{"id":44980,"date":"2018-08-17T12:10:51","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T11:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=44980"},"modified":"2018-08-24T15:07:48","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T14:07:48","slug":"whistleblowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/building-control-news\/whistleblowers\/44980\/","title":{"rendered":"BBA works to provide a safe space for whistleblowers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whistleblowers play an essential role in exposing malpractice and failings in the construction industry, yet the complex legal arrangements surrounding their protection deters some from coming forward. The British Board of Agrement<\/a> is working to create a more coordinated approach to ensure serious concerns are properly addressed<\/h2>\n

The BBA is a well-known and respected certification body which, through its testing, inspection and approval activity, has been supporting innovation in the construction products industry for more than 50 years. Where anyone has concern about a BBA-certificated product or system, there is a lot of evidence over time that people will make a complaint or provide information in confidence that enables the BBA to inquire and act to address problems, maintaining confidence in the sector.<\/p>\n

But, as Brian Moore, the BBA\u2019s Deputy CEO, notes: \u201cOur consistent and open agenda about integrity means that we are approached by people who want to raise wider concerns about malpractice in construction<\/a> that do not relate to the BBA and its certificate holders or scheme members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we ask why these whistleblowers are coming to us, they usually say it\u2019s because they have heard we take these things seriously and, frankly, they don\u2019t know where else to go. We often can\u2019t deal with their concerns and it is difficult to turn them away but that is what we have to do sometimes. We don\u2019t think this is a satisfactory situation, so we\u2019ve been looking at the existing arrangements to understand why they don\u2019t seem to be working.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legal arrangements for the protection of whistleblowers are tied to employment rights and legislation, which provides for a large number of \u2018prescribed\u2019 bodies to whom a person can make a complaint, depending on the subject matter of the complaint.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were surprised at how complex the law is, where protection for the whistleblower only kicks-in if a disclosure is made to the right prescribed entity,\u201d Moore says.<\/p>\n

\u201cProblems can arise in cases where an allegation relates to a product manufactured in one location, assembled in another, distributed from another and perhaps installed nationally or internationally. The headquarters of the organisation \u2013 where key evidence and information may be found \u2013 could be located outside the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn such cases, which can involve health and safety<\/a>, and\/or consumer protection, and\/or fraud, a bewildering array of prescribed bodies could be involved, many of which are resource-strapped and may themselves lack the reach to address the whole problem. It takes a huge commitment from a whistleblower to take this road and I fear that many are put off by the complexity and process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet the role of whistleblowers in keeping an industry malpractice-free is invaluable and the BBA is raising the profile of whistleblowers to ensure that their value is appreciated.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, not every allegation from every whistleblower is well-founded, so keeping an open mind is essential, but where malpractice is happening, there is seldom anyone better placed to identify it and prevent it than a concerned employee who wants someone to act to stop the problem,\u201d says Moore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why it is in everyone\u2019s interests to have a clear, simple and well-coordinated approach to managing whistleblowers\u2019 information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dame Judith Hackitt\u2019s proposal for a new and additional prescribed body to deal with whistleblowers\u2019 fire and structural safety concerns in some residential buildings is welcomed by the BBA but arguably adds to the complexity of the existing arrangements, rather than simplifying them.<\/p>\n

According to Moore: \u201cDame Judith and the government are right to expect the industry to change to address serious problems and this whistleblower issue is one of them. If I am right that adding more prescribed bodies may not help simplify the process for whistleblowers then we need to suggest options that would do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Favourite among the BBA\u2019s proposals is establishing a coordinating mechanism to help certification bodies like the BBA and the existing arrangement of prescribed bodies to work better together, taking account of a range of practicalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a large number of well-regulated certification bodies in the construction products sector that work hard to ensure that their client companies uphold the rules but there is nothing to stop a company which behaves improperly and is sanctioned by one certification body immediately moving to another certification body,\u201d Moore points out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere this happens, the cohesion of the industry is undermined and confidence damaged. We think the industry would be stronger if there was a mechanism to share relevant information and to be the point of contact within the industry and between the industry and the prescribed bodies like the police, Trading Standards and Ofgem.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertification bodies would still be responsible for ensuring their clients\u2019 compliance so we don\u2019t need any new structures but what is definitely lacking currently are good comms, support, advice and coordination, which can be achieved quite easily if the will is there.”<\/p>\n

The BBA is currently consulting with a variety of stakeholders as to the best way to achieve the goals of higher standards through better coordination at low cost.<\/p>\n

Moore sums up the BBA\u2019s view: \u201cWe have some ideas but we would support any proposals that strengthen the industry. The vast majority of companies in our industry sector do a great job and those who try to do the right thing should expect support and help in navigating difficult subjects like whistleblowers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope the industry and the prescribed bodies can work better together and there has never been a more opportune time than now to make the commitment. We would be delighted to hear from anyone who has ideas and proposals and we are working on preparing a seminar to discuss whistleblowers and how we can be more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"whistleblowers\"Brian Moore<\/strong><\/p>\n

Deputy CEO<\/p>\n

British Board of Agrement<\/p>\n

Tel: +44 (0)1923 665300<\/p>\n

clientservices@bbacerts.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

www.bbacerts.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter: @BBAGURU<\/a><\/p>\n

LinkedIn: british-board-of-agrement\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whistleblowers play an essential role in exposing malpractice and failings in the construction industry, yet the complex legal arrangements surrounding their protection deters some from coming forward. 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When she\u2019s not working hard on cranking out first-class content for our online viewers to enjoy, she\u2019s keeping our social media lively and up to date\u2026 you could call her a social media guru? We\u2019re sure she\u2019d like that. With a BA in English and Journalism, Steph isn\u2019t fazed by attention to detail; on the contrary, she enjoys getting her teeth into a good article. In her downtime Steph loves nothing more than getting together with friends to enjoy a few (several) gin and tonics. Think you\u2019ve got some content Steph would be interested in? You can contact her either by phone on (01270) 502876 or by email at sblundell@pbctoday.co.uk","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/steph-blundell\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/stephblundell\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-04 10:20:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44980\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44980"},{"taxonomy":"stakeholder_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stakeholder_rel_tag?post=44980"},{"taxonomy":"contributor_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor_rel_tag?post=44980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}