Landmark qualifications for Sweeps and Installers

The Chimney Occupations National Occupational Standards National Working Group (CO-NOS-NWG) recently concluded its review work with the publication of the new National Occupational Standards (NOS).

The Standards outline the expected competencies required by the installer and sweep trades. The industry- led review focused on identifying the knowledge and applied skills needed to take the sector’s trades forward with confidence through the current and future environmental, building regulation reforms, and the technological innovations from industry. The NOS review represents a landmark for the industry’s trades in its analysis of the training needs for the sectors Education and Training providers.

The Chimney Occupations NOS published by and on behalf of the four nations outline the sector’s future identified training needs. The new NOS reflect the interests and views of the sectors Trade Associations, Competent Persons Schemes, Stakeholders, Manufacturers, and individual practitioners – including trainers, and assessors. The review provided the platform for an in-depth analysis of the present and future training needs of the workforce within the sector.

The purpose of the review was to provide industry led intelligence to support the sector in making informed decisions of how best to develop and support the workforce to meet the challenges and opportunities for higher standards of technical education and training. This included the development of two new level two NVQs and the industry’s first level three qualification.

The key conclusions were that, while providers and those working in the sector felt their recent training development activities met some but not all the identified required skills needed, there were key areas of knowledge and applied skills that needed further development and focus.

They felt there is scope for additional training to be developed to meet the challenges the sector faces in the current climate of environmental reforms and technological innovations, with the focus on elevating standards across the sector’s two trades of installation and sweeping, and service and maintenance. The new NOS provides the industry agreed framework of required competencies for present and future training and qualifications to be referenced and mapped to.

The Chimney Occupational Standards can be viewed at: https:// www.ukstandards.org.uk/ NOS-Finder#k=chimney%20 occupations