The ability to prove the competency of an individual to safely carry out a specific task has long been a problem in Construction which no scheme or card system has been capable of solving, however construction based NVQ’s at last achieve this goal simply by removing grey areas and proving an individuals competency.

A CSCS card without an NVQ qualification has never been and never will be a way of proving competency, yet Blue Chip organisations and UK’s largest construction companies continue to display a lethargic and in some cases a reluctance to embrace NVQ qualifications…Why?

The truth is that obtaining NVQ’s in many of the specialist trades is not always readily available with a lack of A1 qualified assessors and costs associated with the obtaining the qualification which is often in the region of £2000 both individuals and companies are reluctant to invest in individuals.

Until this investment arrives or the the larger companies begin to pressurise sub contractors for an NVQ qualification as a minimum requirement, goals such as Balfour Beatty’s Zero Harm by 2012 will remain pie in the sky and totally unachievable.