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

5.38. This section seeks evidence on a number of key issues, themes and challenges that cut across different professions, roles and stages of the building lifecycle. These issues relate to how responsibility, information and assurance are managed across the building system, particularly between people, organisations and regulatory regimes. These are intended to capture challenges that cannot be fully understood by looking at any single lifecycle stage in isolation.

Accountability and responsibility

5.39. In addition to detailed questions about how duties, responsibility and accountability are understood and implemented at each stage of the building lifecycle, we are also interested in how organisational governance and senior oversight contribute to effective accountability. We are seeking to explore how senior officers operate to ensure their organisation fulfils its legal duties as a statutory dutyholder.

Cross-cutting functions

5.40. We are interested in the ways in which different parts of the building system work together to support or undermine overall delivery of safe, high-performing and sustainable buildings, on time and on budget. We know that there are particular functions that have an influence across multiple building lifecycle stages - including, but not limited to, planning, building control, project management, inspection, surveying, enforcement and redress. These functions act as key points of interface where multiple roles, regulatory regimes and decisions come together.

5.41. We are seeking to explore how the way these kinds of cross-cutting functions are carried out influences decision making, accountability and risk management across the building lifecycle, particularly where interpretations, conditions or decisions have specific impacts on performance, behaviour or interpretations of responsibility and accountability. We are also interested in whether there are recurring points of friction across the system which might benefit from greater clarity, consistency or coordination.

The role of sector bodies and regulators

5.42. Sector bodies and regulators, including professional bodies, trade associations, statutory and non-statutory regulators, leadership organisations and scheme operators have a critical role in setting and enforcing appropriate standards of competence, conduct and accountability for those working in the built environment sector. In particular, they may set entry and accreditation requirements for members and requirements for ongoing membership, such as requiring adherence to a code of conduct. They also play a role in the education and continuing professional development (CPD) of their members.

5.43. We are interested in how well current sector bodies and regulators are judged to support, monitor and enforce appropriate standards to deliver safe, high-performing and sustainable buildings, incentivise good practice and support public trust. In particular, we are seeking to explore what role these bodies do and should play within the built environment system.

5.44. Arrangements for overseeing compliance throughout a building’s lifecycle influence behaviour across the whole building system. These arrangements affect the interpretation of standards, how confident people are in raising concerns and how accountability is experienced by professionals, clients and building users. We are also therefore seeking views on current mechanisms for enforcement against poor practice and standards in the built environment.

Emerging technology and changing practice

5.45. Like all sectors of the economy, there is increasing demand for and adoption of new technologies and changing practices across the built environment, reflecting wider technological advances, digitisation and modern methods of construction. Evidence suggests that many individuals already employed in the construction industry require upskilling to use new technologies and methods, particularly in relation to the net zero transition. Industry bodies have also highlighted the need to focus on a broader array of skills beyond traditional trade-specific competencies, including management, digital capabilities and mental health management.

5.46. We are interested in how individuals, organisations and groups across the full building lifecycle are using technology and other innovations to drive improvements in skills, knowledge, behaviour, conduct and accountability, including to support transparency and trust. This includes evidence and examples of technology and Artificial Intelligence use cases, and where barriers such as cost, skills and data may exist.

Comparators and learning

5.47. We are also interested in evidence from other sectors and international comparators where this helps illuminate alternative approaches to roles, regulation, assurance or oversight. This may include examples of how other sectors or countries manage interfaces between professions or lifecycle stages, support skills development or strengthen accountability and public trust.

5.48. We are particularly interested in lessons that are transferrable to the UK context, including both successful reforms and approaches that have proven challenging to implement in practice.

Questions: Cross-cutting issues, themes and challenges

Please ensure you have read the relevant section of the call for evidence document before answering these questions.

When answering these questions, please provide real-world examples and quantitative evidence wherever possible to support your response. You may cross-refer between answers, where applicable. Where information provided is commercially sensitive or otherwise not suitable for wider publication, please make sure this is clearly marked.