The Construction NVQ is designed to provide training in the skills and knowledge you need to perform your chosen trade to a specified level. Each NVQ Level is identifiable with the Levels achievable in other trades and other industries.
So anyone who has a Construction NVQ Level 2, no matter what their trade, has a level of skill and job competence that is seen as comparable.
The important phrase here is “seen as”. You may in actual fact have a much higher degree of skill than the one attached to your current Construction NVQ Level. Which is why the qualifications you obtain in the trade are important.
The Construction NVQ and Your Job
Certain roles in the industry require a minimum amount of experience, knowledge and time served. Your Level of Construction NVQ is seen as an indicator of all these things.
If you don’t already hold a Construction NVQ at the Level necessary for your current role you will need to get one. If you are looking for a specific position, you will need to enroll in the Construction NVQ Level suited to that position.
What If I Already Have the Experience – Why Do I Still Need the Construction NVQ?
You need the Construction NVQ because without it you won’t be able to apply for the CSCS Card appropriate to your role. CSCS Cards are an industry wide way of telling that you have the skills, the competence and the Health and Safety knowledge appropriate to the job that you do. In the modern building industry, having those skills is no longer enough: you have to be able to prove, in line with the official system, that you have them.
The Construction NVQ and the CSCS Card
The CSCS Card you are entitled to hold is linked to the Construction NVQ Level you have achieved. So if your job requires you to have a Construction NVQ Level 2, it also requires you to hold a Blue CSCS Card for Skilled Workers.
• The Red CSCS Card is for workers who are enrolled in, but have yet to achieve, an NVQ Level
• The Green CSCS Card is for Site Skills only (default NVQ Level 1)
• The Blue CSCS Card is for workers with Construction NVQ Level 2
• The Gold CSCS Card is for workers/supervisors with NVQ Level 3
• The Black CSCS Card is for managers with NVQ Level 4 or higher.
The Red CSCS Card Explained
In the context of Construction NVQ Levels and your on the job skills, the Red CSCS Card is normally held by a worker who already has the skills necessary to hold his or her position – but who hasn’t yet achieved the NVQ Level he or she needs in order to own the Blue CSCS Card or the Gold CSCS Card
While you are studying for the NVQ that endorses your actual skill level (you can do this on the job, so you don’t need to worry about taking time off work), you can hold the Red CSCS Card as a stopgap.