Every UK construction firm will need to review its position as the post-Grenfell regulations take force. Most large firms are already compliant. Many SME firms have yet to recognise the threat they face. Unless they hold the right kind of professional qualifications to prove their competency, they will soon see their established pipelines of future work evaporate. The current advice is contractors must acquire a new breed of 'regulated' qualifications. These will be qualifications gained by passing theoretical and practical assessments on approved courses, delivered by approved training centres. The 'approved' status will be delivered by one of four bodies in the UK, such as Ofqual. The concern is that 'recognised' and 'certified CPD' qualifications will not retain the same proof of competency status as they held in the past. It is all change, and those who acquire the new regulated qualifications will probably fair better than those who don't. Harsh but true.

The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) has transformed the way local social housing authorities and housing associations must operate in future. Some will soon need to register their nominated accountable person. All will become accountable to the new Building Safety Regulator (BSR) for the safety of the residents of the buildings they are responsible for. Many of these organisations do not have an adequate risk management system in place to reassure those who will be held to account by the BSR, that all that should be done in their name, is carried out in practice. The weakest links will always be the immediate managers and workers who lift the tools on the job. Unless safety policies are translated into compliant safe-working practices on the ground, one has nothing but a house of cards built on a foundation of sand. MAAP has developed strategies that will give senior managers the confidence they are meeting their legal obligations and not at risk.