Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Wall and Floor Tiling (Construction)

This qualification is primarily intended for wall and floor tilers who are already carrying out substantial practical tiling work and need formal recognition of their occupational competence. Current specifications require achievement in a real workplace and describe the learner as someone demonstrating competence while working as a tiler or specialist within construction.

It is particularly relevant to people whose normal work gives them opportunities to:

• prepare new and existing backgrounds before tiling;

• measure and set out wall and floor finishes;

• select tiles, adhesives, grouts, trims, fixings and associated materials;

• cut, position, secure and finish ceramic, mosaic or stone materials;

• work on vertical, horizontal, inclined and, where required, more complex surfaces;

• form or tile around reveals, cills, soffits, drainage points and other details;

• produce complex patterns, motifs, curves or similar advanced finishes;

• use hand tools, portable power tools and associated equipment safely;

• plan work and confirm that resources and methods suit the specification;

• coordinate tiling operations with customers, supervisors and other trades.

The learner normally needs an ongoing genuine workplace arrangement that provides sufficient access to these activities. Several current specifications explicitly describe employment in the occupation as necessary because competence has to be demonstrated through real work. The qualification is therefore not designed to establish full occupational competence solely through training-centre exercises.

A learner does not need to hold a particular job title, but the work available must be broad and complex enough for an assessor to collect valid evidence against the units included in the particular approved qualification structure.

Substantial workplace access is fundamental to this qualification. The learner must be able to produce evidence while carrying out genuine wall and floor tiling activities under normal construction conditions, using the materials, information, tools, equipment and working practices associated with the occupation.

Suitable evidence opportunities are likely to involve live work where the learner can:

• work from drawings, specifications, schedules, job details, method statements and manufacturers' information;

• assess backgrounds and determine the preparation required before tiling;

• measure, set out and calculate quantities and material requirements;

• prepare substrates such as masonry, concrete, screeded, rendered or manufactured-board backgrounds as applicable;

• use primers, bonding products, waterproofing systems, membranes, trims and other preparation materials where specified;

• mix and use adhesives, grouts and other tiling materials correctly;

• cut and fix wall and floor tiles using appropriate hand and powered equipment;

• work around openings, angles, drainage points, steps or other architectural details;

• produce complex ceramic, mosaic or natural-stone finishes;

• protect completed and surrounding work;

• identify unsuitable materials, defective backgrounds or information conflicts and report them correctly;

• coordinate work with other occupations;

• demonstrate safe manual handling, access, dust-control and equipment practices;

• manage waste in accordance with workplace and environmental requirements.

Where specialist optional units form part of the learner's approved structure, the workplace must also provide appropriate evidence opportunities for those chosen units. This may mean access to live work involving screeds, tiled-surface drainage, under-tile heating systems or internal and external sand and cement backgrounds.

The evidence should represent the learner's own work and be sufficiently broad for an assessor to establish consistent competence. A single isolated task will not normally demonstrate the range and consistency expected across the qualification.

Successful learners demonstrate integrated practical competence rather than simply recalling technical information. Across the current qualification structures, the main outcomes relate directly to planning, preparing, fixing and finishing wall and floor tiling work to occupational requirements.

A learner completing the relevant units should be able to:

• interpret drawings, specifications, work schedules, job information, manufacturers' instructions, risk assessments and methods of work;

• confirm the work activities, resources, sequencing and occupational method needed for a tiling operation;

• identify missing, unsuitable or conflicting information and obtain clarification from the appropriate people;

• select materials, components, fixings, accessories, tools and equipment appropriate to the work;

• calculate quantities, dimensions, areas and likely wastage where required;

• prepare suitable backgrounds for ceramic, mosaic and natural-stone finishes;

• measure, set out, cut, position, secure and finish wall and floor tiles accurately;

• produce complex tiled, mosaic and stone finishes on the surfaces and details required by the occupational standard;

• use and maintain hand tools, portable power tools and associated equipment safely;

• apply appropriate health, safety, dust-control, access and manual-handling precautions;

• protect work and surrounding areas and deal responsibly with waste;

• complete activities within allocated work programmes and report circumstances that could affect progress;

• communicate and coordinate effectively with customers, colleagues, supervisors, contractors, suppliers and other occupations;

• identify problems, defects and circumstances outside their authority and follow the correct reporting or rectification procedures;

• demonstrate additional specialist competence in screeding, drainage, under-tile heating or sand and cement backgrounds where those units form part of the approved structure.

Assessment is based on occupational competence. The learner must produce sufficient valid evidence to demonstrate all of the required learning outcomes and assessment requirements for the units included in their approved qualification structure. Assessment normally combines direct workplace evidence with supporting documentation and methods used to confirm underpinning knowledge.

The assessor must be able to establish not merely that a task was completed once, but that the learner can work reliably to the required standard across an appropriate range and period of occupational activity.

Workplace Observation

Direct observation of the learner carrying out wall and floor tiling work is a principal form of evidence.

An assessor may observe activities such as:

• preparing backgrounds before tiling;

• setting out wall or floor installations;

• selecting and using tiling materials;

• cutting, positioning and fixing tiles;

• using hand and powered equipment;

• completing complex mosaic, ceramic or stone work;

• forming specified details and finishes;

• protecting completed surfaces;

• applying health and safety controls;

• coordinating work with other people;

• carrying out specialist optional activities where those units have been selected.

Current unit assessment requirements specify assessment in a work environment and state that workplace evidence of the occupational skills cannot be simulated.

Portfolio Evidence and Work Products

Observation can be supported by a portfolio containing authentic evidence from the learner's own jobs. Evidence must be relevant to the assessment requirements rather than collected simply to increase the size of the portfolio.

Useful wall and floor tiling evidence can include:

• photographs or video showing work at appropriate stages;

• completed tiled, mosaic or stone finishes;

• prepared backgrounds;

• setting-out information;

• drawings, specifications or job information used by the learner;

• relevant work records;

• inspection or quality records;

• documentation associated with materials and installation methods;

• records showing communication or coordination with other people;

• evidence of the specialist activities selected within the qualification.

Documents that merely show general information, such as an unannotated manufacturer document or health and safety policy, do not by themselves demonstrate that the learner understands and applies that information. Supporting evidence must be connected to the learner's own competence.

Questioning and Professional Discussion

Questioning is used to confirm knowledge that cannot be fully established from observation alone. This may take the form of oral questioning, recorded discussion or another approved knowledge-assessment method.

For this qualification, questioning may establish understanding of:

• why a particular preparation or fixing method was selected;

• characteristics and limitations of tiles, stone, adhesives, grouts and background materials;

• health risks associated with cutting, mixing and handling materials;

• PPE, RPE, extraction and collective protection;

• information obtained from specifications and manufacturers' instructions;

• movement, drainage, waterproofing or substrate considerations relevant to the work;

• procedures for reporting defective resources or unsuitable backgrounds;

• sequencing and coordination with other trades;

• environmental and waste responsibilities;

• actions required when work falls outside the tiler's authority.

Witness and Prior Evidence

Witness testimony and authenticated records of previous work can supplement assessor observation where permitted. Evidence must be attributable to the learner and sufficiently detailed for the assessor to judge what the learner personally did.

Previous experience or prior achievement may also contribute through recognition of prior learning where the applicable assessment arrangements permit it. The assessor still has to confirm that the evidence is authentic, relevant and sufficiently current to demonstrate competence against the present qualification requirements.

Simulation Restrictions

The practical tiling competence required by the current occupational units must be demonstrated in a real work environment. Simulated tiling exercises cannot replace workplace evidence of the required occupational skills.

General assessment arrangements can make limited provision for alternative or simulated evidence in exceptional circumstances that cannot safely or reasonably be generated naturally, such as responses to emergencies. Such provision does not turn simulated tiling work into acceptable evidence of normal occupational competence and must comply with the rules applying to the learner's approved qualification version.

To complete the Diploma, the learner must satisfy every required learning outcome and assessment criterion in the units forming their approved qualification structure and provide sufficient evidence for the assessor to make a valid judgement of consistent occupational competence.

Achievement provides formal evidence of advanced occupational competence in wall and floor tiling. Progression depends on the learner's experience, the type of work undertaken and the responsibilities available within their organisation or contracting arrangements; the Diploma does not by itself guarantee a particular job or promotion.

Advanced Wall and Floor Tiling Work

The qualification is directly relevant to work as a:

• wall and floor tiler;

• experienced or advanced craft tiler;

• specialist ceramic tiler;

• mosaic tiler;

• natural-stone tiler where the individual's experience and work scope support the role.

The advanced complex-finishes competence can be particularly relevant to work involving detailed setting out, shaped surfaces, decorative layouts, patterns, mosaics and stone installations.

Specialist Craft Development

Where specialist units have been completed and the learner has sufficient occupational experience, their work may also extend into activities associated with:

• screeded tiling backgrounds;

• tiled drainage installations;

• under-tile heating installations within the tiler's occupational scope;

• sand and cement backgrounds for tiling.

Completion of an optional unit demonstrates competence against that unit; it should not be treated as authority to undertake regulated or specialist work belonging to another occupation without the additional competence that work requires.

Supervision and Site Leadership

Experienced tilers who move into responsibility for coordinating other operatives may later progress towards occupational work supervision or construction site supervision qualifications, provided their actual job role gives them the necessary supervisory responsibilities and evidence opportunities.

Further progression may therefore include qualifications in areas such as:

• Occupational Work Supervision;

• Construction Site Supervision;

• other higher-level construction qualifications appropriate to the learner's developing responsibilities.

The appropriate next qualification should reflect the work the individual genuinely performs rather than being selected solely because it is at a higher level.

The Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Wall and Floor Tiling (Construction) has a verified current CSCS occupational mapping. The listed occupation is Wall & Floor Tiler, and the Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Wall & Floor Tiling (Construction) is identified for the gold advanced-craft route. The required CITB Health, Safety and Environment Test level for this occupation is Operatives.

Holding the qualification can therefore support an application for the relevant CSCS card, but completing the Diploma does not automatically issue a card or guarantee that an application will be approved.

Gold Skilled Worker Route

For an appropriately mapped Wall & Floor Tiler, the qualification can support an application for the CSCS Gold Skilled Worker card, associated with advanced craft competence.

Applicants must separately meet the current CSCS application requirements, which include:

• holding the relevant completed construction qualification;

• applying separately for the card;

• supplying the required qualification evidence;

• passing the CITB Health, Safety and Environment Test at the level mapped to the occupation;

• having passed the relevant test within the period required by CSCS, currently within the previous two years;

• meeting any other requirements in force when the application is made.

For this qualification's Wall & Floor Tiler mapping, the stated test is the Operatives test. Applicants should confirm the live occupation and card requirements through the official Card Finder before applying, as card rules and evidence requirements can change.