Preparing for the Building Safety Act

PROJECT BRIEF

The Challenge

Just Housing Group was brought into the registered provider to investigate and recommend ways to:

Improve internal communications and resident facing engagement throughout the Independent Registered Provider.
Develop with the Executive team changes in processes to support the new building safety legislation and its potential impact on other sections of the business.
Develop an operational programme to enhance the building safety regime across all services. This included identifying key competency levels for the customer facing teams and helping instigate new processes for monitoring these competences and encouraging staff professional development.

Key Service Provisions

Commercial insight
Asset Management
Project Management
Strategy

Key Facts

Over 6,000 properties covering North and central Wales.
Development programme of 300 dwellings each year.
Portfolio covering all tenure types including supported living

OUR METHODS AND OUTCOMES

Service review

Our consultants identified ways of improving communication and rolled out an improvement plan aimed at joining up different teams, as well as managing how their responsibilities influence the collective outcome.

Redesign the systemic approach of the RP

Just Housing Group carried out a review of the current systems at the Independent Registered Provider and possible appropriate fits, as well as analysing the needs and aspirations of the Reguster Provider.

Helping staff into a journey of improvement

Just Housing Group also identified the gap for staff members as part of their review: our consultants helped devised a programme, linked to the new performance database, which enabled each staff member to start a process of improving their skills, especially in relation to the new building safety requirements.

This resulted in a series of recommendations including a process change via a new performance management database called Matrix, which identifies the competencies needed for each of the job functions for all roles having an input into the Building Safety Act 2022. This live system allowed information to be pooled collectively and for performance management standards to be lifted across the organisation. JHG helped manage this improvement journey.

PROJECT SUCCESSES

Improved communications with front-line teams on matters of health and safety.

Encouraged a better understanding of the Building Safety Act and subsequent regulatory framework across the organisation.

Completed a detailed review of staff members’ competencies to meet the requirements of the new legislation.

Practical recommendations on what career professional development was required for each indvidual member of the team.

Development of a comprehensive plan for the registered provider that covered stimated budgets for the additional training and performance management regime, and education for the next two years to meet the Building Safety Regime.