CIR 01/26 | Construction Industry Skill Card
The Council refers to an email sent out by the BCA to periti on 24th March 2026 with details on how to apply and pay for a skill card. The email goes on to say that anyone not in possession of such a card will not be allowed to enter a construction site, including during the finishing stages.
After further inquiries, it emerged that the BCA is informing members of the profession that the requirement for the possession of a skill card also applies to periti.
It is pertinent to underscore that such obligation does not presently exist. There are indeed no regulations in place stipulating this requirement.
While the Council is in favour of upskilling labourers to ensure that they receive basic awareness training on health and safety risks until they go through further formalised training in their respective trade, periti are governed by a warrant regime based on high-level academic and professional education, and an ad-hoc law and regulator setting significantly higher benchmarks of qualifications and practice standards.
Representatives of the Council met with the BCA yesterday afternoon to clarify the matter. The following points were raised:
- The Council was not presented with any draft regulations and has thus never agreed to the imposition of such requirements on periti.
- Likewise, the course content has not been reviewed by the Council of the Kamra and has thus not consented to it.
- The Kamra tal-Periti, not the Building & Construction Authority, is the legal regulator of periti. The BCA would be stepping outside of its legal scope if it sought to regulate periti.
- Banning a perit from entering a construction site means that nobody can enter such a site, irrespective of whether they possess a skill card, since the Code of Police Laws requires that a perit provide general supervision on site.
- The Periti Act has provisions which are expected to be brought into force over the coming months that introduce mandatory continuous professional development. The CPD framework had been presented to periti during a workshop held in July 2024 and adopted in its final draft by the AGM in December 2024. Among the mandatory core subjects to be introduced is a specific course on risk management and H&S.
The BCA agreed to review the matter and will revert in due course. The BCA also clarified that the regulations pertaining to skill cards are still being drafted.
Meanwhile, periti are advised to await further communication from the Council on the matter.