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Becky Hinshelwood 11th September 2019

Grandfather Rights And Driver CPC Certification Explained

“Grandfather rights” may seem like a strange term if you’ve never come across it before, but it’s hugely important when it comes to CPC and HGV driving. “Grandfather rights” are better known as “acquired rights”, these rights are typically granted when there is a change in a legal requirement for a qualification to practice that would affect those already in the industry. They can come up in any industry, but for the purposes of this post, we’re just going to look at driver CPC certifications.

What Is CPC?

CPC stands for “Driver Certificate of Professional Competence”. It is a qualification for professional drivers of goods and passenger vehicles and was developed as a result of EU Directive 2003/59, which requires drivers to be continuously trained throughout their working lives. Drivers must only be trained using approved training courses and should complete 35 hours of approved training in every period of five years.

Why Do Grandfather Rights Matter In This Case?

When CPC was introduced, all large goods vehicle drivers had to pass the CPC qualification before they could work as a large goods vehicle driver again. This could have taken a huge number of drivers off of the road for a substantial amount of time, which had the potential to cause irreparable damage at the time.

Thankfully, because of Grandfather rights, those drivers were still able to do their jobs while fulfilling the requirements of the new qualification; if they wanted to. By law, not everyone needed to gain CPC, only new drivers.

Who Needs CPC?

If you’re a large goods vehicle driver and you gained your licence prior to 10th September 2009, then you have Grandfather/acquired rights. This applies to Cat C, C1, C+E and C1+E licences. If you gained a bus or coach driver and gained your licence D, D1, D+E or D1+E before 10th September 2008, you also apply for Grandfather/acquired rights.

Everybody else needs to fulfil the requirements for a Driver Certificate of Professional Competence to legally be allowed on the road as a professional drivers of goods and passenger vehicles.

However, even drivers who don’t need CPC still need to complete the 35 hours of training every five years. This is a legal requirement for all professional drivers of goods and passenger vehicles, and there is no way out of it or around it. You may not need the CPC qualification, but you still need to do the training.

What Happens If You Don’t Train?

Failure to do this is a huge breach of the law and you could suffer serious professional consequences as a result. If you are a current holder of a license that enables you to drive goods and passenger vehicles, and you gained this license before the aforementioned dates, it’s not too late to apply for Grandfather rights or even get a driver CPC.

Grandfather rights are a great solution when new laws come into place, they give you time to make changes without feeling like you’ll be penalised. At Easy as HGV, we are here to help you achieve your Driver CPC qualification, whether it’s through traditional channels or applying through grandfather rights. Our qualified instructors are always on hand to guide you through the process from your first day to taking your test, and we would love to answer any of your questions. If you would like to know more, just get in touch with us today

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