News analysis with BESA Rachel


Davidson – BESA’s director of specialist knowledge


Sticking to your principals


The principal contractor is a pivotal role with wide-reaching responsibilities under the Building Safety Act and will be crucial to the delivery of the industry’s new ‘safety fi rst’ culture, according to Rachel Davidson – BESA’s director of specialist knowledge


D


uring a recent edition of BESA’s podcast ‘Behind the Built Environment’, one of the UK’s most senior building control


professionals told the Association’s CEO David Frise that the Act was an opportunity for the industry to “put right the wrongs we’ve had for so many years in construction.”


Lorna Stimpson, CEO of Local Authority Building


Control (LABC) in England and Wales, added that all construction professions should “act with integrity”. “It’s about doing the right thing, even when people


aren’t watching you,” she said. Most defi nitions of the word ‘principal’ include the


word ‘leader’ and describe someone who oversees the functions or activities of an organisation. The principal should be the guardian and the champion of the ‘principles’ that underpin everything we do – and so, for the purposes of the Act, Principal Contractor is a crucial role.


As the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), who


is overseeing the legislation, keeps reminding us the industry is responsible for delivering the requirements of the Act – not the government. And that is as it should be. We have the skills, knowledge and experience – civil servants and politicians do not. So, we will be looking to our leaders to drive the


culture change needed and which the Act is seeking to embed in every project – and principal contractors will carry a particular burden of responsibility.


Confusion


However, a recent survey of the sector showed there is still considerable confusion about the roles and responsibilities created by the legislation. People are confused about where they fi t. The specifi cation platform NBS found that nearly half of the industry members it surveyed were either unsure or had ‘no idea’ of their responsibilities under the Act with only 12% saying they were ‘very clear’ about what was expected of them. NBS researchers said this was particularly


concerning because two in three of the people they spoke to already had experience of working on higher risk buildings (HRBs). And, of course, the Act goes much further than that. It has already driven substantial changes to the building regulations which apply to ALL buildings not just HRBs. Nick Mead, technical director at Laing O’Rourke


and chair of the BESA Building Safety Act Advisory Group, told another episode of BESA’s ‘Behind the Built Environment’ podcast that there were “masses of changes” in the pipeline. He said some people were still claiming that the changes did not apply to them despite the emergence of procurement bills, new fi re regulations, and a new Architects’ Bill among other changes. “All these things are coming through on the back of the Act…it’s every building we build, every structure,” Mead said during the podcast. So, BESA set about trying to fi nd the tricky


balance between not over-simplifying what is complex legislation while guiding people through the morass of information to the parts that are directly relevant to their role in delivering safer buildings via the Association’s ‘Play it Safe’ interactive guide.


This highlighted the importance of the Principal


Contractor (PC), who is central to all of this. They are not only responsible for providing evidence of their own competence and ability to comply with the Act but must also be able to vouch for (and provide evidence of) the competence of the supply chain working under them. Ultimately, of course, overall responsibility falls on the client so the appointment of the PC at the pre-construction stage is a vital decision. As a result, many are now starting to take more time over this appointment, which is leading to some project delays – but this is such a key role that they must make sure they appoint someone competent. Fortunately, contractors can already create the statements they need to demonstrate this competence by following the guidelines laid out in PAS 8672 – the publicly available specifi cation for principal contractors available since 2022.


Protected


This explains that, as a PC, you must be up to date with relevant laws, regulations, and best practices so you can fulfi l your responsibilities and make sure your team is fully prepared and protected. You must also be able to plan, manage and monitor building work during the construction phase and ensure all construction work complies with the building regulations – and other relevant legislation, including new fi re safety regulations etc.


Crucially, you must also make sure that the whole team works together i.e. co-operates and communicates, including with the client and principal designer. Record keeping is another important part of the role, including helping to set up the ‘Golden Thread’ of information that will help keep the building operating safely for life. These records are also vital for providing evidence of the work and ensuring everyone learns from their mistakes – and this is all part of the new ‘behaviours’ that the Act seeks to ingrain in all parts of the construction supply chain. The PC must also use this information, including design specifi cations, risk assessments etc, to underpin their collaboration with the principal designer and ensure they use the information they receive to achieve compliance. One very specifi c and important task is the


completion of a document outlining how the PC has delivered on their various responsibilities under the Act within 28 days of the end of their involvement in the project. This is a vital part of the jigsaw for the client to eventually get their building signed off . Undoubtedly, it is a big challenge to not just specify but also provide evidence that everyone working in your supply chain has the right technical and behavioural competence “to achieve building safety outcomes”, but that is what the legislation demands. For example, that means making sure everyone


can provide evidence of the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours (SKEB) required for their specifi c role. This includes verifying and documenting formal training and qualifi cations, while maintaining a detailed portfolio of work experience and knowledge.


The legislation also demands that contractors “prioritise the health and safety of others, ensure ethical and lawful behaviour…behave reliably and treat others fairly, respect confi dentiality and declare confl icts of interest, and reject bribery and corruption” among other things. These are often referred to as ‘new’ competencies enshrined in the Act, but of course they are far from new. Rather, this is simply a case of new legislation creating a legal framework for behaviours and actions that should have always guided the industry’s work, but which were found to be absent in too many cases – not least at Grenfell. In other words, we need our principal contractors to help lead the industry back to fi rst principles.


8


September 2024


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