FIS sector guide puts competency and building safety under the spotlight

With the construction sector under ever-closer scrutiny in relation to competency, a new Sector Guide – Competency Management Plans has been launched by the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) to assist organisations in the improvement of quality and safety and ensure they meet new regulatory requirements.

This new Sector guide - Competency Management Plans will provide examples and signposts to available information and assist organisations in improving quality and safety whilst at the same time ensuring that they meet the requirements of legislation and avoid any enforcement penalties.

The guide aims to address the regulatory regime as part of the long-awaited Building Safety Act which sets out clear duties and responsibilities for those who commission, design, construct and refurbish higher-risk buildings as well as those responsible for ensuring buildings are safely managed when occupied.

A Competency Management Plan is a critical document for any organisation working in the finishes and interior sector of the construction industry and must be embedded within the culture of the business and embraced within any quality management process.

The guide has been produced by FIS and is designed to contextualise and help to structure and improve existing processes. It is structured to help form a strategy for assessing competence and provides guidance to suggested CMP content including organisational and occupational competence, functional requirements, creating job descriptions, competency and training plans, appraisal process and succession plans.

Commenting on the guide, Iain McIlwee, Chief Executive of the FIS said: “The Building Safety Act has become law and we need as a sector to ensure we have robust processes in place to meet the exacting competency requirements. This new FIS sector guide will provide the necessary guidance to enable organisations to formulate a Construction Management Plan, which will be key to progressing through the relevant gateways and ensuring the Building Safety Regulator can allow a project to proceed.”

In addition to the availability of the new Sector Guide – Competency Management Plans, FIS has been working with My Professional Pass (MPP) to help support a universal approach to competency passports in the sector. The FIS Competency Passport system will store, retrieve, view and monitor training and qualification achievements of individuals and records of experience. Individuals registered with MPP, self-employed or directly employed can give organisations access to their records.

The Sector Guide - Competency Management Plans is freely available from the FIS website here https://www.thefis.org/skills-hub/competency/