THIS IS AN IN-PERSON ONLY EVENT AND WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE ONLINE

Beyond Compliance: When Regulation Is Only the Starting Point 

The APS National Conference 2026 brings together leading voices from across the design, construction, safety, and regulatory landscape for an exploration of how our professional community is moving beyond compliance towards genuine safety leadership, culture change, and team-wide competence.

Across a full day of expert sessions and real-world case studies, delegates will hear directly from influential regulators, industry specialists and thought leaders, including Dame Judith Hackitt as they unpack what “good” looks like in a world where information must be digital, accurate, secure and intelligent, and where dutyholders are expected to commit to a high-quality built environment, not just compliance.

Attendees will gain practical insight into:

• Culture & Competence: Why everyone has a role to play 
• CDM Post-implementation Review & Practical Implications
• Information Management Beyond Compliance: From Regulation to Assurance
• CDM: Gift or Grind?
• Fire Safety Developments: Competence and Statutory Requirements
• The Future of Building Control

There will also be a panel session: Post-Grenfell developments across the four UK nations. Chaired by APS CEO Andrew Leslie, which will bring together senior policy leaders from England, Scotland, Wales and  Northern Ireland to discuss Post-Grenfell regulatory and policy developments.  Panellists will explore key changes, shared challenges and differences across  the UK, reflecting on lessons learned and priorities for the future of building  safety and its professionals. 

Join us to explore how the sector is raising standards, strengthening culture, and redefining what it means to deliver safe, high-quality outcomes, not just complying with regulation, but leading with competence, accountability and professional values.

EXPLORE OUR CONFERENCE SUPPORTERS HERE

All prices include VAT

Accommodation
We have a limited number of bedrooms available at Conference Aston for APS Conference attendees.

Accommodation details, including your exclusive booking link and rates, will be provided in your confirmation email once you have booked your conference place.

Rooms are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and the exclusive booking link and rate will end on Tuesday 16^th June.

Please note: The APS AGM will take place on the same day prior to the conference, from 8:00am to 9:00am. Bookings will open nearer the time, and you will be notified if you’d like to attend.

Speakers

Dame Judith Hackitt

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Dame Judith Hackitt

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Dame Judith Hackitt is a chemical engineer by training and spent the first half of her career working in the chemicals industry – both in manufacturing and also as an advocate for the industry at national and international level.

She is a former President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and is a Fellow and Trustee of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Throughout her career she has championed the importance of Engineering in delivering solutions which provide benefit to society and has been a role model particularly for young women wanting to enter the Engineering profession.

She cares deeply about safety in the workplace and more broadly. From 2007 to 2016 she was Chair of the UK’s Health and Safety Executive and in 2017 conducted an Independent Review for UK Government into Building Regulations and Fire Safety in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. Since publishing her final report in 2018 she has continued to press for regulatory change and for industry culture change and her recommendations for radical reform of the regulatory system received Royal Assent in the Building Safety Act 2022. The change has been described as the biggest shake up in Construction regulation in a generation.

Her non-Exec roles have included being on the Board of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Chair of Enginuity ( the Engineering and Manufacturing Skills body) and a Board member at HS2.

She has received 10 Honorary Doctorates from Universities in the UK and in Australia. She received the Hanson medal from the Institution of Chemical Engineers in 2022 for her work on Ethics in Engineering and the President’s medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2024 for her outstanding contribution to the Academy and for her contributions to Engineering. She is currently Chair of the RAE’s Membership Committee and also of the Engineering X Safer Complex Systems programme

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Matthew Hamar

Policy Team Lead, Industry Competence and Culture Change - Building Safety Regulator

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Matthew Hamar

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Matthew joined the Building Safety Regulator in April 2023 and spent two years developing the investigation, enforcement and sanctions policy and operational procedures for regulating the building control profession. In April 2025, Matthew moved to the Industry Competence and Culture Change Unit where he leads a policy team developing BSRs strategy and delivery for culture change and dutyholder requirements. Previously, Matthew worked for the Health and Safety Executive in 2002 as an Inspector before moving into stakeholder engagement and policy positions.

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Mark Snelling

Association for Project Safety, President

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Mark Snelling

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Mark Snelling MCIOB, CertIOSH, FAPS, started in construction, setting up his own construction health and safety consultancy in 1995. He is President of the Association for Project Safety, a founder director of the Building Safety Alliance and the health, safety and fire consultant to the Property Institute. Since 2021 he has worked in building safety providing guidance, consultancy and training to professional bodies and others. His current focus is on competence and competence management which has included his membership of British Standards Institute [BSI] steering committees developing competence frameworks and standards including BS8670, PAS 8671, PAS 8763, and BS 8674. He is a member of the new industry organisational capability standard steering group and BSI’s CPB/1 Committee which is responsible to the BSI Standards Policy and Strategy Committee (SPSC) for standardization needs for competence in the built environment.

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Kate O’Neill

Policy Director for Building Safety - MHCLG

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Kate O’Neill

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Kate O’Neill is a policy director for building safety in MHCLG, leading on building standards, construction products and building professions. Kate’s previous roles in the department include Director of Strategy and Director of Local Growth Policy. Prior to joining MHCLG Kate has worked in several departments including DfE where she was Principal Private Secretary; a number of roles across the Treasury and Cabinet Office. 

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Mark Tambini

Head of Building Regulations Policy, Welsh Government

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Mark Tambini

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Mark Tambini joined Welsh Government in 2024 as the Head of Building Regulations Policy.

He has over 20 years’ experience in the construction industry, which includes working in the building control sector and as a civil and structural engineering design consultant.

Prior to moving to his current position in government, Mark was responsible for building control services as a Regional Director covering Wales and South West England.

He currently oversees the development and introduction of key legislation relating to the Building Safety Act, is actively involved in ongoing technical reviews of the Approved Documents in Wales, and sits on the Building Safety Operational Leadership Board at Welsh Government. He also leads Welsh Government involvement in the Consortium of European Building Control, and is an observer on multiple cross-government working groups and committees.

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Dr Stephen Garvin

Deputy Director, Head of Building Standards - Scottish Government

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Dr Stephen Garvin

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Stephen joined Scottish Government in 2018 after spending most of his career at the Building Research Establishment. He leads of Division working on all aspects of the Building Standards system. Changes to energy standards and fire safety standards have been a key focus of the Division in recent years. He has initiated programmes of improvement to the Building Standards system in Scotland through the Futures Board, with a particular focus on increasing levels of compliance, better enforcement, making delivery more efficient, investing in the workforce and digital applications. He has led on the Scottish Government’s response to the Grenfell Inquiry’s final report. The Division undertakes building safety coordination across the Scottish Government.

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Derek Kennedy

Residential Building Safety, Director

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Derek Kennedy

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Derek Kennedy is a strategic, outcomes-focused leader with over 25 years’ experience in director-level roles across the public and private sectors worldwide. He is currently Director of Residential Building Safety in Northern Ireland.

Derek has led major policy initiatives in the Northern Ireland Civil Service, including the Covid-19 response, New Ways of Working, property management reform, and the 2024 Defective Premises legislation.

With over 20 years in the development industry, Derek holds a professional qualification in Occupational Safety and Health, an MSc in Business Improvement, and was formerly a Visiting Professor in Leadership and Strategy at Ulster University.

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Andrew Leslie

Association for Project Safety, CEO

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Andrew Leslie

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Andrew Leslie qualified as an architect but began specialising in design and construction health and safety in 1995 and became a member of APS the same year. Between spells working as a designer and CDM Consultant, during which he developed and delivered CDM training courses, he has built up experience working with several Membership organisations.

Andrew joined APS in 2014 as Technical and Standards Manager and was principal co-author of the APS’ Principal Designers Handbook. Shortly after the book was published, in 2016 he returned to consultancy to develop CDM support services and training and working extensively on regeneration projects in London and SE England. During this period, he became heavily involved in the post-Grenfell developments leading up to the Building Safety Act and secondary legislation in England.

Andrew re-joined APS as Head of Membership in 2021. Working on member services and accreditation schemes, he was part of the team delivering webinars on the Building Safety Bill/Act and secondary legislation. and was part of the working group that developed the Principal Designer Building Regulations (England) competence scheme. Andrew became Interim CEO in May 2024; the post being made permanent in October 2024, and together with the Board of Directors is working to position APS as the leading professional body delivering on Building Safety and regulatory compliance in the Built Environment.

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Emma Hooper

Head of Information Management Strategy - RLB Digital

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Emma Hooper

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Emma is Head of Information Management Strategy at RLB Digital. Her job involves working out the intricate details of information management and how it connects, whether that’s at a project, organisation or at an industry level. Providing though-leadership and solutions to complex problems.

She is vice-chair of buildingSMART UK&I, Head of Projects for nima, part of the BSI B/555 standards committee and author of the IMI Framework guidance. She is one of a handful of people to gain both COBie and buildingSMART certified professional status. Recently she authored PAS 1958:2026 and is a UK national expert for several standards including the updates to ISO 19650.

In 2022, she was recognized for her contributions and won the 'Digital Construction Champion of the Year' award at the Digital Construction Awards. As a result of her accomplishments, she was made an honorary fellow of the University of Nottingham in information management and modelling.

Her background is an architectural technician responsible for full production information from concept to handover. From a software perspective she is an Autodesk Revit Certified Professional, she co-authored the book “Delivering COBie using Autodesk Revit” with Bill East and is a former Revit gunslinger. She champions open standards (IFC and IDS) and also authored the popular ‘Revit to IFC’ blog series.

She is now applying her expertise to support the leadership of the Information Management Initiative (IMI), delivering technical vision and coordinating projects to build sector-wide information foundations for the whole life of assets. By bringing together key stakeholders and technical processes across the built and managed environment, she aims to unlock the value of information and enable the sector to maintain control of its own destiny.

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Liz Bennett

Director, Safety In Design

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Liz Bennett

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Liz Bennett has over 30 years' experience as a teacher and trainer and has extensive experience developing and delivering CDM 2015 training courses in the UK and overseas, for IStructE, ICE, APS, and Synergie Training, among others.

She is the Institution of Civil Engineers' lead on matters relating to CDM 2015. She has led on, established and supported various industry initiatives with a view to helping businesses in the practical delivery of Health & Safety. This includes in the creation and maintenance of the free Design Guides, as a result of an HSE-led initiative to help small design practices be safer and more successful.

During her career, her professional appointments have included as the first Group Safety Manager at Atkins; and as the Interim Head of Health & Safety at LOCOG, London 2012. She is currently Chair of the Design for Health Task Group and Chair of Constructing Excellence South West’s Building Safety Group.

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Helena Knight

Managing Director of GHPC Group

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Helena Knight

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Helena is a highly experienced construction industry director with over 25 years of expertise in CDM consultancy. As Managing Director of GHPC Group, she has led Principal Designer, CDM and H&S Advisory services for major infrastructure, mixed-use, strategic residential projects and across various sectors, including commercial, retail, education, leisure, defence, and rail.

Starting her career as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Helena later specialised in construction claims and home warranty defect investigations before transitioning to CDM. She has since driven GHPC’s reputation for excellence in CDM and Health & Safety, delivering key projects such as Twickenham Station, Newbury Racecourse, and Great Western Park, Didcot and progressed GHPC’s relationship with many of the UK’s National Housebuilders.

A pragmatic leader, Helena builds strong relationships based on trust and professionalism. She has played a pivotal role in developing GHPC’s Principal Designer and CDM services post-CDM 2015 and has supported clients navigate the Building Safety Act. Passionate about industry improvement, she has co-chaired the CONIAC Supporting Small Employers Group for over five years, contributing to CDM and H&S guidance for SMEs.

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Aman Sharma MBE

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Aman Sharma MBE

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Aman Sharma MBE is a nationally recognised leader in building and fire safety, known for shaping the strategic direction of the UK’s regulatory framework and driving transformative change across the built environment. His career blends front-line operational experience with deep technical expertise and a pioneering vision for digital transformation in safety-critical sectors.

A former fire and rescue service officer turned fire engineer, Aman has become one of the most influential figures in modern fire safety reform. From 2019 to 2023, he served as Deputy Chair of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC), advising the Secretary of State on the evolution of building safety standards at one of the most pivotal periods in recent regulatory history.

In 2023, Aman was appointed as an inaugural member of the Building Safety Regulator’s Building Advisory Committee (BAC), where he is Chairman of both the Approved Document B Technical Review and the Higher-Risk Building Thematic Working Group. His leadership is central to operationalising the UK’s new regulatory regime, embedding the “golden thread” of building safety information, and elevating standards for the design, construction, and management of higher-risk buildings nationwide.

Aman also serves as Chair of BSI Committee FSH/0, setting the strategic direction for all fire safety British Standards and guiding the next generation of national and international best practice.

His work sits at the intersection of policy, engineering, digital innovation, and cultural transformation making him a trusted advisor to government, industry, and major organisations navigating regulatory change.

In recognition of his significant contribution to building and fire safety, HM King Charles III awarded Aman an MBE in the 2025 New Year Honours List.

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Bryn Wilde

Association for Project Safety, President Elect

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Bryn Wilde

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Bryn Wilde has been involved in CDM since 1994 and joined the APS Board in 2019. Bryn has worked as a planning supervisor, in CDMC roles and as a principal designer and client advisor.

Bryn is a keen believer in minimising bureaucracy and reducing the need for irrelevant paperwork on projects. He has always taken a keen interest in regulatory development and its practicable implementation.

Bryn works with small companies to assist them apply construction regulations pragmatically and proportionally to projects of differing size and complexity. provided an insight into the frustrations and issues with the regulations on smaller sites.

Alongside major construction Clients, Bryn also works with small companies to assist them apply construction regulations pragmatically and proportionally to projects of differing size and complexity which has him with an insight into the frustrations and issues with the regulations on smaller sites.

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