Short Duration courses

3            NVQ Level 2 equivalence in specified disciplines

Concerns

There are some other specific areas of concern in the RoofCERT programme’s design that could be strengthened.

The Technical Tests

Theses are delivered either at test centres, in a company, or online. Revision notes are issued, but rarely is training offered before tests take place, which can leave delegates under-prepared for exams.  

The questions are not published and no pre-test or practice is available. The fact that there are significant failures at first and second attempts fuel criticism of knowledge across the industry. Good practice in training would be to provide some training prior to testing. The primary reason for this is to pass on the requisite knowledge and information. But it also puts the operative (who may not have been in such examination conditions for several years) at ease and to ensure they fully understand the reasons, rationale and requirements of the scheme.   

Suggestion:  That training take place prior to testing to reduce the amount of failures and the consequential damage to operative’s confidence, as well as ensuring knowledge is embedded and retained to be effectively applied on site. 

That this training be formalised and registered for CITB Short Duration Grant.

Supporting Short Duration Courses

These are a series of six which are: Asbestos Awareness, Manual Handling, Abrasive Wheels, Working at Heights, Fire Safety and First Aid.   

Of these courses, Asbestos Awareness, Abrasive wheels and Working at Heights are acknowledged as important across the industry and attract CITB Grant. Manual Handling and First Aid, are considered as being generic courses, which are the legal responsibility of the business and are therefore not grant aided. The only available roofing-specific, grant-aided course for Fire Awareness or Prevention, is for Built Up Roofing.

Suggestion: That the required courses be made roofing specific, and that the key areas of Roof Safety, Fire Prevention, Rescue, Roof Loading and Roof Access are not included.

NVQ Level 2 Equivalent

NVQ Level 2 is available through the Apprenticeship Standard, On-site Assessment, Specialist Upskilling Programme (SUP), Specialist Applied Skills Programme (SAP) Experienced Worker Practical Assessment Route (EWPA), and Trailblazer. Each of these six established routes provide significant evidence of training and progression over time and culminate in the achievement of a recognised qualification at NVQ Level 2, which entitles operatives to obtain a CSCS Blue Skilled Worker Card.

RoofCERT has developed a pilot scheme for one-day Experienced Worker Route (EWR), which will be accepted by CITB as being equivalent to an NVQ Level 2. However, the RoofCERT EWR does not entitle the operative to claim an ‘NVQ achievement’. This has a bottom line because each achievement of an NVQ entitles each CITB registered company to a £600 grant.

The RoofCERT EWR is being promoted as a preferred method of replacing the Industry Accreditation, or White CSCS cards (commonly known as Grandfather Rights cards). However, the EWR is only available for Roof Slating and Tiling, while the majority of White Cards issued are in the disciplines associated with Roof Sheeting, Cladding, Rainscreen or Management Black Cards, as most were initially acquired before qualifications existed in this area.   

There are currently have six accepted methods of achieving an NVQ Level 2 available across the industry. I question whether a one-day assessment is sufficiently robust to replace these and be commonly accepted as competence without an NVQ.

Concern: We currently have six accepted methods of achieving an NVQ Level 2 available across the industry. I question whether a one-day assessment is sufficiently robust to replace these and be commonly accepted as competence without an NVQ. Additionally, the EWR to RoofCERT will entitle the achiever to a RoofCERT card, but, again, does not attract CITB achievement grant. Lastly, in the event of RoofCERT not being available in years to come, will CSCS card renewal be automatic, thus becoming the future version of ‘Grandfather Rights’ cards?

Proposed Rainscreen Competency Programme

It has been reported recently that NFRC is trialling the development of a new accreditation scheme to prove the competence of cladding supervisors. This programme will be based on the RoofCERT model.

Concern: The reproduced model of the RoofCERT project for Raincreen cladding is said to be following the RoofCERT EWR - which offers a one-day assessment of an operative’s skill level and competence in this highly sensitive (post-Grenfell), visible and technical area of the industry.

Suggestion: Development of specialist units of competence in Rainscreen attached to a Cladding NVQ, would allow Rainscreen operatives to be able to demonstrate competence within the existing framework for construction, and would attract mainstream funding support from CITB.

Concern: That Working Group 2, reporting in the Construction Industry Council’s post-Hackitt response: Setting the Bar, refers only to NVQs - not an NVQ equivalent, or one-day assessments. A robust accreditation system should be future-proof and aligned to current national guidelines.

Conclusion

I have long championed qualifications in roofing and believe that learning enriches everyone’s role by encouraging greater awareness of the job, pride in tasks and satisfaction in a job well done.

Most people would agree that roofing competence accreditation is essential, and I’m certainly one of them. But I strongly believe that we need a system fit for purpose, that brings companies (micro, small, medium and large) along in making the industry better and - here’s the hurdle – TOGETHER.

When organisations act in isolation, focusing on outputs rather than the wellbeing of the whole industry and its various current challenges, progress will not be fast enough to retain or improve the image of roofing. 

It’s time to come together, recognise strengths and competencies that already exist. Equally important, we also need to acknowledge when things aren’t going quite right.

The key, I believe, to reviewing and revising proof of competence in the industry is collaboration. The whole industry needs to contribute in acknowledging and valuing what is already in place, adding to or altering that provision where necessary, assessing the costs realistically for contractors and making use of ways already there to support them through funding, and making sure that competency schemes have durable and real value onsite.