Scaffolders without a valid certificate or diploma may no longer perform work after January 1, 2017. With the Scaffolding Directive (in Dutch: Richtlijn Steigers), a new training structure (introduced in 2014) will be effective from January 1, 2017. After this date you are not allowed to perform work without a valid personal certificate or diploma which proves your professional competence.

This can be a problem for many contractors, since a large group of scaffolding engineers -often self-employed and temporary workers- do not have the right diploma yet.
In addition, the training capacity in The Netherlands is limited and the deadline is approaching.
This could lead to a shortage of scaffolding engineers in The Netherlands in January 2017. In that case, various projects will be confronted with delays.

A lot of fraud

Until now, scaffolding engineers were able to demonstrate their expertise in a variety of ways: with an A or B pass, A or B certificate, all-round scaffolding builder, upcoming scaffolding builder, A or B diploma and so on. A jungle of possibilities, as a result of which clients and inspectors did not know how they should value these certificates. In 2012 it was also discovered that there was plenty of fraud.

Hard deadline

The deadline of January 1, 2017 is approaching. Whoever wants to work as an assistant scaffolder, scaffolder, first scaffolder or foreman must be able to prove his professional competence officially with a MBO 2 or 3 diploma or a personal certificate according to ISO 17024, which is registered in the Central Diploma Register (CDR, Centraal Diploma Register, in Dutch).
Only then a scaffolder will meet the legal requirements.

Fastest route to a valid certificate

In most cases, scaffolders probably want to obtain a personal certificate: for many, this is by far the fastest route. This is possible by following a course at a specialized training institute such as DELTA Safety Training. DELTA Safety Training is a recognized trainer by the VSB (in Dutch: Vereniging van Steiger-, Hoogwerk- en Betonbekistingbedrijven, the association of scaffolding companies) because we have incorporated the latest test terms in our course material and have knowledgable and experienced trainers. After the course, the scaffolder will take the exam at our premises from a DNV-GL accredited examination office . View our overview of scaffolding courses.

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