£70 million funding “addresses building safety professional shortages”

According to the Government, the money will deliver a “much-needed boost” to the Building Control and fire engineering workforces, both of which are suffering from qualified professional staff shortages. That current situation is limiting housing supply and was highlighted as an area of concern by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry process.

The funding will increase the number of registered building inspectors by up to 700, including those in Class 3H who can inspect high-risk buildings, as well as increase the number of fire engineers and the availability of fire engineering education.

Samantha Dixon (Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy) said: “We’re boosting the building safety workforce to introduce more skilled building inspectors and fire engineers into the system quickly, keep people safe and unlock the new homes this country needs. This is a vital step forward in building 1.5 million safe homes and ensuring that we continue to deliver on lessons learned from the Grenfell Tower tragedy.”

Three-year programme 

The three-year funding programme is a direct response to recommendations from the House of Lords Regulatory Committee for the Government to increase capacity 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 overriding importance of suitably qualified and trained professionals.

As stated, shortages of qualified professionals in safety-critical roles in the built environment were 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. In terms of the former, there will be funding for local authorities’ Building Control teams in England to recruit new registered building inspectors and train them to the required standard (Class 2).

There’s also funding for local authorities’ Building Control teams in England to upskill existing registered building inspectors such that they can inspect high-risk buildings. In addition, there will be funding for the training of new entrants in registered Building Control approvers and local authorities.

Fire engineering 

Funding for fire engineering will develop higher education provision, including the provision of bursaries at post-graduate level as well as increasing research and academic development.

The mechanisms involved for applying for the funds are currently under development. Further information will be published in the coming months.

Dr Benjamin Ralph, head of building and fire safety at built environment consultancy Hollis, commented: “For too long, workforce shortages in Building Control and fire engineering have created a bottleneck that affects both the safety of existing buildings and the pace at which new homes can be delivered. This new funding recognises that you cannot deliver safe housing at scale without the professionals to design and approve it. The investment in fire engineering education and research is particularly welcome. A three-year programme signals the kind of sustained commitment the sector really needs.”