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Fri March 29 2024

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Building Safety agenda spawns competency spec docs

8 Aug 22 The British Standards Institution (BSI) has published new specification documents setting out the competencies now expected of the designers, builders and safety managers of tall buildings.

The suite of standards, supported by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC), is expected to contribute to a raising of competence across the built environment sector.

The three new Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) will give industry some agreed core principles, terminology, and requirements on competence, providing a shared understanding of roles along the delivery supply chain, the Construction Industry Council said. “They provide a bridge to wider competence requirements being developed for the professional, technical and artisanal skills of those working in the built environment, raising the quality of work, the behaviour and the culture of individuals working in the built environment.”

The publications are designed to help industry meet the challenges set by the Building Safety Act, which received Royal Assent earlier this year. As the government’s main legislative response to the 2017 Grenfell Fire, the act represents a change in how high-rise residential buildings are to be designed, built, managed and regulated.

The three documents are listed below.

PAS 8671:2022 Built environment - Framework for competence of individual Principal Designers – Specification. PAS 8671 specifies competence thresholds that individuals are expected to meet when delivering or managing the dutyholder functions of the principal designer role, and additional competencies for working on higher-risk buildings (HRBs).

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PAS 8672:2022 Built environment - Framework for competence of individual Principal Contractors – Specification. PAS 8672 specifies competence requirements for the role of principal contractor. It also describes specific competencies common to all principal contractors and those which are additional for those undertaking the role on higher-risk buildings.

PAS 8672 specifies competence requirements for the role of principal contractor with regard to: roles and responsibilities; skills, knowledge and experience; behaviours and ethics; additional competences for higher-risk buildings (HRBs); and limits of competence. BSI says that PAS 8672 can be used as a benchmark against which to assess the competence of individual principal contractors. It can also help principal contractors determine their own competence limitations and identify areas of development.

PAS 8673:2022 Built environment - Competence requirements for the management of safety in residential buildings – Specification. PAS 8673 specifies competence requirements for the management of safety in residential buildings and other developments incorporating residential accommodation. It also gives guidance on detailed competencies and the assessment of competence.

It specifies areas of competence as: building structures and building systems, including building services; interaction of systems and components; operational practices necessary to maintain buildings safe for occupants; risk management; managing the golden thread of information, including other digital information; managing change, including the consequences of human behaviour; leadership, communication and planning skills; personal commitment to ethical behaviour and professional standards.

The three documents are available to download for free at www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/industries-and-sectors/construction-and-the-built-environment/built-environment-competence-standards

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MPU

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