Call for Evidence: Strategy for the built environment professions, trades and occupations

5.29. The occupation and maintenance stage covers the period when buildings are in use, including day-to-day operation and repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI). Much of the work carried out at this stage is similar in nature to construction activity. In some cases, such as refurbishment projects, this stage may also include wider professions and trades typically associated with the pre-design and design stages. This stage typically takes place over a much longer timeframe, often in occupied buildings and usually involves a large volume of small-scale or incremental works that may be subject to lower levels of coordination or oversight. Often these works are initiated by or directly affect homeowners or occupiers, though can vary significantly depending on the building type, use and size.

5.30. The skills, knowledge and experience required for works during the occupation and maintenance stage overlap in many respects with those needed during construction, particularly for technical or trade-based work. However, effective performance at this stage often depends on access to accurate building information, understanding of existing conditions and the ability to manage work safely in occupied places. Under the Construction, Design and Management (CDM) Regulations 2015, all construction projects involving multiple contractors are required to have a Health and Safety File (including operation and maintenance manuals), which should provide a roadmap for undertaking appropriate works. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that these can often be incomplete or that trades responsible for maintenance have inadequate competence or resourcing to deliver and maintain expected building performance. Soft landings and post-occupancy evaluation may not always be completed, leading to residual defects or a lack of learning on how a building works for its users and against specifications in practice. Organisational capability, supervision and specialisation is again a feature, with individuals and organisations focusing on particular elements of a building system (e.g. glazing or heating systems) rather than maintaining an view of how the overall project fits together.

5.31. In parts of the sector, particularly for domestic-scale work, this stage is often characterised by the use of self-certification schemes and other assurance arrangements intended to manage high volumes of work. Particularly in domestic RMI, it can be difficult for consumers to assess the quality of tradespeople before paying for a job.

5.32. There are several factors impacting behaviour, conduct and culture in occupation and maintenance. A particular feature of this stage is the prevalence of small, often reactive jobs carried out in occupied buildings. In this context, there may be significant variation in the skills, knowledge and behaviours of those undertaking work, as well as in the organisational capability of the businesses involved.

5.33. Occupation and maintenance is also the stage at which public trust in the sector is most directly experienced, through the condition of the buildings we use and live in and the quality of repair, maintenance and improvement work. Defects, difficulty in achieving redress and the asymmetry of information between domestic clients and those constructing buildings, with their skills, knowledge and experience, can undermine confidence and perceptions of accountability. For RMI work, we have heard anecdotally of cases of tradespeople refusing reasonable requests for defective work to be fixed and even fraud where money has been taken but no work provided. These conditions may influence behaviour and decision making in practice, including how standards are applied, how risks are managed and how responsibility is understood when things go wrong.

5.34. Similar to the construction stage, accountability and responsibility during occupation and maintenance is distributed across a wide range of professions, trades and occupations. Depending on the context, this may include facilities managers, managing agents, maintenance contractors, specialist trades and building owners. Unlike construction, responsibility at this stage is often further distributed over time, across multiple contracts or organisations, and may change as buildings are sold, let, managed or adapted. This can impact ability to trace accountability for decisions or work carried out over the life of a building.

5.35. At a domestic level, evidence suggests that there are limited routes for homeowners to seek compensation from tradespeople carrying out RMI work when damages are incurred. There is no universal requirement for membership of a redress scheme, and those voluntary schemes which do exist have limited enforcement powers, especially where individuals operate as limited companies with few assets. Insurance coverage is also very rare, leaving homeowners exposed to financial loss. Where homeowners suffer financial loss due to fraud, it has been raised by Parliamentarians that criminal investigations are rarely pursued by the police or Trading Standards.

5.36. The dutyholder responsibilities set out in Part 2A of the Building Regulations 2010 apply to all building work. This explicitly includes work that falls under the Building Regulations during the occupation stage and sets out competence requirements, as well as a requirement to cooperate and communicate with other dutyholders.

5.37. This section seeks evidence on how competence, conduct and accountability operate once buildings are in use. This includes how responsibilities are managed over time, across multiple actors or small-scale works. We are interested in how skills and organisational capability are assured in practice, how information asymmetry and redress affect behaviour, and where risks arise when work is undertaken without adequate competence or oversight.

Questions: Occupation and maintenance

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