Lawyers with the Construction Skills Certification Scheme are working to shut down a website claiming to sell CSCS and similar cards ‘without exam or test’.
The site, ‘Construction Card Scheme Online UK’, appears to be UK based and cites prices in £-sterling but it also refers to other countries’ cards including US, Canadian and Australian.
It quotes prices for the cards ranging from £200 to £800 – the latter pointing to Gas Safe Certification at a price cut from £1,000.
Elsewhere it says: “All cards are done without you taking any exam or test” and “We have the most dedicated team that help you make your card in just 24hrs”.
The website appears to show no indication of any corporate body responsible for it. When The Glazine attempted to contact it, one of the two numbers went straight to voicemail, the other was number not available.
Asked by The Glazine and other construction media about the website, the CSCS issued a statement: “CSCS has investigated the website in question and is working with its legal representatives to ensure the website is shut down as soon as possible.
“Initial investigations suggest those responsible are taking payments but not actually delivering any health and safety tests, training or qualifications. No cards or qualifications have been issued as a result of this fraudulent activity.
“Qualifications and training are an essential part of gaining a CSCS card so any organisation offering cards without them should always be avoided and, where possible, reported to CSCS.
“CSCS continually strive to shut down illegal sites and amend third-party sites who infringe CSCS copyright in order to gain an advantage by misleading applicants. We urge those within the construction industry to remain vigilant and only use official application services – CSCS.uk.com or any of our 38 partner card schemes.”
“CSCS also continues to call on employers and principal contractors to carry out thorough electronic card checks at site gates, as this is the only means to accurately determine if a card is fake or has been fraudulently obtained.”
