Building Safety Regulator Reinforces Workforce Competence

The message around competence in construction continues to strengthen: organisations need to know that the people carrying out building work have the appropriate skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for their roles.

Recent industry discussion around the Building Safety Regulator’s focus on subcontractor quality has once again highlighted the responsibilities placed on contractors when appointing and managing those carrying out building work.

Official Building Safety Regulator guidance states that where contractors appoint other contractors to work on a project, they must make sure those appointed have the required competence to carry out the work. Principal contractors also have responsibilities for managing and monitoring contractors, suppliers and service providers.

For main contractors and their supply chains, competence cannot simply be assumed.

Employers need effective ways of understanding the capabilities within their workforce, identifying gaps and providing appropriate routes for workers to demonstrate occupational competence.

Recognised NVQ qualifications can form an important part of this process. By assessing candidates against the requirements of their occupation, NVQs provide a structured route through which experienced workers can demonstrate their competence.

Skills Solutions Group delivers nationwide, workplace-based NVQ assessment across a broad range of construction occupations, allowing candidates to work towards recognised qualifications with minimal disruption to normal site operations.

The regulatory direction also reinforces the importance of maintaining appropriate evidence.

Building Safety Regulator guidance states that when appointing individuals or organisations to carry out work, relevant dutyholders must keep written records of the steps taken to ensure those appointed meet competence requirements. For higher-risk building applications, competence information also forms part of the required documentation.

The practical issue for dutyholders is therefore not simply whether somebody holds a qualification, but whether the organisation can evidence how competence has been considered when people are appointed to carry out work.

Skills Solutions Group supports organisations in reviewing workforce requirements, identifying suitable qualification pathways and creating an auditable record of competence through recognised assessment.

The Industry Competence Committee describes competence as combining skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours with the organisational systems needed to support effective decisions and oversight. Its latest work continues to focus on raising competence standards across the built environment.

For contractors, robust competence processes form part of a much wider responsibility for managing quality and safety throughout project delivery.

Organisations looking to review their workforce competence requirements or identify suitable NVQ pathways can contact Skills Solutions Group to discuss their requirements.