DOORS&WINDOWS
FENSA ANNOUNCES SANCTIONS
FOR NON-COMPLIANCE
FENSA has received confirmation from UKAS* that it has met the Conditions
of Authorisation required by the Department of Communities and Local
Government (DCLG) - the rules under which FENSA operates.
This means that it has been accepted that a
successfully transitioned FENSA Certified
installation company will have met all the
competency requirements of Transition –
including for staff competence.
The FENSA certification approach requires
the introduction of a sanctions policy that
will be levelled at those registered businesses
that do not complete a Transition Inspection
by the deadline of 6 June 2014. These are the
details.
‘A non-transitioned
registered business will
find its FENSA account
frozen from 9 June’
A non-transitioned registered business will
find its FENSA account frozen from 9 June
(and will be informed of this at the point
of notification on the FENSA website).
To unfreeze the account, the installer will
need to contact FENSA via the dedicated
Transition Helpline or Email (020 7397 7208
/ [email protected]).
These businesses will be required to make
a commitment to undertake a Transition
Inspection before the 1st September 2014.
Immediately they make that commitment the
FENSA account will be unfrozen. The FENSA
inspections body (the BBA) will then be in
contact to arrange this Transition Inspection.
‘Required to make
a commitment to
undertake a Transition
Inspection before 1st
September 2014’
Registered Businesses with ‘frozen’ FENSA
accounts will be prevented from registering
notifiable installations and will no longer have
the company listing publicly available on the
FENSA website.
42
JUL 2014
From the 1st September 2014, where
Non-Transitioned registered businesses fail
to follow these procedures and fail to inform
FENSA of a notifiable installation for a
Transition Inspection, the following additional
sanctions will apply. The FENSA account
will be frozen until a Transition Inspection has
been successfully undertaken and failure to
complete a Transition Inspection by the 31st
December 2014 may result in the registration
being suspended and the issuing of a 28-day
notice of registration removal.
The position regarding Minimum Technical
Competencies (MTCs) is clarified as follows.
Up to 31 May 2015 a FENSA registered
company is required to employ operatives
(installers and surveyors) who are deemed
competent, or are adequately supervised
by competent colleagues, to ensure that a
job complies with Building Regulations
and is safely completed. Demonstration of
competence during this period could be by the
holding of an industry recognised competency
card and/or qualification.
‘This Staff Competency
Register will be available
on the FENSA website’
The FENSA registered business will need to
record that its staff comply by maintaining a
register of approved surveyors and installers.
This Staff Competency Register will be
available on the FENSA website.
After 31 May 2015 all relevant installers,
surveyors and installer/surveyors will need to
prove competency – by holding a recognised
card or relevant qualification.
Chris Mayne, FENSA managing director
commented: “FENSA, and the other glazing
CPSs, operate under 21 Conditions of
Authorisation set down by the government
(DCLG). FENSA is assessed against these
Conditions by UKAS. Condition 9, which
all CPSs have to meet, requires us to assess
registered businesses on technical competency
against national occupational standards under
MTC.” Mayne adds: “This means that our
registered businesses that have transitioned
to Certified Installer will be deemed
compliant.”
“To help the industry achieve this FENSA
will be launching a Staff Competency Register
in the summer (available online to companies
that have Transitioned) for companies to
record the status of their employees and subcontractors. Compliance will be assessed by
BBA during its usual inspections.”
‘sanctions in place that will
apply to companies that do
not follow this procedure’
“However, the competency requirements
move forward, post 31 May 2015, to focus
on the individual installers and surveyors.
All operatives who work for self-certifying
installation companies will need to hold a
competency card (like the FENSA MTC
Card) or relevant qualifications. They will
need to demonstrate that this is the case.”
There will be sanctions in place that will
apply to companies that do not follow this
procedure – and they will include inspections,
re-inspections, suspensions and potential
cancellation of FENSA registration.
The employment of competent operatives
by self-certifying installation businesses is a
requirement of all glazing Competence Person
Schemes. If a company wishes to continue
self-certifying it will need to state that it has
a competent workforce. The easiest route
to achieve this is by getting its operatives
registered for the FENSA MTC Card – and
selecting either the industry experience or
qualifications route - www.fensa.org.uk
*UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) – is
the sole national accreditation body
recognised by government to assess against
agreed standards for organisations that
provide certification, testing, inspection &
calibration services.
To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com