CRT members, which include BAA, Railtrack and the Ministry of Defence, are expected to support a motion requiring construction industry suppliers to use only fully trained and certified employees.
If the motion is passed, contractors and consultants may be asked to meet the new requirements by January 2002 or run the risk of being taken off tender lists.
The obligations would apply to more than £8bn of contracts a year that are run by the 12 clients in the CRT.
One source close to the CRT said: “We are fed up with poor levels of skills on site. It is about time we showed the industry that we will not suffer poor workmanship.”
Mike Burt, head of the Treasury’s Procurement Practice Division, confirmed that the government is interested in creating stricter entry requirements for its suppliers. “We have been talking to the Construction Industry Training Board about increasing barriers to entry using skills certificates.”
Burt said a requirement that suppliers use only skilled workers was being considered for inclusion in the Client’s Charter – a manifesto that the Construction Clients Forum is drawing up with Burt acting in an advisory capacity.
Burt favours using the CITB’s Construction Skills Certification Scheme as the basis of any vetting procedure. He said: “The CSCS is a demonstrable vehicle for [identifying] skilled and trained workers, and it could be key in driving out the cowboy builders.”
However, hundreds of thousands of construction workers are set to lose out on the CSCS this week as the CSCS Link, under which workers can register if they promise to achieve a National Vocational Qualification within three years, will end. Starting at the 30 November, workers must obtain an NVQ before they are allowed to register.
The CSCS, which was started four years ago, is aimed at the 70% of construction workers that are not already covered by job-specific registration schemes. The Construction Round Table has repeatedly criticised skill levels in the construction industry.
Simon Murray, a recent CRT chairman and head of Railtrack’s construction procurement, singled out UK engineers for critical comment. He said that Railtrack was setting up a secondment scheme to enable British project managers to learn more about what large clients want.
