National Specialist Contractors' Council
The National Specialist Contractors' Council (NSCC) aimed to bring together the common aims of specialist trade organisations within the construction industry and was the authoritative voice of specialist contractors in the UK.
Its membership included more than 30 specialist trade organisations representing businesses engaged in planning, design, construction, refurbishment, and maintenance in both the commercial and domestic sectors.
NSCC represented specialist contractors at a number of key industry forums. It also provided advice, guidance, information and support to specialist contractors on a wide range of topics designed to improve business performance and help them deliver quality, best value and integrated solutions to their clients.
It was co-owner of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), a card scheme for construction that certifies the holder has the appropriate training, experience and qualifications for their work (in particular in relation to health and safety).
On 25 June 2015, the UK Contractors’ Group (UKCG) and National Specialist Contractors Council (NSCC) confirmed that they would merge to create Build UK, ‘…a strong collective voice for the contracting supply chain in construction’ to ‘…improve conditions for the supply chain, the wider industry and its clients.’
This followed calls from the government for a single, unified voice from the construction industry, combined with an increasing realisation that the UKCG and NSCC held similar positions in a number of key areas.
Build UK launched on 1 September 2015, led by Chief Executive Suzannah Nichol MBE (current NSCC Chief Executive). See Build UK for more information.
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