BESA launches competency toolkit for ductwork installers

The free online ‘toolkits’ provide practical support to individuals and organisations in the building engineering sector to better understand, evidence and apply the principles of Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours (SKEB) in practice.

The construction industry’s collective competence failure was identified as a critical contributor to the Grenfell Tower fire and national skills frameworks are now being developed in response to a key recommendation of the Hackitt Review which followed in the wake of the disaster.

The BESA’s Demonstrating SKEB Guides are being developed to offer more immediate support to firms and engineers whose clients need to see evidence of competence and compliance with the Building Safety Act 2022 and existing industry standards.

Industrial and commercial ductwork

The first free guide has been produced for installers of industrial and commercial ductwork and provides a template of ‘what good looks like’ both on an individual and organisational level. It offers practical steps towards developing and proving competence and outlines how to turn experience and knowledge into useful evidence.

The BESA has developed the first of its guides in collaboration with the business consultancy Milford & Marah, the Association of Ductwork Contractors and Allied Services and the Association for Specialist Fire Protection.

The content of the toolkit also aligns with the work of the Engineering and Building Services Skills Authority and the Industry Competence Steering Group who are developing the broader national competence frameworks. Future guides in the series will align with this work for other building engineering sectors.

Simplifying the process

“This guide has been designed to help individuals and companies simplify the process of measuring and assessing competence in a practical and easy to understand way,” explained BESA’s director of specialist knowledge Rachel Davidson.

Davidson added: “It’s the first step towards creating a much-needed competence and compliance culture and is designed to support the more in-depth work being carried out by the Industry Competence Steering Group to produce a national competence framework for the whole industry.”

Jon Vanstone, chair of the Industry Competence Steering Group, noted: “The SKEB toolkit is a clear and practical example of what good looks like when sector-led initiatives meet the ambitions of national policy. It provides an essential foundation for ensuring individual competence can be properly demonstrated and supported, both now and in the future.”

Six key areas

The toolkit takes ductwork installers through the six areas where they need to provide evidence of compliance: Applying health, safety and environmental legislation, establishing and maintaining relationships, preparing work, identifying systems, equipment and components, installation and testing and pre-commissioning checks.

It includes examples of the qualifications and assessments needed to be deemed competent for the different tasks involved in ductwork installation, relevant experience and how to gather and present evidence of positive and professional behaviour.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done to help our industry develop a true competence and compliance culture,” added Davidson. “However, these ‘starter guides’ provide an important first step. Also, they’ve been made possible by cross-sector collaboration, which will be essential in terms of the wider and more in-depth work ahead.”