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Take the Residential Construction Site Manager Program – Levels 1 and 2

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Project

In preparation for our 3-year agreement with Labour and Advanced Education, AHBRSC consulted with 75 home builders, renovators and developers employing more than 1200 tradespeople and contractors on new and more flexible training and certification options for carpentry programs in Nova Scotia. This research received strong support from participants and the broader residential construction industry.

With support from Labour and Advanced Education’s RPL and Labour Mobility Unit, we have continued to explore competency-based training models for other residential occupations that allow us to ensure appropriate residential content and develop alternative assessment methods to identify and recognize existing skills and knowledge. Since 2016, much of this work has focussed on the Residential Construction Site Manager.

Residential Construction Site Manager Program

For the past three years, the Atlantic Home Building and Renovation Sector Council (AHBRSC) has collaborated with the Professional Home Builders Institute (PHBI) in Alberta, in partnership with WIPSI, the Nova Scotia RPL and Labour Mobility Unit, and Labour and Advanced Education’s Sector Council Program to introduce a pilot delivery of the Residential Construction Site Manager (RCSM) training and certification program for residential construction companies and their employees in Nova Scotia.

PHBI’s RCSM is the only program of its kind for the residential construction industry in Canada. Focussing on industry best practices, the RCSM ensures that graduates and their companies bring to the worksite a higher level of project and site management expertise for both technical and soft skills. The RCSM can benefit companies aspiring to attract and manage new business opportunities in specialized new construction and renovation technologies while contributing to provincial and national targets for increased energy efficiency, healthy and affordable housing, and sustainable waste management.

Project and site management expertise is critical to effectively manage the emerging complex interaction of trade specialized companies, performance of new products, and the related construction activity. The RCSM training develops new and transferable skills among a wide range of employees regardless of company size and specialization of their employers, contributing to sector-wide expertise.

From 2017-2019, AHBRSC coordinated the pilot delivery of Levels 1 and 2 of the RCSM program to a cross-section of the residential industry, including new construction, renovation, trades contracting, building suppliers/home construction contractors, energy-efficiency residential service providers, and others.

An industry-led Technical Advisory Group was established in 2016 to review the Alberta RCSM program for relevance to current and future business practices and regulations within the Nova Scotia environment. The group then provided industry expertise for the concurrent development, validation and testing of a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) model to support an alternative pathway for RCSM certification.

RCSM Levels 1 and 2 Pilots

The pilot deliveries supported 37 participants in completion of RCSM Level 1 and 18 participants for RCSM Level 2 (see list of participants below).

Level 1 included the following modules:

• Excavation and Foundation
• Framing
• Exterior Finishes
• Mechanical
• Interior Finishes

This Level was completed via online training at the individual’s own pace. For most students, it involved 15 to 20 hours to complete.

Level 2 courses provided more depth in the following areas: Building Codes; Construction Performance Guidelines; Construction Technology 1 and 2 and Moisture; Home Building on Nova Scotia Soils; Leadership for Safety Excellence; Plans, Specifications and Drawings; and, Project Management and Supervision. The courses were delivered through a blending of online and classroom options, averaging a total of 145 hours.

RCSM Level 3 will be offered to Levels 1 and 2 grads

Building on the success of the pilot deliveries of Levels 1 and 2, AHBRSC is moving forward with a 2020 delivery of RCSM Level 3 for previous graduates of Levels 1 and 2. Courses will include:

This Level also involves supervised and supported online training, working at the individual’s own pace. The combined courses for Level 3 certification average a total of 128 hours and cost $4,845. AHBRSC is seeking potential funding support to cover some or all of these course fees. As with Levels 1 and 2, AHBRSC and the Technical Advisory Committee will be developing an equivalent RPL-based pathway to certification.

Program Funding Support

Since 2016, Nova Scotia’s sector councils are eligible to coordinate training delivery for companies in their sectors with funding available through the Workplace Innovation and Productivity Skills Incentive (WIPSI). In 2017, AHBRSC successfully applied to WIPSI for financial support to cover the full training delivery costs for two pilot deliveries of Level 1 at $1000 + tax per participant and $4500 + tax per participant for the pilot delivery of the seven Level 2 courses. Additional funding support is being requested for a pilot delivery of Level 3 for those students who have successfully completed Levels 1 and 2 in Nova Scotia. This work has complimented and supported the development of an alternative pathway to RCSM certification through a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) assessment model.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)’s Alternative Assessment Model

With the oversight of the Technical Advisory Group, a comprehensive RPL program has been developed and validated to enable future delivery of the RCSM in Nova Scotia and includes the following activities and program materials:

• Review of Alberta RCSM Training and Occupational Standard, and Course Content
• Development and Validation of a Nova Scotia RCSM Occupational Standard aligned with PHBI’s RCSM standard for Alberta
• Development of RCSM Competency Outline
• Credentialing Model for a Dual Pathway to Certification
• Nova Scotia RCSM Competency Mapping to PHBI RCSM competencies
• Nova Scotia Competency Weighting
• Nova Scotia RCSM TOS Tracking
• Nova Scotia Assessor and Candidate Guides for RPL Challenge

For Further information on the Residential Construction Site Manager Program, training delivery or the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Alternative Assessment Model, please contact Mary Kenny at mary.kenny@ahbrsc.com or call (902) 449-9585.

Technical Advisory Committee

Over the three years of development and pilot deliveries of a Nova Scotia RCSM the following companies and individuals have contributed many hours of their time and expertise:

Level 1 Graduates

The following companies and individuals completed RCSM Level 1

Level 2 Graduates

The following companies and individuals completed RCSM Level 2