§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what standards of competence he sets for(a) building regulations inspectors and (b) National House-Building Council inspectors. [86907]
§ Mr. LeslieIt is for each local authority with building control responsibilities to decide on the qualifications and experience of officers employed by them on building control duties.
The National House-Building Council is an independent, non-profit distributing company. Inspectors employed by the NHBC carry out inspections in connection with their Buildmark new home warranty scheme. It is for the NHBC to decide whom to employ for purposes connected with that non-statutory scheme.
NHBC inspectors also carry out inspections for building control purposes in cases where NHBC's subsidiary, NHBC Building Control Services Ltd, is acting as an approved inspector. Under Part II of the Building Act 1984, a person carrying out regulated building work may engage an approved inspector as an alternative to applying to the local authority building control department.
Approved inspectors are subject to periodic re-approval by the Construction Industry Council, which is the body designated by the Secretary of State for the purpose of approving inspectors under Part II of the Building Act. The CIC have drawn up criteria for assessing the qualifications and experience of companies and individuals applying or re-applying for the status of approved inspector.