42 | Sector Focus: Joinery Products
CONSTRUCTION COMPETENCE
The British Woodworking Federation (BWF) is working closely with construction sector partners to ensure the industry’s vital drive to competence is not undermined, writes CEO Helen Hewitt
The construction industry is facing its biggest challenge post-Grenfell, and this time, it’s not new regulation. It’s competence. For too long, competence has been assumed through company accreditation and compliance frameworks, but this alone does not guarantee that every individual on site has the skills, knowledge and experience required for their specific role. At the British Woodworking Federation
(BWF), we are working alongside 700 organisations through the Industry Competence Steering Group (ICSG) Sector- Led Group 10 (SLG 10) Installers and Trades, to address this. For life-safety critical products like fire doors and stairs, where performance depends on installation skills, the shift towards demonstrable competence is urgent and essential.
After Grenfell, the regulatory landscape has rightly shifted under the Building Safety Act 2022, from a reliance on tick-box certification to a stronger focus on competence, underpinned by skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours (SKEB).
This is a shift we welcome. It is critical not only to the safety of those working on site during construction, but to the long-term safety and performance of the buildings people live and work in. Embedding competence at an individual level ensures products are installed, maintained and perform as intended to reduce risk, improve quality, and ultimately deliver safer, more resilient buildings.
A clear example of this in practice is fire doors. A properly specified, rigorously tested fire door will not perform as designed, if the person fitting it doesn’t understand fire resistance requirements, frame gaps and clearances or intumescent seals, or have proven experience installing fire doors to the manufacturer specification. The fire industry has historically managed competence through organisational schemes, but there has been a disconnect regarding individual competence. The two must work together. Through Sector-Led Group 10 (SLG 10), we’re defining routes to competence for site carpenters, architectural joiners and specialist timber fire door installers that put individual capability front and centre.
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become static. All individuals still need to maintain their skills and capabilities through regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The route to competence for a site carpenter sets out the various CPD routes to help maintain their competence leading to the revalidation of their CSCS card. This creates a clear professional development pathway that benefits our industry and ultimately building occupants. However, against the increasing focus on SKEB and the government’s focus on competence through the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), the Government is, at the same time, undermining it through the Skills White Paper and apprenticeship reforms. At a time when the industry is being
BWF CEO Helen Hewitt
For example, under the site carpentry competence route, individuals need regulated vocational qualifications – NVQ Level 2 (England) or SVQ Level 6 (Scotland) in site carpentry or to have completed a recognised apprenticeship. To be deemed competent they are also required to pass additional tests such as the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) health, safety and environmental test to obtain the blue CSCS card alongside the CITB fire safety in buildings course. This will require a period of transition, as businesses ensure their employees, and contractors within extended supply chains, hold the appropriate baseline qualifications. Whilst we wait for the newly reviewed National Occupational Standards (NOS) to be approved by the regulator, we continue to work on updating the recommended qualification structure (RQS) as well as the relevant apprenticeship standard to future proof qualifications for the future. Through our work with industry partners, we’re already in discussions with UCAS-approved schemes to embed individual qualification requirements into their accreditation processes to support a practical, consistent transition across the sector.
As the competence frameworks evolve and develop, which will set out clear validation and revalidation requirements, it’s important that individuals do not allow competence to
asked to provide clear evidence of individual competence, the Government is proposing reforms that undermine the routes to competence including reducing the quality of apprenticeships standards. In response, the BWF brought together a coalition of more than 30 construction organisations which resulted in Skills England setting up the Construction Taskforce to address industry concerns. If these reforms proceed as drafted, apprenticeships would be removed from carpentry and woodworking competence frameworks because the apprenticeships would not guarantee individuals demonstrate the competence requirements for their occupation. This would be a devastating blow for our sector.
Competence must be the baseline requirement for working in construction and fire safety industries. This introduction of the new competency frameworks is a pivotal moment for contractors, manufacturers and the wider sector to come together to raise standards, building a skilled and knowledgeable workforce that can support future growth. At the BWF, we are continuing to work collaboratively across sectors and with Government to ensure that policy supports this vital agenda.
FURTHER INFORMATION For more information visit
www.bwf.org.uk
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