Skills Shortage Drives UK Building Control Salaries to Record Highs

Summary

The UK is experiencing a significant shortage of qualified building control officers, driving salaries to unprecedented levels. This shortage, coupled with recent changes to building regulations, has created a challenging environment for construction projects. The increased demand and limited supply of skilled professionals are impacting project timelines and budgets.

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Main Story

Okay, let’s talk about something that’s really impacting the UK right now: the construction industry. More specifically, the shortage of skilled people, and it’s particularly bad in the building control sector. It’s kind of crazy, actually, these guys are becoming incredibly valuable, and the salaries? They’ve shot through the roof, which, while great for them, it’s definitely adding a lot of pressure to the building process. This whole thing is a real mess.

Just to give you some numbers, I was looking at some data from earlier this year. See, in the US, the average hourly rate for these kinds of roles is around $24, and that sounds pretty good. But, in the UK, salaries vary wildly. Entry-level positions? You’re looking at something around £22,000. Whereas, experienced pros, they can easily command around £60,000. Honestly, it’s like a gold rush for building control experts right now, and it all boils down to the growing need for people who really know their stuff when it comes to building regulations. So how did we get here, you might ask?

Well, a few things are in play. For starters, the construction industry is changing super fast with all the new technology. Think about things like Building Information Modeling (BIM) and prefab parts— you know, building modules offsite then assembling them. All these amazing innovations require a completely different skillset, something many of the older professionals just don’t have. On top of that, the building rules themselves are always changing. We’ve got new laws, like the Building Safety Act 2022, pushing sustainability goals, and upping safety standards. All good things of course but, it means you need a really good understanding of complex rules, which simply adds to demand for skilled workers.

As a result, this shortage of building control officers causes big problems. Projects are facing delays because getting the necessary approvals takes ages, its just painfully slow. And, because everyone wants them, labor costs are skyrocketing, which eats away at project budgets. A knock on effect of this is you may end up with less development happening. I saw one project, a small housing development, that got shelved because of these costs. Not great, right? What’s even more concerning, though, is that the lack of experienced professionals could lead to quality control issues and ultimately put safety at risk. That’s something we seriously need to avoid.

On the other hand, the UK government has noticed the issue and they are trying to do something about it. They’ve started some initiatives to encourage people to join the construction field, including things like apprenticeships and specialized training, all with the aim to try and bridge the skills gap. In addition, professional bodies are stepping up too, offering resources and training to help build up the skill level of those in the profession already. However, let’s be real, fixing this isn’t going to be quick, it needs sustained effort. It needs everyone on board and to be working hard to attract, train, and keep skilled people in the long term. I mean, it’s a big problem, and it’ll take big changes to fix it.

The bottom line is: this whole situation just highlights how incredibly crucial qualified building control professionals are, especially now. In fact, as building rules and tech keep getting more complex, it really underscores the need to take the skills shortage seriously. We need to think long term, not just next month. In fact, dealing with it now isn’t just about the construction industry, it is also about ensuring the safety and quality of our buildings across the UK. It will mean government, educational institutions and the industry itself coming together to build a solid pipeline of capable building control people. That’s just how it has to be.