Scottish Building Regulations: Fire Safety review and Compliance: Call for Evidence

Recommendations 15,16 & 17 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report: 

• Recommendation 15 - We therefore recommend that the profession of fire engineer be recognised and protected by law and that an independent body be established to regulate the profession, define the standards required for membership, maintain a register of members and regulate their conduct.
   
• Recommendation 16 - In order to speed up the creation of a body of professional fire engineers we also recommend that the government take urgent steps to increase the number of places on high-quality masters level courses in fire engineering accredited by the professional regulator.
   
• Recommendation 17 - We recommend that the government convene a group of practitioner and academic fire engineers and such other professionals as it thinks fit to produce an authoritative statement of the knowledge and skills to be expected of a competent fire engineer.

We recognise that recommendations 15,16 & 17 are intrinsically linked.

Scottish Government accepts all recommendations relating to the profession of fire engineering and will work with the UK Government to ensure where possible that a four nations approach is taken to regulating the profession. Regulation of professions is a UK matter under The Professional Qualifications Act 2022 and the UK Government are working through the fire engineers advisory panel which is an expert panel established in April 2025 to provide advice to government on the fire engineering profession and what to expect from a competent fire engineer.

Devolved administrations and a range of public sector bodies will have an active interest in the development of this discussion and the case for regulation of profession. We will seek to contribute to this work, led by the UK Government.