Local builders excel at NHBC training

Nine builders from Northern Ireland have recently completed a tough NHBC (National House Building Council) training programme specifically designed for house builders.

Belfast Castle provided the backdrop for a ceremony marking their achievements and The Lord Glentoran, chairman of NHBC's Northern Ireland committee, made special presentations to each site manager.

Successful students included William Carse and Dominic Quinn, both Carvill Group Ltd, Liam McCauley, Paul Taggart and Jason McCullough, all Patton Homes, and Paul Devine, White Mountain Construction.

The men have all completed the NHBC's Site Manager Accreditation Programme, which builds on existing skills to help candidates run safe, smooth and efficient operations. This achievement incorporates the NVQ Level 4 in Building Site Management, covering eight assessment areas including personal organisation, customer relations and safe working systems.

Tom Kirk, NHBC director of Northern Ireland, said: "I am delighted to see this level of achievement. One of the attractions of the programme is that it is tailor-made for house builders. This training develops the skills needed to manage busy housing projects.

"It offers one-to-one guidance, mentoring and assessment on-site, minimising the time spent away from work. By investing in this programme, local house builders have sent a clear message that they care about the quality of their work and about developing their staff."

Yvonne McVeigh, NHBC training officer for Northern Ireland, added: "For homeowners, this programme is good news. It means that the person in charge of building their house will be trained and examined to more exacting standards than ever before. This should give buyers added confidence that their new home is built to the highest quality." (CL)