Engineering Council publishes UK-SPEC HRB Annexes

The Discipline Annexes for The UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence and Commitment Contextualised for Higher-Risk Buildings (UK-SPEC HRB) have been published.

Alongside the recent UK-SPEC HRB competence tables, these Annexes set the sector-specific competence frameworks for the following disciplines:

• Building Services
• Fire Engineering
• Structural Engineering

It is through these Annexes that the industry can assess the competence and commitment of individual engineers and technicians working on higher-risk buildings in the UK in their field of expertise.

The UK-SPEC HRB competence tables and Annexes have been developed in response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review, commissioned by His Majesty’s Government, into the UK’s building regulations and safety; this follows the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017. This report informed the Building Safety Act 2022, ensuring everyone undertaking design or building work on higher-risk buildings demonstrates an elevated level of competence and expertise. This guarantees compliance with building regulations and, ultimately, public safety, security and trust.

The full Standard is due to be published in 2024.

Announcing the publication of the Annexes, Paul Bailey, Engineering Council CEO, said: “This is another important milestone in the journey towards enabling employers to assess the competence and commitment of those individuals working on higher-risk buildings in the UK in their particular sectors, whether it be Buildings Services, Fire Engineering or Structural Engineering.

"Alongside our recently published UK-SPEC HRB competence tables, these Annexes will assure the public that our engineers and technicians are being upheld to the highest standards in order to work on the fantastic infrastructure projects across the country. The introduction of these Annexes is also another great example of the continuing collaborative effort between industry, the Engineering Council and the professional engineering institutions.”

The UK-SPEC HRB Discipline Annexes are available on the Engineering Council website.