An employer-led trailblazer working group has been working on the scheme for several years so as to attract new recruits to the construction plant industry. Hire controllers play a key role within plant hire companies, co-ordinating the circulation of equipment to customers.
The trailblazer working group was chaired by Kirsty Archbold-Laming, director of Southern Hoists, supported by a cross-section of plant hire companies as well as the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) and the Hire Association Europe (HAE).
Kirsty Archbold-Laming said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e extremely pleased after several years of hard work to get the final approval from the Institute of Apprenticeships. This new apprenticeship will be a major step in helping recruit the new staff that we need in our sector.鈥�
The working group has had to define the duties of a hire controller for the training syllabus, which includes the provision of technical information to customers in helping them select suitable equipment; ensuring the equipment being hired is legally compliant; completing contract documentation at both on-hire and off-hire stages; processing payments, including calculating hire and rental charges, damage charges, fraud prevention measures and insurance payments; and handling technical enquiries and complaints.
The apprenticeship has been set at a level 2 and will take between 12 and 18 months to complete, with 20% of that time devoted to 鈥榦ff-the-job鈥� training. The IfA has placed this trailblazer in funding band eight, which equates to 拢5,000 that can be spent or claimed by employers (subject to current funding rules) for apprenticeship levy and non-levy paying organisations, in line with typical training costs supplied by training providers.
It is expecteds to go love later this year.
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