March 2018

Industry News
‘DO YOUR RESEARCH’
With the fallout from the collapse of
Carillion still having a huge impact on the
construction sector supply chain, question
marks remain over the fate of 43,000 jobs,
whilst 30,000+ small businesses are
thought to be owed money.
DISTRIBUTOR CALLS FOR CLARITY
Vivalda Group, a leading distributor of
cladding systems, has called for greater
clarity on rainscreen cladding Standards and
confirmed that it no longer promotes
aluminium composite materials (ACM) for use
on high-rise applications which fail to reach
A2 Standard.
Ben Jayes, Managing Director of Vivalda Group
So how can SMEs protect themselves against
such collapses? ArchOver CEO Angus Dent
offers his advice: “Overall, 25% of
bankruptcies are due to unpaid invoices. In
the construction industry, this figure is likely
to be even higher. This is a sector that
experiences the highest levels of insolvency
per year so SMEs need to be more mindful of
the risks they are exposed to.
“Don’t just rely on a big company’s
reputation for reassurance. Look at whether
they have a good record of paying their debts.
Do they have a strong cashflow? Have your
peers had issues with invoicing them?
Consider what would happen if a customer
were to default and ensure that you have
protection, such as credit insurance, in place.
The Carillion case shows that credit insurance
does pay off when a big contractor goes bust
– the payments to its suppliers will range
from £5,000 to several million pounds – but
not nearly enough companies took it out.
The company is concerned that contractors could
inadvertently make unintentional specification
errors, given the complexity of the UK's current
safety standards.
While the initial report on the likely causes of the
Grenfell fire is not expected until spring 2018,
Vivalda Group has stated that shortcomings in
the current ‘approved inspector’ regime have
created a confusing landscape for contractors.
This scenario has been made worse, according to
Vivalda, by the widespread adoption of complex
laboratory tests used by manufacturers to gain
approval for ‘so-called’ safe systems which are
impossible to replicate on site.
Ben Jayes, managing director of Vivalda Group,
explained: “The issue of fire safety is at the very
top of the agenda for contractors right now, but
many within the industry are not helping to build
confidence in the supply chain. We know of one
manufacturer of ACM that put out ambiguous
claims relating to how their standard material
performs at a high level. But that’s not the whole
story. It’s worth remembering that behind every
panel lies a complex web of subframes, fixings
and fire barriers, none of which this manufacturer
is prepared to detail as part of a system.
“The poor contractor is on the hook should there
be failure in even one minor component, so
confidence in the complete system’s performance
is vital. Besides, setting up a rig for a lab test is
one thing, replicating it on site, 18 metres in the
air, is quite another.
“We’ve looked closely into this and decided in the
best interest of clarity to promote only ACM
products that meet or exceed the gold standard of
A2. Despite their best endeavours, many
customers could be installing systems that may
turn out not to be safe. Thus, we’ve moved to
make the task of A2-standard aluminium
rainscreen cladding simple – by offering only fully
approved claddings and associated fixings.”
What will Hackitt Review mean for contractors? p.62
“When we trust too much in a company’s
longevity or size, we’re making an
understandable but risky mistake.
Investments and contracts can go bad but
that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to
protect yourself. Just like Carillion didn’t have
to accept tough contracts, SMEs should not
accept contracts where there’s a risk that they
won’t be paid or where there aren’t measures
in place to protect them against losses.
“Do your research, go only with sound
debtors and put protection for your deals in
place.” Payment issues, a contractor’s view: p.76
UK ROOFING AWARDS LUNCHEON 2018
It’s now just under two months
The competition, covering the full
until the UK Roofing Awards
spectrum of roofing disciplines,
Luncheon 2018.
runs from October to January every
year with judges assessing the
The Awards, which take place at
shortlisted projects on range of criteria including
the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, on
degree of difficulty, aesthetics, problem-solving,
Friday 11th May, have established themselves
health & safety, workmanship and environmental
as a key date in the roofing sector’s calendar
qualities.
and promote best practice as well as shine a
light on the high calibre of work which is For further information and to purchase your
carried out on roofing and cladding projects ticket to the UK Roofing Awards Luncheon, visit:
throughout the UK.
www.nfrc.co.uk.
6 TC MARCH 2018