January 2019

Contractor’s Day 2018
CONTRACTOR’S DAY
SHINES A LIGHT ON
SKILLS, INNOVATION &
ALL THE KEY ISSUES...
Hundreds of contractors descended on
Twickenham Stadium for the inaugural
Contractor’s Day, a new regional exhibition
from the NFRC and Total Contractor magazine.
Visitors were able to get up close to the latest
offerings from manufacturers and suppliers of
roofing, cladding and associated materials,
including roof tiles and slates, batten, liquid
roofing systems, single ply systems, fixings,
insulation, tools, safety equipment, and rooflights
to name just a few of the many materials and
products on show.
Alongside the vast array of materials, systems
and products to help them on their next project,
visitors could also keep up to date with the latest
issues affecting them on site and as businesses
in the two SIG Roofing sponsored seminar
theatres. The seminar programme brought
together an exceptional speaker line-up from both
the roofing sector and wider construction industry.
At the centre of this was the much-anticipated
RoofCERT update and workshop from John
Vanstone, which attracted a huge crowd and
brought about an interesting debate about what
makes a skilled roofer. The many issues raised in
the seminar on RoofCERT highlight just important
this new accreditation will be and how serious
contractors are taking it. Those assembled were
receptive to the idea of an accreditation which
separates the skilled roofer from the general
builder, with one attendee pointing out “we see
that on site all the time”.
Elsewhere, visitors enjoyed seminars from NFRC’s
Gary Walpole on safety when working at height;
SPRA’s Ronan Brunton on damage protection on
finished roofs; a joint presentation from IOSH’s
Louise King, Kirsty Phillips from Gully Howard
Technical Training and Gary Walpole on asbestos:
where it is found and what to do; Keoghs’ Connie
Cobb on insurance and how not to get caught out
with project policies; and BMI’s Alastair Blant
Clockwise from main pic above: Visitors enjoyed a packed
seminar programme sponsored by SIG Roofing including
RoofCERT Delivery Director Jon Vanstone’s talk and workshop
on the new accreditation scheme. Visitors were able to pick
the brains of manufacturers and find out about new products
and systems to aid them on projects. BMI hosted the Spot
the Defects competition in the Skills Zone at Contractor’s
Day 2018.
“To make things even easier for visitors,
we’ll be hosting two Contractor’s Day events
in 2019, one in the north and one in the south!”
26 TC JANUARY 2019