Industry Competence Committee

Closes 28 Apr 2023

Opened 28 Feb 2023

Overview

Lessons from the Grenfell Tower tragedy and Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of building regulations and fire safety identified a lack of skills, knowledge and experience across industry and that this is 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 enabled the BSR to establish an Industry Competence Committee with a number of functions including monitoring industry competence, advising the BSR and industry, helping industry to improve competence, and producing guidance to the public about assessing the competence of people in the built environment industry.

The BSR is now looking for a chair and members with the proven leadership to join this important committee to tackle the deficiencies in industry competence.

The ICC will consist of a high-level steering group, underpinned by separate technical working groups, focussing on specific areas of work.

Initially we’re looking for people to be part of the high-level steering group. The technical working groups will be set up at a later date.

Who we’re looking for

This is a very exciting opportunity for those with relevant experience to have a significant and long-lasting impact on the standards of competence across the built environment.

The committee is looking for a Chair and members from across the spectrum of industry. Including:

  • Construction, design, training / scheme provers, fire, building control, housing (in-occupation) and sectors that work in these areas

We are also particularly keen to bring in members with experience leading and implementing competence regimes outside the built environment in industries such as:

  • Chemicals (including Petrol-chemicals), Energy generation (Nuclear / renewables / pipelines etc), Transport (aviation and rail) Other high-hazard industry etc

The committee would also really welcome members from diverse backgrounds and will look to promote equal opportunities through its membership wherever possible.

What we need you to do as an ICC member

  • Attend and actively contribute to 6 main committee meetings a year (combining in-person and virtual). Approximately 2-3hrs duration (1-2 hrs should also be set aside to read papers)
  • Participate in committee work that extends beyond main committee meetings including workshops and the work of technical working groups. Approximately 8 hrs per month
    (Technical working groups will include additional members in specialist fields who will share the workload)
  • Use your personal industry experience and up to date knowledge to improve competence in the built environment
  • Provide advice and assistance to the ICC on basis of the wider public interest without personal, business or sectoral gain
  • Follow the standards of behaviour in public life (the ‘Nolan Principles’)

Members Requirements

Experience

Experience of leading the development and implementation one of more of the following:

  • Guidance, standards, frameworks that set competence requirements
  • Training or upskilling regimes
  • Methods or schemes to demonstrate competence
  • Work to ensure persons behave in line with competence requirements at work

Person requirements

  • Ability to drive change in competence a leadership position
  • Individual reach and authority across industry
  • Possess the necessary collaborative skills to work as part of a team with a diverse range of viewpoints
  • The ability to provide clear, impartial, and evidence-based advice

Industry sector spread

As part of the appointment process we will group applicants based on the sector they work in and look to appoint a committee which draws its membership from a wide range of industry.

An overview of how the ICC will function is available to read. As ICC is a new committee, its remit and performance will be reviewed over time to ensure it meets the BSR's requirements.

Chair Requirements

As well as recruiting ICC members we will also be recruiting a Chair. Chair applicants will need to indicate in their application that they wish to apply for this position. Chair applicants will be expected to demonstrate a higher skill level for the first two-person requirements outlined in the members requirement section. Applicants who are unsuccessful in their application for Chair will also be considered as applicants to be an ICC member.

Renumeration

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 Industry Competence Committee

To tell us you’re interested in joining the Industry Competence Committee, you need to apply by Friday 28th April 2023.

What you need to do

You will be required to:

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

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

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

The details of anyone who demonstrates the required skills, knowledge and experience, but does not obtain a place on the steering group, will be kept (for 12 months from the application deadline) and may be invited to attend one of the ICC technical working groups.

Please highlight in your submission if you do NOT wish your details to be kept for this purpose.

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 ICC.

We also ask you to provide a brief statement (no more than 200 words) on how you intend to manage these conflicts of interest if appointed to the steering group.

Apply by email

Applications should be submitted to buildingsafety@hse.gov.uk no later than 11:55 pm on Friday 28th April 2023.

If you are unable to apply by email

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

BSR Industry Competence Committee
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
L20 7HS

Applications by post must be received by Friday 28th April 2023. Any applications that arrive after this date will not be accepted.

Our privacy statement is available on the HSE website.

What happens next

A sift to consider who meets the criteria for the roles will take place in the w/c 15th May 2023. We will inform you of the outcome as soon as we can after this date.

An initial sift will be conducted on the basis of the lead statement, with those meeting the requirements proceeding onto the full sift. Candidates passing the full 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 will take place remotely via MS Teams. Interviews for the position of Chair will take place in the w/c 5th June 2023 Interviews for committee members are expected to take place during w/c 12th June 2023 and last approximately 45 minutes. These dates may be subject to change dependent on numbers of applications received and panel availability.

The first meeting of the committee is planned for the 13th September and will be held in-person at HSE Canary Wharf Offices in London.

Audiences

  • Public

Interests

  • Industry Competence Committee