It is vital to safety to ensure any individual and/or organisation has the necessary appropriate Skills, Knowledge, Experience, Behaviors, Ability, and Mindset commensurate to undertake whatever duty they may be tasked to undertake and appointed to perform on or off any construction site in connection with any construction works or project anywhere in the UK.

In 2024++ it is now an offence to perform any work on any construction project whilst incompetent ...

... it is also vital for all commissioning Clients who seek to appoint anyone or any organisation to undertake some construction operation to ensure whoever they chose to appoint are competent and able to carry out the work safely ...

In 2024++ all clients who employ anyone to undertake any operation on any construction project must prove due diligence in assessing the individual's competence and document that of the Employer's Declaration ...  

The ICM launched the National CDM Competence Registry™® in 2018 to provide the means to profile all professionals and operatives, and maintain a robust reliable trademark protected register of assessed criteria of  competence for any construction operation, design function, or the management of projects.

In 2023 a transformative collaborative Knowledge Partnership was created between the ICM and Sysmax.  This builds upon both brands’ rich legacy of promoting competence within, among others, the construction industry.  Sysmax CEO Peter McAteer and David Jones, ICM Director, are both well known for their passion and leadership on competency, compliance and risk management.

This new collaboration builds on the obvious synergies and is currently starting to conduct pilot projects in a 2024 phased controlled and monitored roll-out.

The Competence Register Trilogy™ initially addressed the BSi Flex 8670 standards and sets criteria of competent individuals and their organisations in a one-stop-shop approach where building trust is so important ... in 2024 those standards became a full British Standard BS 8670-1

The PAS 8671/2/3:2022 Registers are designed to provide reliable evidence to commissioning clients [who also need to be competent to commission and appoint appropriate statutory dutyholders!] who are Designers, Principal Designers, Contractors, Principal Contractors who simply must be competent in performing and discharging their appointed duties ...

The Construction Operative Matrix™ is developed by the ICM to provide the industry with a unique way of assessing competence across all of the workforce who are not the statutory dutyholders.  The Matrix™ provides reporting options of the Knowledge, Skills, Expertise, and Behaviour of worker operatives and site personnel in a similar format as for the statutory dutyholders.

The output of the Construction Operative Matrix™ is made uniquely available with a Digital Identification and U-Clic™

In 2024++ the UK Government requires industry to work digitally across the construction industry.  The Matrix™ will expect all applicants to confirm and provide evidence they the have the Essential Digital Skills to perform within the construction sector.

Developed in 2018 on behalf of the Department for Education, the framework was updated in 2022 in consultation with employers, local and national government, academics and individuals

There are three components to the Essential Digital Skills Framework, the Foundation Level, Essential Digital Skills for Life and Work

The Foundation Level:

The Foundation Level consists of the most fundamental tasks to set up an individual for success online. There are eight tasks that comprise the Foundation Level. An individual needs to perform all eight tasks without assistance to have the Foundation Level.

Essential Digital Skills for Life:

There are 26 Life tasks in total, split across five skill areas: Communicating, Handling Information and Content, Transacting, Problem Solving and Being Safe and Legal Online. All 26 Life tasks are not required to have Life EDS. An individual needs to perform at least one task within each of the five Life skill areas.

Essential Digital Skills for Work:

There are 20 Work tasks in total, split across five skill areas: Communicating, Handling Information and Content, Transacting, Problem Solving and Being Safe and Legal Online. All 20 Work tasks are not required to have Work EDS.
An individual needs to perform at least one task within each of the five Work skill areas without assistance. Anyone can be measured for Work EDS as long as they are not retired. They also may be able to perform the task in their working life but not need to use it.

The Application Process is intuitive and interactive.  The system will assess the Applicant's responses and will report the current level and identify all knowledge gaps and metrics.

What is BS 8670-1 - Core criteria for building safety about? 

Converting BSI Flex 8670 into a full British Standard, BS 8670-1:2024 is a set of core competence criteria covering the knowledge, skills, experience and behaviours required to work on buildings of all types and scales. The goal is to help raise levels of individual professional competence across the built environment in support of the new Building Safety regime. 

Who is BS 8670-1 - Core criteria for building safety for? 

BS 8670-1:2024 has been developed for those with responsibility for the development, maintenance or application of sector-specific competence frameworks for roles, functions, activities or tasks undertaken by individuals where these are critical to and directly influence safety in and around buildings. 

It's also relevant to clients' understanding of expectations of relevant parties that they may appoint or instruct to undertake work on their behalf. 

The standard might also be relevant to regulated, duty-holding or statutory roles, including: 

• principal designers;
• principal contractors;
• designers;
• contractors;
• building control professionals; and
• persons responsible for buildings in occupation.

What does BS 8670-1 - Core criteria for building safety cover? 

BS 8670-1:2024 gives recommendations for core criteria for building safety to promote high standards of protection for people in and around buildings. It applies to buildings of all types and scales. It is intended to have wide application and relevance in modern construction and property markets throughout the UK and beyond.

Building safety in the context of BS 8670-1:2024 relates to the physical conditions created by new or existing buildings, their immediate surroundings and how these impact on the safety of occupants, including residents, throughout the building lifecycle. 

NOTE: This British Standard is not intended to address workplace health and safety during construction and does not cover other matters which might affect safety, such as policing or crime.

Why should you use BS 8670-1 - Core criteria for building safety?

Adopting BS 8670-1 can help your organization in several key areas: 

Compliance: BS 8670-1:2024 supports the delivery of regulatory policy and the new regulated roles responsible for building safety set out in the Building Safety Act.

Professional competency: Based on experiential feedback from the industry, BS 8670-1:2024 provides a benchmark framework that will help professional institutions and other organizations develop sector-specific competence frameworks for technical and non-technical roles, raising professional competency across the sector.

Safety and quality: BS 8670-1:2024 can help ensure that buildings are specified, designed, manufactured, procured, constructed, inspected, assessed, managed, operated, maintained, refurbished and demolished by a workforce that is competent to ensure safety and good quality.

Confidence and risk: BS 8670-1:2024 can contribute to increased trust in buildings and help strengthen risk management along the built environment supply chain.