Page 24 - Plumbheat Magazine

Snipef Diary
SNIPEF Diary Autumn 2017
Fiona Hodgson, SNIPEF CEO
SOUTH EAST REGIONAL COLLEGE (SERC) – Belfast, 5 June
Duncan Wilson and I were fortunate to
be invited to visit SERC’s new professional Skills Centre in Nutts Corner which is due to open in September. Paul Henry of SERC and our own SNIPEF member, David Taylor showed us round what will no doubt be an impressive facility to upskill both engineers already working in the sector as well as apprentices.
SERC in partnership with the Health and Social Care Trust have developed a course, Control of Water-borne Infections within Healthcare, to help prevent the outbreak of legionnaire’s disease and improve patient safety. The training covers the management of water hygiene, the control measures that should be in place and how organisations can stay compliant with the updated Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Approved Code of Practice and the Department of Health’s Healthcare Technical Memorandum 04-01.
Department for the Economy – Belfast, 5 June
Apprentices must follow the relevant apprenticeship framework when completing NVQ Level 3. The framework specifies the standards and criteria for the delivery of Level 3 within the Plumbing and Heating Industry. In the past the content
of this framework was agreed between
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the Department for Employment and Learning and SummitSkills. As a result of the demise of SummitSkills earlier this year, SNIPEF together with APHC and BPEC have set up the Plumbing and Heating Skills Partnership (PHSP) to ensure that appropriate and consistent standards, qualifications and apprenticeships continue to be available across the UK. This meeting with the Department was to discuss SNIPEF’s role in skills development within the industry.
SNIPEF SkillPlumb Apprentice Competition – Dundee, 10 June
A big thank you to Dundee and Angus College who hosted the 2017 SNIPEF Apprentice Competition and to Wolseley, Worcester, SNIJIB and BPEC who provided sponsorship for the event. I really enjoyed meeting with the apprentices and seeing the quality of their work. Their commitment and enthusiasm is infectious.
Specialist Engineering Contractors (SEC) Group Scotland – Edinburgh, 13 June
The Group considered the implications for the industry as a result of the Cole Report. This report had been commissioned by the Scottish Government as a result of damage to a school in Edinburgh which was constructed under a PFI initiative.
We also discussed issues relating to adjudication concluding that there was
a general lack of knowledge about adjudication from sub-contractors and that the issues were exacerbated by the time taken to complete cases, the cost and the likelihood that decisions would be referred to the courts. Following on from these discussions SNIPEF is able to offer its members Workshops on Commercial Issues which will be held in Falkirk Stadium on Friday 29 September - a must for any
member involved in contracts (see page 6 for details).
BPEC – Derby, 15 - 16 June
There are three BPEC companies: BPEC Training Ltd, BPEC Services Ltd and BPEC Certification Ltd. SNIPEF member George Thomson is Chairman of the Group and SNIPEF sits on the Board. The Board meets regularly to discuss the activities and performance of the companies which include a charity, certification body and trading company.
Specialist Engineering Contractors Group (SEC) – London, 27 June
The SEC Group is a group of six Trade Associations (SNIPEF, SELECT, BESA,
BCSA, ECA, LEIA) and is actively lobbying Government to mandate that cash retentions be placed in trust. Cash retentions remain a huge problem in the construction industry. At any one time £120 million of retention is outstanding in public sector construction very few firms ever receiving the full amount back to which they are entitled.
The Group has recently received tremendous support from Alan Brown MP who prior to the dissolution of Parliament, urged the Government to provide a solution to the outdated practice of retentions and had tabled a draft bill which would ring- fence retention sums. Since his re-election Alan has continued to carry on the campaign against retentions and his colleague Stuart McDonald MP only recently questioned
the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy on this very matter.
PHSP – Derby, 29 June
As mentioned earlier APHC, BPEC and SNIPEF have formed a partnership to establish the Plumbing and Heating Skills Partnership (PHSP). This new Skills
Autumn 2017