CABE delivering the future of Building Control with the Building Safety Regulator

CABE’s Building Inspector Competence Assessment Scheme has been approved as an independent provider scheme by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). CABE’s 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 a mandatory requirement for all building control inspectors undertaking restricted activities, or functions, to register with the BSR. 

Building control professionals who do not register with the BSR will not be able to continue to work in building control.

The introduction of the regulator 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 need to evidence their competence before applying to the BSR’s register of Building Inspectors.

Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) has been working closely with the BSR, and, as one of the first organisation’s to be approved as an independent competence assessor, will be supporting the regulator and professionals working within Building Control.

CABE’s new Building Inspector Competence Assessment Scheme will be open to all building control professionals, but applications from existing CABE Members will be prioritised once the scheme is open. (After this date 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 would like 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 will be able to discuss their experiences and skills in more detail.

This process gives all Building Inspectors a clear route to registration with the BSR.

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.

This also gives the optional benefit for all applicants to further demonstrate their competence with the addition of the Incorporated Engineer (IEng) registration with the Engineering Council*.

Over the next couple of months, CABE and the BSR will be publishing more information and clarification on our Building Inspector Competence Assessment Scheme and the Building Safety Regulator’s processes to help both individuals and employers understand the process for certification and registration.

Dr Gavin Dunn, Chief Executive of CABE says; “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.”

Richard Harral, CABE Technical Director continues; “Our peer-review assessment and interview process ensures high standards of competence. We will be seeking experienced volunteers and will provide them with the necessary training and resources to increase the number of panel assessors to help process as many applications by the deadline as possible”.

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