Homes are neither built nor renovated every day.  And while you are at it, it makes sense to entrust the job to qualified hands – even if it means paying few pounds extra – to ensure quality, safety and stability in the construction. Majority of homeowners in the UK align with this concept and thus make it a point to hire only CSCS Card holders.

But are you getting what you are paying for? With rise in fake CSCS Cards in the industry, chances are you might end up betting your money on the wrong horse. Just hiring CSCS Card tradesmen are not enough, knowing if the card is genuine is also important – lest you lose out on both money and output. To separate men (certified tradesmen) from the boys (fake tradesmen), here are 5 ways you can detect a fake CSCS Card:

• All CSCS Cards bear a passport size photograph of the bearer. Show the dustbin to ones that don’t. Make sure the picture resembles the bearer. There have been instances where fraudsters have tried to veil facial features by glasses, headgear or the likes. Be extra alert while dealing with such CSCS Cards. Chances are, they are fake.

• There is a particular format a name appears on the CSCS Card – forenames in initials and the surname in full. ‘Graeme Ashley Hick’ must show up as GA Hick. Any deviation to it is a cause for suspicion.

• There is a unique 8-digit registration number that must feature on the front of the card. It’s issued by CITB to every individual that has passed the Health, Safety and Environment test. You can contact Construction Helpline (website link) to verify if it’s real.

• Checking the expiry date is another way to detect fraud. Most of the CSCS Cards – barring the Red CSCS Cards – have 5-year validity. It takes anywhere between 6 months to 5 years for a Red card to expire. If you see a CSCS Card with expiry date too far away to be true, recheck it. It might be a fake one.

• Look for the microchip on the CSCS Card. It has to be there for the card to be real. It contains information about the worker like his/her name, date of birth, current level of qualification and nationality. You can access all these details by using an app – Go Smart – on your android phone. All homeowners are hereby advised to have this app installed on their android phones. It’s the single greatest way to detect a fake CSCS Card.

Once you find a fake CSCS Card holder, make sure you report it to police. This will help homeowners get the quality work they deserve for the money they spend.