Training Courses

Certificate in Principal Designer

40 Hours Formal CPD

Online

From £1133 + VAT

Overview

RICS has launched a new online training program to provide learners with the knowledge and skills to fulfill the role of Principal Designer within construction projects. It is specifically designed for building surveyors and building control surveyors who undertake the Principal Designer (Building Regulations) role, or building surveyors who work in multi-disciplinary teams and work with the Principal Designer.

This certificate course will cover the competence requirements introduced in PAS 8671 and the additional competence thresholds needed to work on HRBs (higher-risk buildings). You will see how these requirements can be achieved with the provided checklists, practical tools, building regulations protocols, which support learners to successfully carry out the role of principal designer.

Upon completion of the technical modules, learners will work through a non-graded case study. This assignment will enable learners to examine the role in practice and consolidate the learning throughout the course. A certificate of completion will be awarded after passing the end of course assessment, demonstrating the learners’ industry-standard skills and understanding of their duties required by principal designers.

Upcoming start date: 15 April 2025.

** This course is currently not an accredited qualification. RICS does not provide a competency framework for assessing a Principal Designers competency.

Learning outcomes

Apply PAS 8671 in order to contribute to safer building practices and regulatory compliance
Evaluate your own and others’ professional competence and, where applicable, the organisational capability
Apply interpersonal skills and develop strategies for cooperating with all duty holders to ensure design work compliance
Apply understanding of duty holder responsibilities under the building regulations and the duties and the typical skillset required by the Principal Designer
Explain how to locate and apply information from the legislative and regulatory framework governing design work compliance, and the duties expected of principal designers and other duty holders
Explain procedural differences for the appointment of duty holders on Domestic Projects
Outline the different legislative and regulatory framework governing design work compliance for Higher-Risk Buildings (HRB), and the duties expected of principal designers and other duty holders
Utilise programming methods to plan, programme and allocate activities which meet the project programme
Evaluate the organisational procedures and resources within your organisation, and the appointed sub-contractors to ensure this will meet project output requirements
Apply procurement appraisal procedures to assess appropriateness for design compliance for a specific project
Implement appropriate systems and controls within your business and protocols to manage external designers
Analyse designer outputs and managing procedures for achieving compliance
Analyse how building design relates to purpose and performance, and how to use guidance to assess compliance with regulatory requirements
Explain how to manage design work compliance and identify technical risks
Utilise information management systems to manage compliance strategies and control changes, while recording information according to the principles of the golden thread
Explain when Building Surveyors are suited to undertake the dutyholder responsibility on construction projects, and when the role should be undertaken by another party
Evaluate design work compliance sufficient to follow prescribed procedures for declaring compliance
Analyse the understanding of the legislative and regulatory framework related to design work on HRBs, including in relation to prescribed procedures and information
Evaluate ways to establish and maintain throughout the construction phase a system for inspecting HRB design work for safety occurrences and promptly reporting safety occurrences

Course Content

Module 1: Behavioural competence
Module 2: Legislative and regulatory framework
Module 3: Management of design work compliance
Module 4: Technical framework for Compliance
Module 5: HRB requirements
End of Course Assessment

Who is this Course for?

Building surveyors and building control surveyors who undertake the Principal Designer (Building Regulations) role, or building surveyors who work in multi-disciplinary teams and work with the Principal Designer.
Other stakeholders (such as contractors, consultants) looking to learn more about the new Principal Designer role.