Statement from Sarah Klieve, President NASC & CISRS

There has been a lot of ill-founded speculation and rumour about CISRS' decision to issue a notice of termination of its license to CSCS. CISRS has been a great regulatory success story – run for the scaffolding industry by the scaffolding industry. But it needs to reflect the realities of scaffolding and access today. Construction is only one of the sectors to which scaffolding and access are essential: the industry needs a certification scheme that is applicable to all the projects on which scaffolders work and all the places in which they work.

Following a detailed review of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) Industry Card Scheme Rules, issued in March 2024, CISRS concluded that it can't fully comply with the revised requirements while continuing to fulfil its obligations to the wider scaffolding and access industry. In particular, Clause 4 of the CLC card scheme rules states that “Cards will not be issued for non-construction related occupations or those visiting sites.”

This is incompatible with the issuing of cards for the non-construction work that makes up so much of the scaffolding and access industry. This position placed the CISRS board in a difficult position, in that we could consult on the non-conformance and risk a 90-day termination, versus terminating with a long consultation period and seek a resolution from a stronger negotiation position. I must stress that it has always been the board's position to seek a change to clause 4. 

The board’s intention throughout has been to protect the interests of all CISRS cardholders and the companies that employ them, ensuring the single card scheme continues to meet their needs across every sector in which they work.

CISRS is working with a range of stakeholders to try to find a solution to this issue that is acceptable to all parties and removes the prospect of scaffolders having to carry multiple cards and companies having to put systems in place to recognise them. There is absolutely no intention of diluting the CISRS' standards or opening up work in access and scaffolding to people without industry recognised qualifications.

I hope this clarifies and assures the CISRS' position and reassures card holders and members.

Sarah Klieve, President NASC and CISRS