Building Control Officer Competence Deadline Extended by HSE

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19 March 2024

Building control professionals in England have received a 13-week extension to allow them more time to complete competence assessments.

The Director of Building Safety at the Health and Safety Executive Philip White has introduced the extension amidst concerns that there wouldn’t be enough registered inspectors to practice by the initial legal deadline. 

Initial plans were introduced in the Building Safety Act 2022, in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Phillip iterated that this was not “an opportunity to delay” and that The Building Safety Regulator must balance raising standards in the profession with concerns that the planning system would suffer from a lack of registered professionals.

Building control officers must still register by the original April 6 deadline but now have until July 6 to complete the process.

The Building Engineering Services Association’s Director of Specialist Knowledge Rachel Davidson said the regulator had “done well” to find a balance between ensuring the building control profession could meet current demand by keeping inspectors working while not compromising the need to raise professional standards.

She said: “The industry must have confidence in the planning process otherwise we will have further project delays and cost overruns,” she added. “But we also need to be progressing as quickly as possible towards a robust safety regime and that depends on having a well-resourced, verifiably competent pool of building control officers and planning officials.

“13 weeks is not long so it is important to keep up the pressure and make sure everyone is registered and assessed as quickly as possible.”

Picture: a photograph of a building site where high-rise tower blocks are being built. Large cranes and scaffolding can. be seen. Image Credit: Shutterstock

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 19 March 2024

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