Criminal checks guidance for Construction Diploma contractors

Guidance on how to check the criminal records of construction staff training work placement students on the Construction and the Built Environment Diploma is published this week.

The guidance has been put together by the Civil Engineering Contractors’ Association (CECA) working with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) after the Association raised concerns that the Department’s original guidance was too vague.

Contractors signing up to the new Construction Diploma scheme will be required to provide  up to ten days of supervised work experience for students as young as 14.  

Under the law employees coming into contact with students less than 18 years old may be required to undergo a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

CECA’s new guidance helps to clarify issues surrounding the CRB checks such as who needs to undergo a CRB check and what the outcomes of a CRB check can be.

CECA Director of Training, Joe Johnson, one of the principal architects of the guidance, commented:

“This guidance will provide employers with the information they need about CRB. It cuts through the ‘political speak’ of official guidance and provides advice in a language that employers will understand.”

The guidance is available on CECA’s website.