New Streetworks Course Codes for April 2017

On the 6th April 2017, new regulations for Streetworks Qualifications came into force in England. Project Skills Solutions will keep the old course codes to avoid confusion, if you are unsure of the course code you need call our friendly team who will be able to explain the changes in more detail.

1. Key points
2. Introduction
3. Getting qualified
4. Certificates
5. Renewing certificates
6. Converting to the new style streetworks card
7. Working across UK borders

1. Key Points

• On 6 April 2017, new regulations come into force in England, The Street Works (Qualifications of Operatives and Supervisors) (England) Regulations 2016.
• You will not have to do anything to move to the new system that the regulations are introducing.
• The changes will not affect your existing certificates or street works cards – they will remain valid until they expire.
• There will be no requirement to hold any particular combination of (non-key) certificates – you will be able to tailor your certificates for the work you actually do.
• If you renew your old style certificates on a like-for-like basis, you will be reassessed in the same subjects as before.
• On renewal, your old style certificates will automatically be converted to their new equivalents.
• Each certificate will have its own expiry date – there will no longer be a card expiry date.

2. Introduction

There are four tiers to the training and accreditation regime.

• The registration body maintains the street works qualifications register and issues street works cards.
  Awarding organisations approve assessment centres, issue certificates and notify the registration body.
• Awarding organisations eligible to award street works qualifications are listed on the registration body’s web site at swqr.org.uk/SWQR/Home.
• Approved assessment centres assess candidates, inform the relevant awarding organisation and apply to the registration body for certificates to be registered. They can also provide training.
• Candidates – You can be qualified as an operative, a supervisor, or both. A supervisor qualification does not mean you are qualified to work as an operative. However, if you hold operative and supervisor qualifications, you will be qualified to work as either, or both.

3. Getting qualified

If you are new to street works you first need to attend an approved assessment centre. The centre will assess you in theoretical knowledge and practical skills in your chosen subjects. You can ask for training before assessment if you want it but it is not compulsory.

If you pass the assessment, the centre will notify its awarding organisation and the registration body. The awarding organisation will also contact the registration body and confirm that they have awarded you a certificate and the date they issued it. The registration body will then record the certificate on the street works register and issue you with a street works card. Each certificate on the card will last for 5 years from the certification date, i.e. the date the awarding organisation issued the certificate.

4. Certificates

There were 16 units before – now there are 16 certificates (the units have become individual certificates). The new certificate structure is as follows:

Key certificate for both operatives and supervisors:

• LA – Location & avoidance of underground apparatus

Operative (O-series) certificates:

• O1 – Signing, lighting and guarding (Key certificate)
• O2 – Excavation in the highway
• O3 – Reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials
• O4 – Reinstatement of sub-base and base in non-bituminous materials
• O5 – Reinstatement in cold lay bituminous materials
• O6 – Reinstatement in hot-lay bituminous materials
• O7 – Reinstatement of concrete slabs
• O8 – Reinstatement of modular surfaces, concrete footways

Supervisor (S-series) certificates:

• S1 – Monitoring signing, lighting and guarding (Key certificate)
• S2 – Monitoring excavation in the highway
• S3 – Monitoring reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials
• S4 – Monitoring reinstatement of sub-base and base in non-bituminous materials
• S5 – Monitoring reinstatement in bituminous materials
• S6 – Monitoring reinstatement of concrete slabs
• S7 – Monitoring reinstatement of modular surfaces, concrete footways

LA and O1 are the two key certificates for operatives. If you are an operative, you therefore need the following to be qualified to excavate or reinstate:

• LA – Location & avoidance of underground apparatus;
• O1 – Signing, lighting and guarding; and
• The relevant O-certificate(s), from O2 to O8.

LA and S1 are the two key certificates for supervisors. If you are a supervisor, you therefore need the following to be qualified to monitor excavation or reinstatement:

• LA – Location & avoidance of underground apparatus;
• S1 – Monitoring signing, lighting and guarding; and
• The relevant S-certificate(s), from S2 to S7.

There will be no requirement to hold any particular combination of non-key certificates. As long as you hold the key certificates, you will be able to choose to hold as many or as few of the others as you like to suit the work that you do. For example, if you only wanted to be qualified to carry out reinstatement in hot-lay 8 bituminous materials, you would need the two key operative certificates plus certificate O6. The above applies similarly to supervisors.

Key certificates will appear on the front of the card, others will appear on the back. Key certificates must be valid for the others to be valid. In summary:

• If O1 expires, all O-certificates on the back of the card become invalid;
• If S1 expires, all S-certificates on the back of the card become invalid;
• If LA expires, every certificate on the back of the card becomes invalid.

If a key certificate expires, you won’t lose the other certificates altogether – they will become valid again once the expired key certificate is renewed.

Compared with old unit numbers

5. Renewing certificates

If you are an existing card-holder and you decide to renew your certificates on a like-for-like basis, you will be reassessed in exactly the same subjects as before. For example, if you are renewing an old style operative certificate in Reinstatement of construction layers in hot-lay and cold-lay bituminous materials, you would be reassessed in LA, O1, O5 and O6 (i.e. units 1, 2, 6 and 7 under the old system). The main difference will be the way the certificates appear on your new card.

You won’t need to be reassessed in the key certificates more than once every 5 years. As long as they are current, you can add as many other certificates as you like, and when you like.

After 6 April 2017, you can keep using your old style card until it expires. If you add a new certificate before the old style expires, a new style card will be issued to you showing the new certificate together with any unexpired certificates from your previous card. The unexpired certificates will be converted to their new equivalents while retaining their original expiry dates. Your new style streetworks card will no longer have an expiry date. Every new certificate will last for 5 years so each one will have it’s own expiry date.

You will be able to renew any certificate at any point in it’s lifetime. You can renew certificates by reassessment but you can renew certificates by undergoing the original assessment if you want to. Training is not compulsory but assessment centres can provide it if you want it.

When a certificate approaches expiry you will be able to renew it at any time in its last year without losing the unexpired portion. For example, if you renew a certificate with 10 months life left in it, the renewed certificate will last for 5 years and 10 months.

You can also renew a certificate when it has more than a year left to go. In this case the renewed certificate will last for a fixed 6 years. You might want to do this if you have certificates expiring at different dates and want to renew them all at the same time.

A certificate is not valid once it has expired but it can be renewed by reassessment at any time up to 5 years after this date. This may be useful if you stop doing street works for a while then decide to return to the industry.

6. Converting to the new style streetworks card

This will happen automatically when your old style card expires – there is no need for you to convert to the new style by a certain date. However, if you add a new certificate to your old style card, the replacement card will be to the new style.

The new style cards will be as shown below (although in practice, there may be some minor differences). The examples shown are for someone who holds all the possible operative and/or supervisor qualifications, as appropriate.

The main points to note are that:

• there is no card expiry date;
• each certificate has its own expiry date;
• key certificates are listed on the front of the card;
• other certificates are listed on the rear;
• security features have been added; and
• a QR or Quick Response code (the square box looking like a small crossword puzzle) has been added. It will contain the main data on the card.

7. Working across UK borders

Street works certificates continue to be technically equivalent throughout the UK. The only condition is that any non-English certificate over 5 years old has to have been renewed by reassessment (or assessment). If, after 6 April 2017, you have certificate that was renewed by simply re-registering it, it will not be valid in England. However, if you renew re-registered certificates by undergoing assessment, you will be qualified to work in England.

For example, a certificate in Excavation in the highway in Wales/Northern Ireland or Excavation in the road in Scotland will be equivalent in England to:

• LA Location and avoidance of underground apparatus;
• O1 Signing, lighting and guarding; and
• O2 Excavation in the highway.

It follows that an English operative will need to hold LA, O1 and O2 to be technically equivalent to holding Excavation in the highway in Wales/Northern Ireland or Excavation in the road in Scotland.

Tables 1 and 2 cover all the new English certificates and their equivalents in the UK. These two Tables of Equivalence will also appear on the web site of SQA, the UK registration body for street works.

The Scottish Government is in the process of introducing similar changes to The Road Works (Qualifications of Supervisors and Operatives) (Scotland) Regulations 1992. When these come into force, there will be a direct correlation between Scottish certificates and post April 2017 English certificates.

Dft: Guidance for operatives and supervisors