Thank you for all the prompt replies. It's given me a few useful points to consider.
I might not have explained the situation very well in my first post.
Although we call our maintenanc staff technicians, handymen might be more accurate.
Their 'competence' is based on previous experience and on the job assessments by their supervisor rather than formal qualifications.
Currently they are only allowed carry out simple task such as replacing the glass elements in call points, blowing dust out of smoke heads etc. (And like for like on our standard electrical installations)
Recently the hold open magnet of an automatic fire door needed replacing at quite considerable cost and I've been asked why we are unable to do this work type of work in house. On the face of it I can seen the companies point, a like for like replacement of basic components should in theory be quite a simple task and because of the nature of reactive maintenance we often have slack hours in our facilities team.
My concern is how to prove the work has been carried out correctly and where to find suitable training material for our existing staff.
Of course if there is a regulation prohibiting anyone unqualified from carrying out this type of work, I can give the company a very straight forward answer.
Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.