Fife Window Cleaning Licencing
In almost all regions of Scotland it is imperative that window cleaners and various other self-employed agents apply for a trading licence; in my case this is granted by Fife Council. This licence is not a money making scam but actually serves the purpose of offering trust to customers and also to ensure the operator meets the correct minimum requirements within their area of work. In almost any other area of work a qualification, licence or vetting to some degree is necessary; being a modern window cleaner should be no different. This blog will discuss Fife window cleaning licence expectations, qualification criteria, issues that led to these licences being essential and also a thorough explanation of PVG/Disclosure checks and Insurance we need for the job.
THE EXPECTATIONS OF WINDOW CLEANING IN FIFE LICENCE APPLICATIONS
The two main parts that make up the significant checks of the licence are a police check and an insurance check. When you complete the licence application it is essential that you provide proof of your public liability insurance, whereas the police check is taken from your name and address as such. There is currently no PVG form completed for this check, although a meeting is held locally where Police Scotland will be represented within a Fife Council licencing board committee meeting. Prior to this licence application being sent off, two passport photos should accompany the form and the local councils are fully responsible for the management and process of these applications under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. For more information on the application please see here https://www.fifedirect.org.uk/topics/
WHAT LED TO THE INTRODUCTION ON LICENCES
Licences were introduced to police an area of work that was previously without qualification, authority or membership. All jobs have some degree of expectations but without a licence it meant that anyone could enter this area of work and answer to no one. As Councillor Bob Young states, “We place a lot of trust in those we employ to carry out work at our homes. They are often working while we are away so it’s very important that they are fully trustworthy.” This article shows that there were a few unlicensed window cleaners caught working in west fife as recent as 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30195839
TRUST SIGNALS OF A LOCALLY LICENCED WINDOW CLEANER IN FIFE
On my website pages it lists my Fife Council Licence number, and we have found that having this licence has been a substantial selling point. Window cleaning isn’t quite a trade or a profession at its very simplest form, in fact it falls somewhere short of that. This obviously attracts all sorts of people, some with good intentions but some with not so good intentions. If you have a regular window cleaner they have access to your garden, become familiar with your routines and probably are potentially within contact of your children. This should not in any way be alarming, but I am merely highlighting some of the trust signals a licence can bring to your window cleaner in Fife. To highlight some of the risks we face every day, the office of National Statistics suggests that half of all burglaries are committed by someone we know. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/
POLICE CHECKING WINDOW CLEANERS IN FIFE
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 highlights that all convictions within a certain term can be taken into account, when judging if someone is fit to work in certain areas. Depending on the type of crime and area of work not all convictions’ are termed “spent”. An example of this may be a person with a sexual offence history applying to work with vulnerable children. More recently the PVG scheme in Scotland was brought forward to qualify people to work with children or vulnerable adults; and to bar others that were deemed a risk to those people. Window cleaning in Fife licencing involves a basic police check but this is vetted by police Scotland, whereby they look at the history of the offences and make a judgement call as to whether its seen as a risk to the public. Of course anyone also has the opportunity to appeal these decisions as well.
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR FIFE WINDOW CLEANERS
Liability insurance is the type of insurance we require to have in place. This offers protection for any accidental damages to property, people in the area and also to yourself. Many health policies for us will not be valid unless we have the correct work insurance in place as well. If you imagine ladder use, it is always a possibility that this could fall to one side and damage your car for example. Rather than claiming off your home or car insurer, we would be able to cover this with our respective policy. For those window cleaning firms that hire staff they also have to have employer liability insurance in place, which is a form of cover for all of their workers.
