Competence declaration

A competence declaration is a document that states the confidence of an applicant (usually the client) in the competency of a project team to carry out their roles, and any steps taken to ensure that competency, which covers that of the principal designer, principal contractor, and any other designers and contractors of a project. The client is a organisation or an individual (often a developer or building owner) on behalf of whom, building and design work is being carried out.

The term described in the government Guidance 'Design and building work: meeting building requirements' and 'Managing building control approval applications for higher-risk buildings'. Both of theses documents relate to duties and competences under The Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 and The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023.

A competence declaration is likely to be issued as part of set of information such as drawings and plans, a construction control plan, a change control plan, building regulations compliance statement, fire and emergency file etc The guidance above describes the competence declaration as being required to confirm:

• The clients confidence that the principal designer, principal contractor, and any other designers and contractors are competent to carry out their roles
• The steps the client has taken to make sure all of the above are competent to carry out their roles

The competence declaration must also confirm:

• any reasons the principal designer or principal contractor’s competence is called into question
• why they have been appointed despite their competence being questioned
• the steps taken to reduce the risks from appointing them

A competence declaration must be signed by the client. It, along with any other required documents must be submitted to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) prior to the commencement of any work, as part of an application for building control approval. Furthermore the documents must be kept updated throughout and after the construction process in accordance with the golden thread of information and as part of the information to be kept with the building.

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