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Fri March 29 2024

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Industry leaders add security to cards scheme

1 Dec 20 Any card carrying the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) logo will soon have to have an embedded smart chip to protect the integrity of the system.

CSCS cards are not a legal requirement but are accepted as an industry-standard requirement for all workers on most major construction sites.

There are various bodies that issue different trade-specific CSCS cards and most are already at some stage of integrating smart technology into their cards to improve security and efficiency.

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has updated its Industry Card Schemes Recommendation, which requires the use of cards carrying the CSCS logo, to increase the uptake of smart technology.

The Construction Leadership Council has set a deadline of 31st March 2022 for all card schemes to have smart technology . They must have the capability to electronically check agreed information relevant to a cardholder, using a common interface, without the need to manually enter data, the CLC says.

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CLC task force member Mark Reynolds said: “The CLC is keen to see technology used across the industry to enable everyone to access and use the information we hold to make better decisions.”

Mark Reyolds also said: “The need to validate and verify the training, qualification, skills and competence of construction workers has been brought into sharp focus since the Grenfell Tower fire,” suggesting that somehow the Grenfell Tower fire was the fault of the low-grade construction workers who put the cladding up, and not the bosses, the architects, the clients, the designers, the manufacturers, the marketing people, the building standards officers and all the others that are the subjects of the official inquiry – the people that specified, made, sold, approved and sanctioned the use of inappropriate materials – none of whom are required to have CSCS cards.

Although the Construction Leadership Council is run by the government's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, a spokesman clarified that the CLC was here addressing the issue of CSCS cards on behalf of the construction industry and not on behalf of the government. The government still has no formal position on the qualifications required to work on construction sites.

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