Competence expectations – now for organisational management of individual competence

Over the last couple of years, Safety Management magazine has kindly asked us, as Trustees of the Building Safety Alliance, a forum for organisations involved in managing safety in the occupied residential property sector, to provide updates around the building safety agenda, often focusing on either the ‘golden thread’ or on competence. 

The new Building Safety Act regime puts in place competence requirements, as implemented through the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended) (for the design and construction phase) and The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc) (England) Regulations 2023 (for the occupation phase). However, it is often forgotten that the competence requirements for the principal designer and the principal contractor extend to all building work beyond higher-risk buildings (HRBs), and that it is not just individual competence requirements that need to be ensured – organisational management of competence also needs to be ensured. But what is competence, how is it defined and what is expected?

Most readers will be familiar with much of the work that has already been carried out on individual competence, which is defined in BS 8670-1:2024 Competence frameworks for building safety Part 1: Core Criteria – Code of practice. Formerly known as BSI Flex 8670, this Standard sets formal guidelines for the application of skills, knowledge, experience and behaviour (SKEB) to achieve a defined outcome. A few individual competence frameworks have been developed over the last few years in line with BS 8670-1, both within the BSI (British Standards Institution) and within the Industry Competence Steering Group, a subgroup of the statutory Industry Competence Committee (ICC). The ICC was formed under the Building Safety Act 2022 to provide strategic leadership, assistance and encouragement to facilitate the improvement of competence in the built environment industry, and advises both the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and industry on matters of competence.

The BSI, the ICC and the BSR are now collaborating to bring industry together to engage on competence and share best practice through the Built Environment Competence Hub, an online space that brings together the key free resources, standards, tools, guidance and competence frameworks people need, in one place. You can sign up here.

Broader conversation on competence
Over the past 18 months however, the conversation has broadened to understanding how competence should be managed in organisations, so that culture change can be enabled, while at the same time organisations can meet their regulatory requirements under the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended) and The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc) (England) Regulations 202 3. 

There are two definitive documents which every reader should be aware of, and which will help employers and clients check internally and externally that their suppliers and supply chains can show they are competent to deliver the work they are appointed or contracted to do.

The complementary documents were published in May 2026, and are available from the BSI Built Environment Competence Hub. First, the ICC published its document Setting Expectations on Competence Management – ICC Advice for Industry. This sets out, at high level, what is expected of organisations in relation to managing the competence of individuals, and then assuring that competence.

The expectations are set out through 15 principles, which help articulate the scope of operations, and set out expectations around organisational behaviours. The document makes clear that it is not just about having competent people, but also sufficiently competent people. It is very clear that the response to meeting the principles should be proportionate and respond to the context, (i.e. a Tier 1 construction contractor will be expected to have a more complex system in place than would a construction SME or sole trader – nevertheless each principle will need to be demonstrably met).

However, as noted, these are high-level principles. This is why a diverse group of about 50 industry stakeholders were brought together as an Industry Task and Finish Group (the ITFG) to work with the ICC and BSR to create a second, complementary industry guidance document which sets out in practical detail how the expectations set by the ICC can be met and demonstrated. This document, Managing Competence in the Built Environment: An Industry Guide to meeting the ICC Principles, is also available from the Built Environment Competence Hub.

In addition to the providing more practical guidance on the 15 principles, the ITFG document was also designed with proportionality in mind, so that it can be used by all organisations, small, micro, large, and very large. Written in plain English, it outlines how organisations can meet the principles, what questions one should ask, easy prompts and some tools for building the necessary and relevant processes. It also outlines how an organisation can review if it has appropriately met, and could therefore successfully demonstrate, the management of competence.

The ITFG guidance can be applied across the built environment – not just in the area of building safety. It provides clear advice and assistance for organisations across the built environment on how to identify work the organisation delivers that could have an impact on safety and life safety. It reflects the fact there is now a greater emphasis on ensuring and demonstrating the competence of individuals involved in ‘safety-critical’ works and beyond.

The ITFG’s Industry Guide also provides advice on how the management of individuals can be set up as a standalone process, or where systems are already in place, how it can be integrated. For example, for those organisations who are already audited against British Standards, or ISO, the guidance advises how the business can integrate competence management into existing ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ systems.

 Competence of project teams
It is important to note that the management of competence also applies to project teams delivering building work on both large and small projects, including maintenance, refurbishment and retrofit. The construction control plan under The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 requires, for example, that the client sets out the strategies, policies and procedures they have adopted to identify, assess and keep under review the competence of the persons carrying out HRB work, or involved in the design of a HRB, or the design of the building work for a HRB. 

Furthermore, any organisation supplying competent individuals to another’s ‘job’ must ensure that they always provide appropriately competent people – so taking on or starting a new job in a week or two does not mean pulling the competent people off the existing job to furnish the requirements of the new… all on the job need to be competent all of the time, and sufficient resources need to be on hand! We also suggest organisations keep good records to demonstrate this has been, is and will continue to be done correctly.

Conclusion
The ‘competence’ steam train is well on track and gaining traction rapidly. Many of you will have heard or read Dame Judith Hackitt’s exhortations to industry to ‘get on with it’ – the industry, and the professional and trade bodies, are doing so. And the government is looking at how to push it further so together we can deliver safer and better building outcomes. Don’t get left behind.

For more information see:
competence.bsigroup.com

Sofie Hooper is deputy CEO of the Association for Project Safety and chair of the Industry Task and Finish Group (ITFG).

Anthony Taylor is managing director of Resolve Risk Ltd, a member of the Industry Competence Committee (ICC) & Industry Task and Finish Group (ITFG), and chair of the Building Safety Alliance.