Professor Sam Allwinkle PPBIAT FCIAT appointed Chair of Working Group 7 - Design
On the 13 September, Professor Sam Allwinkle PPBIAT FCIAT was appointed Chair of the Construction Industry Council's Competence Steering Group (CSG) Working Group 7.
The CSG was set up under the Industry Response Group, established in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.
It includes representatives from CIAT, RIBA, RICS, Engineering Council and ARB etc. as well as a member of the Industry Competency Steering Group (ICSG), a sub-committee of the new Industry Competence Committee (ICC) hosted by Health and Safety Executive (HSE)/Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
All at the WG7 meeting on 13 September agreed that further advice, guidance, clarification and engagement was required on a number of areas from the HSE/BSR, so this can be communicated to those practising within design who will be affected by the Building Safety Act. Consequently, they will then have the clarity and confidence to implement the statutory objectives of the Act.
Professor Sam Allwinkle said of the appointment: "One of the immediate tasks in WG7 (Design) is the creation of a generic framework for designers that can be used by all involved in design, whatever function, role, sphere of operation or typologies. This is to ensure a degree of standardisation and also act as a benchmark standard to ensure that the level and volume of KSEB is appropriate and proportional.
"It is also important that we aim for consistency, clarity and coordination, vertically and horizontally across the various built environment competency frameworks.
"This is a major challenge but needs to be addressed to ensure we have an inclusive model and process that is both informative and advisory, particularly for designers outside the professional organisations and for others, such as clients who need to appoint designers."
