Page 2 - INDEX Autumn 2024

C S A SPE CIAL

RE C OGNITION AWARD

OK, so, the final award Since that action was taken, many members have taken the
of the evening. The CSA time to mention the upturn in attitude and attention, the vastly
Special Contribution increased level of activities and the notable widening of the
Award. Now, previously, association’s interactions. You have already heard about some
this award was labelled of the contributions the CSA has made to and with other bodies
the ‘Lifetime Achievement such as BSRIA, CIBSE, the BESA and, of course, the recruitment of
Award’ but we’ve decided our Technical Officer and very recently the CEO.
that this was too limiting –
and we’re running short of The unbelievable change round in the way we work has been
old fogies to give it to. So, quite something to see and the recipients of the award have been
we’ve changed things up a at the very centre of that. Those of you who are paying attention
bit. The award remains in might have noticed that I said ‘recipients’ – plural.
the gift of the CSA, but the
change of name allows the No matter how hard we members work for the CSA, without a
association to recognise first-class administrative team behind us nothing would come to
anyone who has made a fruition. And let’s remember that the team I’m talking about were
particularly important or thrust into the forefront of our activities with little or no warning.
significant contribution to But they did not let it faze them:
its activities. • They work seamlessly together
• They are always available
You may remember that a couple of years ago the CSA reached • Nothing is ever too much trouble
a bit of a watershed and the Executive Committee realised that • Things are always done PDQ
the association was not operating as they felt it should do. They
identified what needed to be done and, quite bravely I think, These two are, without doubt, the most-deserving people for this
took the necessary action. The result was, frankly, nothing less year’s award. I give you our very own dynamic duo, Joanne Rowe
than extraordinary. and Kate McIntyre.

SKILL CARD AND EXAM S

GETTING A SKILLCARD VIA THE CSA TRAINING ROUTE the integrity of our system – and we won’t. Please don’t ask………
First of all, please be clear. It is not the CSA that requires anyone Which leads us on to:
to prove their competence to work on a building site. It is not the
BESA that requires anyone to prove their competence to work ONLINE EXAMS VIA THE BESA SYSTEM
on a building site. It is the Construction Leadership Council that Following on from our success in getting CSA training material
has recommended this course of action following the detailed accepted by the BESA, we have now had a number of people
investigations and reports that emanated from the Grenfell sitting the relevant examinations via the BESA online proctored
disaster. exam system called ‘Proctortrack’. That system is used for all the
BESA training not just the CSA. It is very sophisticated and has
As part of that recommendation, the long-held practice of been refined over time so as to provide an accurate review of a
Industry Accreditation – often referred to as ‘Grandfather Rights’ candidate’s actions during the process.
– no longer exists. There is nothing the CSA (or the BESA!) can do
about that. There have been a number of instances where the
BESA have come back to the CSA with evidence that
Secondly, the CSA has spent a lot of time and effort working with an examinee has used, or tried to use, some type
the BESA to get our training material accepted as demonstrating of device (other than the permitted simple mathematical
the necessary competence. In order to achieve that aim, there calculator) to assist with their answers. We strongly recommend
has to be a system of checks and audits in place that allows the that every applicant takes care to ensure that all such devices
BESA to be assured that the CSA is operating the system correctly. are put completely away before the room scan at the beginning
The CSA is thus subject to the BESA carrying out random checks of the exam – unless you are using your smart phone to complete
and detailed audits of our operation whenever they so choose. the scan. In that case put it away before starting the
exam itself. That way we all avoid any
The upshot is that you must follow the CSA Path of Development if misunderstandings.
you want to obtain a SKILLcard via our training system. There are
no shortcuts. There are no ‘nods and winks’ that get you a grade Also remember that the Proctortrack system continues to monitor
without any effort or evidence. We cannot afford to jeopardise you and the room throughout the exam.

Keith Barker – CSA Chairman