Sustainability is the watchword for the construction industry these days, even when it comes to demolition. The most destructive part of the construction industry can often be one of the most renewable and energy efficient, thanks to a keen emphasis on regeneration, land preparation and reuse. Holders of the affiliate CSCS Card for Demolition Operatives (the CCDO Card) could well be working in the most environmentally friendly part of the site!
Regenerating Land for Future Use: the CSCS Card and the Demolition Company
The motto of the demolition industry should be “clearing the way for the future”. If you hold an affiliate CSCS Card for Demolition Operatives, you’re part of a team that works to extract as much value from a demolition site as it can, before it gets it ready for the next building project to take place on it.
The affiliate CSCS Cards that qualifies you to perform site clearance and strategic demolition will get you work in companies that can pull tons of reusable wiring and metal from the ground, as well as generating enough crushed material to form foundation bases or create new road infrastructure.
Renewable Resources and the CSCS Card
As green building (and demolition) becomes standard across the construction industry, your CSCS Card is becoming indicative of a new set of skills. The reclamation of resources on a demolition site can be huge, provided that your company has the knowledge and planning in place to take advantage of it.
The site can provide base materials not only for its own future use but for other local construction projects…. and whatever is not used directly can be processed, recycled and sold. The more resources you can regenerate from a demolition site, the smaller the cost of future building projects on and around it will be.
Getting Work in the Demolition Industry
Like all construction roles, the demolition worker is only as employable as his or her CSCS Card makes them.
The CSCS Card denotes the level of Construction NVQ (or trade equivalent qualification) that you have achieved and also endorses you as a possessor of the appropriate Health Safety Test (or again, the correct industry equivalent).
As a Demolition Operative you will need to possess a CCDO Card (as noted above, the Demolition affiliate CSCS Card) and to have passed the National Demolition Training Group Health Safety Test.
Why is the CSCS Card so Important?
Without a CSCS Card, your prospective employer has no way of measuring your current standard of competence, skill and health and safety knowledge against competing candidates.
Because of this the vast majority of UK building sites and large contractors have implemented schemes that only offer work to candidates with the correct CSCS Card in their possession. To have the right CSCS Card for your role it must show that you have a Construction NVQ Level (or trade equivalent) that matches the skill level required for the job.