THE Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has announced it has suspended five member companies for failing to comply with its independent audit process.
The move follows the suspension of 14 other firms in 2025. The association’s council said it was taking this step as part of its campaign to improve technical and professional standards across the building engineering sector.
The five companies failed to reach the standard required to meet BESA’s Competence Assessment Standard (CAS) which covers business practices, financial solvency, insurance, health & safety, and technical proficiency. Firms applying to join BESA or remain in membership must meet and continue to meet the standard.
BESA’s process is also aligned with the industry benchmark provided by the Build UK Common Assessment Standard.
“BESA has never been afraid to robustly defend its remit and constitution,” said CEO David Frise. “We do not suspend members lightly but take our wider responsibilities to the industry and its ultimate clients – building occupants – extremely seriously.
“It might seem counterintuitive for a membership body to suspend or reject companies, but membership needs to stand for something. We would always favour quality over quantity, and we now have more companies waiting to join – so sticking to our principles is working.”
The association said its current pass rate for the CAS audit was 62%. It said this demonstrated the system was ‘robust’ and that several companies still had work to do to ensure they could meet their legal and ethical responsibilities.
“BESA members are embracing change because we want to make the industry better,” added Frise. “Our companies are leading our part of the construction industry, rejecting the race to the bottom and working towards our vision of a better industry, one that is competent, compliant and sustainable.”
He added that the association was not interested in attempts to demonstrate ‘superficial conformity’ but was pushing hard for ‘real change’.
“We have never been afraid to suspend members who don’t meet our standards. It is always a last resort as we would much rather work with companies to help them improve, but when it is clear that is not possible, we have demonstrated that we will take the ultimate sanction.”
