In June the ACAI FSBRG Conference was held in Manchester with a diverse range of surveyors in attendance. The turnout was excellent and it marked a historic turning point in which the sector came together in their shared drive to become an integrated part of the new regulatory framework.

It made for a fantastic opportunity to reconnect and discuss the changes facing the industry.

Speakers included:
Peter Baker – Chief Inspector of Buildings HSE
Sandra Ashcroft – Competence Workstream Lead at HSE
Sir Ken Knight – Chairman Independent Expert Panel
Colin Blatchford-Brown – Operational Policy Lead for Gateways & Building Control Building Safety Programme HSE
Ian Leigh – NFCC
Tanya Winstanley – Griffiths & Armour

Some key points of the meeting were as follows:
• The Building Safety Regulator described the current position of the industry, making it clear that the Approved Inspector sector will be needed to deliver the changes government are pressing ahead with
• Over the next 12 months there will be numerous consultations on secondary legislation to deliver the Building Safety Act along with the methodology for dealing with competence in the wider building control sector
• The Approved Inspector market is well equipped to demonstrate competence and has continuously done so since the first licences were granted
• ACAI and its members continue to see the value in professional memberships with a number of surveyors sitting both CABE and RICS examinations and we see this as a fundamental demonstration of professionalism, ethics and the knowledge needed to be a skilled building control surveyor
• There is a large body of work on the way to ensure our service users are ready for the new legislation coming which will unlock the full effects of the Building Safety Act
• Technology has to play a part in unlocking limited resources