David Moore is the chief executive officer for the British Constructional Steelwork Association

The most significant changes to building safety regulation in a generation are being ushered in by the Building Safety Act 2022, forcing all links in supply chains to have a long and hard look at their own practices and those of their suppliers. The steel construction sector is at the heart of this drive to make buildings safer, having played a full role in discussions on what a post-Grenfell tragedy building safety regime should look like.

One of the main changes being made to the building safety regulations is the introduction of new competence requirements for contractors and others, which places fresh onus on the industry’s clients to ask all suppliers to prove their competence and capability.

The Act also introduces new competence requirements for those working on higher risk buildings, a gateway system to ensure building safety regulatory requirements are met at different stages of the planning and construction process and the requirements to maintain a “golden thread” of information to be created, stored and updated throughout a building’s lifecycle.

To ensure that the constructional steelwork industry is ready to meet these challenges, BCSA has revised the 7th edition of the National Structural Steelwork Specification for Building Construction. The main change is the introduction of a new assessment scheme for steelwork contractors to demonstrate their competence and capability in the fabrication of structural steelwork to the new safety standards. Compliance with this new scheme – the Register of Qualified Steelwork Contractors (Building) – will prove to clients that a steelwork contractor can meet, or even exceed, the competence requirements demanded by the new legislation. It will also give clients and insurance companies confidence that by selecting an registered steelwork contractor, they are choosing a company with the right competence, capability and credentials to safely complete the project.

An existing registration scheme for buildings has been updated, improved and simplified to meet the new building safety challenges. The new Register takes account of the Common Assessment Standards introduced by BuildUK.

Until now, this scheme has only been open to BCSA steelwork contractors. However, BCSA’s council has agreed to open the scheme to all steelwork contractors by including the Register of Qualified Steelwork Contractors (Building) scheme in the next edition of the National Structural Steelwork Specification for Building Construction (NSSS).

The scheme includes specific requirements for steelwork contractors which include details of their fabrication facility, the skill, knowledge and experience of their staff and CE marking. The scheme also requires information on a company’s management and health and safety systems, in addition to their sustainability and building information modelling credentials.

The new competence requirements will initially focus on higher risk buildings but discussions between BCSA and the HSE indicate that these new competence requirements will be extended to cover all buildings.

The changes to the NSSS will come in to force on 2 October 2023 but revision to the 7th Edition of the national Structural Steelwork Specification for Building Construction will be published on early next month. The changes, including the compliance with the Register of Qualified Steelwork Contractors (Buildings), will become a mandatory requirement on the same date as the NSSS comes into force.

• David Moore is the chief executive officer for the British Constructional Steelwork Association

Like what you’ve read? To receive New Civil Engineer’s daily and weekly newsletters click here.