Competence Requirements Under the Building Safety Act

What This Requirement Covers

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduces explicit competence requirements for anyone carrying out building work, particularly on higher-risk buildings. The Act requires that individuals and organisations have the skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours necessary to carry out their role safely and effectively.

Key Requirements

Duty Holders

The Act defines specific duty holders with competence requirements

1. Client: Must take reasonable steps to ensure that duty holders are competent
2. Principal Designer: Must have the skills, knowledge, and experience to plan, manage, and monitor the design phase, with particular focus on building safety
3. Principal Contractor: Must have the skills, knowledge, and experience to plan, manage, and monitor the construction phase
4. Designers: Must be competent to identify and manage risks through design
5. Contractors: Must be competent to carry out the work they are appointed to do

Industry Competence Frameworks

Several industry bodies have developed competence frameworks in response to the Hackitt Review

1. BSI Flex 8670 (Built environment - Core criteria for building safety in competence frameworks): A cross-sector competence standard
2. RIBA, CIAT, CIOB, ICE, IStructE and other professional bodies have developed sector-specific competence requirements
3. Third-party certification and registration schemes provide evidence of competence

Building Control Competence

1. The Building Safety Act requires all building control professionals to be registered with the BSR
2. Registered building inspectors must demonstrate competence in their area of practice
3. A transitional period allows existing practitioners to register and demonstrate competence

Specialist Competence

Specific areas requiring demonstrable competence

1. Fire safety: Fire risk assessors, fire engineers, fire stopping installers, fire door installers
2. Structural safety: Structural engineers, steel erectors, concrete workers
3. Gas safety: Gas Safe registered engineers
4. Electrical safety: Competent person scheme registered electricians
5. Energy assessment: Accredited SAP assessors and energy assessors

Practical Compliance Tips

1. When appointing designers and contractors, ask for evidence of relevant competence (qualifications, registrations, experience, and CPD records)
2. For higher-risk buildings, the BSR may request evidence of duty holder competence as part of the Gateway 2 and Gateway 3 processes
3. Encourage all team members to engage with their professional body's competence framework and maintain their CPD
4. Keep records of competence assessments and appointments for the building safety case
5. For fire safety work, appoint installers with third-party certification (FIRAS, IFC, BM TRADA)
6. For structural work, ensure the engineer is a chartered member of the relevant professional body (ICE, IStructE)
7. Consider whether subcontractors and specialist installers need to demonstrate specific competence relevant to the work they are carrying out