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? 

During last week’s quiet week of external engagement, the only external meeting taking place was in relation to BS 8770 on competence management in organisations. With its development now having started, Sofie Hooper (APS DCEO and convenor of BS8770) and Mark Snelling (APS President) briefly met with the BSI editorial manager to discuss how we will translate the ITFG guidance into the BS. The work will start at pace, and Mark Snelling will be a key contributor to the writing.  

Recent updates that members should know about  

Next stage of building safety developments announced by Building Safety Minister – England  

On Thursday 9th July, the Building Safety Minister, Samantha Dixon published a Ministerial Statement setting out the steps the Government is taking to improve the effectiveness, proportionality and overall operation of the building safety regime. Of key interest for our members are the publication of the response to the Single Construction Regulator and the re-categorisation of building work.  

APS submitted responses to both consultations and we will next be reviewing Government’s response in detail. Other measures announced related to the cladding remediation and insurance. You can read more about all the measures included in the announcement here.   

Scottish Building Standards Division appoints BE-ST to support future building safety changes  

Built Environment - Smarter Transformation (BE-ST) has been commissioned by the Scottish Government’s Building Standards Division (BSD) to deliver a national engagement programme supporting the built environment sector in preparing for proposed changes to Scotland’s building standards system.

The new programme will work with industry, local authorities and other stakeholders to raise awareness of the proposed changes, support early adoption of new approaches and provide feedback to inform future implementation. 

The proposed changes would introduce several new statutory requirements intended to increase compliance across the building process.  

BE-ST is ensuring that early engagement with industry is prioritised to ensure businesses, professionals and local authorities have sufficient time to understand and prepare for any future statutory changes. 

As members of the construction industry, you are invited to engage with the programme and share your views on the proposed changes. To be notified when opportunities for engagement arise, please register your interest here: https://wkf.ms/4buIcaL APS has already registered its interest including through the BSD. 

Read more about the new programme here.

ISSG’s 5th Report to Government (England) 

The Industry Safety Steering Group, chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt, published its fifth report and the first since the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report, issuing recommendations to the Secretary of State and the Minister for Building Safety.  

Noting some progress since their last report, they singled out culture change as an area remaining an important priority that requires reassessment of what is working, what is not and why, and what must change in the future.

They are pleased to see that, in some areas, industry bodies have stepped up and engaged with government and regulators. However, concerns remain that their efforts to encourage industry to acknowledge underlying problems, take ownership, and lead meaningful change has yielded limited results, and a firmer approach is required. With the Professions Strategy underway, Government may indeed consider the need for stepping up requirements across this area, given their stated ambition is to deliver whole systems change. 

The report sees the need for ongoing improvement and engagement with government and regulators to set standards and establish what good looks like, while prioritising life safety. They continue to say that industry needs to work together among themselves and with government and regulators to develop a compelling vision of the future that reflects a sector committed to high standards of building safety.  

It is interesting to note as well that the report recognises the important role government plays in supporting collaboration with industry, requiring a clear differentiation between good and bad actors.  

APS has been engaging with government and regulators across this area and will feed into the latest Call for Evidence. A central tenet of APS’ position is that government can support differentiating between good and bad actors; for safety-critical professionals they could require mandatory competence assessments and register, while in turn restricting the carrying out of such safety critical functions to those only who are included on a competence register. For other functions, they could use membership of a professional body as a point of differentiation, given the behavioural oversight and continuing professional development offered by professional bodies. This model has worked across the medical sector, making a clear distinction between obtaining qualifications and ongoing competence demonstration through a licence to practice.

The full report can be found here.  

What’s coming up this week? (13-19 July 2026) 

Meetings that APS is involved in this week include: 

• CIC professional taskforce  

• CIC health and safety committee 

• CIC Liability panel   

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.