Cards on the table

The recent announcements regarding a new chief executive for CSCS and an improved working relationship between CSCS and CITB-ConstructionSkills herald a substantial step forward for the industry's card scheme. After a year of confusion, amnesties, public bickering and frustration, this is welcome news for the specialist sector and its programme Qualifying the Specialist Workforce.

For most of those who work in construction, there is now a means of qualifying and obtaining a CSCS card. There are amnesties in place for the over-55s, holders of City & Guilds qualifications and those who have held full CSCS cards but have not renewed them. CSCS has also clarified the route to a card for those achieving an S/NVQ level one in a construction occupation, and all workers with appropriate experience can still get an Experienced Worker card while working towards a qualification. Even if there is no recognised qualification for your occupation, you may be eligible for a Construction-Related Occupation card, which covers such occupations as Animal Welfare Equipment Installer, Exhumation Specialist and Trolley Parks & Guidance Protection Equipment Installer (what a wonderfully diverse industry we work in!).

In addition to these routes, the CITB has made it even easier to achieve the necessary qualifications and apply for a CSCS card. If you have passed the health and safety test within the past two years, are experienced in your occupation and just need to be assessed for your S/NVQ qualification, there is the practical assessed route. All you need to do is show off your skills to an assessor and, if you meet the required standard, you will be awarded the relevant S/NVQ (this is only available for certain occupations at the moment).

If you already have the required qualifications, together with the paperwork and just need to sit the health and safety test, the new SkillsDirect service (currently being piloted) is so smooth you won't even have to fill in the application form. This service will allow you to turn up at a test location with your paperwork, pass the test, smile for the camera, wait while a very nice person completes your application form and that's it. Within a week, you should have your shiny new CSCS card delivered.

The myriad routes of achieving a CSCS card and the ease of application in conjunction with an independent industry-owned CSCS mean there can be no more excuses for not having a card. If we as an industry want a qualified workforce, it is now achievable by the target date of 2010.

Essentially there is no more wriggle room; you either want a qualified workforce or you don't. It's as simple as that. For those who want to demand the card from their supply chain there are no more excuses, and nor should there be. Everyone benefits from the scheme, which not only registers but also aims to qualify a whole range of construction workers. For main contractors, a competent workforce is essential for constructing the quality projects required by the industry's clients and the end users of the accommodation, services, sports facilities, open spaces, public buildings, utilities and infrastructure this industry delivers each year.

However, demands cannot be made without some reward and those competent workers must be recognised. It is specialist contractors that employ the workforce and invest the money in training and qualifying it and, if a CSCS-carded workforce is demanded from tendering contractors, those that cannot meet those conditions, or at least demonstrate that they are working towards them, should not be considered.

I can’t imagine being wheeled into an operating theatre and hearing the surgeon say: ‘Qualifications? Who needs them? I’ve been doing this for years. Now, was it your right or your left leg, Mrs Nichol …?’

How many times have we heard that quality costs? Well, it's a fact that a qualified workforce is a quality workforce. But a quality workforce requires the right environment to deliver the desired end product. You can have the best-qualified floor layer but if the floor is wet, the temperature too cold or the programme too short, they will never lay a floor that will meet British standards and satisfy a discerning client.

Let us not forget the card holders. Providing a career path that includes recognised qualifications is one way of showing our workforce their skills are respected. We must all play our part: our workforce must want the card, the specialists that employ the workforce must invest to achieve the card and the clients must then use those that have the card.

Now all that's needed is the right chairman to support Brian Adams in leading CSCS from the front. George Brumwell made some drastic changes to CSCS and it is emerging as the scheme we all thought it should be. The next chairman of CSCS must have the drive and influence to take the opportunity of demonstrating to the media and the outside world that construction is capable of delivering. Despite the many successful projects that are completed on time and within budget, the capability of the industry is at the forefront of people's minds at the moment.

We should be providing a qualified workforce to all our clients before 2010 whether they are the Olympic Delivery Authority, the NHS, Tesco or Mrs Jones. I can't imagine they will be that impressed to find out that at present we offer them an unqualified workforce. I can't imagine being wheeled into an operating theatre and hearing the surgeon say: "Qualifications? Who needs them? I've been doing this for years. Of course, I've done a bit of training in my time but experience is all you really need. Now, was it your right or your left leg, Mrs Nichol …?"

It shouldn't be the case in the construction industry either.