October 2018

SPRA: Opinion
HOW WILL CONSTRUCTION ADAPT
FOLLOWING THE HACKITT REVIEW?
By Dr Ronan Brunton, Technical Manager at SPRA.
The publication earlier this year of the
‘Independent Review of Building
Regulations and Fire Safety: Final Report’
by Dame Judith Hackitt (May 2018),
fundamentally points to a cultural change
necessary in the UK construction industry. The
construction process came under scrutiny in the
review and parts were found to be sadly ‘not fit
for purpose’. This perhaps renders the system as
a whole in need of change.
Among many important recommendations to
industry to effect change, the issue of competent
individuals assessing installed work to ensure
compliance with design specification must be a
priority. This follows for any trade, element or part
of the building structure. In context, if the design
specification complies with Building Regulations
(which should require verification pre-build) then
a competent person must be able to assess and
verify that installation of that design has actually
taken place. The competent person assessing on
site must have the knowledge (through certifiable
training), industry experience and be prepared to
raise awareness if something is not right. The
surrounding construction professionals must
react positively at that point to ensure
compliance. The competent person needs to have
the design and specification information to hand
at the point of assessment. Is this always the
case? I’d say perhaps not.
Specified products installed properly
The competent person must be able to check and
be sure that not only are the specified products
present but that they are installed correctly. They
must have that crucial knowledge – in some
cases quite specific – of the product or system. It
is likely and desirable that they will be assessing
only the part of the building or system that their
knowledge and experience relates
to. Frequent ongoing assessment
would ensure large, costly mistakes
could be avoided or minimized. It
must also follow, in the long run, that this
approach has economic benefit by spotting issues
quickly, during the build.
Flat roofing’s approach
In terms of flat roofing, the approach taken by the
Single Ply Roofing Association (SPRA) is to ensure
SPRA-registered contractors are trained and
certified to install systems supplied by SPRA
membrane manufacturers. All membrane
manufacturers have BBA-certified systems and
installing contractors are trained in these
systems by the membrane manufacturers.
Importantly, frequent site visits (number
depending on project size and complexity) by the
manufacturer’s technical team or appointed
representative are made to advise on the quality
of the installation, for each project. The
manufacturer’s technical team are experienced,
knowledgeable individuals who are capable of
advising on issues concerning the installation of
their membrane system for specific projects.
Construction to follow
There are opportunities for the construction industry
at large to follow similar lines, with manufacturers
visiting projects to assess how their products are
being installed and impart good technical advice to
contractors, ultimately improving the quality of
installations and reputation of their products. The
people who really know the product’s capabilities,
including limitations, are the product
manufacturers. Site involvement here is crucial in
getting the installation quality right and
developing an understanding for innovation of
future products and systems.
Left: Dr Ronan Brunton, SPRA Technical
Manager.
At SPRA, all members see the
benefit of working closer together
both at manufacturer and installing
contractor level and our membrane manufacturers
actively train SPRA contractors offsite and support
them during installation on site. Furthermore,
SPRA audits all members regarding their training
records to ensure compliance.
“Competent people
should be seen as
sources of knowledge
encouraging cultural
change”
Assessed, added to and developed
A commitment to training and verification with
training records allowing individual skills to be
assessed, added to and developed to the benefit
of the individual, their organisation, and the
resulting build quality of any project must be at
the very core of the cultural change called for in
the Hackitt review. On-site assessment should be
part of the learning process also. If a skilled,
competent person passes on advice or insists a
correction is made during the build process, the
individual should learn from that advice,
improving their knowledge. The industry should
also provide an on-site learning environment and
competent people should be seen as sources of
knowledge encouraging cultural change.
Contact SPRA
0845 154 7188
www.spra.co.uk
@singleply
24 TC OCTOBER 2018