Improving safety after Grenfell: new standards on competence for the Built Environment sector

BSI has produced a new competence framework for the built environment sector to address safety concerns. In the wake of the Grenfell tragedy, an independent review by Dame Judith Hackitt recommended a ‘universal shift in culture’ including a ‘new regulatory framework’.

In its role as the UK’s National Standards Body, BSI has created an overarching competence framework to support the recommendations set out in the Hackitt review. How will this help improve safety, and what does it mean for the industry?

Acceptance of the need for wide-reaching change

 There is broad industry consensus that the changes outlined by Dame Judith are needed. The Grenfell tragedy has brought the issue of building safety into focus, and organisations are determined that the same mistakes must never be repeated.

One of the key findings of the Hackitt report was that more clarity is required in defining roles and responsibilities within the sector, to ensure better accountability and enhance building safety. By setting robust competence levels, workers should be skilled enough to ensure compliance with the new regulatory regime as well as being able to identify and manage risk better.

What standards are being developed?

The standards development programme consists of two parts: firstly, an Overarching Competence Framework Standard and secondly, a set of Competence Requirements for the three newly-regulated roles of Principal Designer, Principal Contractor and Building Safety Manager.

The schedule for developing the standards anticipates that by the end of 2022, there will be a full British Standard with accompanying guidance on the overarching competence framework, and three PAS standards setting out competence requirements for the three key roles.

Overarching competence framework

The overarching competence framework will set out five core principles of competence that underpin construction roles such as designer, fire risk assessor, building manager and contractor. Each sector will be able to use these principles to define the competences that apply to their own specific requirements.

In view of the pressing need for change, the overarching framework has been developed using BSI’s innovative new Flex development process, which was launched earlier in 2020. Rather than using the usual Standard development process, which can take years, Flex will result in multiple iterations of the Standard which are opened for comments and feedback, amended then resubmitted for feedback. After the final iteration, the overarching competence framework will be converted into a full British Standard.

Phase 1 of the programme was launched in June 2020. The first iteration of the Flex Overarching Competence Framework Standard was published in September 2020, with second and third iterations planned for December 2020 and March 2021.

Competence requirements

The competence requirements will help to define three key roles (Principal Designer, Principal Contractor and BSM) in order to clarify responsibility and improve life safety at each stage of a building’s life cycle, from design and build through operation, maintenance and renovation. This should help to improve continuity in the management of a building, so that responsible people make fully informed decisions rather than working in silos.

The competences will be set out in Publicly Available Specification (PAS) documents, produced through a fast-tracked process to meet the urgent need identified in the Hackitt review.

Preparatory work for developing these PASs is underway; 32 in-depth interviews with industry figures from the three competence areas have been carried out. This work has helped to indicate what should be covered by the PASs and what the issues or difficulties may be with their development and implementation.

The scope and contents of all three competence standards should be defined by March 2021.

When can we expect to see change in the industry?

The new standards will take time to become embedded in the industry. Organisations including certification bodies, trade associations, professional institutions and scheme administrators will need to consider how the standard relates to their work and what changes need to be made in order to ensure certification and assessment complies with the new regime. Accreditation bodies such as UKAS and the Engineering Council will also need to ensure they can assess these organisations to ensure the new regime is robust.

Adapting to the reforms will take time and may cause disruption, but there is no doubt that this represents a valuable opportunity for the sector. The changes should help to rebuild confidence in the built environment sector, preventing future tragedies and improving accountability where safety breaches do occur. This is a necessary development for the industry, as it is clear that maintaining the status quo is not viable.

Following publication of the standards, the changes will start to take place in the industry in accordance with the new Building Safety regime as all the elements fall into place.

If you wish to contribute to the development of the new standards and PASs, your comments and proposals are welcome. Check for updates here: https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/industries-and-sectors/construction-and-the-built-environment/built-environment-competence-standards/

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