- Up to 700 new Registered Building Inspectors trained, and
funding available for upskilling of existing ones
- Funding for bursaries in Fire Engineering higher education
programmes, higher education provision, research and academic
capacity
- More building inspectors and fire engineers to approve new
homes
New £70 million funding has been announced to address shortages
in building safety professions and help build 1.5 million homes.
The money will deliver a much-needed boost to the building
control and fire engineering workforces, both suffering from
qualified professional staff shortages, which is both limiting
housing supply and was highlighted as an area of concern in the
Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
The funding will increase the number of Registered
Building Inspectors by up to 700, including those
(Class 3H) who can inspect High-Risk Buildings, as well as
increase the number of Fire Engineers and availability of Fire
Engineering education.
Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy said:
“We're boosting the building safety workforce to get more skilled
building inspectors and fire engineers into the system quickly to
keep people safe and unlock the new homes this country needs.
“This is a vital step in building 1.5 million safe homes and
ensuring we continue to deliver on lessons from the Grenfell
Tower tragedy.”
The three-year funding programme is a response to recommendations
from the House of Lords regulatory committee for the government
to increase capacity in the in the building control and fire
engineering sectors, while both the Fire Engineers Advisory
Panel and responses to the Building Control Independent Panel's
call for evidence have highlighted the importance
of suitably qualified and trained professionals.
Shortages of qualified professionals in safety-critical
roles in the built environment was also highlighted in the
Grenfell Tower Inquiry, with several
recommendations concerning building control and fire
engineering.
The funding is split between the Building Control (£55 million)
and Fire Engineering (£15 million) sectors and a breakdown is set
out below:
Building Control:
- Funding for local authorities' building control
teams in England to recruit new RBIs and train them to
the required standard (Class 2).
- Funding for local authorities' building control teams in
England to upskill existing RBIs, with many to the standard to
inspect High-Risk Buildings (Class 3H).
- Funding for the training of new entrants in Registered
Building Control Approvers and local authorities
Fire Engineering:
- Funding will develop higher education provision, including:
- Providing bursaries at postgraduate level.
- And increasing research and academic development.
- The mechanisms for applying for the funds are currently under
development and more information will be published in the coming
months.
