THE ASFP APPROACH TO COMPETENCE

This time of year is always a time for reflection, as our thoughts go back to the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the ongoing ripples spreading through society as a result of it. The impact of that day was, and still is, felt keenly by those working in the built environment. Its anniversary is a timely reminder of the reasons for the renewed focus of industry on building safety.

As a direct result we have seen much discussion around competence of the workforce throughout the built environment. The need for a competent workforce was highlighted in the Hackitt Report – which mentions competence over 150 times – and has been enshrined in the Building Safety Act. A competence steering group (CSG) was set up, which established 12 working groups, each with a key focus on developing competence standards and frameworks across industry. The Building Safety Regulator was introduced with a mandate not just to ensure safety in highrisk buildings, but also to promote individual competence and organisational capability throughout the built environment.

Showing leadership for passive fire protection

Over the last year, the ASFP has spent considerable time focusing on competence. It is currently supporting industry to look at competence at both organisational and individual levels to improve standards across passive fire protection and increase building safety. Part of this work has been representing the interests of its members and the passive fire protection sector and advocating for more robust approaches to competence across industry.

ASFP has been leading the work of CSG’s working group 2 on installation of passive fire protection. This has started with a focus on competence requirements for firestopping specialists but will expand in future to encompass other areas of installation. We are also working with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to ensure that appropriate standards for competence are embedded within competent persons schemes aimed at tradespeople. These are currently being strengthened to ensure that fire protection is a key component of self-certification under the building regulations.

ASFP is also engaging with sector groups and federations to ensure that the work that we are doing is being embedded throughout industry and our approach to competence is recognised across the sector. The purpose of this work is to create a unified approach to raising competence across passive fire protection, placing organisations at the heart of the process, with ASFP providing a central recognised presence.

Finally, we are looking to close gaps in the priorities of sector organisations, for example in specific system design or in product distribution, and looking to address these directly with members.

Creating supporting tools

The mandate for improving competence has been made clear – new approaches and attitudes to workforce competence are expected. How that manifests has been left for industry to determine. New initiatives are needed that deliver on the competence agenda but also really add value for industry. ASFP is also working with industry and relevant stakeholders to create tangible supporting frameworks and tools that will directly enable its members to develop, measure and evidence the competence of their workforce.

Creating a framework of competencies

ASFP has committed to working with industry and other relevant stakeholders to create a framework of activities and competencies relevant to passive fire protection and to develop an industry-wide scheme to validate individual competence.

Functional mapping

We know that passive fire protection is cross-cutting. People with roles throughout the building lifecycle will touch passive fire protection in different ways. For some of those people, interfacing with passive fire protection will be part of their wider role. For others, it will be central to their work, but even in this case the scope of work that one individual carries out might be quite different to another. At the start of our development work, that made it important for us to understand not just the roles that exist within passive fire protection, but the actual activities that people carry out on a day-to-day basis.

We started by setting out these activities as a functional map. This clarified the work undertaken across the sector and allowed us to really consider what competencies needed to be addressed within our framework. The functional map originally contained nearly a hundred activities and continues to grow and adapt as we address new sections of it with industry groups and validate what’s included.

The activities within the map extend across the building lifecycle from design and specification through to ownership and occupation. They’re also split into five levels of increasing complexity from foundation up to authoritative. These levels are linked to those already established, for example, in national qualifications frameworks, professional frameworks, or competence frameworks being produced in other sub-sectors of the built environment.

Setting out competencies

Next, for each of the activities identified, we are working with industry to break them down into underpinning competency statements to set out the skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviour required to perform them effectively. This will form the standard for competence in each activity. This work has initially focused on installation in support of CSG priorities but is now starting to move on to addressing design and specification, as well as sales and distribution.

Throughout this work, we are pulling in existing descriptions of competence, where fit for purpose, such as National Occupational Standards and agreed industry training standards. For example, the framework will adopt the outputs of work being carried out by the CSG priority occupation group for Firestopping Specialists (FSSG). We are also building in other important elements of competence, for example, by aligning our work with BSI Flex 8670 and the emerging requirements for construction products competence, and taking into account the Code for Construction Products Information.

Together the functional map and framework of competencies will create the first, formal, common industry expectations for those working within the sector. Using an activitybased approach will allow people to select the activities that are directly relevant to their role and demonstrate their competence accordingly.

Developing, measuring, recording, and validating competence

Although the framework itself and the definition of competence is an important piece of work, it needs to be made useful. Individuals and organisations need to be able to engage with the framework to develop themselves and to evidence that they meet the standards set, on an ongoing basis. To support this, ASFP is doing two things.

Routes to competence

Firstly, we are working with industry to set out routes to competence. These form the ‘recipes’ for how individuals can develop and evidence their competence against the framework. The intention is for these to be as flexible as possible, allowing individuals to demonstrate their competence in a variety of ways, so long as they are robust and accepted by industry. The recipes will differ depending on the activity and area in question but are likely to be formed from a few components. They may include regulated qualifications and training, professional registration (which already measures skills, knowledge and experience), approved training, records of experience and demonstrations of behaviour. There are some important considerations here.

Where qualifications are included, it is important that we don’t see these as the central component of competence. Although they provide a valuable starting point, they are a snapshot in time and generally require no formal refresher training or assessment as time progresses. Depending on the qualification, they may not address the full requirements for competence, particularly in terms of experience and behaviour. We need to think about what else is required in addition to qualifications to evidence competence.

Where training is included, it is important that this is high quality and fit for purpose. It is essential that individuals who attend training have a positive experience as well as gaining the skills and / or knowledge required in order to demonstrate competence. ASFP is working with industry to develop mechanisms to recognise high-quality training and map it to the framework of competencies. This will also help to recognise equivalencies in training, to maintain flexibility.

It is also important that consideration is given to currency of competence. Individuals will need to demonstrate their experience and behaviour on an ongoing basis and update their knowledge and skills where required.

Validating and evidencing competence

Alongside this, ASFP is also working on mechanisms to validate and evidence competence against the framework. This will allow individuals to register as competent in activities which are relevant to their role. This will both meet the requirements set out in BSI Flex 8670 and be specific to the sector and its needs. This will support individuals to demonstrate their own competence, organisations to evidence the competence of their workforce and certification bodies to recognise the robust approach to competence management of those organisations.

How can you help?

FSSG has produced a consultation document, setting out a proposed future state for developing, measuring, and validating competence for firestopping