The head of fire safety at one of the country’s largest housing associations has welcomed moves to boost the competency of people building high risk residential buildings (HRRB) but said the government would need to wqork with the sector through a period of transition to cope with the changes.

Responding to the recent recommendations made by the Competency Steering Group (CSG) in its report Raising the Bar, which included calling for the government to mandate individuals working on HRRBs to be registered or certified by a recognised professional or certified body, James Carpenter, head of fire safety at L&Q, said: “As an early adopter, we are supportive of the fundamental shift in thinking about building safety.

“We think that it is important to increase the competency of individuals working on such buildings and we generally welcome the work that is being undertaken by the CSG. Both the CSG and the government’s recent building safety consultations contain welcome proposals to create culture change in the building and increase confidence in the construction sector.”

But Carpenter said he had concerns about how both the government’s and the CSG’s proposed regimes revolved around labour market readiness. 

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