Contractors Workforce Development Assessment Released

ALACHUA, Fla., Aug. 5, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This week, NCCER and the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) announced the release of the Contractors Workforce Development Assessment (CWDA), a unique assessment tool that objectively measures the quality of a contractor's workforce development program and their commitment to it.

In cooperation with CURT and with input from Associated Builders and Contractors, The Associated General Contractors of America and organized labor, NCCER developed the CWDA to make workforce development a key criterion in contractor and subcontractor selection. The CWDA allows both owners and contractors to be proactive in providing a workforce of skilled craft professionals for their projects.

"Research has shown that craft training pays off through improved productivity and safety and reduced absenteeism, turnover and rework," said Don Whyte, president of NCCER. "The CWDA is a valuable tool to help our industry elevate its engagement and commitment to workforce development."

The process begins when contractors subscribe online to participate in the CWDA. They then answer questions on an assessment and upload documentation to support and validate their answers. A non-biased, third party auditor reviews the completed assessment and supporting documentation and issues an overall score on a scorecard. After reviewing their scorecard, contractors can determine if they would like to grant access to specific owners to view it. In order for owners to view contractors' scorecards, they must be registered users on the CWDA system. In addition to the scorecard, contractors also receive a customized strengths and opportunities for improvement report that assists them with strengthening their workforce development program.

The CWDA offers three types of assessments – one tailored to construction managers, one for self-performing general or prime contractors and one for subcontractors. The assessment enhances the ability of owners to prequalify contractors on workforce development, which promotes safer, on-time and on-budget projects. It is also instrumental in motivating contractors and subcontractors to invest in training their existing workforces and improving their recruiting and training capabilities. In time, the CWDA will generate workforce development benchmarks that will benefit the future of the construction industry.

"A skilled workforce is also a productive workforce," said Greg Sizemore, executive vice president of CURT. "When owners make workforce development a non-negotiable expectation, then the level of commitment contractors give to it will rise."

To subscribe to the CWDA, please visit http://cwda.nccer.org/ or contact Cathy Tyler at NCCER (386) 518-6949.

About NCCER — NCCER is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) education foundation created by the construction industry to develop standardized curriculum with portable credentials and to help address the skilled, construction workforce shortage. NCCER is recognized by the industry as the training, assessment, certification and career development standard for the construction and maintenance craft professional. For more information, visit www.nccer.org or contact NCCER customer service at 888.622.3720.

About CURT– Founded by construction and engineering executives representing major corporations all across the United States and the world, CURT provides a national and international forum for the exchange of information, views, practices and policies of construction users from an array of industries. CURT's primary goal is to enact broad, effective Owner representation and increased Owner leadership on construction industry issues in order to create competitive advantage for Owners. For additional information, visit www.curt.org.