Building Safety Managers Certification and Registration Scheme Launched

THE INDEPENDENT, industry-led Building Safety Alliance has launched to start certifying the competence of individuals to become building safety managers (BSM).

The Building Safety Alliance (BSA), a not for profit organisation, will also publish a publicly accessible register of those certified by the scheme.

Anthony Taylor, of the BSA said: “When we were initially asked to develop the competence requirements for the new statutory role of BSM, we recognised that for the framework to work, we also needed to set up wider structures that would support the development of standard of competence.

“One of our key recommendations was the need for a register that would allow residents and accountable persons to check if the BSM for their building meets the minimum competence requirements.  Government is looking at industry to deliver this, so we stepped forward with our wide consortium from across both the private and public sectors.”

Building Safety Managers

The BSA will evaluate how organisations who wish to deliver the function of the BSM can be assessed.

It will also decide how to assist higher risk buildings’ contractors and suppliers to deliver a competent workforce that ensures safe residential buildings.

Bob Smytherman, Chair of the Federation of Private Residents Associations said: “Our leaseholder members will find themselves with new duties and responsibilities under the Building Safety Bill to ensure our buildings are as safe as possible.  Our members will be looking to the Building Safety Manager as the stakeholder responsible for the day-to day building safety management of our buildings.

“We have a crucial role to play in the Building Safety Alliance, to make sure Building Safety Managers are not only competent but also understand the resident perspective when appointed to make our buildings safe. After all, these buildings are our homes and we pay the service charges.”

“We look forward to the register coming into existence, so that we can feel safer in our buildings, confident that any of the certified Building Safety Managers on the registers will meet the national competence standard most appropriate standard for our homes.”

The WG8 Competence Framework is now being translated into a MHCLG sponsored Publicly Available Specification (PAS). Once finalised, this PAS 8673 will be the standard which the Building Safety Alliance will certify candidate BSMs to, before allowing them onto the Register.  The PAS is being developed in parallel to the legislation to make sure certified BSMs will be delivered by the time the legislation becomes enforced.

You can register your interest here

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