What qualifications?

I AM TRYING TO GET SOME DEFINITION ON how the new European Regulations are going to affect installers. As I understand it, the new regulations stipulate that you must be a minimum NVQ Level 2? I would appreciate any information on this topic.

Lee W. Dow, Inner London Training, Zenith House, 210 Church Road, Leyton E10 7JQ

(To clarify the position with installer qualifications under the European Standards:

The requirements for all alarm security practitioners – including installers and consultants – to have appropriate qualifications has been deferred temporarily.

The original draft version of Part 7 of EN50131-7:2002 Application Guidelines included a clause which stated “Persons responsible for risk assessment and the design and repair of Intruder Alarm Systems should hold appropriate qualifications.”

The exact definition of what the “appropriate qualifications” would be was not made clear – although SITO NVQs seemed the obvious qualification for installers in the UK. The requirement was dropped by the joint industry committee from the run-up to the introduction of the standards on October 1.

Many people in the industry thought that a compulsory qualification was a good idea and were disappointed at the decision.

Geoff Tate, General Manager of the SSAIB called for a five year moratorium during which time the industry would have been required to get qualified.

Martin Kane, an expert on European Standards and the leader of many sessions on the subject told Security Installer this month:”This has been deferred temporarily. They are talking about putting it back in by the end of the this year. There will be no requirement to have a qualification by October 1. But by the end of the year they will come up with a definitive list of qualifications.”

He believed that an NVQ or BTech qualification “or even a manufacturer’s training could qualify if they’ve issued certification”.

Installers currently not qualified need not worry unduly about tight timescales, it being accepted that qualifications take a couple of years – although fast track NVQs were also available over 12 weeks.

Said Kane: “A timescale must be given to comply. People will have plenty of time”.

Another reason for installers to get qualified earlier is that from Feb 1 2006 those who want to work on construction sites will need to have the Construction Skills Certification Scheme card and that will be dependent on an NVQ or equivalent qualification – Ed)