Fire Engineering Profession Reform: What the New UK Regulations Mean for You

The Case for Profession Reform

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report, published in September 2024, made far-reaching recommendations about the reform of the construction and fire safety professions. The Inquiry found that fire safety consultants — along with architects, contractors, and building control inspectors — had failed to identify and prevent the conditions that led to the Grenfell Tower fire. The report called for mandatory regulation of fire engineers and other construction professionals, enhanced competence requirements, and a fundamental shift in the culture of the construction industry towards greater accountability and rigour.

What the Phase 2 Inquiry Recommended

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report made several recommendations directly relevant to fire engineers and the fire safety profession:

• Mandatory regulation of fire engineers — the Inquiry recommended that the government introduce mandatory licensing for fire engineers working on higher-risk buildings, with a requirement to demonstrate competence through assessment and to maintain that competence through continuing professional development
• Mandatory regulation of fire risk assessors — the Inquiry recommended that fire risk assessors be subject to mandatory licensing, replacing the current voluntary third-party certification schemes
• Reform of professional institutions — the Inquiry criticised the professional institutions for failing to ensure adequate standards of competence among their members and recommended that they work more closely with government to establish and enforce competence standards
• Cultural change in construction — the Inquiry called for a fundamental shift in the culture of the construction industry, away from cost minimisation and towards genuine commitment to building safety

The Current Competence Framework

In advance of mandatory licensing, the UK Competence Steering Group and the professional bodies have developed voluntary competence frameworks for those working on higher-risk buildings. The Building Safety Act 2022 already requires principal designers and principal contractors on higher-risk buildings to be registered with the BSR and to demonstrate competence. For fire engineers, the expectation of Chartered Engineer status for higher-risk building work is well-established, even if not yet mandated by legislation.

What Mandatory Licensing Would Mean in Practice

If the government implements mandatory licensing for fire engineers — as recommended by the Inquiry — it would mean that individuals working on higher-risk buildings would need to hold a licence issued by a regulatory body, demonstrate the required competence through assessment, and maintain their licence through continuing professional development and compliance with a code of conduct.

This would be a significant change from the current position, where fire engineering is an unregulated profession and any individual can describe themselves as a fire engineer regardless of their qualifications or experience. Mandatory licensing would provide clients, building control bodies, and the BSR with greater assurance about the competence of those producing fire safety documentation.

The Timeline for Change

The government's response to the Phase 2 Inquiry recommendations is still being formulated. Legislative change of the scale recommended by the Inquiry typically takes several years to implement. In the interim, the existing competence frameworks — Chartered Engineer status, IFE and IMechE membership, and the BSR's registration requirements for principal designers and contractors — represent the current standard of competence expected for higher-risk building work.