Revised versions of the standards, rules and codes for the building control profession published (WGC 005/2024)

Circular number:    WGC 005/2024

Date issued:    08/04/2024

Status:    For information

Title:    Revised versions of the standards, rules and codes for the building control profession published

Issued by:    Simon Jones, Building Control Competence & Standards Manager

Addressed to:    

Local Authority Chief Executives
Welsh Local Government Association 
Association of Corporate Approved Inspectors

Please forward to:

Local Authority Building Control Officers
Members of the Senedd

Summary:

Updated final versions of the codes, standards and rules for the building control profession have been published on the Welsh Government’s website. This Circular details the substantive changes made.

For further information contact:

Building Regulations Team
2nd Floor
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ  

Direct Line:    Tel:    0300 060 4400
E-mail:    enquiries.brconstruction@gov.wales
Website: building and planning 

1. I am directed by the Welsh Ministers to inform you of the publication of final versions of the standards, codes and rules for the building control profession. These are the:

• Building Inspector Competence Framework (BICOF) Wales 2024
• Code of Conduct for Registered Building Inspectors Wales 2024
• Professional Conduct Rules for Registered Building Control Approvers Wales 2024
• Operational Standards Rules Wales 2024 (“OSRs”)
• OSR: Monitoring Arrangements Wales
• Strategic context for the regulatory framework Wales

2. This Circular letter applies to the building control profession in Wales. 

3. Revised, final versions of the standards, codes and rules documents for Wales can be found in the Building and planning section. 
    
4. Any future revisions will be published to the same website and notification will be issued.
    
5. The majority of updates made to the draft versions are minor changes to wording for the sake of clarity and consistency. Substantive changes are detailed below and documents with all changes tracked in English and Welsh are available on request.
    
6. For the Building Inspector Competence Framework the substantive changes are:

• Revision of the guidance to the industry about supervision of Registered Building Inspectors (“RBIs”) to provide further clarity about how RBIs can gain experience and competence at higher levels of building control work than they are registered for, whilst remaining within their legal boundaries.
• Change of the title of Class 3 RBIs from 'Specialist Building Inspector' to 'Building Inspector'. This change has been made following feedback received about potential confusion with other roles traditionally seen as 'specialist' for example structural engineers.

7. For the Professional Conduct Rules for registered building control approvers the substantive changes are:

• Introduction of registration rules, conditions and guidance for ensuring Registered Building Control Approvers ("RBCAs") act within the scope of their registration (Annexes 3, 4 and 5). These have been introduced to align our standards with the Building Safety Regulator (“BSR”) now that registration for the profession has commenced.

8. For the Code of Conduct for registered building inspectors the substantive changes are:

• Some codes have been changed to only apply to self-employed contractors, rather than all RBIs. This is to reflect that the majority of individuals are employed by larger companies, and therefore those people would not be responsible for certain aspects of the codes such as complaints procedures.
• Introduction of registration rules, conditions and guidance for ensuring RBCAs act within the scope of their registration (Annexes 3, 4 and 5). As with the Professional Conduct Rules these align our standards with BSR now that registration for the profession has commenced.

9. For the OSR Monitoring Arrangements the substantive changes are:

• Removal of references to local authorities. This is due to regulation of local authority building control in Wales not being designated to the BSR. Instead, this will be determined under Phase 2 of our implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022. It is planned that regulation of local authority building control will commence in April 2025.
• Detail for when RBCAs should provide quarterly and annual performance data. 
• Guidance on transitional arrangements for higher-risk buildings. Note these arrangements form part of the Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2024. More information can be found in the Circular.
• Expanded guidance for the profession on the difference between 'standard' and 'non-standard' buildings for the purposes of regulation of the profession and classification of registered building inspectors.

10. There are no substantive changes to the Operational Standards Rules (Wales) or the Strategic Context for the Regulatory Framework (Wales) from their previously published draft versions.

Any enquiries on this Circular Letter should be addressed to:

Building Regulations, 
2nd Floor, 
Welsh Government, 
Cathays Park, 
Cardiff, 
CF10 3NQ.

E mail: enquiries.brconstruction@gov.wales

Yours faithfully

Mark Tambini
Head of Building Regulations Policy