Oil Engineers

Oil Engineers and their Competent Person Scheme provider

Oil Engineers and their CPS provider.

Following on from the recent post(s) upon our website, detailing the update from OFTEC (The Oil Firing Technical Association), as seen within the Spring 2024 issue of Oil Installer on the Competent Person Scheme, we wish to provide the following information.

Snippets from Oil Installer are shown below in blue Italics:

A better understanding!

Given that; Competent Person Schemes have been around for more than 20 years, and the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended) clearly set out the details of the Competent Persons Scheme and its providers, it is surprising to note many installers and service technicians still believe they must be registered with OFTEC to undertake installation and commissioning work for an oil fired system as a Competent Person.

It’s time to forget the old ideas about CPS

Competent Person Schemes (CPS) have been with us for a while now – 21 years in fact.

When they started back in 2002, the individual scheme operators focused on single technologies. For example, HETAS were the CPS for solid fuel heating, while OFTEC’s supported the oil heating sector.

Over time that has gradually changed, with some CPS providers expanding the scopes of registration they offer, while others have kept to their original position. Solid fuel remains the sole focus of HETAS, but other scheme operators, including OFTEC, have expanded their offering. While liquid fuels remain the priority, OFTEC added solid fuel in 2015 and more recently, biomass, heat pump, Part P, MCS, and Trustmark registration.

A lack of understanding:

There remains within the oil industry, an inherent lack of understanding about the way in which today’s Competent Person Scheme functions and those organisations who are legally permitted to operate such a scheme.

Let’s not get confused with Gas Safe Register, where it is a legal requirement for any person who undertakes work upon gas systems or appliances (Nat Gas or LPG) to be registered with a body approved for the time being, by the Health & Safety Executive.

Customers continue to ask about the need to be OFTEC registered to undertake work upon oil fired storage systems, pipework and appliances and we continue to see a number of installers stating on their website literature & associated banners:-

 “Only use OFTEC Registered Engineers to work on your oil appliances”. 

Spreading the word about CPS changes

While heating engineers have been aware of these changes (have they really!), the wider world has been slow to wake up to the diversification within the CPS sector.

It’s understandable that householders may not realise that a solid fuel heating installer registered with OFTEC is no different to one registered with HETAS when it comes to competence and the ability to self-certify work.

This may indeed be the case where they’ve used HETAS registered engineers in the past. However, it’s apparent that some industries that should know better have been slow to understand the changes.

A word in their ear.

Our advice to installers and service engineers is simple! “Wake up and smell the coffee”. The information you are displaying is incorrect and could be construed as being anti-competitive, a matter upon which OFTEC is taking positive action.

OFTEC have requested that;

If you have any examples of problems of this kind, please contact OFTEC’s marketing team – marketing@oftec.org

UKAS Accredited Certification Bodies:

UKAS Accredited Certification bodies are those groups who’s responsibility it is, to undertake the final assessment of and approval for, the awarding of any certification in the competence of an individual working in for example; the oil, gas, water, electrical and renewable energy industries.

OFTEC do not provide this aspect of learning directly to tradespersons, nor do they act as the Accredited Certification Body.

They are a; COMPETENT PERSON SCHEME PROVIDER as detailed within the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended).

UKAS Accredited Certification Bodies are for example:

Bpec.

ERS.

Logic 4Training

The training Centres:

It is the responsibility of the numerous approved centres up and down the country who deliver the training and assessments to tradespersons that (following certification), enable them to  become members of a Competent Person Scheme and self-certificate their own work.

Competent Person Scheme Providers.

Organisations permitted to offer competent person schemes to the oil fired sector (including liquid biofuels) are as follows:

APHC – Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (Certification) Ltd

BESCA – Building Engineering Services Competence Assessment Limited.

Blue Flame Certification – Blue Flame Certification Limited.

Certsure – Certsure LLP trading as ELECSA or NICEIC.

NAPIT – National Registration Limited.

OFTEC – Oil Firing Technical Association Limited.

OFTEC view of competition within the Competent Person Scheme:

Competition is good news for heating engineers

This diversification has several benefits for heating engineers. Increased competition means more choice and potentially more competitive pricing. It also means you can stay with a single provider as you or your business diversifies – which could save money and keeps renewals simpler. In the past, this was of only moderate value, but in an industry where decarbonisation is a reality, the potential to diversify and offer a broader range of technologies may become an increasingly popular – even essential – option to ensure businesses to remain competitive.

End of notice.