APS has increased its sector-wide engagement to better support members in developing and maintaining professional competence. Each week, we’ll share an update from APS HQ so you can see the breadth of work being carried out for your benefit.

What’s been happening?

• The quarterly APS Fellows Forum meeting took place on Wednesday 29 April 2026. The Forum provides a space for Fellows to come together to discuss topical and more specialist matters relating to design and construction health and safety risk management. Read more here.

• Last Thursday, APS attended a working group of the CIC Professional Competence Task and Finish Group. The group brings various CIC members together to engage with the Government’s policy on the regulation of professions. Following the Single Construction Regulator Prospectus, we’re expecting the call for evidence on the regulation of professions to come out in late Spring.

• APS’s DCEO, Sofie Hooper, chaired a full session of the Task and Finish Group (ITFG) on the management of competence in organisations. During this meeting, decision makers from supporting organisations approved the draft guidance that had been under development since the inception of the cross-sector collaboration in June 2025. The Steering Group and technical author were thanked for their many hours of volunteering input, which resulted in the final ‘how to’ guidance document. The ICC were also thanked for their collaboration and input to ensuring the document created aligned with their document, which set the high-level principles of ‘what’ is expected when organisations manage competence. The final preparations towards publication will now be undertaken, with publication expected week commencing 11th May. This means the ITFG document will follow publication two weeks after the ICC’s publication (see below). The forthcoming publication marks an important milestone for the initiative, which will now look at collecting feedback on the guidance and developing case studies that will help illustrate the guidance.

• Our new APS Board Director, Stefan Mordue, attended the CIC Digital Forum. The meeting covered: An Update on ISO 19650, currently out for consultation, with discussion around how it continues to evolve to support information management across the asset lifecycle. A presentation from May Winfield on AI, focusing on legal considerations, risk, and the implications for industry adoption. Finishing with a session from Dale Sinclair touching on modular / modern methods of construction and how this links into digital workflows and delivery.

Recent updates members should know about

ICC publication of ‘Setting Expectations on Competence Management’

Thursday saw the long-anticipated publication of the Industry Competence Committee’s ‘Setting Expectations on competence management’. The guidance outlines clear principles on how organisations should manage the competence of those working for them.

You can read more about the publication and where to access the guidance here.

What’s coming up this week? (4 – 10 May)

Meetings APS is involved in this week include:

• APS attending BESA event in the House of Commons

• ICSG Principal Designer Working Group

• CIC Building Safety Committee

We’ll continue to keep members updated on key developments and engagement across the industry as plans for 2026 take shape.

If you would like to contribute or share expertise on issues that matter to you, please contact APS HQ at info@aps.org.uk.