FIS has launched three new e-learning modules within the FIS Academy, continuing its commitment to supporting competence, compliance and continuouscompetence development across the finishes and interiors sector.

Available free of charge to all FIS members, the latest courses cover sustainability, passive fire protection and ceiling specification, providing practical guidance on some of the key challenges facing the industry today. Each module contributes towards Continuing Competency Development (CCD) and has been developed with support from industry specialists to ensure the content reflects current best practice.

Supporting sustainable decision making

The new Creating Sustainable Habits in Interior Fit-Out module introduces learners to SKArating, the sustainability assessment framework developed specifically for office fit-out projects.

The course explores how SKArating can be used to assess and improve sustainability performance across a project, covering topics such as embodied carbon, energy use intensity and good practice measures relating to fit-out elements including partitions and ceilings.

As sustainability expectations continue to grow across the construction sector, the course provides practical insight into how organisations can make more informed and responsible decisions.

Understanding the application of Passive Fire Test Evidence

This e-learning delivers an overview of the PFPF Guide focussing on the more complex aspects of passive fire protection: understanding how fire test evidence can be responsibly applied to real-world construction scenarios.

While fire testing is conducted under controlled conditions, site installations rarely replicate those exact environments. This short-duration course explains how guidance published by the Passive Fire Protection Forum (PFPF) supports the responsible extension of test evidence, helping designers, specifiers and contractors make informed decisions while maintaining compliance and assurance.

Specification of ceiling systems

Our third new module, Specifying Ceilings and Absorbers, highlights the often-overlooked complexity involved in specifying ceiling systems.

Developed from FIS guidance written by industry specialists, the course explores the factors that influence ceiling performance, including fire safety, acoustics, sustainability, compliance, installation and maintenance. It is designed to help specifiers, designers and project teams ask the right questions during the specification process and avoid issues that can affect performance later in a project’s lifecycle.

Investing in your competence

The launch of these new modules reflects FIS’s ongoing investment in accessible learning resources to support the development of a competent workforce.

With increasing focus on building safety, sustainability and product performance, access to practical, industry-led learning has never been more important. Through the FIS Academy, individuals can access a growing library of training designed to support both personal development and organisational competence.

All three modules are available now and can be accessed free of charge by FIS members through the FIS Academy.

CITB has opened a consultation on the revised Solid Plastering National Occupational Standards (NOS). The updated standards are now available to view on the CITB website within the National Occupational Standards (NOS) section.

The consultation seeks feedback from across the construction and plastering industries to help ensure the standards continue to reflect current working practices, evolving skills requirements, and the future needs of the workforce.

Employers, training providers, and industry representatives are invited to review the proposed standards and share their views. Input from a broad range of stakeholders is vital to ensure the final standards accurately represent the sector and support the ongoing development of a competent and skilled workforce.

The consultation is now live, and if you are able to support please contact beenanana@thefis.org

The Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) and CSCS Cards have today published a draft carding journey and case study, designed to help businesses and individuals within the drylining sector better understand potential future requirements for achieving industry-defined competence.

The Building Safety Act 2022 places a legal duty on individuals to be competent for their roles, defined as the appropriate Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours (SKEB), with each sector responsible for defining competence for their occupations.

The Drylining case study is intended as a working example for industry of how a sector can move from defining competence to designing a carding journey. It also shows the direction of travel for skilled card renewals more widely, to potentially include additional elements such as Fire Safety training and Continuing Competency Development (CCD).

Working with Build UK and wider industry, FIS has mapped the SKEB needed to carry out drylining safely and competently and translated it into a Drylining Competency Framework, which includes a draft carding journey delivered through CSCS Cards, as the appropriate card scheme within the CSCS Alliance.

The latest draft of the journey sets out:

• Details of the three recognised skilled entry routes: Apprentice, Trainee and Experienced Worker.
• The qualifications, CITB Health, safety and environment test, Fire Safety in Buildings training and CCD expected on application and/or renewal.
• Additional checklist on how other sectors can follow Drylining’s example for their respective journeys

Final requirements remain in development between FIS, the relevant Standard Setting Bodies and Sector Representative Organisations ahead of the proposed implementation timeframe of December 2026. Where any future changes affect individuals already holding skilled drylining cards, CSCS Cards will communicate those changes directly and with appropriate notice.

Iain McIlwee, Chief Executive at FIS, said:

“Drylining is one of the largest occupations in finishes and interiors, and the safety performance of the buildings we all live and work in depends on it being done well, by qualified and trained operatives. Defining competence alongside industry experts and working alongside CSCS Cards to reflect those standards within the carding journey provides a strong example for other sectors to adopt as needed.”

Garry Mortimer, Executive Director of Operations at CSCS Cards, said:

“A CSCS card and the My CSCS app currently enable individuals to demonstrate they have the appropriate skills and training for their role, usually a qualification and a health and safety test.

“While these proposed changes are yet to be finalised – and cardholders don’t yet need to do anything different to their normal renewal practices – our cards and the app will soon adapt to reflect sector frameworks as necessary, and include a culture of the ongoing development of skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours.”

Alongside the case study, FIS and CSCS have published an 8-point Carding Journey Checklist for other Sector Representative Organisations preparing their own Routes to Competence.

The checklist covers defining SKEB, engaging early with the relevant card scheme, designing entry routes that support progression, setting meaningful renewal requirements, phased implementation and fair transitional arrangements.

FIS has led a coalition of specialist construction trade bodies in writing to Housing Minister Steve Reed OBE and the National Housing Bank, calling for urgent action to address growing liquidity pressures in the housing supply chain.

The letter, supported by organisations representing roofing, electrical works, carpentry, flooring, plumbing, groundworks and other key trades highlights mounting evidence that poor payment practices are creating systemic risk across housing delivery.  FIS research shows that specialist contractors are typically providing between 60–78 days of unsecured credit for completed work, with nearly one fifth of invoices paid more than 60 days late.  Retention release, despite recent positive steps from Government towards wholescale reform, continues to be inconsistent and often delayed.

The coalition warns that this hidden, unstructured credit, estimated to exceed £1 billion across the seven largest UK housebuilders on late and disputed payment alone, is undermining investment much needed investment in skills, productivity and capacity, and ultimately constraining the sector’s ability to deliver at scale.  To address the issue, FIS and the supporting organisations are urging Government to use the emerging National Housing Bank as a lever for change.  Specifically, putting forward proposals to link development finance to mechanisms that improve liquidity through the supply chain, including the use of digital payment systems that ringfence funds and improve payment certainty.

These systems, already in use in parts of the industry, can reduce insolvency risk, improve transparency, and support SME investment without increasing public spending.  The proposal aligns closely with wider Government policy on fair payment, procurement reform, and digitalisation, and offers a practical, finance-led intervention ahead of more comprehensive legislative reform on payment and retention.

FIS CEO Iain McIlwee said:

“Responsible payment isn’t just a commercial issue – it is fundamental to delivery, skills and system resilience. If we want a housing market that can grow sustainably, we need a supply chain that is stable, has the means and confidence to invest in people and improvement.  It is also a human issue, our research into the Housing Sector identified that approaching 60% of specialists in our supply chain were worried about cash at least half the time”

FIS and its partners have requested a meeting with Ministers and officials to explore how these measures could be implemented proportionately to support a more resilient housing delivery system.

You can see a full copy of the letter here..