The BSGA is pleased to reaffirm its commitment to a new era of professionalism for the United Kingdom’s (UK) signage and graphics industry by engaging with the emerging Super Sector competence frameworks led by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC).
These frameworks provide a foundation for acknowledging competence across the sector, raising standards, promoting best practice, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe, and compliant installations. By adopting this approach, our sector also develops a deeper contextual understanding of the entire signage project lifecycle – from design and manufacture through to installation and maintenance – whilst establishing clear expectations for performance both within the industry and among the wider stakeholder community.
The Super Sector initiative was launched to address longstanding structural challenges across UK specialist construction trades: fragmented operations, inconsistent skills and workmanship, and limited oversight or recognised routes to demonstrate competence. In an environment shaped by strengthened regulatory and safety requirements – following lessons from major building safety incidents and the Building Safety Act 2022 – a unified and credible competence structure is essential to ensure operatives meet defined standards of skill, knowledge, experience, and professional behaviour.
For our sector, which has historically operated in a largely unregulated space, this evolution is vital. Aligning with competence based frameworks enable our signage and graphics installers to gain formal recognition comparable to traditional construction trades, while the industry benefits from enhanced accountability, safer working practices, higher quality outcomes, and greater professional credibility.
A practical step in this direction is the SICCS Commercial Signage Installer Provisional Card, developed by BSGA in partnership with the National Association of Shopfitters (NAS). This digital card, validated through the CSCS “Smart Check” system. It ensures that signage professionals are assessed against a robust competence model covering technical ability, safety awareness, and professional conduct.
Although the provisional card represents a significant milestone, participation in the wider Super Sector initiative goes further. It provides our industry with a national platform to influence competence criteria, shape best practice, and ensure that signage specific roles are recognised within building envelope, external works, and related specialist areas.
To support this, BSGA has issued a call to action for industry professionals – including employers, contractors, operatives, and technical specialists – to join a national working group and contribute real-world insight to the development of these standards. This collective involvement is essential: only through shared expertise can competence requirements reflect actual industry practice and deliver consistent, credible professional outcomes across the built environment.
“Our involvement in the Super Sector framework marks a defining step for our sector.It enables us to champion consistent, credible standards of professionalism, safety, best practice, and compliance, while ensuring our community is fully represented within national construction frameworks. By embedding accountability throughout a project’s lifecycle, we reinforce the value of our industry and contribute meaningfully to the future direction of specialist trades across the built environment.”
Linda Edwards, Managing Director, BSGA
Stay informed and get involved by visiting our website or contacting a member of the team for further information: