Following the devastating Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people back in 2017, building safety has come under growing scrutiny.
And rightly so. Findings from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry showed that the tragedy was the result of systemic failures. Many of the deaths could have been avoided had robust fire safety measures and procedures been properly in place.
With this heightened focus on fire safety, demand for competent installers and inspectors has never been greater. But despite many in the industry having years of hands-on experience, a significant proportion of the workforce still lack formally assessed competence, leaving a critical fire safety gap that the industry needs to address.
In this guide, we’ll look at the difference between experience and competence, the frameworks shaping change, the reasons behind today’s fire safety skills gap, and what the industry is doing to close it.
Experience vs. competence: what’s the difference?
You’ve spent 15 years in the industry. Surely that alone makes you competent? It’s easy to assume so. But according to the competency frameworks in the UK, experience on its own doesn’t guarantee competence.
In line with BS 8670-1:2024 and the Building Safety Act, competence is about having the right skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours to carry out safety-critical work, doing so consistently to recognised standards, and knowing when you are reaching the limits of your own competence.
Put simply, years of service can show experience, but real competence means being able to meet today’s standards, while doing the job safely, consistently, and with the right attitude. And that requires assessment, validation, and continuous development, not just time spent on the job.
The Grenfell Inquiry highlighted this point clearly. Many involved in the building’s safety had long careers but failed to recognise risks, follow correct procedures, or seek expert advice when needed. The findings highlighted that true competence is more than technical knowledge. It requires up-to-date understanding and the behaviours to know and respect the limits of your own expertise.
What’s Driving Change?
Since Grenfell, the building and fire safety industry is undergoing significant shifts, with new competency frameworks either emerging or being updated to strengthen professionalism, consistency and accountability.
Here are some of the key frameworks and standards you need to be aware of as a competent fire door installer or fire door inspector:
BS 8670-1:2024 sets the overarching framework for building safety competence across the built environment. It sets out core criteria for the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours that sector-specific competence frameworks should cover for people in safety-critical roles, and it underpins sector-specific PAS and BS standards in the 867x series.
PAS 8671 sets out the competence requirements for Principal Designers, outlining the SKEB needed to ensure building designs meet essential safety standards.
PAS 8672 defines the competence requirements for Principal Contractors, detailing what’s required to manage and deliver building work safely and effectively throughout a project’s lifecycle.
PAS 8673 specifies competence requirements for those managing building safety in residential buildings, setting out how they should plan, manage and monitor the delivery of safety in occupied higher-risk buildings.
BSI Flex 8670 was the earlier, flexible version that established the groundwork for these standards (now superseded by BS 8670-1:2024).
While these frameworks don’t specifically cover fire door inspectors or installers, their principles of competency, safety awareness and accountability underpin all aspects of building safety including fire door design, installation and inspection.
These frameworks support the Building Safety Act 2022 competence requirements and focus on accountability across the built environment. Under the Act, individuals and organisations must have, and be able to demonstrate, the necessary skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours, especially when working on higher-risk buildings.
The Building Safety Regulator expects clear systems to ensure and demonstrate that those carrying out fire safety work are appropriately qualified, skilled, and doing it right, which is what the BS and PAS frameworks help achieve.
Why SKEB is often misunderstood
One of the biggest challenges in the industry is that SKEB is frequently mentioned but not consistently understood.
Many professionals can point to individual courses, years of work, or specific site roles, but that does not necessarily translate into proven competence under the Building Safety Act.
Skills and knowledge are generally the easier elements to demonstrate, because they can be evidenced through structured learning, CPD, training activity and, where appropriate, regulated qualifications.
Experience and behaviours are significantly harder to evidence in a reliable and consistent way. Experience is often assumed rather than assessed, and behaviours remain the least understood part of the framework. Exactly how industry should collect dependable evidence of behaviours is still emerging, and we expect more clarity in this area in the future as standards and sector-specific approaches develop.
This is an important point. The Building Safety Act moves the focus from simply “having done the work for years” to demonstrating that people have the right mix of skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for their current role and risk profile.
There is also an uncomfortable reality emerging across the industry. A number of people are now speaking confidently about competence, SKEB and the new regime, yet do not fully understand what competence actually requires under the Building Safety Act, nor how evidence should be gathered and verified. Too many operators claim that they “have SKEB” without any objective evidence to support that claim. Equally, we are beginning to see situations where requests for evidence of SKEB are being made in ways that do not appear aligned with the genuine purpose of the new regime. When competency requirements are used primarily to create barriers or disputes rather than to ensure safe practice, the principle behind the legislation is weakened. The intent of SKEB is to protect life and support higher standards of building safety, not to be used as a mechanism for rivalry or obstruction.
The current fire safety skills gap
Despite growing awareness, there’s still a concerning skills gap in the building and construction industries. Recent inspections, legal cases and research have highlighted worrying levels of non-compliance, especially when it comes to fire doors, compartmentation and passive protection.
The gap is particularly prevalent in sectors like social housing, large residential developments and commercial retrofits, where complex projects and budget constraints can make consistent standards tricky to maintain.
The good thing is that most people in the industry recognise the importance of training. But it’s often seen as a bit of a tick-box exercise. Without proper assessment, verification or ongoing development and support, that training often falls short and doesn’t always translate to real-world competence.
Industry surveys and inspections consistently report high failure rates in fire door installation and maintenance, with significant proportions of inspected doors failing basic compliance checks due to poor workmanship, incorrect products or incomplete installation. Crucially, many organisations struggle to demonstrate that those carrying out this work meet the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours required under the Building Safety Act. This is the heart of the competency gap. It is not just about poor work on the day. It is that too many people do not know what competence actually looks like under the current regime, and even fewer know how to evidence it in a reliable and consistent way.
Why the fire safety skills gap exists
There are many factors contributing to the widening skills gap. But most notably, it comes down to these key six reasons:
Underinvestment: Budget constraints have historically meant that fire safety roles have been under-resourced, and training and upskilling haven’t been seen as a priority.
Complexity of modern buildings: Modern materials and new construction methods have made buildings more complex to assess and manage.
Over-reliance on qualifications: Qualifications alone do not prove that someone can apply knowledge safely.
Unclear roles and responsibilities: When accountability is diluted, safety can fall through the cracks.
Outdated or inconsistent training: A lack of standardised, role-specific frameworks has meant training is often inconsistent or out of date.
Lack of enforcement: Before the Building Safety Act, enforcement was limited, and poor practice was rarely challenged.
Closing the gap – the role of structured training
Closing the fire safety skills gap starts with structured, role-specific training. Proving your competency isn’t just about being in the job for years. It’s about demonstrating the right skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours through clear, consistent assessment.
So, what should you look for when choosing the right training?
Mapped to recognised frameworks
The most credible training references recognised frameworks such as BS 8670-1. These documents define what competence looks like for key dutyholder roles and set core criteria that sector-specific frameworks such as fire door installation and inspection can align to.
Assessment based on real competence
Structured programmes assess people not on how long they’ve worked, but on whether they can do the job safely. That means practical assessments, scenario-based tasks, and consistent benchmarks aligned to defined roles and risk levels.
Ongoing CPD and refresher training
Materials change, legislation evolves, and new building methods introduce new challenges. That’s why credible training includes CPD and regular refreshers to keep people up to date and confident.
The new CITB Specialist Timber Fire Door Installer Competence Framework
The CITB Specialist Timber Fire Door Installer Competence Framework now provides a clear, nationally aligned route to competence for those installing fire resisting timber door assemblies and door-sets. Developed in line with BS 8670-1 and built around Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours, it identifies recognised vocational pathways, qualification routes, experience requirements and revalidation expectations for installers.
Central to the framework is the vocational qualification route. This includes the Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Associated Industrial Services Occupations (Passive Fire Protection) which incorporates the specialist fire door installation unit based on National Occupational Standards. UK Fire Door Training delivers this NVQ and the associated fire-resisting timber door assemblies and doorsets unit using OSAT where appropriate, enabling experienced workers to achieve a recognised vocational qualification and appropriate CSCS endorsement rather than relying solely on informal experience claims.
The framework also recognises a route via the Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Wood Occupations (Construction), where the fire door installation unit is taken and assessed as part of an appropriate pathway. UK Fire Door Training delivers this NVQ route with the relevant fire door installation unit included, meaning individuals coming from a carpentry or site wood occupations background can follow a recognised vocational pathway into specialist fire door installation under the new regime.
The framework places strong emphasis on continued professional development. Short-duration courses, refresher activity and ongoing CPD form part of maintaining competence over time. Our FireQual Recognised Programmes support this aspect by contributing to ongoing development rather than being positioned as regulated qualifications in their own right.
We welcome this development because it helps establish a consistent expectation for what a competent fire door installer looks like under the Building Safety Act, while aligning vocational qualifications, National Occupational Standards and CPD with a clearer and more structured route to demonstrating competence.
Competence in fire door inspection
For those involved in inspection, UK Fire Door Training delivers the ABBE Level 3 Award in Fire Door Inspection. This is a regulated qualification aligned with National Occupational Standards for fire safety inspection roles, providing a nationally recognised assessment route and supporting individuals in demonstrating the knowledge and understanding required under the Building Safety Act.
What can I do next?
With the Building Safety Act raising the bar for accountability, organisations are now expected to demonstrate competence across all safety-critical roles. That means moving beyond ad-hoc training and adopting structured approaches that show real, measurable progress.
If you’re wondering where to start, here are some simple steps to get you on the right path:
- Audit your team against SKEB.
- Book structured training mapped to recognised standards.
- Establish clear systems for ongoing CPD and competence development.
Competence isn’t just about protecting buildings. It’s about protecting lives, reputations, and the integrity of our entire industry. When best practice isn’t followed, the consequences can be devastating. But when competence is prioritised and when the right training and standards are taken seriously, safety becomes the expectation rather than the exception.
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