SUMMITSKILLS, the sector skills council for the building services engineering sector, has developed frameworks to safeguard standards and improve the quality of services for the refrigeration and air conditioning industry.
Five modernised frameworks for each sector of the hvac industry have been produced to allow apprenticeships to greater reflect the current and future needs of employers and the market place.

The Skills Funding Agency has now confirmed that funding is available for the frameworks that SummitSkills has developed which unify approaches to training apprentices across the four industries and incorporate environmental technologies in each for the first time.

Each framework contains individual pathways for occupations within the sector's industries. They also include summaries of the qualifications, which mean employers can see the content of each apprenticeship within the framework.

Chief executive of SummitSkills, Keith Marshall OBE, said: 'Congratulations to all those who contributed to this huge piece of work, both from within SummitSkills and from the BSE sector. It has been time invested wisely, as these new frameworks provide employers with easy routes to developing the high quality operatives that they need. The environmental element of each of the frameworks in particular will help BSE employers who may be wondering how best to respond to the growing demand for technologies to reduce carbon emissions over the next few years.'

All of the new apprenticeship frameworks are available online at www.summitskills.org.uk/apprenticeships.

The five SASE (Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England) frameworks that have been funded by the Skills Funding Agency are:

• Electrotechnical
• Heating and ventilating
• Plumbing and heating
• Domestic heating
• Refrigeration and air conditioning

BSE apprenticeship frameworks for Wales and Scotland are currently being reviewed and revised.