The IET welcomes Building Safety Act

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) welcomes the passage into law of the Building Safety Act, which is an important and positive step on the journey towards safer buildings.

Members of the IET have been involved with the development of the standard, by the Engineering Council, specifically to the competence of engineering professionals working on high-risk buildings, based on the current, internationally recognised UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence and Commitment (UK-SPEC) and has been mapped against BSI Flex 8670 Standard.

The new contextualised standard is relevant to those working in engineering roles on higher risk buildings who will be able to demonstrate their competence against the standard to achieve professional registration as Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers or Engineering Technicians.

IET Lead on the Engineering Council’s contextualised Building Services working group, Alex Gray CEng MIET, commented:

“Working collaboratively with engineers from other PEIs, as part of the Engineering Council’s working group, has ensured the contextualisation of competence statements are relevant to engineers working on higher risk buildings.

“As a Chartered Engineer myself, I very much welcome the Building Safety Bill set to change the way residential buildings are constructed and maintained in the UK following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017. A focus on individual competence is absolutely essential to provide the transparency regarding those actually carrying out the work.”

The Engineering Council is a member of the Competence Steering Group (CSG) which brought together more than 150 institutions and associations across the full spectrum of construction, built environment, fire safety and building owner/management sectors; all working towards the common purpose of raising competence to improve life safety.