The Friday Blog | The Construction Industry’s Verification System Is Broken—and We’re Just Pretending It Works

The recent revelations about bogus skills cards in the UK construction sector shouldn’t shock anyone.

What they reveal is far more concerning: a system built on assumptions, convenience, and blind trust, all while the stakes couldn’t be higher.

For years, contractors and regulators have leaned on digital platforms like CSCS Smart Check and GQA’s verification tools, assuming that a scan or a quick click guarantees competence. But the reality is that these systems were never designed to be foolproof—they were designed to be efficient. And when efficiency is prioritized over scrutiny, the results are predictable.

Fraudsters are exploiting the cracks that were always there. Fake cards, replicated URLs, and clever digital manipulation aren’t just isolated incidents—they are the inevitable outcome of a verification process that places more faith in technology than in human oversight. One industry expert put it bluntly:

“It’s ingenuous and hard to stop because each dodgy card links to a unique fake checking website URL meaning they can pop up constantly and a lot of contractors are completely unaware they are being tricked.”

And they’re right. Hundreds of unqualified workers could be slipping onto sites without anyone batting an eye. Safety is literally at risk every time an untrained worker handles machinery, scaffolding, or hazardous materials.

What’s striking is how reactive the industry has been. Most attention comes only after a scandal surfaces. PPAC Solutions and a few high-profile contractors uncover fraud, media coverage highlights the problem, and a few advisories are issued. But there’s no industry-wide reckoning, no systematic overhaul. Verification remains fragmented, inconsistent, and vulnerable. One site may demand rigorous checks; another may accept a digital scan at face value. That patchwork approach is a recipe for disaster.

Even the much-lauded CSCS Smart Check system is a bandaid on a structural problem. It can verify cards, confirm dates, and flag obvious anomalies—but it cannot detect a clever criminal exploiting systemic trust. When the underlying model assumes honesty as a default, fraudsters only need to outsmart the minimum requirements. The system becomes a game of probability, not protection.

It’s also worth pointing out that this problem isn’t purely technological—it’s cultural. Contractors are under constant pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget. Verifying every worker with rigorous, multi-layer checks takes time, costs money, and slows progress. So shortcuts are taken. Checks are outsourced. Responsibility is diluted. And when the inevitable gap appears, everyone points fingers at “rogue workers” or “fraudsters,” rather than asking the uncomfortable question: why was the system so fragile in the first place?

There’s a solution, but it would require radical thinking. Multi-factor verification, stronger auditing, even blockchain-style credential tracking could drastically reduce vulnerabilities. More importantly, the industry must stop treating verification as an administrative chore—it is a core safety measure. Every unqualified worker on site is not just a breach of policy, it’s a gamble with lives.

Until the construction sector acknowledges that, these scams will continue. The headlines will come and go, but the systemic flaws will remain. We need a cultural shift, not just a technical fix—a recognition that safety and competence cannot be outsourced, digitized, or ignored in the pursuit of convenience.

Because if we continue pretending that a quick scan guarantees a trained worker, the next scandal won’t be about fake cards—it will be about real harm.