LEIA hosted its first Building Safety Seminar on 26 November for members to highlight its scope and the implications for the lift industry.
Six speakers covered the various elements from the scope of work to competencies, highlighting the overarching objective of the Act is to improve safety for occupants in a building.
Some of the key takeaways were:
> Dr Hywel Davies, Member, Building Advisory Committee of the Building Safety Regulator gave an overview of the Building Safety Act and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report – the biggest upheaval in construction sector since the second World War. He highlighted the changes in building control and the major areas of change under the BSA.
> Rudi Klein outlined the importance of understanding the ‘scope of work’ in contractual terms – highlighting that this could include everything involved in a project. He advised lift companies to seek absolute clarity when starting a project, to record everything and stressed the importance of the ‘plan, manage and monitor’ mantra when it comes to compliance.
> Daniel Barrowcliffe, Industry Competence Policy Lead, Health and Safety Executive (Building Safety Division) highlighted the aims of the regulator, ultimately placing residents at its heart. He took delegates through the gateway process and highlighted some requirements for work in HRBs. He emphasised that the BSR will not offer advice, and it’s the industry’s responsibility to understand how they should comply with regulations.
> LEIA’s Nick Mellor ran through the Building Regulations and refurbishment implications for lift work, noting a revision of BS 9991 is coming this week and BS EN 81-76 is expected mid-2025.
> Chris Chambers Tech IOSH, Managing Director, Triplex Consultancy Ltd gave a useful summary of the roles, responsibilities of duty holders under the BSA echoing Rudi’s comments on understanding the scope of work, understanding your role, challenging and documenting everything.
> Leigh Davis, Member, LEIA Education & Training Committee, rounded off the day with a presentation on competency requirements looking at the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours that define competence. There is currently no standard template for competence declaration, so it is down to the industry to develop their own.
With clarification and more changes coming, we are working on guidance and plan to host more seminars next year.