Written question asked by Graham Stringer (Labour) on Tuesday, 31 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 February 2006. It was answered by Yvette Cooper (Labour) on Thursday, 16 February 2006 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Oil Firing Technical Association

Question: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) criteria and (b) benchmarks will be used in his review of the Oil Firing Technical Association.

Answer: The Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC) operates a competent person self-certification scheme for the installation of oil-fired combustion appliances and oil storage systems, authorised under the Building Act 1984. It is only this part of OFTEC's activities that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has powers to review.Reviews of the performance of competent person schemes take place against schemes' conditions of authorisation: financial, managerial and technical ability to operate a scheme; assessment of competence of applicants to register with a scheme; periodic random monitoring of completed work to make sure it complies with the requirements of the Building Regulations; a robust system to deal fairly and speedily with complaints from customers; and certification of work to customers and the relevant local authority.All competent person schemes, including OFTEC's are required to achieve UKAS accreditation under the conditions of authorisation. UKAS will then monitor schemes to make sure that the conditions of authorisation are being fulfilled and the scheme is delivering compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 48804; 442 c2243W;442 c2243W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Qualifications Standards Regulation Reviews Oil Firing Technical Association
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk