Industry Competence Committee – Building Control Working Group

Overview

Lessons from the Grenfell Tower tragedy and Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of building regulations and fire safety identified a significant gap in skills knowledge and experience across industry, contributing to poor safety and standards in buildings.

The Building Safety Act 2022 (the Act) established the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) in England with a responsibility to facilitate improvement in the competence of industry and building inspectors. 

To do this, the Act required the BSR to establish an Industry Competence Committee (ICC) with a remit to consider competence across the wider built environment, including the competence of building inspectors.

• Further information on the role and remit of the ICC

The ICC is supported by working groups including one focused on building control competence.

Established in September 2023, the Building Control Working Group (BCWG) supports the ICC in delivering its objectives related to building control competence by:

• Providing advice to BSR and ICC on assisting the building control profession to maintain competence and improve it where necessary,
• Helping to identify and triage emerging issues with the regulation of the profession (focussing on issues related to competence)
• Acting as consultees for BSR on building control matters as requested.

The working group currently comprises ICC members who have specific knowledge and experience of the building control profession at a senior level, from both public and private sector.

The BSR is now looking for new members, who are current, practising, Registered Building Inspectors, to join the working group.

Who we’re looking for

This is an exciting opportunity for Registered Building Inspectors from within both the public and private sector, with relevant experience, to have a significant and long-lasting impact on the standards of competence across the building control profession.

The Working Group welcomes members from diverse backgrounds and will look to promote equal opportunities through its membership wherever possible.

What we need you to do as a Working Group Member

• Attend and actively contribute to approximately 8 meetings a year (a combination of virtual and in-person) and make time to review documents outside of meetings. Meetings are Approximately 2 hours duration (2-3 hours should also be set aside per meeting to read papers and review documents)
• Use your personal experience and up to date knowledge from within your frontline building control role, to assist in drafting guidance to assist in improving competence across the profession
• Provide advice and assistance to the ICC based on the wider public interest without personal, business, or sectoral gain
• Promote the work of the Building Control Working Group, and the wider work of the Industry Competence Committee, both within the profession and to wider stakeholders
• Follow the standards of behaviour in public life (the ‘Nolan Principles’)

Members Requirements

Essential criteria/experience

• You are a Registered Building Control Inspector (registered at class 2 or above)
• You are in a frontline building control role within either public or private sector and carry out restricted activities on a regular basis
• You have a good understanding of
  • plan assessments
  • building inspections
  • regulatory compliance
• You have experience of working across a range of projects

Desirable experience

• You have carried out your role within Higher-Risk Buildings (HRB) and or complex projects or you have carried out your role across all of the categories within class 2
• You have experience supervising or mentoring

Essential person requirements

• You have good communication skills and the ability to influence others
• You possess the necessary collaborative skills to work as part of a team with a diverse range of viewpoints
• You can provide clear, impartial, and evidence-based advice
• You have proven leadership skills
• You have a good understanding of the responsibilities of a building control body

Remuneration

Participation is non-salaried. Reasonable travel expenses necessarily incurred in undertaking the role will be reimbursed in accordance with HSE’s travel policy.

Join the Building Control Working Group

If you are interested in joining the Building Control Working Group, you need to apply by Monday 7th April 2025.

What you need to do

You will be required to:

1. Submit a CV setting out how you meet the experience requirements
2. Write a 500-word (max) statement of suitability demonstrating how you meet the essential person requirements

To have the best chance of success, please specifically tailor your CV, and statement of suitability to evidence the experience and personal requirements set out above.

Selection can only use the evidence provided in your documents. We can’t infer skills or experience that is not specifically highlighted in your submission. For the statement of suitability candidates will be expected to give examples that demonstrate how their work means they meet the person requirements and not just list what they have done.

As part of your application, we also ask you to declare any conflicts of interest you may have. This may be financial or other personal interest that may, or may be perceived to, influence your performance on the Building Control Working Group.

Apply by email

Applications should be submitted to bsrsecretariat@hse.gov.uk with the subject titled ICC – Building Control Working Group Application, no later than Monday 7th April 2025.

If you are unable to apply by email

If you are unable to apply email, you can submit your application to:

BSR Building Control Working Group
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
L20 7HS

Applications by post must be received by Monday 7^th April 2025. Any applications that arrive after this date will not be accepted.

• ICC privacy statement

What happens next

A sift to consider who meets the criteria for the roles will take place in the w/c 7th April 2025. We will inform you of the outcome as soon as we can after this date.

Candidates passing the sift will then be required to undertake an interview to assess in more depth their suitability against the criteria that we are looking for. For these candidates, further information will be provided in advance of the interviews taking place.

Interviews are expected to take place remotely via Microsoft Teams, during the w/c 28^th April 2025. and last approximately 45 minutes. These dates may be subject to change dependent on numbers of applications received and panel availability.

Candidates will be notified of the interview results w/c 7^th May 2025. The successful candidates will join their first working group meeting on Monday 19^th May 2025.