Industry Competence Committee - Setting Expectations for Competence Management

Overview

The Industry Competence Committee (ICC) was formed under the Building Safety Act 2022 to provide strategic leadership, assistance and encouragement to facilitate the improvement of competence in the built environment industry. It advises both the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and industry on matters of competence.

The ICC has an objective to set clear expectations for industry on competence and what good looks like for individuals and organisations. 

Purpose of guidance document

This document is aimed at organisations who:

• Carry out any design or any building work (in all buildings)
• Manage buildings, and particularly those that manage Higher Risk Buildings (HRBs)

It sets out what organisations should do to meet the competence management aspects of requirements in Part 2A of the Building Regulations 2010 and The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc.) (England) Regulations 2023.

This guidance builds on feedback received from industry consultation in May 2025. It is intended to give ICC’s broad expectations for how organisations should manage competence, by setting out what the common elements and principles are for all organisations.

Purpose of consultation

The ICC wants to ensure that these principles:

• Will assist industry in development of competence management processes
• Are understandable

Feedback is being sought on these points. Following publication, ICC will build on this guidance by developing case studies and examples, to assist industry at a more practical level.

We are also seeking feedback on your views of how case studies and examples could assist Industry.

How to submit responses

This consultation will last for 6 weeks from 25 September 2025 until 6 November 2025. Responses must be received by 23:59 on 6 November 2025.

You can respond in three ways:

1. Complete the online survey
2. Download the Word document version of this consultation and email it to bsrsecretariat@hse.gov.uk
3. Download the Word document version of this consultation and send it to:

Consultation on ICC’s Setting Expectations for Competence Management.
Health and Safety Executive
Building 2.1 Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside L20 7HS

If you require a more accessible format of this document, please send details to HSE.Online@hse.gov.uk and your request will be considered.

Once the consultation closes

When the consultation has closed, HSE will consider the views expressed and may further refine the guidance document and develop case studies and examples to assist industry at a practical level.

Confidentiality and GDPR

Information provided in response to this consultation may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes – these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). Statutory Codes of Practice under the FOIA and EIR also deal with confidentiality obligations, among other things.

If you would like us to treat any of the information you provide as confidential, please make this clear in your response. If we receive a request under FOIA or EIR for the information you have provided, we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot guarantee that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.

An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will be disregarded for these purposes. Requests for confidentiality should be made explicit within the body of the response.

HSE will process all personal data in accordance with the GDPR. This means that personal data will not normally be disclosed to third parties and any such disclosures will only be made in accordance with the Regulations. See HSE’s Privacy Policy Statement.