LABC announce next phase of independent certification scheme

In 2018 LABC took up Dame Judith Hackitt's challenge to prove the competence of public service building surveyors. Working with the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), LABC developed a competency assessment for professionals working on fire safety in higher risk buildings. And so far more than 550 LABC surveyors across England and Wales have been successfully accredited.

LABC is now developing the scheme under UKAS and ISO 17024 (conformity assessment for bodies certifying people) to ensure a truly robust and impartial validation of building control professionals’ competence. As a result the validation programme will be extended to cover all levels of building control professional – both public and private sector.

To provide independent scrutiny of the competency validation scheme, as required by the standard, LABC has formed an 'Impartiality Committee' made up of industry experts.

LABC is delighted to announce that Professor Luke Bisby (Edinburgh University), Graham Watts OBE (Chief Executive of the Construction Industry Council and chair of the cross industry IRG Competency Steering Group), Francesca Berriman MBE (Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technicians and a Trustee of the Building Research Establishment) and David Snowball (Ex-Acting Chief Executive of HSE) have all agreed to join the committee.

Please Note: Every care was taken to ensure the information was correct at the time of publication. Any written guidance provided does not replace the user’s professional judgement. It is the responsibility of the dutyholder or person carrying out the work to ensure compliance with relevant building regulations or applicable technical standards.