Summary – ‘Potential ACS renewal delays for candidates expiring in the next 12 months. Candidates urged to plan ahead and not leave it to the last moment to renew.’
It has been just over five years since the COVID19 pandemic, and the UK was placed into ‘Lockdown’. Those of us in the industry will remember the unique problems faced at that time, some of which are still presenting unintended consequences today.
One such potential pitfall is that if your ACS Gas renewals were due during the summer of 2020 you may have found your qualifications were extended as there were difficulties attending assessment centres due to the lockdown. This extension was a 6-month period of grace from the expiration of the original certificate.
5 years on that extension means that assessment numbers have been extremely low and are predicted to remain low for the summer and into the autumn period of 2025. The graph illustrates a huge dip in the numbers attending for assessment at that time.
The concern as we approach the later months of the year and into 2026 is that the predicted number of engineers will then rise dramatically as we build into what is traditionally a busier time in the business cycle. The result will be that spaces in centres will not be as readily available.
For a lot of engineers this will seem a minor issue, however if you find yourself expiring and unable to secure a space in a centre it may have significant business implications in terms of your ability to work legally on gas. There will be more engineers chasing limited number of spaces.
My strong advice is to check when you expire and book yourself in at a time that suits you. At present we can book far in advance, and doing so may well save a lot of stress in a few months’ time.
It is also worth noting that all assessments can be taken ‘MOT’ style up to six months early. This would mean you keep the anniversary of the existing expire date, allowing even more flexibility.
If you have any questions or would like to secure you place, please do not hesitate to contact us.