Are Construction Defects Really a Training Problem?

by admin | Sep 9, 2026 | Health and Safety, NVQs, Training

When poor workmanship is discovered at snagging, the immediate response is often to repair it and move on. But repeated defects usually deserve a deeper question: did the people carrying out and supervising the work understand the required standard in the first place? A current CITB-funded training opportunity provides a timely reason for contractors to examine how they turn quality failures into competence development.

CITB’s September deadline puts workmanship back on the agenda

CITB announced on 1 September that employers have until 30 September 2026 to secure Roofing and Brickwork Masterclasses under the current fully funded arrangements.

The 90-minute sessions are delivered by NHBC building inspectors and concentrate specifically on issues those inspectors commonly encounter on completed and partially completed homes. CITB

Read CITB’s September Masterclass funding update

The Roofing Masterclass covers issues including underlay and battens, fire stopping, ventilation, flashings, tile and slate fixing, verges, valleys and ridges. Brickwork sessions include cavity construction, insulation, DPCs, cavity trays, cavity barriers, timber frame interfaces and sound insulation. CITB

Dry lining is also included in the programme, although the funding arrangement is different. CITB says those sessions cost £645 but may be funded by CITB for eligible employers, rather than being automatically provided under the same fully funded model as the current Roofing and Brickwork sessions. CITB

NHBC says Roofing and Brickwork sessions can also be delivered on or close to a live site, subject to minimum learner numbers and suitable accommodation. Roofing requires at least five roofing contractors and Brickwork at least seven, with a maximum of 12 delegates for either session. NHBC

That makes this more than a funding announcement. It is an opportunity to consider whether construction businesses are using inspection findings intelligently enough.

Snagging is often too late to start managing quality

A snagging list is useful for identifying what needs to be corrected. It is less useful if the same defect appears repeatedly across several plots, floors, projects or subcontractors.

At that point, the issue is no longer simply defective work. It is a management-system problem.

NHBC describes roofing as the build stage associated with the highest number of defects and warranty claims in new homes. Its Roofing Masterclass is specifically designed around helping trades avoid those recurring problems and reduce rework. NHBC

See the NHBC Roofing Masterclass content

Consider a recurring problem with incorrectly formed cavity trays.

Replacing or correcting the defective work addresses the immediate problem. But if six bricklayers are making the same error, simply issuing six snagging instructions misses the more important question: what caused the misunderstanding and how will we stop plot seven being built the same way?

The answer might involve training. It might also involve drawings, specifications, sequencing, product selection, supervision, setting-out information or an unclear interface between trades.

Not every defect is caused by incompetence, and training should not become the default solution to every quality issue.

But repeat defects should always trigger a competence question.

Building Regulations have changed the competence conversation

There is also now a statutory context that goes beyond client expectations and warranty standards.

Under the Building Regulations dutyholder regime in England, people undertaking building work must have the appropriate skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for the work they carry out. Organisations must have the organisational capability needed to deliver compliant work. GOV.UK

Government guidance states that contractors must plan, manage and monitor the building work they carry out or control so that it complies with the relevant requirements.

Organisational capability includes having appropriate policies, procedures, systems and resources, together with arrangements for actively monitoring and supervising people. GOV.UK

Read government guidance on competence and building work

This is a legal requirement. Attending an NHBC Masterclass, completing an NVQ or holding a CSCS card is not, by itself, proof that every aspect of those duties has been discharged.

Government guidance specifically identifies formal training as one possible way of demonstrating competence, alongside evidence such as previous work and relevant experience. It also stresses that people should work within the limits of their competence and seek assistance where necessary. GOV.UK

The practical implication is important.

Competence is not a certificate held by the individual. It is the ability to apply appropriate skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours to the particular work being undertaken.

Training is evidence of competence, not competence by itself

Construction sometimes treats qualifications, cards, short courses and site inductions as interchangeable evidence that somebody is “competent”.

They are not.

A 90-minute technical Masterclass can give an experienced bricklayer valuable insight into recurrent cavity defects. It cannot turn somebody with no bricklaying experience into a competent bricklayer.

Likewise, an experienced roofer may have extensive practical ability but still benefit from training on a particular system, specification or detail they have not encountered previously.

Workplace qualifications serve another purpose.

A competence-based NVQ assesses whether somebody can demonstrate the requirements of their occupation through actual work. All Star Safety’s current [trade NVQ provision] Level 2 and Level 3 Trade NVQs includes bricklaying, roofing and interior systems among the available routes, with evidence obtained through workplace observation, professional discussion and real work records. All Star Safety Ltd

That provides evidence of occupational competence. It does not remove the need for project-specific information, manufacturer guidance, supervision or additional training when the work introduces something outside the person’s previous experience.

The most effective competence system therefore combines several things:

• occupational competence;
• relevant experience;
• project-specific information;
• product and system knowledge;
• appropriate training;
• adequate supervision; and
• evidence that the required standard is actually being achieved.

Removing any one of those can create a gap.

Turn your defect data into a training plan

Quality inspections become considerably more valuable when their findings are aggregated rather than closed individually.

Instead of simply recording that a cavity barrier was corrected on Plot 12, record the type of failure.

If the same issue occurs on Plots 14, 18 and 21, management can see a trend that would otherwise be hidden among hundreds of separate snagging actions.

The same principle applies to roofing.

If verge details repeatedly fail inspection, identify whether the work is associated with a particular team, product, drawing detail, supervisor, house type or construction sequence.

That allows the response to be targeted.

Sometimes the answer will be a technical briefing. In other cases it may be supervised demonstration, manufacturer training, better drawings or a revised inspection hold point before subsequent work conceals the detail.

For higher-risk interfaces, a sensible approach is to establish a first-off inspection.

For example, inspect the first completed cavity tray, roof abutment or fire-stopping detail before allowing that team to repeat it across another twenty locations.

This turns quality assurance from retrospective snagging into active control.

It also provides much stronger evidence of organisational capability than simply producing a folder of training certificates when a client asks how competence is managed.

What should you do now?

For housebuilders, contractors and relevant subcontractors, the immediate opportunity is straightforward: check whether the current NHBC Masterclasses are relevant to work your teams are actually carrying out.

Roofing and Brickwork sessions remain available under their current fully funded arrangement until 30 September 2026. Dry Lining has a different funding model, so eligibility should be checked before assuming the employer contribution will be zero. CITB

More broadly, review how your business currently learns from defects.

Ask:

• Which defects have occurred more than once during the last six months?
• Are inspection findings analysed by trade and defect type?
• Do supervisors know the most common recurring failures?
• Are technical briefings targeted at actual site problems?
• Are manufacturer instructions available where the work is carried out?
• Do new systems or unfamiliar details trigger additional competence checks?
• Are first-off inspections used before repetitive work proceeds?
• Can you demonstrate why the people carrying out the work were considered competent?
• Do trade qualifications actually match the activities those workers perform?
• Is corrective training checked afterwards to establish whether the problem has stopped?

That last question is particularly important.

Training attendance is an input. Fewer defects are an outcome.

Businesses should measure both.

Our professional view

Construction has historically been much better at recording safety incidents than quality failures.

A near miss may trigger an investigation, toolbox talk and management review. Ten badly formed construction details can sometimes generate ten separate snagging sheets without anybody stepping back to identify the common cause.

That distinction is increasingly difficult to justify.

Quality, safety and compliance frequently intersect. Poorly installed cavity barriers are a quality defect with potential fire-safety consequences. Incorrect roof ventilation can lead to building-performance problems. Poorly installed structural components can move rapidly from workmanship into safety-critical territory.

The management disciplines are also very similar: clear information, competent people, suitable supervision, inspection, feedback and correction before the problem is repeated.

CITB’s current funding announcement is therefore useful even for contractors that never book one of these particular Masterclasses.

It is a reminder that training should respond to what is actually going wrong on site.

The best training matrix is not merely a list of expiry dates. It connects qualifications, experience, project requirements, observed performance and recurring defects so that competence development is directed where it will make a measurable difference.

For employers formalising the occupational competence of experienced tradespeople, All Star Safety’s Level 2 and Level 3 Trade NVQs provide workplace-based assessment across bricklaying, roofing, interior systems, carpentry, cladding and other construction occupations.