Local Government Building Control Workforce Strategy and Action Plan

Councils are struggling with unfilled vacancies, skills shortages and increasing retention challenges. Without strategic intervention these workforce challenges will significantly impact on the delivery of building control services and pose a risk to the successful reform of the sector.

The sector must invest in recruitment, retention and skills development by strengthening data driven workforce planning, structured career progression and continuous professional development. Furthermore, building control professionals in the UK are now required to undergo new training and certification as part of reforms introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022.

Purpose, Scope, Ownership, methodology

Purpose

This strategic workforce plan has been developed to open constructive conversations with key stakeholders about the workforce challenges facing local government building control services. By fostering collaboration between the Local Government Association (LGA), councils, professional bodies and education providers the plan aims to build a shared understanding of both current pressures and future workforce needs.

It also provides a practical framework to support local government employers in attracting, retaining and developing talent. The LGA is seeking a collaborative partnership with local authorities and key stakeholders to deliver this strategy and action plan. For current employees and those considering a career in local government, it gives an insight into our priorities and demonstrates our commitment to addressing strategic workforce issues.

Scope

This workforce strategy focuses on the building control profession within the local government sector, addressing strategic workforce challenges and opportunities to ensure a sustainable, skilled and adaptable workforce. It covers current workforce demographics, supply and demand factors, the impact of policy and other changes on future skills needs, as well as identifying gaps in the information and data available. 

Ownership

The design and development of this strategy and action plan has been a collaborative effort led by the LGA in partnership with councils and key stakeholders. The strategy and action plan provide a national perspective (England) and is also offered as an adaptable resource for councils to tailor to their strategic workforce planning needs. 

The National Local Government Workforce Planning Network serves as the primary platform for consultation, knowledge-sharing and ongoing engagement on workforce planning matters, ensuring continued collaboration and responsiveness to emerging challenges and opportunities.

Methodology

This plan was developed through a collaborative process, shaped with and for the sector, to ensure it reflects the real-world challenges faced by local government. 

Sources of primary data included the LGA workforce survey, as well as specific workforce capacity reports where available for the identified critical shortage areas. This benchmarking data provided insights into the strengths, gaps and emerging trends within the workforce, laying the foundation for a targeted approach.

Secondary information and data arising out of a series of Building Control Skills Partnership Hub sessions was analysed, and sector expertise was further engaged in a series of consultation and feedback workshops on the draft strategies.

3.2      Strategic context and vision for the building control workforce

Local government in the UK is a distinctly decentralised system, operating across the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with varying structures, responsibilities and governance frameworks. Councils function as direct employers, managing their own workforces and policies, which enhances local accountability and tailored service provision. However, this approach poses challenges for the coordination of national and regional support for the sector. 

The current operating environment for local government is increasingly complex, with challenges emerging across multiple areas. Financial pressures continue to intensify, while rising demand for services and ongoing legislative changes add further strain. 

Vision for the local government building control profession

Workforce vision:

To establish a Building Control workforce within local government that upholds integrity, demonstrates professionalism, and prioritises sustainability and value for money. We are committed to being ethical and unbiased and ensuring consistency in all our actions, with a strong focus on building safety knowledge and continuous improvement.

Core principles:

• Integrity: Upholding the highest standards of honesty and ethical conduct in all building control practices.
• Professionalism: Demonstrating exceptional competence, reliability, and respect in all professional interactions.
• Sustainability: Prioritising sustainable building practices that protect the environment and promote long-term community well-being.
• Value for Money: Delivering cost-effective services maximising the community's value.
• Ethical Standards: Adhering to a strict code of ethics that guides all building control activities.
• Unbiased: Ensuring impartial and equitable decision-making in all building control processes.
• Consistency: Maintaining consistent standards and practices to ensure reliability and trustworthiness.
• Building Safety Knowledge: Leveraging deep expertise in building safety to protect the public and ensure compliance with regulations.
• Improvement Focused: Continuously seeking ways to improve services and adapt to new challenges and opportunities.

Desired workforce outcomes: 

• New and Innovative Ways of Working: Implementing innovative approaches to building control that enhance efficiency and service quality.
• Adapting to Change: Demonstrating flexibility and agility in adapting to regulations, technology, and customer needs changes.
• Delivering a Great and Competitive Service: Providing a high-quality, competitive service that meets the needs of customers and the community.
• Staff Retention and Happiness: Creating a positive work environment that retains staff and ensures they are happy and motivated.
• Level Playing Field: Removing the competitive recruitment element to ensure fairness and equity in hiring practices.
• Providing Sustainable Practices: Promoting and implementing sustainable building practices that benefit the environment and community.
• Delivering Customer Satisfaction: Ensuring customers receive reliable, efficient, high-quality building control services.
• Maintaining Continuous Improvement: Fostering a culture of continuous improvement to enhance service delivery and outcomes.

By embedding these principles and striving for these outcomes, we aim to create a building control profession within local government that meets and exceeds the expectations of the communities we serve.

Composition of the building control workforce 

• At the time of the survey, the average council employed nine building control staff (same for headcount and full-time equivalent). 

Age

• Data supplied by the Building Control Skills Partnership Hub councils, reported that 40.5 per cent of employees were over 50, indicating an incoming wave of retirements and significant potential loss of expertise over the next 10-15 years.
• Only 13.5 per cent were under 30 highlighting a potential shortage of early-career professionals.
• The largest concentration of professionals was in the 50-59 age group posing an imminent risk as these individuals transition out of employment. Structured career pathways and urgent succession planning are required to mitigate the loss of institutional knowledge and critical expertise. 

4.1.3   Diversity

• Specific statistics on diversity within local government building control services are not readily accessible.
• Data available from the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) membership organisation, indicates that diversity within the construction industry is a challenge and that the workforce remains predominantly male with low representation from diverse communities. More recent data available from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Women in Surveying: Insight Report 2023, indicated that while female membership has risen to 17 per cent, the rate of increase lags behind that of men.

Workforce mobility - vacancies, agency use, turnover, recruitment and retention

Vacancies

• As of 1 October 2023, approximately 26 per cent of building control posts were unfilled, amounting to 690 vacancies across England, with councils averaging two vacancies each.
• Nearly all councils (81 per cent) identified the Principal Surveyor/Building Control Surveyor as the most frequent vacancy.

Agency use

• In 2022/23, councils' agency spending to address capacity and capability gaps was estimated at approximately £12 million, with an increase projected for 2023/24. On average, one member of agency staff was employed by building control teams per council. 

Turnover

• During the same period, building control teams experienced an annual staff turnover rate of 15 per cent.

Recruitment

• Seventy-nine per cent of councils reported significant difficulty in recruiting to the post of principal surveyors / building control surveyors.
• The next most challenging specialist area for permanent recruitment was assistant / trainee building surveyor (40 per cent).
• Over a third of respondents reported relying on agency staff and interim workers due to recruitment efforts failing to generate enough suitable candidates.
• Fifty-seven per cent of respondents did not collaborate with other councils’ building control teams to help address recruitment challenges.

Retention

• Nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of respondents reported significant challenges in retaining principal surveyor / building control surveyor and almost half (42 per cent) found it difficult to retain assistant / trainee building control surveyor.
• Two thirds of respondents said one of the main reasons for employees leaving the service was for money and a half noted it was due to retirements.
• The proportion of councils reporting staff leaving for temporary work was relatively low (10 per cent) and consistent across district and single tier. The reasons for pursuing temporary work included higher pay from agency roles (67 per cent), lower workload (37 per cent) and a desire for greater flexibility (31 per cent).

Workforce planning

• Half of respondents had not conducted projections for future staffing needs to address anticipated service demands. Among those who had undertaken such projections, the estimated requirement was an increase of approximately 1.7 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff per council over the next one to two years, increasing to 2.2 FTE within five years.
• At the time of the survey, almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of respondents did not have a workforce plan and a similar number (61 per cent) lacked a succession planning programme in place to support future workforce development.

Composition of the external market and talent pool

• Approximately half of the building control workforce is employed by local authorities, while the other half operates in the private sector. The recent Building Safety Act 2022 has significantly reshaped the building control profession, introducing stricter regulations and oversight mechanisms. As the industry adapts to these changes, concerns have emerged regarding the availability of qualified and registered surveyors.

Supply of building control professionals 

• As of 30 July 2024, a total of 4,049 building professionals were registered as building inspectors in England and Wales, including 1,971 trainees.
• Demand for qualified inspectors remains high and the current training pipeline appears to fall short of meeting future workforce needs, raising concerns about the sector's capacity and capability to uphold regulatory standards.
• Vocational training routes through HNC/HND programmes are available and several universities offer degree qualification programmes. LABC Qualifications and Training accessed April 2025, suggested that accredited training, continuous professional development and apprenticeships are available. 

Apprenticeships

• LGA research found that apprenticeship starts in local government have stayed at the same level for three years running.
• Further research, LGA Skills Spotlight Survey, January 2024, reported on common barriers to appointing apprentices. They included the lack of time to mentor apprentices or to release/provide time away from work.
• The sector reported some reluctance among existing, experienced staff to take up an apprenticeship qualification. Degree level apprenticeships were identified as particularly difficult to undertake, especially in the context of increasing workload demands.
• The LABC Academy provides a Level 3 entry certificate alongside Level 4 and Level 5 diplomas, offering a structured pathway to professional accreditation. These qualification pathways also enable individuals with experience and skills gained in construction trades, to transition into surveying and regulatory roles.
• Four institutions currently offer the Level 6 Building Control Surveying Degree Apprenticeship (Wolverhampton, Nottingham Trent, Westminster) and an online option is available from the University of the Built Environment.

• Providing a broader overview, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report explores how major global trends are reshaping jobs and skills and outlines the workforce transformation strategies employers intend to pursue between 2025 and 2030.
• The UK's Modern Industrial Strategy (MIS) is reshaping the expectations for building control professionals in local authorities, particularly in terms of skills, knowledge, and qualifications required to meet future demands. The MIS emphasises innovation, safety, and sustainability in the built environment. This aligns with reforms from the Building Safety Act 2022 and the establishment of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), which are driving a transformation in building control standards. 

General future workforce trends

• Economic conditions, including slow growth and the increase in the cost of living, is expected to increase the demand for creative thinking and resilience, flexibility, and agility skills.
• Another trend is climate change mitigation driving roles such as renewable energy and environmental engineers, as well as an increased focus on environmental stewardship.
• AI is poised to transform the building control profession—not by replacing it, but by reshaping how professionals work, collaborate, and make decisions.
• This will have potential risks and challenges like skill displacements, regulatory lag and overreliance on AI.

Jobs and skills implications

• The MIS is supported by Skills England, which is aligning training and qualifications with future economic needs. This includes reforms to apprenticeships and vocational pathways, aiming to make them more accessible and relevant to roles like building control.
• The future skills and qualifications identified for building control professionals in UK local authorities—especially looking strategically toward 2028 and beyond—are grounded in several key government and regulatory developments.

Workforce challenges and mitigation

• With just over half of employers (52 per cent) anticipating allocating a greater share of their revenue to remuneration, pay competitiveness will remain a significant challenge for local government employers. The identification and implementation of effective recruitment and retention initiatives and incentives continue to represent critical strategic priorities for the sector.
• The majority (85 per cent) of employers surveyed plan to prioritise upskilling their workforce, with 70 per cent of employers expecting to hire staff with new skills and 50 per cent planning to transition staff from declining to growing roles. Strategies to expand talent availability by tapping into diverse talent pools and the adoption of diversity, inclusion and equality initiatives are set to continue to rise.
• Supporting employee health and well-being is expected to be a key focus for talent attraction alongside effective reskilling and upskilling initiatives, improving talent progression, and creating promotion opportunities.

Future skills needs for the building control workforce

Building Safety Act 2022 and the role of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR)

• The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced sweeping reforms to the building control profession, including:
  • The concept of the “golden thread” of building information.
  • Introduction of safety cases, gateways, and accountable persons.
• These changes require Building Control professionals to develop:
  • Advanced regulatory knowledge.
  • Digital literacy (to manage the golden thread).
  • Risk assessment and safety leadership skills.
• This is reinforced by training courses from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which emphasise understanding the new legal framework and regulatory responsibilities.

Construction skills mission and workforce expansion

• The UK government’s Construction Skills Mission, launched in June 2025, aims to recruit 100,000 new construction workers per year and deliver 1.5 million new homes.
• This initiative is backed by:
  • £625 million to tackle skills shortages.
  • £100 million for 40,000 industry placements.
  • New foundation apprenticeships and technical excellence colleges.
• This signals a shift toward:
  • On-the-job learning
  • Cross-disciplinary collaboration
  • Sustainability and net-zero construction practices.
• These trends directly impact Building Control, which must adapt to new construction methods, green technologies, and modern compliance tools.
• An analysis of specific future skills needs was developed through work undertaken by the LGA with the Building Control Skills Partnership Hub.
• Building control teams must stay updated on the latest building regulations, inspection techniques and compliance checks and professionals will need to be proficient in sustainable construction methods and energy performance assessments. Knowledge of standards like BREEAM and Passivhaus will be increasingly important, and training should incorporate sustainability modules.
• The rise of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digitalisation requires competencies in 3D modelling, digital plan checking and data management. Professionals will require digital and AI skills to implement technologically driven solutions.
• Building control professionals need to understand risk assessment and mitigation strategies to ensure safe construction practices. Risk management training programmes, linked to a comprehensive risk assessment framework, will enhance professionals' ability to identify, report and address risks effectively.
• The adoption of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) techniques requires professionals to have a thorough understanding of quality assurance protocols, control and project management.
• Effective public communication and stakeholder management play an increasingly important role in regulatory success. Enhanced skills in communication, engagement and conflict resolution are desirable. 

• This section outlines the key gaps between the current local government building control workforce and the vision for its future. In collaboration with the Building Control Skills Partnership Hub participants, the LGA conducted a detailed analysis of workforce challenges.
• To support this PESTLE and SWOT exercises were used to identify and categorise these challenges. The findings are organised and examined below under the themes of data, service delivery, recruitment, retention and skills, highlighting the gaps between the existing workforce, future skills needs and the workforce vision.

Data

• Data-driven workforce planning is challenging due to limitations in data availability and quality, which hinder a comprehensive understanding of the capacity and capability of the building control workforce and impacts on the effectiveness of strategic decision-making, particularly in relation to diversity.

Service delivery

• A significant proportion of the workforce is approaching retirement creating succession planning challenges.
• Regulatory reforms have intensified the challenge of meeting rising demand while ensuring building control services are staffed with suitably qualified professionals. The resulting shortfall has increased competition with the private sector, leading to frequent reliance on agency staffing to maintain adequate service levels.
• As service transformation reshapes delivery models, it will necessitate the redesign of roles, and the evolution of skill sets to align with new ways of working.
• There are significant gaps in the identified future skills needed for the building control workforce that require addressing, especially in relation to advanced regulatory knowledge, technical and digital proficiency, risk and safety leadership, communication and collaboration and sustainability and Net-Zero integration. 

Recruitment

Retention

Skills

Improve data

Strengthening workforce data collection will improve decision-making, diversity, and talent retention. 

• Improve diversity insights – Collect better data on race, neurodiversity, disability, LGBTQ+ representation and socio-economic background to inform inclusive policies.
• Workforce Data – Address data gaps to enhance forecasting and evidence-based strategies.
• Monitor skills shortages – Use real-time data to identify gaps and engage training providers to align workforce development with sector needs.

Strengthen workforce planning 

An effective coordinated approach will enhance workforce resilience, skills development and long-term workforce sustainability.

• Workforce analytics and benchmarking tools – Improve access to timely sector specific workforce data.
• Enable collaboration with key stakeholders – Facilitate work with regional employers, professional bodies and training providers to address workforce challenges and skills needs.
• Enhance horizon scanning – Anticipate emerging trends and assess their potential impact.
• Facilitate consortia and training partnerships – Promote practice examples and joint workforce development initiatives to strengthen talent pipelines.
• Identify and support innovation – collaborate with and support trailblazers eager to pilot innovative solutions and drive change. There are opportunities to collaborate with other councils to offer secondments and open centres of excellence.

Strengthen recruitment and early-career pathways

Expanding entry routes and improving outreach efforts will help to attract more talent. 

• Increase outreach efforts – Promote work experience, careers resources and branding campaigns that target early-career options and support work experience in local government.
• Participate in the Pathways for Planning graduate scheme which now includes include Surveying and Construction Project Management roles.
• Expand pathways – strengthen partnerships with universities and training providers to widen access and increase options.
• Standardisation – working with professional bodies, consult sector and test feasibility and whether there is an appetite for standardisation of job titles/roles.

Enhance retention

Clear career pathways and supportive workplace policies will improve staff retention and support council ‘grow your own’ schemes. 

• Career grade policy – Provide a model for structured progression for junior staff to the ceiling grade.
• Promote clear career pathways – Promote a career pathway for Assistant Building Control Surveyor through to Principal Building Control Surveyor.
• Highlight public sector career benefits – Promote stability, community impact and career fulfilment in the building control service.
• Flexible working – Promote effective hybrid and flexible working models.
• Retention incentives – Promote retention reset, research what works (align with employee needs - contribution to professional registration fees, continuous professional development, age friendly policies, etc.) Identify and promote workplace culture initiatives that enhance well-being and job satisfaction.
• Registration – Identify and promote supervision and mentoring practices and policy to support ongoing registration and professional qualification.

The future skills and qualifications identified for Building Control professionals in UK local authorities—especially looking toward 2028 and beyond—are grounded in several key government and regulatory developments.

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced sweeping reforms to the building control profession, including:

• new duty holder roles
• the concept of the “golden thread” of building information
• introduction of safety cases, gateways, and accountable persons.

These changes require Building Control professionals to develop:

• advanced regulatory knowledge
• digital literacy (to manage the golden thread)
• risk assessment and safety leadership skills.

This is reinforced by training courses from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which emphasise understanding the new legal framework and regulatory responsibilities.

• Adur & Worthing District Council
• Bolton Council
• Brighton & Hove Council
• Central Bedfordshire Council
• Conwy County Borough Council
• Cumberland Council
• East Midlands Building Consultancy
• Hartlepool Borough Council
• Hartlepool Council
• Herefordshire Council
• Ipswich Borough Council
• Leeds City Council
• London Borough of Barnet
• London Borough of Richmond and Wandsworth
• Mid Devon District Council
• Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
• North Yorkshire Council
• Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
• Rochdale Borough Council
• Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
• South Kesteven District Council
• Southwark Council
• Wealden District Council