Where the Building Regulations require amendments or adaptations to the testing standards, these overrule the requirements of the testing standards.
SITMA has developed and maintains a document gap analysis which identifies the differences the standards and the building regulators requirements and explains how the Scheme handles these differences.
SITMA acknowledges that newer versions of several standards have been issued, specifically ISO 16283-1, ISO 16283-2, ISO 717-1, and ISO 717-2, however as these standards are not called up in the current building regulations they are not used in the Scheme.
If the Building Regulations are updated, the Scheme will be updated accordingly as will and its scope to reflect the new standards.
SITMA is currently working towards achieving UKAS accreditation for ISO/IEC 17024:2012 and as such follows the operational requirements as defined within the standard. ISO/IEC 17024:2012 establishes the criteria for the operation of a certification program, including the requirements for the competence of personnel involved in the certification process, the management of certification activities, and ongoing maintenance of certification.
The standard aims to ensure that individuals who are certified by a certification body have the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform their job competently. It also aims to provide confidence to employers, consumers, and other stakeholders that certified individuals have met the rigorous and international recognised standards.
In order to ensure the Scheme requirements are fully met, and that all applicants are treated fairly and objectively, SITMA utilises a Training and Assessment process.
All applicants will have the option of either:
Option 1 – attending a training course at a SITMA Approved Training Partner (ATP) and then go onto sit the examination, or
Option 2 – sit the examination with the training, should they feel that they are confident enough to pass the assessment without additional training.
The examination used for the ATP training course is the same examination that can be sat directly.
The examination must be completed and passed by all applicants before applying to join the SITMA Scheme.
In addition, all candidates to the Scheme are required to undergo an initial audit conducted by a SITMA Auditor. This initial audit is a real-world demonstration of the candidate’s testing ability
Once certified by and registered SITMA members certification is maintained through a process of continual witnessed surveillance auditing. Every successfully completed witnessed surveillance audit is considered by SITMA to be the re-certification of that individual. Failing to demonstrate the required level of competence as defined by the Scheme will result in a failed audit and that individual’s suspension from the Scheme.
