'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?' - Juvenal (Satire VI)
Who is watching the watchmen - or inspecting the Inspectors? The issue of the regulation of building control professionals is an important one - to the clients of these services (ie. the construction industry) and to the overall aim of effective consumer protection.
The Association of Consultant Approved Inspectors is calling for a single regulatory and licensing body for all building control bodies, be they Approved Inspectors or local authority building control departments.
This appears to have wide support, including from some local authorities also.
The proposal is for an independent organisation, such as the Construction Industry Council (CIC), to have the right to vet and monitor the qualifications and performance of all building control professionals in England and Wales.
Such safeguards already exist in the private sector (CIC is appointed by Government to be the regulatory body for Approved Inspectors), but do not exist in the local authority sector.
Approved Inspectors are required to submit annual returns against key performance indicators set out by the CIC. There is no such mandatory monitoring for local authority building control departments.
The ACAI believes that there must be mandatory performance indicators for all building control bodies. These performance indicators should be meaningful to the customer experience – qualitative and output-focused, not just counting how many applications have been received and processed.
The ACAI’s view is that there should be a single regulatory body that ‘owns’ these performance indicators. This body should set minimum standards (based on benchmarks from existing data) and report on the performance of all building control bodies on an annual basis.
If there was a single regulatory and licensing body, it could (and should) also become the single point of contact for any customer or member of public with a complaint. It should have the same powers as currently exercised over Approved Inspectors – ie. a proven complaint could lead to the removal of the licence to operate.
To find out more about the ACAI's 'Watching the Watchmen' campaign, please contact us.
