The Latest News From Bovey Construction Ltd

June, 2005

WHAT FUTURE FOR THE BUILDING INDUSTRY?

Commenting on the recent report by the Adult Learning Inspectorate, Building the Future, on skills training in the building industry, Neil Turner, managing director of Bovey Construction, said: “It seems to be that we’re not so much building the industry’s future as taking it apart brick by brick.”

According to the report, the industry is currently short of 300,000 skilled workers it needs to complete contracts already planned. Yet, only 34 per cent nationally of National Vocation Qualification trainees complete their NVQ level 2, now accepted in the building industry as the minimum skills level. This means that not only will a high proportion of these contracts finish late, but we also have an escalating skills crisis.

For the Ashburton firm, where 70 per cent of site workers have a level 2 or 3 qualification and all site managers have, or are working towards, a management NVQ, it is the long-term message that is really concerning. “As an Investor in People company, we are very committed to training here – and you have to be, as far as NVQs are concerned, as they are very bureaucratic. And yet my men complain of unfocused courses with too little time spent on trade skills.”

This supports the report findings, where employers complained of bureaucracy and inflexibility. The problem, according to Mr Turner, is that NVQs come as part of a Modern Apprenticeship package, designed primarily for school-leavers. “In theory, employers can request that their staff drop the add-on units and focus on trade skills, but this doesn’t happen. This inflexibility could explain the high drop-out rate.”

The problem, according to Mr Turner, is that the training has become a catch-all, resulting in casualties particularly among more mature workers. Not only is there the employed worker who wants a streamlined, focused course in order to upgrade his skills, but there is the unresolved issue of those who have experience and skills, but need the piece of paper that proves this. “The existing NVQ fails both these groups.”
One option is for employers who want their staff to have specialised training - and the necessary NVQ - is to set up on-site assessment and training, where the employer provides the training and college validators and assessors monitor it. But this is time-consuming for the employer, whose primary function is to run a profitable business.

Asked to comment on these issues, Peter Mercy, head of construction at South Devon College, said: “Construction NVQs are designed round the needs of companies and we believe they achieve a balance between work and college-based evidence.

“I appreciate the problems encountered by experienced workers whose prior skills and learning are not fully acknowledged at present. To resolve this, South Devon College is considering piloting the Experienced Workers’ Assessment, whereby candidates attend college purely to have skills assessed and to complete a portfolio of evidence. This could be ideal for experienced staff, as it streamlines the process.”