Spec Finish

Technical www.thefis.org 13 to describe the competency levels for the three new positions described in the (Draft) Building Safety Bill: • principal designer PAS8671; • principal contractor PAS8672; and • building safety manager PAS8673. The competency of these people will be overseen by the new Building Safety Regulator under the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). (Find BSI Flex 8670 here: www.bsigroup.com ) Building a Safer Future Charter In April 2020, the UK Government encouraged industry-wide commitment to sign up to the Building a Safer Future Charter, in its response to the ‘Building a Safer Future’ consultation ‘A reformed building safety regulatory system’. In early 2020, the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) was appointed to develop and manage the charter and FIS is proud to be amongst the first signatories. It’s about compliance Looking beyond competency to other elements of compliance, the Construction Products Standards Committee has been formed. This committee will comprise technical experts and academics and it will advise the Secretary of State for Housing on whether voluntary industry standards for construction products should also become UK regulatory standards, a role currently undertaken by the European Commission. The Construction Products Standards Committee will also provide advice and recommendations on the conformity assessment process and product test standards. In particular, the Construction Products Standards Committee will advise on: • the assumptions and weaknesses within the current testing regime, including the effectiveness and accuracy of current tests; • ways to improve the testing regime and new tests to address the weaknesses; and • innovation in how construction products are tested. Organisations, such as FIS will be feeding into this group (via the Construction Products Association), helping to deliver a new rigorous and proportionate process for proving compliance. Alongside this work the Marketing Integrity Group (MIG) published their Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI). The CCPI is a code for all construction product manufacturers (including distributors) to ensure that consistent terminology is used, that performance claims are evidence based and have been signed off by the competent technical person in the organisation. A new body, called Construction Products Information Ltd, will provide a verification scheme for suppliers wishing to sign up to the code. Measuring competence and compliance It’s clear that we are reaching a stagewhere change is coming and the framework for measuring competence and compliance is being constructed using new legislation that will be built on rapidly over the nextmonths and years. The Chief Executive Officer at Construction Products Information Ltd, Amanda Long, said: “We are constantly receiving stark reminders of the challenges facing the industry in improving building safety and rebuilding trust following the Grenfell Tower disaster. There is much work going on across the sector to seek to address these very real deficits and support risk reduction. An important part of that landscape is the Building a Safer Future Champions benchmarking process and Code for Construction Product Information. Both bring rigour and independent assessment to help raise the bar in relation to compliance and competence in building safety. “We are pleased to have the support and engagement of FIS on this journey and look forward to working together to progress this crucial agenda.” It’s about collaboration In this map (above) I have attempted to show how these committees, working groups, legislative changes standards, documents, reports and bodies come together and how they will start to lead to a more compliant built environment. An encouraging start has been evidenced by the spirit of collaboration across the sector, bringing us into contact with new individuals, organisation and perspectives on some age-old problems. Commenting on the work towards a compliant built environment, Peter Caplehorne, Chief Executive at the CPA, said: “A significant number across the construction sector are very conscious that standards need to be raised. At the centre of this is the level of competence across all areas. “A huge amount of work has been going on in recent years to address this issue and it is heartening to see this now maturing. To achieve any measure of success cross sector collaboration is key. FIS has been at the centre of much of this work; raising awareness and supporting the many channels of activity. “The CPA have been delighted to support and collaborate with the FIS on this journey and look forward to seeing this hard work bear fruit creating an industry for the future that is fully fit for purpose.” April 2021Version 3 Built environment – Core criteria for building safety in competence frameworks – Code of practice BSI Flex 8670: v3.0 2021-04 12workinggroups Raising thebar Setting the Bar WG reports Market integrity group Code forConstruction Products Information (CCPI) Buildinga safer future BSF Charter Construction products standards committee CLCStandards and regulation group RelevantStandards Authority Interior products Constructionproducts Competency Framework FLEX 8670 Competency standard BENCHMARKING& VERIFICATION FRAMEWORK FOR THE BUILDINGASAFER FUTURECHARTER COMMITMENTS Verification scheme ConstructionProducts Information Ltd Compliance Competence BuildingSafetyBill/ Fire SafetyBill Behaviourand Ethics report Competency steeringgroup (CSG) 3 new PAS’s Principle designer PAS8671 Principle contractor PAS8672 Building safetyManager PAS8673 New Building safety regulator HSE DesignatedSafety critical products 3 rd partyProduct certification 3rdparty installer schemesat organisational level. Trade Association/professional bodies schemes/ competence standards BuiltEnvironment CompetencyStandard (BECS) Strategygroup Competence committee (Under HSE) DLUHCMandatory Technical Competency review (CPS) IndustrySafetySteeringGroup (ISSG) BuildingAdvisory Committee (Under HSE) Office forProduct Safetyand standards OPSS National construction Products Regulator Competence and compliance landscape map