PCA Weekly News - 3rd October 2020
In your weekly PCA update this week:
- Ground-breaking Moisture Diagnostic Tool Now LIVE!
- Green Homes Grant Scheme is Launched
- Qualifications to be Proud of!
- PCA Apprenticeship & CITB Funding
- Webinar: Green Homes Grant and “Shallow” Retrofit
- HSE’s Construction Health Inspection Initiative
- Updated Guidance on Face Coverings
- Training: Safe Use of Biocides
Ground-breaking Moisture Diagnostic Tool Now LIVE!
We are delighted to announce to members that our ground-breaking Building Moisture Index (BMI) Reporting Tool is now live and what is more, is exclusive to PCA members! This is an innovative diagnostic and reporting tool like no other in the market, helping surveyors to better understand moisture imbalance within UK homes and buildings.
As the tool is exclusively for PCA members, we will be sharing more detailed information with you over the next week or so. We can also arrange for you to borrow a set of sensors and we will explain how to use them through a step-by-step guide, instructions for installation in the dwellings and how to download the information that we will process for you.
Sound interesting? Want more detailed information on the tool and what it can deliver? ARE YOU interested in the tool? Then get in touch with Paula on 01480 400000 / [email protected].
Click to Read More >>
Green Homes Grant Scheme is Launched
We’ve talked about it and we’ve blogged about it. Well, the BIGGEST upgrade to our nation’s homes and buildings, known as the ‘Green Homes Grant Scheme’ was officially launched on Wednesday, as scheduled.
Your Association will be keeping a close eye on this scheme and all communications to ensure that you, our members, have access to every opportunity.
There is a wealth of help, information and guidance available via our new ‘Hub’ for Homeowners & PCA members and your customers, as well as a breakdown of the opportunities you can get involved in! Members can click on the button below to access…
Click for More Info >>
Qualifications to be Proud of!
It has been over two years since we relaunched our CSTB qualification into the CSTDB preservation qualification, and achieving this is no ‘walk in the park’. PCA Technical Manager James Berry reflects and shares his thoughts on the relaunched PCA qualifications in his latest blog and looks at what actually changed and what it actually takes to gain the qualification. For damp and timber surveyors…it’s NOW the benchmark for standards in the industry!
Click on the button below to read more…
Click to Read More >>
PCA Apprenticeship & CITB Funding
The Coronavirus pandemic impacted our apprenticeship programme heavily. CITB reviewed the allocation of funded spaces for apprentices for both our preservation and waterproofing apprenticeships and took the decision to reduce this number. Disappointingly this meant that we would not be able to run the next new intake of our sector apprenticeship programmes.
However, we appealed this decision and are very pleased to inform members that we have been granted the additional funding allocation, which ensures members will continue to have the opportunity to book onto these programmes. The dates for the next intake are as follows:
Damp & Timber Apprenticeship Programme: December 2020
Structural Waterproofing Apprenticeship Programme: February 2021
To find out more about the apprenticeship programme, or to secure a place please contact Jade on 01480 400000 / [email protected].
Click for More Info >>
Webinar: Green Homes Grant & “Shallow” Retrofit
How do we anticipate and design out problems before retrofitting a building or home? Join us and PCA’s CEO Steve Hodgson on Thursday 29th October 2020 from 9-10am as he shares his advice on the ‘Green Homes Grant scheme and the effects of “shallow” retrofit’.
With the new scheme helping to stimulate the construction industry and encourage energy saving measures to help save the planet while improving the comfort of homeowners, how do we help ensure these welcomed planet saving measures do not become a ‘blight’ within peoples homes?
Click on the button below to find out more and register.
Click for More Info >>
HSE’s Construction Health Inspection Initiative
From Monday 5th to Friday 30th October, HSE will be carrying out its latest construction health inspection initiative, which has two main purposes:
- To support HSE’s continuing strategy to improve the health of construction workers
- To align with the wider government agenda to get people back to workplaces safely and so support economic recovery
Asbestos and dust are slow killers and we urge our PCA members to remain aware of how dangerous and hazardous to someone’s health such substances can be. HSE Inspectors will look to ensure those involved with construction projects, know the risks, plan their work and use the right controls.
We alert members to where poor standards are found, enforcement action will be taken by HSE. For further information please click on the button below.
Click for More Info >>
Updated Guidance on Face Coverings
Members are alerted to the updated guidance on the ‘Use of Face Coverings in Construction during Coronavirus (COVID-19)’ from the Construction Leadership Council (CLC). The guidance now recommends that face coverings are worn where workers on site are not required to wear Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) and their workplace (which may include welfare/changing facilities, office/meetings rooms) meets all of the following criteria:
- an enclosed space;
- where social distancing isn’t always possible; and
- where they come into contact with others they do not normally meet
Please also note that in line with Government guidance on premises providing hospitality, face coverings must be worn in site canteens except when seated at a table to eat or drink.
Click on the button below to access the new guidance.
Click to View >>
Training: Safe Use of Biocides
Safe Use of Biocides
Date: 14th October 2020
Location: PCA Head Office, Huntingdon
Cost: Just £95 +VAT
>> Need more information on the course – click here
Designed for technicians, tradesmen or anyone that works with and uses biocides on a regular basis, the course provides candidates with the skills and confidence to carry out timber treatments to the highest industry standard, covering:
- Wood preservatives and biocides
- Causes of wood decay and basic identification skills
- Environmental control as part of remedial treatment
- Practical application skills & legislative framework
Candidates who pass will receive a ‘Professional Biocide User’ identification card and be added to the Professional Users of Biocides Register.
Contact the training team today on 01480 400 000 or email [email protected]
Click for More Info >>
Remember to keep in the loop…
Find out the latest news instantly by following the PCA via our social media channels:
Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on twitter