Painting and Decorating Certificate Mandatory?

[dodsdecorating]

I qualified as a Painter and Decorating nearly 20 years ago and went onto work for a company who at the time asked for my certificate and never gave it back.

I worked with the company for a number of years and then the company went bust and I was made redundant. For the past 8 years I've been working for a company but not as a painter and decorator, although I've always kept my hand in it and am still very confident with painting and decorating. I'm going to go self employed. Subcontracting to begin with and then working for myself.

The thing is, I don't have a certificate that shows my qualification. I have tried to obtain this with CiTB but no joy. It's becoming a real pain cause it was so long ago that I did my qualification.

Do you guys on here know if sub contracting companies will always require this or will they trial you and go from there? Do customers request to see your certificate?

Thanks for your help.

[Tom d'Angler]

I can't speak for sub-contracting companies as I never work work for them but...

Do customers request to see your certificate?

I have never been asked in nearly 11 years good job as I don't have one

Customer testimonials and referrals are far more effective for getting business than any formal education.

[dynamod]

Never had a customer asking for certificates. I've not seen mine since Stock, Aitken & Waterman were in the charts, and was never asked for it then or since. Reputation is far more important than bits of paper in all honesty, and a tradesman tends to be as good as his last job/reputation.

I wouldn't worry about it TBH. Subbing may require a CSCS card though, depending on the nature of the work.

[dodsdecorating]

Thanks both. Phew puts my mind at ease. I can relax now and stop tormenting various organisations to try and retrieve my cert!!

Haha Stock, Aiken and Waterman

Good point on the CSCS card too.

[Have Brush Will Travel]

You need an NVQ to get a card now...I wont debate the rights and wrongs of that one!! lol...

You cant get copies of certificates if you qualified over 8 years ago (I think) but you can get confirmation that you are qualified.

I have never been asked for mine by a firm in 41 years of decorating..the 'interview' normally goes like this...

Do you need any painters?

Yeah

I have my advanced city and guilds

Never mind about them..how much are you looking for a day mate?

Personally I dont think you shouldn't be allowed to go self employed without a qualification and fully paid up insurance for a year (not monthly payments that can be cancelled tomorrow..

Harsh on the excellent decorators out there who dont hold formal qualifications..slack on the crap ones who do..but we all moan about the chancers etc out there so something drastic needs to be done to tighten up the industry..

I know it will never happen..just my personal thoughts on a long term eventual solution

[Tom d'Angler]

I definitely agree about the insurance.

[dynamod]

I know it will never happen..just my personal thoughts on a long term eventual solution

Sadly I suspect that the state of play will remain as it is.

I know up in my area, the ones who can't cut it (for whatever reason) just fade out of the picture, normally within 3 years or so. They will get a bit of attention at the outset; but people talk, and if they are too expensive/unreliable/rude/crap or a combination of those, they get clocked and are gone if they don't improve.

I've seen so many poor 'decorators' who had paper qualifications, and equally outstanding ones who had none. Attitude, environment, personality all affect the end result more than the bit of paper you get from a college. The long-term ability to hold yourself to a standard isn't taught in colleges (or wasn't when I went) and in all fairness that's more something the employer would try to instill, or the individual would try to develop themselves.

Federation isn't the solution to this either, as some of these organizations can be joined over the phone, but I admire, to an extent, what some of these bodies are trying to achieve. There are some good ones out there.

Educating the public is the way forward IMHO, as half of them haven't a clue about good and bad work/practices to start with, negating anything the industry may try to do.

Suggestions on a post card.

[Tom d'Angler]

I've seen so many poor 'decorators' who had paper qualifications, and equally outstanding ones who had none.

Indeed.