A new Draft Standard for plumbing and domestic heating apprenticeships in England has been completed by the Trailblazer Employer Group, following recent industry research.

The document is currently open for industry-wide review and consultation, and the Trailblazer Employer Group is inviting members of the industry to give their feedback via this second survey.

The Plumbing & Domestic Heating Apprenticeship Standard Employer Group will develop the curriculum for plumbing and domestic heating apprenticeships in England. The group consists of 10 businesses collaborating as part of phase three of the Trailblazer project, and is supported by several leading industry bodies.

Robert Moss of Seddon Construction is the lead employer for the group. He said: "Thank you to everyone who recently completed our apprenticeship survey as part of our work in the Trailblazer project, where we gathered data on typical work activities for plumbing and domestic heating technicians, in order to help us gain a thorough understanding of the technical scope needed to move the qualification forward.

“We would now appreciate your feedback on the proposed Draft standard via a second survey that we have created.”

Andrew Crookes of Andrew Crookes Plumbing & Heating, who is also a member, added: "We, the Plumbing & Domestic Heating Trailblazer Employer Group, ask as many plumbing and heating employers as possible to now review the proposed Draft Apprenticeship Standard to provide comment, and to consider how well the Standard meets the plumbing and domestic heating industry's needs for future Apprenticeship training.

"The Group recommends that survey respondents read through the two-page Draft document first, as they will need to refer to it when answering the survey. Note that the survey consultation is live until 26 January 2015. We thank respondents in advance for taking the time to feed into this consultation; your feedback is very important to the Group and to the future of the industry's apprenticeships."

The 10 plumbing and heating employers carrying out the reform are:

  • Seddon Construction Ltd
  • Andrew Crookes Plumbing & Heating
  • Arthur Padgett Ltd
  • Coulson Building Group
  • EC Merrett Ltd
  • Gasway
  • Leaks & Locks
  • Millside Heating Services
  • Mitie
  • Parker Bromley Ltd.

The group is supported by SummitSkills, APHC, Unite and CIPHE, with further advice and support from leading industry organisations including JTL, BPEC, City & Guilds, EAL, LOGIC and Pearson.