Hi folks I want to set up a Preferred Contractors List covering most if not all trades (refurbishment and maintenance). My working environment is education. Do those firms / companies who wish to apply need to have all of their workforce CRB checked? The Contractors would not be directly involved or working with children but would be moving amongst them so to speak between buildings and within buildings. The reason I ask the question is that all the information I have, talks about working with children not working in the vicinity of children. Thanks in advance for any info. Rich

I work for a specialist electrical contractors and we carry out a lot of white board installation in schools. All our project staff involved in this sort of work are CRB checked, even though we are often in schools during holiday time. It's a pretty standard requirement for contractors who work frequently in school type environments.

Of course, the use of the enhanced crb check for people who do not have unsupervised access to children of vulnerable adults is supposedly illegal. Although frequently used by employers to obtain information about employees. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7548467.stm

pete48 has linked to a 2006 publication which carries a lot of good information. Of more interest might be some clarification offered in Feb 2010 by the Department for Education regarding CRB and service engineers/technicians/salespeople. Here it is verbatim:- Educational Establishments - DFE advised: The relevant criteria are: that the work takes place in a specified place, that it is frequent or intensive at the same establishment, and working for the purpose of that establishment. - frequent means once a week or more - intensive means four times in a month or overnight - and both now have to be in the same establishment (so if he visits one establishment a week, but each of those only once a month, it is now not Regulated Activity) Only if the same person works on the machine in the same school, once a week or more often, or 4 times in one month, is he engaging in Regulated Activity and can therefore have a CRB check processed. Hope that is of some help.

I have been asked for a 99 check anyone heard of this one ? We have also been asked just for supervisor to be enhanced crb checked whilst rest remain unchecked ?

I have not managed to trace any prosecution for unlawful use of crb checks. In spite of the fact that the excessive use of enhanced checks must, in many cases, be dubious. Someone who only does work at schools in holiday periods should not need any crb check, and certainly not an enhanced one. Still, they're good for those who like angling: as in fishing expeditions. I know of at least one person who had worked at a hospital for 15 years, then was required to undergo an enhanced check. One conviction for D&D 20 years before meant he was suddenly a risk to vulnerable adults. I'm sure that being a shop-steward for a union had nothing to do with it.