CEBC finds competence assessment varies across Europe

In spring 2019, the Consortium of European Building Control (CEBC) – an organisation comprising professional bodies such as RICS from across the continent – established a working group to investigate the various methods of measuring, assessing and validating competency among the membership.

Competency is a topic that is relevant in building control and has been highlighted in reports such as the Hackitt report, published in May 2018, which made recommendations around establishing a competency framework for building inspectors in England and Wales.

Although research was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and not completed until 2023, the consortium gathered information on building control systems in 19 member countries.

Published in September 2024, CEBC's Measuring competence across European building systems report explains that there was an almost even split between respondents who indicated their country has a performance-based regulatory framework and those with prescriptive regulations.

The ultimate responsibility for building safety also varies. A majority of respondents said this lies with building owners, although in Cyprus, Spain and Latvia the architect or constructor is responsible.

The research established that around 70% of respondents operate a building control competency framework, with most countries including an accredited assessment scheme as part of this. At the time of research, Finland and England together with Wales were both in the process of implementing such a framework.

The research also identified that competency frameworks cover a variety of stakeholders, and while most applied to building control professionals some also focused on those designing or supervising construction of buildings.

It is no surprise that the catalyst for change in many cases has been catastrophic failures in buildings or infrastructure. It is also no surprise that fire and structural safety are recognised as key components covered in all building control systems covered by this research, given the potential impact of failures in these areas.

CEBC intends to carry out further research in the coming 12–18 months to establish whether there has been wider adoption of competency frameworks, third-party accreditation or standardisation.

Section 7 of the act gives Scottish ministers the powers to appoint verifiers – building control inspectors – to approve building warrant applications and accept completion certificates.

Meanwhile, certain functions including enforcement and maintaining a building standards register are delegated to local authorities. That said, currently, the only appointed verifiers in Scotland are the 32 local authorities themselves.

The 2003 Act is supported by secondary legislation that includes the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and the Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

The latter require that the competence of any verifier should be considered before they are appointed by ministers.

Although this requirement demonstrates that there has always been a need for local authorities to ensure competence in their teams and for Scottish ministers to consider the verifiers' competence, there was until recently no standardised method of evaluating and measuring this.

Local Authority Building Standards Scotland (LABSS) – a membership organisation representing local authority building standards teams – began developing a standardised competency assessment system (CAS) in 2019, which was launched in April 2021. This was supported by the Scottish government's building standards professional competency framework.

Although there is a statutory need for verifiers to maintain competence, the CAS is an optional tool that can help identify skills gaps, develop training plans and ultimately evidence competence.

In 2024, the Scottish government's building standards division established a competency steering group of stakeholders across the construction industry, to shape the future of competency. The group will oversee development and implementation of an independent assessment scheme.

The Scottish Building Standards Hub (SBSH), launched last May, will support LABSS members with a virtual learning environment and tools to self-assess competency. The hub is also represented in the steering group.

Discussions going on in Scotland have also been informed by the CEBC report.

Measuring and validating the competency of those in various roles is vital in ensuring that robust building control systems are in place across Europe. Legislators are doing their part to strengthen systems, and in turn help verifiers ensure the right members of their team are involved in complex projects.

Such systems also provide an evaluative tool for individuals to measure their own competency and improve their knowledge by addressing identified skills gaps.

Ensuring the competency of the workforce is essential if good-quality, compliant buildings are to be constructed. In the UK, the building control sector is leading the way, and we hope all construction professionals will now follow.