CABE and Building a Safer Future enter strategic partnership

Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) and Building a Safer Future (BSF) have entered a new strategic partnership that focuses on supporting organisations in assessing their competency in relation to building safety – especially in regard to higher-risk buildings (HRBs) as defined in the Building Safety Act. 

Gavin Dunn, CEO of CABE said the organistions had a "mutual opportunity" to drive cultural and behavioural change and focus on technical competency. 

The new collaboration was announced in a speech by Richard Smith, CABE President, at the Built Environment Live event, held at Excel, London on 5th and 6th December.

“I believe there is a mutual opportunity between our two organisations, with BSF driving the cultural and behavioural change at an organisational level and CABE focusing on the technical competency of individuals,” Dunn said.

Gary Townsend Vila, interim chief executive, added: “CABE were one of the first public supporters of BSF in its drive to improve the built environment industry’s leadership and culture around building safety. 

"We are delighted to embark on this new strategic partnership, and the embedding of CABE’s competency standards into the BSF Champion Corroborating Elements framework is the first of many ways we will be working together in supporting organisations in their building safety journeys.” 

With the Building Safety Act’s attention on the competence of duty holders – especially in the secondary legislation that was published in late summer – many organisations working in the built environment sector have recognised the lack of clarity around the process of evaluating (and demonstrating their process of evaluating) competence, as there is not a definitive single standard set by the regulator. 

The new collaboration between CABE and BSF assists organisations by offering extra support to CABE members in assessing, recognising and identifying development opportunities in their organisational competence. 

The BSF Champion assessment – a robust self-assessment, benchmarking and independent verification scheme – provides valuable tools that assist organisations in identifying potential development areas and enables them to showcase their industry-leading commitment to advancing their leadership and culture in relation to building safety. 

Several organisations have already successfully completed the assessment process, with many more working towards completion in the coming weeks and months. 

The BSF Champion process is supported by, and embedded in, a growing number of major procurement frameworks and showcases organisations that are committed to putting building safety first.

In July, CABE launched their route for duty holders with general engineering responsibilities to prove their competence through the Engineering Council’s Higher-Risk Building Registration, and following discussions between the two organisations, BSF is now formally recognising the rigorous standards this registration demonstrates and is accepting it as evidence of a duty holder's competence in the Corroborating Elements module of the BSF Champion assessment.

This addition of the High-Risk Building Registration to the Corroborating Elements framework of the BSF Champion assessment is the first in a series of upcoming collaborations between CABE and BSF. 

CABE has been a Registered Signatory of BSF since its inception and has recently become a Corporate Supporter. The two organisations will continue to work together to ensure competence standards are maintained throughout the industry.

Companies can apply to participate in the BSF Champions programme by visiting the Building a Safer Future website on www.buildingasaferfuture.org.uk and completing the application form, or alternatively emailing alexander.caller@buildingasaferfuture.org.uk