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LEV testing - the framework
Competent LEV testing is not just a matter of individual skill - it sits within a recognised structure of qualifications and professional bodies that define what LEV competence means. ILEVE, the P-series qualifications and the competence framework behind them are how the industry establishes and recognises that competence. Knowing what they are helps you understand what stands behind a properly qualified examiner.
The short answer
The LEV competence framework is the recognised structure that defines and certifies what it means to be competent in LEV work. ILEVE - the Institute of Local Exhaust Ventilation Engineers, associated with CIBSE - is the professional body for LEV engineers, offering membership grades that recognise LEV competence and a competency framework built around defined areas of practice. The P-series qualifications from BOHS underpin it: P601, the recognised qualification for thorough examination and testing, and P602 for LEV design, which requires P601 first. Together, the institute, the framework and the qualifications are how the industry establishes that someone is genuinely competent to design or examine LEV - the structure behind a properly qualified examiner.
Competence has a structure behind it
When we say an LEV examiner should be competent, it is easy to treat competence as a vague individual quality - some people know what they are doing and some do not. But in the LEV field, competence is not left vague; it sits within a recognised structure of professional bodies, qualifications and frameworks that define what competence actually consists of and provide a way to demonstrate it. This structure is what turns competence from a claim into something established and recognised, so that a duty holder can have confidence that an examiner meets a real, defined standard rather than simply asserting they are capable.
Understanding this structure is useful because it is what stands behind a properly qualified examiner. Someone competent to test LEV is typically competent because they hold recognised qualifications and, often, membership of the relevant professional body - not just because they say so. The framework of institutions and qualifications is how the industry, and the enforcing authorities, define and recognise LEV competence. So knowing what that framework is - what ILEVE is, what the P-series qualifications are, how they fit together - helps you understand what genuine competence in LEV rests on, and what to look for.
ILEVE
ILEVE is the Institute of Local Exhaust Ventilation Engineers - the professional body specifically for people working in LEV. Associated with CIBSE, the engineering institution, it exists to represent and develop the profession of LEV engineering and to establish standards of competence within it. Like other professional institutes, it offers membership, and its membership grades are a way of recognising that someone has demonstrated a level of competence in LEV work - so membership of ILEVE is itself a signal that an individual has met the profession's standards rather than just working in the field.
ILEVE also maintains a competency framework - a structured definition of the areas of knowledge and practice that competent LEV work involves, broken into recognised modules or areas such as the thorough examination and testing of systems and the design of systems. This framework is what gives shape to LEV competence: rather than a single undifferentiated notion of being good at LEV, it identifies the specific competencies the work requires, so that competence can be defined, developed and demonstrated area by area. The institute and its framework together provide the professional home and the structure within which LEV competence is recognised.
The P-series qualifications
Underpinning the framework are the P-series qualifications from BOHS, the occupational hygiene body - the recognised qualifications that certify specific LEV competencies. The central one for testing is P601, the qualification in the thorough examination and testing of LEV systems. It is a recognised level 4 qualification covering the knowledge and skills needed to carry out a proper thorough examination - the qualification an examiner is typically expected to hold to be considered competent to test LEV. When people speak of a competent LEV examiner, P601 is very often the concrete qualification behind that competence.
P602 is the companion qualification, covering the basic design principles of LEV systems - the competence needed to design and evaluate the performance of systems rather than examine existing ones. Notably, P602 requires P601 first: you have to understand testing before you learn design, which reflects how the competencies build on one another. Together the P-series qualifications map onto the areas of the competency framework - testing, design - so that the framework's defined competencies have recognised qualifications that certify them. This is how the abstract idea of LEV competence connects to concrete, assessed qualifications a person actually earns and holds.
How it fits together and why it matters
Put together, the institute, the framework and the qualifications form a coherent structure. ILEVE provides the professional body and the competency framework that defines the areas of LEV competence; the P-series qualifications certify those competencies through recognised, assessed courses; and membership and qualification together let an individual demonstrate that they meet the profession's standards. This is what recognised competence in LEV rests on - not self-assertion, but a defined framework, earned qualifications, and professional recognition, respected by the industry and the enforcing authorities alike.
Why this matters to a duty holder is straightforward: it is the basis on which you can have confidence that an examiner is genuinely competent. A thorough examination is only worth as much as the competence of the person doing it, so knowing that competence has a real, recognised structure behind it - qualifications like P601, a professional body like ILEVE, a defined framework - is what lets you trust that a properly qualified examiner meets a genuine standard. It also gives you something concrete to look for. Rather than taking competence on trust, you can look for the recognised qualifications and professional standing that the framework defines, and know that they represent a real, established measure of competence in the field.
The takeaway
LEV competence is not a vague individual quality but something with a recognised structure behind it. ILEVE - the Institute of Local Exhaust Ventilation Engineers, associated with CIBSE - is the professional body for LEV engineers, offering membership that recognises competence and a framework that defines the areas of LEV practice. The BOHS P-series qualifications underpin it: P601 for thorough examination and testing, the qualification typically behind a competent examiner, and P602 for design, which builds on P601.
Together, the institute, the framework and the qualifications are how the industry establishes and recognises genuine LEV competence - a defined standard backed by earned qualifications and professional recognition, respected by the industry and the enforcing authorities. For a duty holder, this is what lets you trust that a properly qualified examiner meets a real standard, and it gives you something concrete to look for. Competent LEV testing rests on this structure - which is exactly why it is worth knowing what it is.
Questions
The Institute of Local Exhaust Ventilation Engineers - the professional body specifically for people working in LEV, associated with the engineering institution CIBSE. It represents and develops the profession, offers membership grades that recognise LEV competence, and maintains a competency framework defining the areas of LEV practice.
A structured definition of the knowledge and practice that competent LEV work involves, maintained by ILEVE and broken into recognised areas such as the thorough examination and testing of systems and the design of systems. It gives shape to LEV competence so it can be defined, developed and demonstrated area by area.
The BOHS qualification in the thorough examination and testing of LEV systems - a recognised level 4 qualification covering the knowledge and skills to carry out a proper thorough examination. It is the qualification an examiner is typically expected to hold to be considered competent to test LEV.
The BOHS qualification in the basic design principles of LEV systems - the competence to design and evaluate systems rather than examine existing ones. It requires P601 first, reflecting how the competencies build on one another: you understand testing before you learn design.
ILEVE provides the professional body and the competency framework defining the areas of LEV competence; the P-series qualifications certify those competencies through recognised courses; and membership and qualification together let an individual demonstrate they meet the profession's standards. It is a coherent structure, not a set of separate things.
Because it is the basis on which you can trust an examiner is genuinely competent. A thorough examination is only worth the competence of the person doing it, so knowing competence has a recognised structure behind it - qualifications, a professional body, a defined framework - lets you look for real, established credentials rather than taking competence on trust.
Our LEV testing rests on the recognised competence framework - the qualifications and standards that define genuine LEV competence, so your thorough examination is done to a real, established standard.
