If you can do this...

Two joysticks to control speed and movement and push buttons to trigger functions?

If you can control a PlayStation or an Xbox, then you are well on your way to controlling a demolition robot or a high reach excavator.

And if you do it right, it can be more fun than Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty combined, and considerably more rewarding.


So if you have the skills, the demolition industry wants to talk to you!

The industry has all the training you need to take you from gamer to demolition operator. So contact us now to find out more.

Only 6 months to go until the Demolition Degree launches!

It's received quite a bit of coverage and already has more than 20 people signed up to study, but we're getting ever closer to the launch of the UK's first ever degree in demolition. There's only 6 months now until it the first running of the degree gets under way, and C&D's very own Matt Birch will be a student.



If you'd like to learn more about the course, head on over to the University of Wolverhampton website.

Express & Star Demolition Degree article

The Express & Star was kind enough to give the forthcoming Demolition Degree at Wolverhampton University some well-deserved coverage. We've included the article from the paper below, which you can click or tap to view full size.

World Skills UK show will feature NDTG's VR simulator

Regular attendees of the World Skills UK, The Skills Show will know all about the National Demolition Training Group VR simulator. And for the third year running it is set to put in another appearance and allow attendees to cause havoc on a (virtual) demolition site.

According to Lead Trainer Iain Kirk:

“The simulator always draws in the crowds. It’s great fun getting young people on the simulator and putting them through their paces. At the same time, we hope to show young people that a career in demolition is a serious option for them leaving school. There are a number of career paths available in demolition and with the new CCDO Card Scheme there’s now a clear and progressive NVQ structure available at all levels from Demolition Apprentice through to Demolition Manager.”

The Skills Show will be held later this week at the NEC in Birmingham between November 17-19. You can book your tickets at The Skills Show website.

Wolverhampton University introduces Demolition Degrees from September 2017

As covered on our sister site Demolish & Dismantle, demolition degrees are set to become available from September next year courtesy of Wolverhampton University.

Teaching consists of 15 modules covering everything a modern demolition engineers is required to know, with all study being carried out at the University’s new Springfield Campus. Our very own John Woodward as well as Dr Terry Quarmby (Dorton Group), Mick Ulyatt (Samuelson Consulting), Vernon Watson (QCMS), and Richard Dolman (AR Demolition) have been involved in the course development.

Matt Birch, pictured above, and a trainee Demolition Engineer at C&D Consultancy, is one of the first students to sign up for the degree course, with over 100 places available.

Read more over on the IDE website.

New to Demolition?

There is a new card in the industry that is specifically aimed towards new starters in Demolition jobs.

This card enables new or inexperienced operatives access to site, but the card holder will only be permitted to carry out basic site duties. The card limits the level of work the operative can carry out on site. It is hoped that once an operative has been employed in the demolition sector for more than a year, and gained suitable experience, they should be put forward for industry assessment which will give them a Demolition Operative (Demolition, Reclamation & Refurbishment) card.

To complete what is needed for the new card an applicant should:

• Complete a HS&E touch screen test, Operative or higher
• Attend a half day Asbestos Awareness course through NDTG or an approved trainer (UKATA & ARCA accepted excluding online courses)
• Complete CCDO3 booking form and return to NDTG to book one day "CCDO Labourer & Level 1 Test"

C&D Consultancy have arranged a training day for the NVQ level 1 part of this process. This will be on Tuesday 5th April in Quinton, Birmingham, five minutes from junction 3 of the M5. For further information please contact Stuart on stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk

Open to all Demolition & Asbestos Awareness Course (16th January)

Following many requests for a Demolition and Asbestos Awareness Course in the West Midlands on a Saturday, we are pleased to announce that our next course will be Saturday, 16th January.

The venue is still to be decided, but we expect it to be at our Darlaston training centre. The cost will be at the standard NDTG rates.

To reserve places, and be aware that they will go quickly, please email stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk

How NOT to demolish a chimney

Here at C&D we have been involved in a number of chimney demolitions over the years (and some that did not go exactly to plan) and we always have a plan B just in case.

As this film shows, explosives do not always do the job. So often an excavator is part of that plan B, but the excavator needs to be tall enough to reach the top of the chimney, have a competent trained driver and a demolition engineer must write the method statement, none of which actually happened.

This driver is very stupid and very, very lucky.

Life is too short as it is without dropping a brick chimney on your head. Think before you Act.

You can watch another video complete with a full explanation of what happened over on Facebook.

C&D Training Continues to Grow

Following on from our recent post on the numbers of people C&D have been training this past year, it would seem that this trend is continuing with current orders for training steadily rising. To the extent that we have a limited number of dates available for the next two months.

One of the most satisfying things for us is that a lot of these are repeat customers who not only come back to us as their “default” training provider, but also recommend us to other companies. This word of mouth recommendation clearly shows that the clients trust us to deliver on our promises. We believe, and recent feedback supports this, that the quality of our training and our willingness to deliver when and where the client needs, is key to our success. It’s nice to know that we are training lots of people, but it is even better to know that it is the quality of the training that keeps bringing them back to us.

So if you are not yet aware of the wide range of quality demolition specific training that we can provide, please get in touch with Stuart at stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk. Ask for a copy of our latest training course information flyers and see how we can help you grow your company by giving your staff the skills they need.

New Open to All Demolition & Asbestos Awareness Course on 4th July in Newcastle is now FULL

The new venue for C&D open Demolition & Asbestos Awareness Courses in the North East has been popular as the course scheduled for Saturday, 4th July is now FULL.

However, as the course will become a regular event please register for the August course (date to be confirmed) by emailing stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk

Understanding CDM 2015 Information Days

C&D Consultancy, together with ATEB Consult, are running a number of information days around the country to train Construction and Demolition managers on the changes to the CDM Regulations, that took effect from April 1st. The next event will be in Cardiff on 7th July.

For further information or to book a place please contact Stuart at stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk

Extra training dates added

Due to high demand C&D are adding extra dates for our ever popular Demolition and Asbestos courses. At our Halesowen venue near Birmingham we will be running a total of three courses on the 18th and 19th of May.

May 18th will be Demolition Awareness and Asbestos Awareness – Costs for both courses £70 for NDTG member companies, £80 for others, or single course £50 NDTG member companies and £60 for others.

May 19th Category B Non Licensed Asbestos Removal Course- £80 for NDTG member companies, £90 others.

Book soon as places are going fast.

Demolition Training – The Future?

A good news story for the City of Wolverhampton recently caught my eye. The University of Wolverhampton, in partnership with the Construction Industry Training Board, are at the advanced stage of planning permissions and negotiations with owners to purchase an old brewery site in the city that has been unused for over 20 years. The plan is to transform it into an international centre of excellence and a state-of-the-art construction and skills focused campus and business park known as the West Midlands Construction UTC (University Technical College).

While this is excellent news for the city and for the future of construction workers, one issue comes to mind. This piece so far has used the word construction four times and yet there is no mention at all of demolition. Nationally, construction training is given a lot of coverage and promotion and yet training for demolition workers is almost an add-on. Another indicator of this is quite simple but illuminating, Google "demolition training" and you get a massive 50 million results, but try again using construction training and you get a staggering 826 million results.

The demolition industry is good at training its staff, but it seems as if this is purely through its own efforts and despite the lack of support from elsewhere. So with an election coming up, I would say to politicians: if you are serious about the future of construction don’t forget the demolition side of things, we need support too. We are not just here to clear away the mess of previous generations, so that the glory boys of construction have a nice clean area to work on, we are a major part of the process of regeneration and deserve support on a national level.

Who knows, maybe a University of Demolition!

Our Demolition Training Manifesto

As this week is "Manifesto Week" we decided that we would publish our demolition training manifesto to try to convince the demolition industry to stick with C&D when training is required, so here are the main points of our "Manifesto."

1. We will never cancel a training course when you have booked it, no matter how few bookings we have for a course.
2. We will provide training courses at venues around the UK to prevent your operatives having to travel long distances to get training.
3. We will provide training courses in the evening and at weekends (including Sunday) if that is what you require.
4. We will constantly refresh our courses to make them engaging and up to the minute.
5. We will use a variety of training methods to get our point across.
6. We will include group work on as many courses as we can as we believe that is the best way to learn.
7. We will use a variety of PTTLS qualified trainers to prevent refresher training becoming demotivating.
8. We will analyse our feedback monthly and take into account all comments for future courses.
9. We will ensure that all of our trainers are themselves trained to maintain CPD and to continually improve our delivery.
10. We will continue to promote a wide variety of courses as there is more to demolition than just a few standard courses that require refreshing from time to time.

Coalition is fine with C&D as we already work with NDTG, NDTG Scotland, CITB, CIWM, CIEH, NEBOSH, IOSH, BSC and others to provide the training our clients want at a date and time to suit them.

Cast your training vote with C&D for a better trained workforce!

Demolition & Asbestos Awareness course in Birkenhead fully booked!

The Demolition & Asbestos Awareness course in Birkenhead is now FULLY BOOKED so because of this demand we will be holding another course on Sunday, 1st March.

Places are limited so book now by emailing mike@demolishdismantle.co.uk

Demolition & Asbestos Awareness course full

This is just a notice that our Demolition & Asbestos Awareness course on Friday, 30th January in Birkenhead is now FULL. If you missed booking places, but would like to discuss this, or any other training, then please get in touch.

Weekend training becomes a regular occurrence

New weekend NDTG Demolition & Asbestos Awareness dates throughout 2015. Following our trial of weekend training dates in Chiswick we have decided to run courses on one weekend every month throughout 2015.

The new dates are as follows:

- Saturday 21 February
- Sunday 22 February
- Saturday 21 March
- Sunday 22 March
- Saturday 18 April
- Sunday 19 April
- Saturday 09 May
- Sunday 10 May
- Saturday 13 June
- Sunday 14 June
- Saturday 11 July
- Sunday 12 July
- Saturday 15 August
- Sunday 16 August
- Saturday 12 September
- Sunday 13 September
- Saturday 17 October
- Sunday 18 October
- Saturday 14 November
- Sunday 15 November
- Saturday 05 December
- Sunday 06 December

Due to demand, second Demolition/Asbestos Awareness course being run January 30th

New date added for Demolition/Asbestos Awareness in Birkenhead. Owing to unprecedented demand for places, the course on Saturday 31 January is now FULL so we are running a second course on Friday 30 January at the same venue.

To book your place just email margaret@demolishdismantle.co.uk

Simply The Best

As one year finishes and another starts there is the inevitable rush by the media to produce articles and programmes with top ten, fifty or even one hundred “best in 2014” in the title. I’m sure, like me, you are all sick and tired of them by now. But, not to be outdone, C&D are proud to present our top ten most popular training courses in 2014, soon to be repeated on Dave!

So in reverse order we have:

10 – Site Management Safety Training
9 – Banksman Reversing Vehicles
8 – Fire Safety Awareness
7 – Fire Marshall
6 – Working at Height
5 – Manual handling
4 – Abrasive Wheels
3 – Asbestos Category B
2 – Demolition Safety Awareness

And at number 1 that old favourite - Asbestos and Demolition Safety Awareness.

In all seriousness, with the way the industry is at present many of you reading this will be in the very happy position of starting 2015 having healthy order books for the foreseeable future. This has many consequences, not least the need for more and better qualified employees. Remember your training responsibilities and let us help you with our comprehensive, (not just the above ten) training courses to suit all companies and your requirements.

Further information can be found at:
http://demolitiontraining.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/training-courses.html

Asbestos & Demolition Awareness Training Course 29th November

On the 29th November we are running Asbestos Awareness & Demolition Awareness Course in Birkenhead. The details are below:

• £70 per person +VAT including tea, coffee and light refreshments
  
• Training Carried out by NDTG approved ISP Member
  
• Training carried out by a Full Member of the Institute of Demolition Engineers
  
• The Asbestos awareness course is fully approved by UKATA
  
  

The location of the training is as follows:

Egerton House,
Tower Road,
Birkenhead,
CH41 1FN

Egerton House can easily be accessed by the Queensway or Kingsway Tunnel and the M53.

If you would like to attend then please get in touch with Mike Kehoe by emailing him at mike@demolishdismantle.co.uk or phoning him on 01902 686363.