Plumbheat Summer 2017

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Snipef Diary SNIPEF Diary Summer 2017 Fiona Hodgson, SNIPEF CEO PHSP – York, 17 March APHC, BPEC and SNIPEF have formed a partnership to establish the Plumbing and Heating Skills Partnership (PHSP). This new Skills Partnership will cover the whole of the UK and be led by employers from the plumbing and heating industry; the PHSP has taken over responsibility for the skills needs of the industry following the closure of SummitSkills. Office Bearers Meeting – Edinburgh, 24 March Meeting with the SNIPEF Office Bearers ahead of the Council meeting to discuss plans to develop the organisation over the next three years prioritising: raising the SNIPEF profile, generating income, resolving the pension issues and addressing skills shortages. Specialist Engineering Contractors Group (Sec) – Belfast, 28 March The SEC Group is a group of 6 Trade Associations (SNIPEF, SELECT, BESA, BCSA, ECA, LEIA) comprising over 60,000 firms and a workforce of more than 300,000. It accounts for the largest single component (by value) of construction output. Being an umbrella organisation, SEC Group can have greater power and influence with government and government bodies than SNIPEF could by acting alone. SEC Group is actively lobbying Government to mandate that cash retentions be placed in trust. Cash retentions remain a huge problem in the construction industry. At any one time £120 million of retention is outstanding in public sector construction very few firms ever receiving the full amount back to which they are entitled. SNIPEF Council – Edinburgh, 30 March The SNIPEF Council is made up of the Office Bearers (President, Vice President, Junior Vice President, Immediate Past President) and representatives from each of the ten Local Associations. The Council meets at least three times a year to discuss the finances of the organisation, membership, communication, technical and various other issues. The discussions are then shared with other members at Local Associations meetings. Local Association AGM: Perth & District – Perth, 30 March I attended the AGM of Perth and District Association in the George Hotel, Perth. Ed Miller, Secretary of the Association retired after many years of loyal service. Ed has always been a strong supporter of the work of SNIPEF and I always found him to be very helpful and welcoming. I wish him well in his retirement. Local Association AGM: Kilmarnock – Kilmarnock, 31 March This was my first visit to the Kilmarnock branch and after surviving the roadwork and diversions on the M8 I arrived in Kilmarnock with time to spare. The meeting was one of the best attended AGM’s I have been at and I thoroughly enjoyed debating with such an engaged audience. Meeting With DWP – Edinburgh, 5 April Following on from our meeting with Richard Harrington MP, the Pensions Minister, representatives from DWP and PPF met with SNIPEF in Edinburgh to discuss ways in which the current legislation did not work for our members and the changes we believe are required. Pete Wishart MP who has been a strong supporter of our campaign joined us to discuss the issues together with the CEO of the scheme itself. Local Association AGM: Glasgow & West of Scotland – Glasgow, 18 April A good meeting with Glasgow & District members updating them on the key areas of activity SNIPEF had been involved in during the past 12 months and our plans for the future. We also discussed apprentice training and health and safety training requirements. PHSP – York, 24 April I attended another meeting with BPEC and APHC to review the Business Plan and discuss how the new company should be structured and resourced as well as ways in which it would be promoted to the Industry and to government. Watersafe – London, 26 April SNIPEF is a partner of Watersafe, an online directory of approved plumbing businesses and a national brand covering seven approved contractor’ schemes across the UK of which SNIPEF is one representing Scotland and Northern Ireland Water. The Board comprises representatives from each of the Approved Contractor Schemes who meet to discuss among other things how to promote to the public the benefits of using Approved Contractors and ensure quality is maintained within the industry. Local Association AGM: Aberdeen & District – Aberdeen, 27 April This was the first time I had been back in Aberdeen following the technical event 30 Summer 2017
which SNIPEF held at Pittodrie Stadium in December. The event was supported by the Association and had come about as a result of discussions at the AGM last year. We discussed how well the event had been received and discussed what else Aberdeen could do to support their members. It was lovely to see a couple of new faces at the meeting and I hope they continue to get involved. Shirley Williamson, Technical Officer pipework and replace it with a safe alternative. Last but by no means least I attended Tech Day in Edinburgh on 26th May, it was a great day and you can read about it on page 6. Martyn Raine, Technical Officer Local Association AGM: Angus & Kincardine – Montrose, 2 May For an Association which not so long ago wondered if it would be able to continue, it was great to see almost a third of its local members attending the AGM and a real will from them to keep it going. Gary Coyle took up the position of President and Paul Roberts, Secretary of the Association retired after a period of almost 20 years. Our thanks go to Paul and we wish him well in his retirement although having spoken with him it sounds like he will be kept more than busy. Federation of Master Builders Awards – Edinburgh, 4 May I attended the Award Ceremony in Merchants Hall. The Awards are held every two years and the winners go to London to compete in the Federation’s UK awards. Ruth Davidson was the keynote speaker, managing to take some time out of the local elections which were taking place that day. Heavenly Builder Winner went to Tom McCrank of MCK Construction, Montrose Local Association AGM: Northern Ireland – Belfast, 5 May I first started attending meetings of the Northern Ireland Association a couple of years ago and always enjoy the craic. This year was no exception and we discussed various issues including pensions, Gas Safe, apprentice training, contracts and working South of the border. Members will be pleased to know that we are now pursuing several of the matters raised and will contact members soon for their views. Local Association AGM: Edinburgh & District – Edinburgh, 18 May They say things come in three’s and this must be one of them. Stephanie Lowe, Association Secretary for Edinburgh gave notice of her imminent retiral from the role. Many of you may know Stephanie as she is also SNIPEF’s Industrial Relations Officer. Thankfully she is continuing in her role with SNIPEF. I attended our Larger Contractors’ Meeting in March where we heard a presentation about credit insurance and the potential benefits for business owners. This sparked a general discussion about insurance, including professional indemnity insurance, which has become more relevant to Approved Certifiers of late. Building Standards Division was represented at the meeting so this was good opportunity to put forward BSD’s ideas on improvements to the Approved Certifier of Construction Scheme to the Scheme members in the room and there was a useful and lively discussion with many topics raised. The Approved Certification Scheme was also on the agenda at the Scheme Providers’ meeting later in the month, where all of the Scheme administrators met to highlight recent events which affect their own Schemes in particular as well as Certification as a whole. These meetings are also attended by representatives of Local Authorities Building Standards Surveyors (LABSS), as well as BSD, so this provides for a well-rounded set of experiences and opinions to be aired leading to a collaborative approach to achieving the goals set by the Government for the Certification Schemes. From this meeting came a requirement to streamline certain documentation and in May I met with colleagues from the two electrical Schemes to begin work on a joint Scheme Guide for Construction which will contain both the plumbing and electrical information in one document, as both Schemes have much information in common. This will reduce costs and should make administration more streamlined. Also in May I began work with Scottish Water on an initiative which aims to reduce the exposure to lead in the water supply. As well as explaining the health risk associated with lead, we are working together to produce a document which will highlight to building owners and consumers how to look out for lead pipework, and how to go about finding a suitable qualified plumber to remove the Over the past few months I have been carrying out audits and inspection of companies who are part of the Approved Certifier of Construction Scheme, visits included installations in Kilmarnock and Edinburgh. I visited Northern Ireland to visit new SNIPEF members, these companies are carrying out work in varied locations and type, I visited companies in Belfast, Portadown, Banbridge and Castlewellan. I also met with Paul Henry of South Eastern Regional College in Northern Ireland. I have dealt with various technical enquiries from our members including unvented hot water certification, signing off central heating and water systems in new build properties, failures in connections to TMV blending valves, positions of TMV blending valves, corrosion of copper tube from certain water types, questions about local authority verifiers inspecting work, water temperatures at terminal fittings in domestic properties in accordance with the Scottish Building Standards, flow rates and pressures delivered by the water undertakers and flow rates through unvented hot water cylinders. I have delivered the BPEC Scottish Water Byelaws training and assessment and Approved Certifier of Construction Scheme training and assessment at the SNIPEF office in Edinburgh. I attended and assisted with SNIPEF Tech Day in Edinburgh which proved to be very popular with our members, organisations and manufacturers who took part. Even though the event took place on the hottest day of the year so far it was very well attended and a great success, the event allowed me and the SNIPEF team to network with members, organisations and manufacturers. • www.snipef.org 31
Page 1 and 2: Summer 2017 The Magazine of the Sco
Page 3 and 4: Summer 2017 Contents On the cover:
Page 6: Newsleaks Get ready for Energy Labe
Page 9 and 10: New President and Office Bearers fo
Page 11 and 12: Installer Scotland ST232 - Stuart T
Page 14 and 15: Newsleaks WaterSafe launches ‘Mov
Page 16 and 17: Newsleaks The Scottish Home Improve
Page 18 and 19: Newsleaks Annual Golf match THE ANN
Page 20 and 21: Why material matters when it comes
Page 22 and 23: Newsleaks 20 Summer 2017
Page 24 and 25: Training and Apprenticeships The ap
Page 26 and 27: Training and Apprenticeships Are yo
Page 28 and 29: Training and Apprenticeships 2017 S
Page 30 and 31: Payment Rentions RETENTIONS: LET’
Page 34 and 35: Ground Drainage Testing Testing bel
Page 36 and 37: Contract Working Always carefully r
Page 38 and 39: Newsleaks Makita refines cosmos dia
Page 40: PACK A PUNCH with our QuanTec boile

Plumbheat Summer 2017

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