Part 2: The Regulator and its functions Committees Section 10: Committee on industry competence Background
This is a new provision that will require the Building Safety Regulator to establish an industry competence committee with the functions specified in this section. This is in addition to the general powers to set up committees relating to building functions and pay committee members under new section 11A of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
	The Independent Review identified that the current landscape for ensuring competence is fragmented, complex and inconsistent - different disciplines have various routes for assessing competence which are not always clear or consistent. The Review recommended that the built environment industry should work together to develop proposals for a system for competence oversight, which include the establishment of an industry-led committee within the Building Safety Regulator to ensure a consistent approach to improving competence across industry.
Example 1: Advising the Building Safety Regulator
The Building Safety Regulator has appointed an industry competence committee as required by this provision. The committee provides advice to the Building Safety Regulator as the Regulator develops statutory guidance to the industry advising on how to comply with the legal requirements for industry competence.
The committee also provides wider advice to the Building Safety Regulator on competence to support the Building Safety Regulator’s wider industry competence function. The committee oversees, advises and monitors the built environment sector in relation to competence requirements for higher-risk buildings, which could include reviewing sector-specific competence frameworks against the benchmark competence standard (currently being developed by British Standards Institution), and makes recommendations for improvements. It publishes non-statutory guidance on the competence frameworks and advice and guidance for actors in the system to help them determine competence, and to signpost schemes or registers which the committee has assessed as meeting the overarching competence framework standard.
Example 2: Working with stakeholders
The committee convenes stakeholders to enhance competence within industry. This provides a forum for industry to work collaboratively to monitor, refresh and review competence frameworks and to drive competence more widely.
Example 3: Research and analysis
The committee carries out research and analysis to support all of the above work. One example could be an analysis of the effectiveness of the competence schemes operated in various sectors and whether there are gaps that need to be addressed for any particular sector.