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?

• On Monday last week Sofie Hooper, APS CEO, attended the first meeting of the Scottish Compliance Plan Industry Change Group. This group is being called together by BE-ST on behalf of the Scottish Building Safety Division. The first meeting took place to provide an overview of the programme moving forward in this group, which will feed into the ongoing policy development and implementation of the Compliance Plan Approach. The key objective of the Industry Change Group is to become the main sounding board to support the implementation of the CPA. The Group will also help raise awareness of the anticipated legislative changes across Industry, while aiming to enable industry to implement changes to accommodate new legislative requirements and avoid “system shock” such as witnessed in the BSR environment in England. APS will feed in Members’ experiences, especially those shared in the Fellows’ Forum.

• Helena Knight, APS Board member, attended the CIC Housing and Planning Panel meeting on Monday 28 September, where the key conversation focused on digital residential logbooks and coordinating industry input into coherent and uniform standards so that homeowners and residents have access to meaningful historical and current information about their homes, including the Health and Safety File.

• On Tuesday, Sofie met with the chair of the Principal Designer BR Working Group within the Industry Competence Steering Group (ICSG) - to discuss the paper currently being drafted on the role of the PD Building Regulations. The ICSG paper, while not likely to be published, will be shared with key stakeholders in Government (MHCLG) and the Regulator, which is why we are collaborating with stakeholders in the group to bring clarity on the PD BR role.

• Both APS President, Mark Snelling, and Sofie Hooper attended a Clarion Housing event which featured Dame Judith Hackitt and Charlie Pugsley, CEO of the Building Safety Regulator.  It was a great opportunity for APS to engage with key stakeholders in a more informal setting and discuss policy implementation and further development. Both Charlie Pugsley and Dame Judith Hackitt touched on the professions strategy, with Dame Judith commenting that professional bodies should be under oversight from a higher authority, while at the same time, the UK should align with other countries that expect certain professionals to be registered, which would include designers. Dame Judith was also quite clear that the supply chain should move to a situation where they should demand evidence of competence as part of the whole building process. Interestingly, the discussion also featured a growing demand for accreditation of building owners as a way to drive up client and owner competence. During Charlie’s session, he outlined several key challenges that currently feature on the Regulator’s radar including; the baking in of the changes in Gateway 2, the In-build phase and gateway 3, the ongoing preparation for the Single Construction Regulator, competence and effective enforcement where appropriate.

Recent updates that members should know about

MHCLG being investigated under the Health and Safety at Work Act 

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) was notified in 2023 by the Metropolitan Police that it was under investigation for a breach under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in relation to the Grenfell Tower Fire.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed last week to the department that a file relating to MHCLG has been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service to conduct a full and independent review of the evidence to determine whether the evidential requirements in relation to a potential breach of Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 have been reached.

The full statement can be found here: Statement from MHCLG Secretary of State - GOV.UK

Building Safety Regulator published two guidance pieces on how to apply for completion certificates on fibre optic cabling work and mobile communications mast work

Contractors and installers can use this form to tell the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) about completed fibre optic cabling work in an existing higher-risk building in England.

Tell the Building Safety Regulator about completed fibre optic cabling work - GOV.UK

The BSR also issued guidance on: How to apply for a completion certificate after installing a mobile communications mast on the rooftop of an existing higher-risk building in England. The guidance can be found here:  Apply for a completion certificate for mobile communications mast work - GOV.UK

Independent Regulator for Property Agents

Government last week announced further measures to protect leaseholders. This includes plans to introduce independent regulation of property agents – giving leaseholders, tenants and homebuyers a route towards better rights and protections.

The regulation of property agents will be delivered through an independent regulator. Property agents will be required to obtain a licence to do the job, as well as appropriate qualifications to operate. If they fall foul of the required standards, the regulator will have the power to take their licenses away. A regulator can set codes of practice, such as standards of conduct and proper complaint handling for those they regulate.

The government is committed to bringing forward these changes as soon as possible. More information will follow in due course. This announcement should be read in the wider context of government committing to going beyond the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations and looking at the various options for ensuring greater competence of the built environment workforce as part of their overarching professions strategy.  

What’s coming up this week? (5-11 October 2026)

Meetings that APS is involved in this week include:

• APS CEO Sofie Hooper meeting with ISHCCO’s President Evangelitsa Tsoulofta and Matej Mihic
• APS Finance Committee
• APS meeting Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS)
• APS CEO and President attending the CIAT AT Awards
• BEST Compliance Plan Approach launch event
• NIMA workshop
• CIC working group on domestic clients

We’ll continue to keep members updated on key developments and engagement across the sector through the APS weekly alert, the APS news page and across social media channels where appropriate.

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