BESA Launches First in Free Competence Toolkit Series

• Content
• Building Services
• BESA Launches First in Free Competence Toolkit Series

19 June 2025

The Building Engineering Services Association has launched its first competence toolkit, focused on industrial and commercial ductwork installation.

The free toolkit series will encourage building services industry professionals to apply the principles of Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours (SKEB) in practice, in response to the competence failures that were identified as a critical contributor to the Grenfell Tower fire. Whilst national skills frameworks are being developed in response to recommendations from the Hackitt Review, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) hopes their free guides will offer immediate support to firms and engineers whose clients need to see evidence of competence and compliance.

Developed in collaboration with Milford & Marah, the Association of Ductwork Contractors and Allied Services (ADCAS) and the Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP), the first toolkit provides a template of “what good looks like” for installers of industrial and commercial ductwork.

The toolkit establishes six areas where they need to provide evidence of compliance: applying health, safety and environmental legislation; establishing and maintaining relationships; preparing work; identifying systems, equipment and components; installation and testing; and pre-commissioning checks.

"This guide has been designed to help individuals and companies simplify the process of measuring and assessing competence in a practical and easy to understand way,” said BESA’s director of specialist knowledge Rachel Davidson.

“It is the first step towards creating a much-needed competence and compliance culture and is designed to support the more in-depth work being carried out by the ICSG to produce a national competence framework for the whole industry.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to help our industry develop a true competence and compliance culture. However, these ‘starter guides’ provide an important first step.

“Also, they have been made possible by cross-sector collaboration which will be essential to the wider and more in-depth work ahead.”

Picture: a photograph of Rachel Davidson. Image Credit: BESA

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 19 June 2025

Share

Related Articles