Thursday 20th November, 2008
12:00 am

CPD for Energy Professionals

All Energy Assessors and Home inspectors are required to undertake CPD. Below you can find out more about your requirements and how you can meet them.

What would you like to find out about?

What is CPD?

How do I complete a Personal Development Plan?

What courses does the NHER offer?

What external courses and products are available?

RDSAP refresher courses

What is CPD?

Continuous Professional Development is the continuous process of growth as an Energy Assessor or Home Inspector. It can include several activities, such as a formal course or personal study that helps a person to carry out their job more proficiently (and as a result may progress in their career).

What constitutes CPD is very dependent upon the individual’s needs and employment circumstances. The NHER Accreditation Scheme has to ensure that our members remain up to date because of our role in the consumer’s protection.

Individuals take responsibility for ensuring that they maintain technical and vocational competence so that they are fully conversant with current best practice.

Some of the reasons that could trigger CPD requirements could be:

Legislative changes
Changes in technology or the way it is used
New Product ranges
Customer requirements
Changes in practices
Particular property types in an individual’s area of work (i.e. system build, thatch)
Weaknesses identified in an individual’s knowledge, practices or behaviours

As members of one of the NHER or SAVA schemes, you should plan your own CPD based on your own individual requirements. These are recorded on your Personal Development Plan (PDP). You should also ensure that you regularly review your plan to ensure the development remains relevant and meets changes in the environment within which you work.

In order to evidence CPD, the following issues should be considered and recorded on the PDP:

What you aim to achieve from any ‘learning activity’
The relevance of the learning activity (explain why you need to learn about this particular topic)
Analysis of the success of the learning activity undertaken, i.e. what did you achieve in the end
Any additional action you need to take as a result of the above
What resources you used (books, courses, internet research etc)
How it has affected and improved your knowledge of the subject and affected your ‘behaviour’ within the job role
The number of hours spent or number of hours allocated to do this activity

You need to be able to identify that you have a ‘learning need’, set yourself certain objectives relating to that need and then take an appropriate activity to meet those objectives.

The relevance of the learning is equally important. It is not appropriate just recording a learning activity just to log the required number of hours per annum, without it having relevance to your role. For example, if you are working in the City of London, learning about thatched roofs could be questionable.

It is legitimate and expected that people will use a variety of CPD products, such as reading books, or even learning from colleagues (though evidence of more than a quick conversation about the subject would be required here!).

Simply reading a Technical Bulletin is not valid CPD because there is no analysis of a learning need and a review as to whether this need has been achieved. However Technical Bulletins do, of course, provide updates or clarification on technical matters. An example of a PDP incorporating the Technical Bulletins is given below.

How do I complete a PDP?

Below you can find an example of a Personal Development Plan (PDP). You should complete your own PDP to include your name, job title/assessor type, and period covered. Here is an example row, with one item in the 'to learn' column.

What do I want/need to learn?

What will I do to achieve this?

What resources or support will I need?

What will my success criteria be?

Target dates for review and completion

How to apply the new RDSAP rules relating to floor types and floor insulation

Undertake online learning module offered by NHER Accreditation Scheme.

Reading Technical Bulletin outlining changes in RDSAP.

Reading revised RDSAP manual when published by NHER.

Access to internet, Technical Bulletins and Manual updates

Passing exam set by NHER.

Understanding how the new conventions work and applying them successfully when undertaking EPCs.

Passing any monitoring undertaken by NHER.

Beginning of September 08

Online training courses for Domestic Energy Assessors and Home Inspectors

These courses have been designed to help DEAs and Home Inspectors achieve their required CPD hours from the comfort and convenience of their own home or office. They can be completed whenever and wherever you like.

The courses are ideal for those who have already qualified and would like to brush up on various aspects of their data collecting and reporting skills - taking conventions and applying them to new or more complicated situations. They are also appropriate for candidates looking to supplement their training manuals and gain a detailed understanding of difficult areas.

The courses have specific learning objectives and include an assessment of competence.

These courses have been approved as CPD by the NHER Accreditation Scheme. For further information on CPD requirements, contact the Compliance team on 01908 442288 or compliance@nesltd.co.uk.