A lot of people reading this will know that the concept of a Building Safety Manager first appeared in a May 2018 report called Building a Safer Future, which was put together by Dame Judith Hackitt.
She advised that there was a single competent person who would be responsible for all life safety in a building.
For this to be the case, this person needed to know the building inside out, understand risks relating to structural safety and fire, and manage them accordingly, while also making sure that the building’s residents were fully appraised of what they wanted or needed to know.
The Grenfell Tower tragedy caused people to take action
The report came about as a consequence of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The aim of establishing this role is to protect residents from any sort of failure that could result in numerous people dying or becoming seriously injured.
Dame Judith challenged the Built Environment sector as a whole, looking at how we have got to the position we are in now and what we can do in order to fix it.
Working Groups have since been established
Since then, a number of Working Groups have been established by the Construction Industry Council and Industry Response Group in order to review competence requirements and improve them wherever is needed.
At present, there are 12 different workgroups that have been established.
This includes:
- WG0 Governance Structure
- WG11 Procurement Professionals
- WG10 Project Managers
- WG9 Site Supervisors
- WG8 Building Safety Managers
- WG7 Building Designers
- WG6 Building Standards
- WG5 Fire Safety Enforcement Officers
- WG4 Fire Risk Assessors
- WG3 Fire Engineers
- WG2 Installers
- WG1 Engineers
The introduction of the Building Safety Bill
Another progression that has been made in this area is the introduction of the Building Safety Bill.
The first version of the Draft Building Safety Bill was published in the summer of 2021. There were a number of significant requirements that were set out in this bill, with the Golden Thread being one of the most significant.
This means that you need to detail all of the information required to manage the spread of structural fire and to reduce fire risk.
There needs to be a chain of information that everyone can use and benefit from so that we can all work collectively to reduce risks and ensure that another Grenfell Tower does not happen again.
What can we expect in the immediate future?
We are always looking at ways to make the world around us safer, and so it is only natural that there are going to be changes and developments, especially as the role of building safety manager is only in its 5th year of existence.
So, one of the most significant changes we will see in the near future is the introduction of the PAS 8673, which should be published in the spring of 2022.
It is believed that the Building Safety Act is then going to come into force either in the second or third quarter of 2023.
This means that there is not a lot of time for businesses to get to grip with the changes that are going to be implemented.
You need to start planning for this now to make sure that your business is compliant.
We also expect to see some further clarity with regard to the Golden Thread and how it is going to work.
While this is a natural step forward and an idea that needed to be embraced, there needs to be a workable plan of how we can expect this to operate in reality, and so this is something that we definitely expect to see over the coming months in preparation for the Bill itself actually being implemented.
Of course, for assistance with any of these issues, the best thing to do is align with an expert safety team who can ensure your business is safe and compliant.
Final words on the evolution of the building safety manager
So there you have it: everything you need to know about the role of building safety manager, which was established four years ago.
We hope that this post has helped you to get a better understanding of this role and what changes have been made since this role was introduced.
We can certainly expect to see more changes going forward as well. So, if you would like to discuss the safety of your building and ensure that all of the occupants are as protected as possible, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us today for more details.
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