As part of the response to the Grenfell Inquiry, government has announced that it intends to create a single construction regulator, to be responsible for building control, construction products and building trades/professions. Throughout this process, there is a strong focus on competence. Building projects in progress can and will be halted if a lack of competence anywhere in the supply chain or on site becomes evident.
The latest version of the Building Regulations 2010 (England & Wales) defines competence as being made up of four elements: skill, knowledge, experience and behaviours. In applying this to work on site, it specifies, amongst other things, that site workers’ “necessary behaviours” shall include refusing to carry out work that is not in compliance with relevant requirements or is beyond their skill, knowledge or experience.
This requirement is also present in the door industry’s competency frameworks for installers. Which clearly states in the Safe Working Environment and Practices knowledge section – installers must know and understand how to: Recognise situations requiring specialist skills or knowledge beyond your own, stop work immediately, report your findings, and seek assistance.
This confirms the importance of being able to demonstrate that installers, particularly of safety critical products such as fire doors, are fully competent to carry out their work. Of equal importance is the need to ensure that, in attempting to help a client, site workers do not go beyond their competences and stray into areas for which they are not qualified. There have, for example, been prosecutions under the Fire Safety Order 2005 where fire risk assessments for buildings had been carried out by unqualified persons.
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