CABE’s Building Inspector Competence Assessment Scheme has been approved as an independent provider scheme by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
CABE (The Chartered Association of Building Engineers) says its new process will enable Building Inspectors to evidence their skills, knowledge, and experience, and gain the necessary certification to allow them to apply to the BSR’s register of Building Inspectors. The Building Safety Act 2022 has made it mandatory for all building control inspectors undertaking restricted activities or functions to register with the BSR. Building control professionals who do not will no longer be able to continue working in building control.
CABE explained: “The regulator’s introduction has fundamentally changed the future of the building control profession, driving a step change in culture, validating the critical importance of the profession, and raising standards. These changes affect over 4,000 Building Control Inspectors in England who, from October 2023, will need to evidence their competence before applying to the BSR’s register of Building Inspectors.”
CABE has been working closely with the BSR, and – as one of the first organisations to be approved as an independent competence assessor – will be supporting the regulator and professionals working within Building Control. The Association’s new Building Inspector Competence Assessment Scheme will be open to all building control professionals, but applications from existing CABE members will be prioritised until 1 October 2023. (After this, all applications will be dealt with on a ‘first come, first served’ basis). The scheme follows a competence-based portfolio assessment process which will allow successful applicants to achieve the required certification that can be used to provide evidence of competence to the BSR.
Applicants will be asked to provide competence statements against CABE’s contextualised Building Inspector Competency Framework (the CABE BICoF), that will be mapped to the class and the categories of work for which the applicant wishes to register. To support their application, they will be asked to produce a portfolio of evidence, including a technical report, and attend a peer-reviewed professional interview, where they can discuss their experience and skills in more detail.
CABE added: “As a professional engineering institute with the Engineering Council, the scheme, and its processes, are overseen and mapped to UK-SPEC 4 and aligned with Flex 8670. This ensures that our membership routes and registration processes are third party- approved and meet the needs of the industry.”
Over the next couple of months, CABE and the BSR will publish more information and clarification on the Building Inspector Competence Assessment Scheme and the Building Safety Regulator’s processes, to help individuals and employers understand certification and registration process.
Dr Gavin Dunn, Chief Executive of CABE (pictured), said: “Building Control professionals have a vital role in helping to deliver buildings that are safe, sustainable, and accessible to all. CABE is delighted to be able to play its part in supporting professionals to demonstrate their competence, and in developing a culture of continuous improvement that will help protect the public interest in the long term. We do not underestimate the challenge in getting the Building Control Profession ready by the April 2024 deadline. It is a huge undertaking, and we are in constant talks with relevant organisations to make this transition as smooth as possible.”