What and Why

The built environment sector is currently going through an unprecedented level of change. The Grenfell Tower disaster and subsequent publication of the Hackitt report led to the introduction of the Building Safety Act, supported by a major programme of secondary legislation stretching into 2024. The Act has driven the creation of the Building Safety Regulator – responsible not only for the safety and performance of buildings, but also promotion of individual competence and organisational capability in the built environment. Collectively, this represents the single biggest change in building safety in a generation.

There is a clearer focus than ever on ensuring that organisations have staff capable of conducting their work safely and effectively, and that those organisations are creating a safe and effective environment for them to work in. Nevertheless, the key message is one of culture change – that the industry needs to take responsibility for determining, measuring, and evidencing the competence of their workforce.

As it has for decades, the ASFP is working to address these challenges. We’re keen to collaborate with others and are involved in several sector- and industry-wide initiatives to promote passive fire protection competence. That said we won’t wait for others, and have a range of initiatives to promote, develop and evidence competence.