MCS Consultation re: competence

[SibertSolar]

Spotted this today, deadline for feedback 9th July. Thought some on here might find it interesting....

MCS - Online Consultation

 

[The Solar King]

Already been reading this Andy. Still a lot more to digest.

The principals behind this are excellent. Some of it is a little OTT if you are small and at the bottom of the food chain in the same way that certain aspects of MCS001 are.

In terms of hands on the job competencies, this is good and straight forward. There should be no cases anymore where people seem to think a Part P defined scope qualification gives the necessary skills and experience to install PV. Thankfully there is no such thing in Scotland.

Where there could be issues is at the so called designer and surveyor level. To undertake this work you need a working knowledge of those bits of BS7671 that impact on PV, a working knowledge of related regulation, a working knowledge of actions on structures, a working knowledge of those bits of the Building Regs that impact on PV, but you do not need the in-depth knowledge of someone who is specialist in each field. You do need the knowledge and experience to know when to call upon a specialist, eg a structural engineer for a non standard roof construction. All this kind of stuff is being asked for. How do we demonstrate we have this other than by the experienced worker route, and how will it be assessed? Have a look at this page: Company Criteria I am not quite sure how all this will pan out. All of the criteria can be found here: Company Criteria

Development within PV and other renewables can be fast moving. Ensuring competence is current is a challenge. The last thing needed is over-surveillance creating a parasitic industry we all end up paying for.

There also needs to be assurance that in areas of the experienced worker route (which would cover me in some aspects but not others), that only competence relevant to the job in hand is asked for. It is easy to forget how specialist a lot of what we do in both PV and Solar Thermal is. I came in to this to be a specialist in both technologies, not as an add on to being a plumber or electrician.

I have people with years of knowledge and experience in their fields who I work with, and don't need to know everything they do. That is why they are there and their qualifications are already recorded as key staff competencies within the subcontractor agreements I hold for each of them under MCS001. What is proposed will formalise this.

Do read through the criteria and see what you think.

 

[SibertSolar]

Thanks Peter, I haven't given it enough attention as yet, I'll have a good read through tomorrow. Anyone else have any initial thoughts?

 

[sedgy34]

someone should think of a good response and we all follow suit

 

[Gavin A]

I fully support the idea of competence within the MCS / Gemserve organisation.



once they've managed that, they could have a go at instilling some competence in DECC, OFGEM and the rest of the bodies that love telling us all what to do while they carry on making it up as they go along.

 

[solarsavings]

Gavin you have hit the nail on the head there mate.

 

[The Solar King]

Guys
You really need to read this consultation. I cannot see how any but the very largest businesses will not be immune from some of the Experienced Worker route to demonstrating competence. Some of the background documents and matrices have not been published yet. How is one supposed to comment without these?

There are so many different routes of entry to microgeneration, that demonstration of competency is vital. However, elctricians do not hold qualification in roofing. If you are the designated 'Technical Person' within a business how will you show you have everything needed? How do you show how and when you call on the skills of a specialist? eg a structural engineer. I have procedures in place for this, but will this be enough?

What is being proposed is very important. It is virtually impossible to drive anywhere without seeing non-compliant installations. My worry is that what is being proposed may do little to prevent this.

 

[Worcester]

Deliberate BUMP

SRE reminded me in the SunLounge that we only have untill Monday Night to respond.

Those kind boys over at Midsummer have made it easy to respond by providing an on-line form!

I suggest you chnage the words a little bit to suit your feelings / point of view

Fight the MCS 'Competence Criteria' proposals

MCS are proposing big changes to the qualifications requirements for all PV installers. The changes could be disastrous for small installation companies.

Fight the changes by clicking here to use our simple tool to email MCS with your views. It will only take about 30 seconds. The more installers that respond, the better. Please stand up and be counted!

If the changes are approved then staff in installation companies will have to either attend lots more expensive training courses, or gain accreditation through an additional assessment for 'Experienced Workers'. A 'Category 1' installer will need to have spent at least four years in the industry, but given that the industry has only effectively existed since the FIT was introduced two years ago, hardly anyone will be able to take this route to accreditation. The rest of us are likely to be left with having to pay for more training courses.

MCS's own research showed that they needed to remove barriers for entry to the MCS scheme, and make the competence requirements simpler. They also found that attending training courses and holding qualifications did not relate to competence. But the scheme they have come up with adds more barriers, and relies entirely on more paperwork assessments and training courses.

The proposed new requirements are pointless. Installers are already inspected every year for compliance with the MCS standards, and if installations are not being done safely and to a high standard then MCS can (and should) ensure that an installer takes steps to improve their work. Having a sheaf of certificates to say you've attended several months of boring and expensive training courses does not make you a competent installer.

The only people who will benefit from the new requirements are the training centres and accreditation bodies, and we are sure that they will be lobbying hard for the new requirements to be brought in. Customers won't benefit - ultimately we have to pass on the additional costs imposed on us to our customers. Installation companies certainly won't benefit.

The full details of the MCS proposals are on the MCS website here. Do take a look - though they are so badly written it is not easy to decipher them. It's hard for small installation companies to stand up and be counted. We simply don't have the resources to put into lobbying that the accreditation bodies do. But if, like us, you don't believe more training courses and paperwork assessments are the right approach to ensuring good standards of installation, we've made it really easy for you to make your views known.

Email MCS with your views or click here to use our simple tool. It will only take about 30 seconds. The more installers that respond, the better. Please take a moment of your time now to save hours in a training centre later.

The deadline is 5pm on Monday. You can also fill in the official response to the consultation atmcs.online-consultation.co.uk. This is hard work as the response document is so poorly written and most of the questions are irrelevant - but if you can find time it is a good idea to do this as well.

Thanks for reading this. Hopefully by pulling together we can make MCS see sense and not smother the industry in mountains of extra paperwork.

 

[SolarRoofSols]

Just sent my response!

 

[Gavin A]

anyone still doing this... in the EWR document, please add the following paragraph or similar about the competence of the assessors who're going to be assessing us all.

4.2.1 Assessors
Assessors must be competent to the level of the Category 1 Installer in the relevant technology they are assessing.

 

[Gavin A]

that might stop us getting assessed for solar PV competence by gas fitters with no solar PV or electrical experience or training as happened to us last time.