Organisations, under the aegis of the PHIA and aligned with City and Guilds of London Institute, have produced a joint letter to highlight this concern in the media.
This letter - which has already been used in reply to a Daily Mail article on 10 July - expresses considerable concern about the credibility given to organisations offering training courses in heating, plumbing, electrical wiring installations and other Allied Engineering Services extending over merely weeks and at a cost which is not representative of value.
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Chris Sneath, Chairman of PHIA, said: “It beggars belief that the media fail to alert the purchasers of this type of training nor the general public who may engage the services of non-qualified persons to carry out unsuitable and possibly illegal work on their property.
Such organisations do irreparable damage to those legitimate and competent tradespeople who have trained over a period of years to achieve accredited qualifications. We are currently working with the Trading Standards Institute to explore additional ways to defeat this problem.”
The recognised industry standard is a National Vocational, or Scottish Vocational Qualification (NVQ/SVQ) at level 3.
These training programmes are the only qualifications recognised by the sector and Government to prove competence as qualified tradespersons.
(CL/SP)
