A New Era for Construction Compliance
The Building Safety Act (BSA) 2022 is a major regulatory shift for the UK construction sector. Compliance to these new rules can no longer rely solely on qualifications and training records with the Act requiring organisations to demonstrate competence through verifiable Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviours (SKEB). All of which needs to be supported by traceable evidence.
This sits within a wider regulatory expectation for a “Golden Thread” of digital safety information. This means providing accurate, accessible records that show who did what, why, and if they were competent at the time.
The pressure is now on construction organisations to create digital, auditable, and continuous records of competence. Many firms, both large and small, are now discovering that the traditional approaches — spreadsheets, training certificates, and paper files — either fail to meet the new standards or make compliance significantly harder to achieve.
The Core Competence Challenge: Evidence Over Assumptions
While the industry recognises the intent behind the Act, proving competence in practice is difficult. Three core issues stand out:
1. Competence goes beyond just training
Training certificates and qualifications on their own do not prove competence in real-world application of skills. Any on-the-job experience, and safety-critical performance must also be evidenced along with supplementary soft skills (Values, behaviours etc.) — yet most firms don’t have systems or methodology to capture or evaluate these dimensions.
SkillStation solves this by:
- Linking skills, training, qualifications, assessments, and behavioural evidence into one competency record.
- Supporting structured and robust assessment of SKEB criteria.
- Providing reportable data on whether individuals are competent or still developing.
2. The supply chain must also be competent
Under the BSA, organisations can no longer rely on subcontractor declarations. Competence must be verified, monitored, and provable across the supply chain.
SkillStation supports this by:
- Enabling competence evidence capture for subcontractors and partner organisations
- Providing reports and dashboards that highlight gaps and expired or missing evidence
- Improving confidence with defensible audit trails
3. Competence must be continuous, not static
The Act expects an ongoing demonstration of competence. But manually tracking re-assessments, skill expiries, behaviours and role progression can quickly become disjointed and unmanageable using legacy methods and tools.
SkillStation enables continuous assurance by:
- Tracking expiry dates, reassessment cycles and role requirements
- Providing automated reminders for renewals
- Offering digital audit trails suitable for clients, insurers, and auditors
Why Traditional Methods Struggle
Most organisations still rely on:
- Training matrices
- Paper certificates
- HR files
- Spreadsheets
- Supplier declarations
These tools are practical for administration, but are not ideal for regulatory evidence, because they cannot:
- Capture behaviours or practical competence
- Support Golden Thread requirements
- Demonstrate subcontractor competence
- Produce audit-ready records on demand
- Maintain continuous reassessment and expiry cycles
The gap between existing systems and BSA expectations is exactly where many compliance risks now sit. It’s paramount for organisations to address this to ensure that they do not fall foul of non-compliance.
How SkillStation Provides a Digital Competence Framework
SkillStation provides a practical way for construction firms to define, assess and evidence competence in line with the Building Safety Act. Competence data (including SKEB) is stored in one place, kept up to date, and available for audit, supporting the Golden Thread and reducing reliance on spreadsheets, certificates and paperwork.
To support mobilisation and site work, SkillStation has a Skills & Safety Passport module that makes worker competence, training and safety information accessible through a QR code, usually printed onto an ID card. Passports can be used for spot-checking and access control systems. Additionally, SkillStation’s CSCS card checking functionality can check and validate CSCS cards, confirming card type, status and expiry before allowing access to site or specific tasks. This helps ensure only competent and authorised workers enter site and can even be used to limit access to machinery.
In short, SkillStation helps construction firms:
- Evidence competence digitally (including SKEB)
- Maintain accurate, audit-ready Golden Thread records
- Reduce admin and reliance on manual systems
- Verify workforce and supply chain competence
- Use Skills & Safety Passports for on-site checking and access control
What This Means for Construction Firms
With SkillStation, construction organisations can move towards a competence-first culture that supports:
- A tendering advantage — demonstrating competence wins work
- Reduced regulatory and insurance risk
- Stronger assurance over subcontractor performance
- Less administrative overhead and spreadsheet chaos
Critically, SkillStation makes compliance practical, not punitive — helping organisations meet BSA expectations through structured, digital competence evidence.
Conclusion: Competence is Now a Compliance and Commercial Priority
The Building Safety Act doesn’t just raise the bar — it changes the rules. For many firms, this means rethinking how competence is defined, assessed, evidenced, and managed across the workforce and supply chain.
Those who adapt quickly will reduce risk and gain competitive advantage in a safety-conscious market. Those who don’t risk project delays, regulatory intervention, and reputational damage.
SkillStation provides a practical, digital route to demonstrating competence in line with BSA expectations — today and into the future.
If you’d like to see how SkillStation can help your organisation evidence competence under the Building Safety Act then request a demo with one of the team today.
