EXPERT ADVICE
SHOULD BUILDERS BE FORMALLY QUALIFIED?
Our expert builder offers his views on this contentious issue, along with tips on how to make sure you find a suitably qualified person for your project
Whether or not builders should be qualified is one of the most talkedabout topics in the construction world, and has been for decades.
Bizarrely, anyone can walk into a residential property, say they’re any trade and start work. This is why ‘cowboy builders’ get away with so much. They can give a homeowner all the talk and madeup references without having ever even painted a wall, let alone built an extension. We are not regulated as an industry, which I find insane.
Regul ating trades
It is different in Germany, Holland and most of Europe, as well as North America and Australia. The only trades here in the UK who are legitimately qualified and can self-certify their work are electricians and gas engineers. So why on earth aren’t we regulated across all other trades here in the UK? Why on earth don’t us tradespeople have to be qualified to work in your homes?
It is slightly different on bigger commercial sites as you must have a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card, which involves an element of qualification, but it’s not like it should be. Obtaining one of these means simply spending a few hours answering questions in a classroom, but even this isn’t regulated and anyone can set up their own training company to give out these cards. I have lost count of the messages and emails I receive offering me CSCS cards on the cheap.
The value of trades
So why don’t we have to be qualified to work in your homes? In my opinion, this stems from how the construction industr y is regarded in society. When I was at school in the 1980s and early 1990s, you were told you had to go to university to succeed in life or you would end up in construction. Today, kids are still told this. My two children are nine and 11 and this has already been drummed into them. However, some of us are better vocationally than we are at sitting exams. I am one of them.
I simply couldn’t do exams and therefore didn’t go to university. However, working from the age of 12 and learning from the older guys on site gave me incredible training and life skills.
A career as a tradesperson is largely still looked down upon in Britain. I find this very sad as I am exceptionally proud of the houses I have built over the years; the awards I have won for my outstanding craftsmanship and the skills I have learnt from far superior trades. I still look in awe at a lot of trades and the unbelievable skills they have. What some people can do with a trowel, a bit of wood, some stone etc should be celebrated. It’s simply breathtak
