A Bristol training provider has helped create the region’s first apprenticeship for trainee smart home technicians to take account of the rapidly increasing use of technology in residential property.
South West Construction Academy (SWCA) has teamed up with smart homes firm Zmart Hohm to design and roll out the course, which starts this September. 
It follows revised smart home technology (SHT) apprenticeship guidelines issued by the government last summer.
But with low awareness and with the need for experts to write the courses, industry uptake has been slow.
This is despite SHT being increasingly adopted by housing developers and owners of high-end properties for lighting, heating, security, audio, access and energy management.
The benefits of SHT in controlling energy use as fuel prices soar is also making it more popular. Later this year the South West’s first housing association development with smart homes will be completed in Weston-super-Mare.
SWCA is one of only five organisations in the UK to offer SHT apprenticeships.
The academy, established by husband and wife Shane and Nicola McCallum in 2013, is an independent provider of trades courses in the Bristol area. It is based in 5,500 sq m of offices, teaching rooms and workshops in St Phillips.
The SHT course material will be aimed at installation of a range of different systems to manage every aspect of home technology, from heating set-up to security and lighting. Each can either act individually or be tied into one coordinated system, manageable from a smartphone.
The course will be led by Paul Smithies, a former tutor at Wiltshire College who previously spent 16 years on the tools running his own business.
Paul, pictured above, left, with Zach Meek of Zmart Hohm and Shane McCallum of SWCA, said: “Smart home technology is coming around the corner in a major way and the industry will need qualified technicians who can properly install it.
“As always, these things are created and then the courses need writing – so it’s important to take consultancy and advice from experts like Zach so that the installation training is cutting edge.
“There are some other providers dotted around the UK but no one’s taken it up and run with it yet – it takes small operators like us to take the initiative before the industry follows. So it’s great to be working together and we’re excited about the potential for these new courses.”
Gloucester-based Zmart Hohm was set up to offer intelligent home and commercial systems fit for modern properties in 2019 by Zack Meek after 12 years working with his father’s electrical business.
The company is accredited to deliver the automation system from Loxone, which is headquartered in Austria but has offices in the UK as well as around Europe, in China and the US.
Zack said: “We’re on a mission to provide as many people with high-quality smart home and commercial automation systems as possible.
“It’s great to be working with Paul and the team at SWCA to help deliver these courses. Electrical contractors can be sure that the demand is going to be significant in the coming years.”
