Industry Competence Committee Guidance for Built Environment

Great to see this guidance is now published. Definitely worth a read for anyone working in the built environment, especially with the increased focus on competence and building safety across the sector.

📢 Newly published: Managing Competence in the Built Environment has now been released by the Industry Task and Finish Group (ITFG) in support of the Industry Competence Committee (ICC). The ICC is the statutory committee established under the Building Safety Act to advise both the Building Safety Regulator and industry on competence across the built environment. Its recently published 15 competence principles set out what good organisational competence management should look like, and this ITFG guidance helps translate those principles into practical, proportionate and risk-based action. Shaun Lundy acted as Technical Author for the document in a volunteer capacity through the ITFG. It’s great to have been able to support Shaun in contributing to guidance that will help organisations of all sizes take a more structured, practical and effective approach to managing competence. The guidance is freely available and shareable at this link: https://lnkd.in/eKjWAcRD #BuildingSafety #Competence #BuiltEnvironment #HealthAndSafety #FireSafety

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Industry Group publishes new guidance on managing competence in organisations across the built environment The Industry Task and Finish Group (ITFG) has published its guidance on Managing Competence in the Built Environment: An industry guide on how to meet the ICC principles, providing practical, proportionate and risk-based support for organisations operating across the built environment. The guidance sets out what effective organisational competence management looks like in practice for organisations of all sizes and risk profiles, enabling them to demonstrate that people working for them, or on their behalf, are competent for the work they undertake. Its flexible and proportionate approach means that the guidance can be used alongside existing management systems, or as a foundation where no formal approach is yet in place. The guidance has been developed alongside, and is fully aligned with, the Industry Competence Committee (ICC) publication Setting Expectations on Competence Management. Used together, the ICC advice sets out what good looks like at a high level, while the ITFG guidance explains how organisations can put those principles into practice. The guidance looks at the role of organisational leadership and governance, while emphasising that actively managing competence is not simply about qualifications or training records; it is about ensuring that organisations have enough people with the right skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for their role. Using the principles set out in the ICC document, the ITFG guidance sets out the key elements organisations, SME’s and large organisations alike, should think about when putting effective competence management in place, defining what competence is needed for different roles and activities, assessing and verifying competence, and making sure competence is monitored and maintained over time. Sofie Hooper, Chair of the ITFG comments “With competence being a critical determinant of health and safety, building safety and quality outcomes, the management of competence by organisations is not only a requirement for building safety, but it actively underpins the safety, performance and reliability of structures through the built environment. “This important document will provide much needed guidance across the sector on how to manage competence well and it could not have been done without the cross sector support and the dedication of the experts in the Steering Group. We would also like to thank the ICC for the collaboration so that we could align our guidance- making a difference together.” The guidance will next play a key role in shaping the development of a future British Standard on managing competence in organisations. The documents is available from the BSI Competence hub (https://lnkd.in/eePFAsMU ). The ITFG will next be developing case studies and encourages organisations wanting to contribute to get in touch with Sofie.Hooper@aps.org.uk.

When we were writing PAS 8671, I remember thinking to myself that matching a project team’s SKEB to a job – particularly one where the design and technical constraints haven’t yet been resolved – is fiendishly tricky. In the back of my mind were all the changes a project undergoes from first idea to final completion. How DO you satisfy yourself of a team’s competence when you’re appointing them amid uncertainty about what the work will entail? The team may have great SKEB, but how does it map to the needs of the job? More than that, project teams aren’t endlessly malleable. You can’t just helicopter in missing competence at the drop of a hat. First, you have to recognise the gap. Then source the right people. Then afford to bring them in without upsetting the programme or budget or project coordination. And yet that is pretty much what Part 2A and the wider competence agenda now expects. Two recent publications worth reading – one from the Industry Competence Committee, the other from the ITFG (Industry Task and Finish Group) – throw light on the issue. The term they use is ‘competence management’. I’m not sure they have all the answers, but I was struck by the extent to which they expect businesses – including microbusinesses and SMEs – to have some kind of system for managing competence. The focus on individuals’ SKEB hasn’t gone away. It’s just that now you need a way to: • identify what competence is needed; • check that people have it; • address gaps; • maintain records; and • review competence over time. That is a pretty significant change for smaller operators that still rely heavily on informal knowledge, trusted individuals and accumulated experience rather than structured organisational systems. In short, competence management increasingly looks like something organisations will be expected to ‘do’ (proportionately) as part of ordinary business governance - rather than consider only at project level or during audits. Importantly, this has implications for procurement, assurance, supply chains and organisational risk management, not just compliance. If you're interested, the two guides are on the BSI's Built Environment Competence Hub: 👉 ICC (April 2026): "Setting Expectations on Competence Management - ICC Advice for Industry" 👉 ITFG (May 2026): "Managing competence in the built environment. An industry guide to meeting the ICC principles" https://lnkd.in/eidyRtEe #BuildingSafety #Competence #ConstructionLeadership #BuiltEnvironment #RiskManagement #BuildingSafetyAct

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"Good international practice" is one of those expressions used constantly in #ESDD. Everyone refers to it. Clients commit to it. Lenders require it. But if you ask what it actually means in a specific context, the answers get vague quickly. IFC EHS Guidelines define it as "good international industry practice" (GIIP) — and use it precisely when no specific numerical standard exists. In other words: where measurable parameters end, professional judgement begins. GIIP is not a fixed benchmark. It is a contextual assessment of what is reasonable for that sector, in that country, under those conditions. The same project can have different "good practice" requirements depending on local capacity, available technology, and economic feasibility. The problem is that in ESDD practice, this distinction often disappears. "Good international practice" becomes a generic formula meaning "compliant with standards." But when there is no numerical standard to apply, that formula hides a discretionary decision, about feasibility, capacity, commitment. And that decision cannot be delegated to a framework. It requires judgement. Yet too often, GIIP is treated as if it were a self-evident technical parameter. It is not.

The biggest challenge L&D has been dealing with: "competence assurance". A LinkedIn post in my feed this week said exactly that. Hundreds of comments agreeing. Leaders don't understand what's needed. The standards are too complex. The environment isn't ready. All partly true. But waiting isn't a strategy. BSR and assessors are live now. The exposure is real. In construction, I watch capable training leads carry this weight every day. Pulled into urgent course coordination. Watching the same skills gaps resurface as retention bites. What changes the dynamic isn't another framework. It's evidence the business can act on. Cost, project delays, damages risk, cashflow, insurance and regulatory exposure. That's what we built Yfor to do. Translate standards and regulations into role-based requirements. Turn competence gaps into insights the board can act on. Make competence assurance auditable in a market where BSR failures carry unlimited fines. Competence assurance stops being something L&D battles with Operations & SHEQ to define. It becomes something the business can see, resource for and develop. How much is this costing your business? £20k? £200k? With BSR exposure on the table. Much more?

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