Building safety: new Government guidance acknowledges industry body’s role at heart of new safety regime

News

  • Building safety

19 October 2021

Building

In guidance published on 14 October on the forthcoming Building Safety Bill, the Government has confirmed that it does not intend to set up or maintain a state-run register of Building Safety Managers (BSMs). Instead, the decision on which individuals or organisations will be registered as competent to perform the role will be taken by the industry-led Building Safety Alliance, which was set up in July this year - and in which IWFM plays a leading role.

Recognising the Building Safety Alliance’s efforts to develop the competence framework for BSMs and to establish a register of competent practitioners, the government guidance acknowledges a role for public registers in helping to assure Principal Accountable Persons when appointing a BSM and in promoting transparency to residents.

However, the Government has emphasised that a register would not negate the duties on Principal Accountable Persons to carry out the requisite checks on competence and should not be the only indication of competence for a particular building or project. Furthermore, it notes that any industry-created register should also be supported by robust and consistent assurance processes, including third-party accreditation of organisations making assessments.

From the FM perspective, the key parts of the new Building Safety Bill guidance are:

To read our press release on IWFM’s leading role in the work of the Building Safety Alliance click here.