BESA’s new competence toolkit targets Building Safety Act compliance

Competence guidance under the Building Safety Act

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has published a free guide setting out how employers can demonstrate competence under the Building Safety Act and show compliance to the Building Safety Regulator.

BESA said the document, titled Demonstrating Competence under the Building Safety Act, is the latest in its series of practical guides for the building services industry.

The guide is intended to help employers meet legislative competence requirements in professions where formal qualifications or full competence frameworks are still absent.

It explains how individuals and organisations can understand, evidence and apply the principles of Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours that define competence.

BESA sets out competence as part of a wider risk management process that is governed and reviewed through each stage of project delivery.

The guidance includes evidence of how work is allocated on the basis of demonstrable competence.

It also covers how competence is monitored and reviewed and how gaps should be addressed when they are identified.

The document outlines a proportionate competence management system based on the SKEB model developed by BESA.

Competence evidence and compliance pathway

BESA said the advice is aligned with work being carried out by the Engineering and Building Services Skills Authority (EBSSA) and the Industry Competence Steering Group (ICSG).

The guide states that construction-related professions are still expected to show the Building Safety Regulator that people carrying out safety-critical tasks are competent for those specific tasks.

That requirement applies even where sector frameworks are still incomplete.

BESA said the guidance was produced in response to requests across the sector for clearer information about what competence is, what good practice looks like and how it can be evidenced to regulators and clients.

The guidance is divided into ten sections.

These sections cover defining competence, using assessment and evidence to satisfy the Regulator, addressing competence in supply chains and linking to other tools and standards.

BESA’s director of specialist knowledge Rachel Davidson said: “Employers have always been liable for ensuring the right competence is in the right roles at the right time.

“However, the Regulator has now tightened the alignment between legislation and the Building Regulations to explicitly impose competence requirements on both individuals and organisations.

“This gives more clarity and oversight around how competence is defined, demonstrated and governed – and our new guide shows employers how to comply.”

Davidson added that competence should not be regarded as “a tick box exercise” and described it as a continuous management discipline combining technical rigour with behaviour to achieve compliance.

She said: “Many employers in this industry already have good systems in place and employ excellent people keen to do a good job.

“They don’t need to wait for the various industry committees to finish their work on formal competence frameworks.

“Our guide provides a method for establishing or verifying a system you can defend in the face of Regulator scrutiny now.”

The guide is available as a free download.