A collective competence failure by the built environment sector was identified as a critical contributor to the Grenfell Tower disaster. This has led to competence frameworks being developed for different activities and occupations in response to key recommendations of the Hackitt Review which followed the fire.

BESA is working with the Industry Competence Steering Group (ICSG), a sub-group of the Building Safety Regulator’s Industry Competence Committee (ICC), set up to bring together employers and industry representatives to agree competence requirements in response to the regulatory regime established by the Building Safety Act 2022.

The first consultation for building services engineering ‘Managing competence for Industrial and Commercial Ductwork Installation’ is designed to inform pathways to competence for ductwork installers as part of an industry wide programme that will see similar frameworks created for all built environment professions.

Response
“This is a once in a generation opportunity to shape the future of skills and professional competence across the ductwork sector and set standards for the industry that will define our response to the rapidly developing building safety culture,” said BESA’s director of competence and compliance Jill Nicholls.

“The success of this project depends on the expert input of the whole sector, so we are urging all of the industry’s stakeholders to provide their feedback.”

The results of the consultation will inform the work of the cross-industry Ductwork Installer Competence Group (DICG), formed to lead the development and implementation of the competence framework which includes the installation of industrial and commercial ventilation, fume extract, fire resisting and smoke control ductwork, as well as fire and smoke dampers, and associated components.

To take part in this important consultation, which closes on August 29, download the consultation pack here and send your feedback to: consultation@theBESA.com.

The consultation also follows BESA’s production of the first in a series of practical guides designed to help individuals and organisations better understand, evidence, and apply the principles of Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours (SKEB) to meet their building safety obligations.

The first of the Association’s free to download Demonstrating SKEB guides was also produced for installers of industrial and commercial ductwork. It provides a template of ‘what good looks like’ both on an individual and organisational level and offers practical steps towards developing and proving competence, and how to turn experience and knowledge into useful evidence.

Similar guides are also planned for all industry sectors in tandem with the emerging sector skills frameworks.