Total Installer May-June 2019

Industry News
FMB HAS ITS SAY ON
UNFAIR PAYMENTS
Following the publication of the
Government's consultation response to
the ‘Creating a responsible payment
culture’ call for evidence, the Federation
of Master Builders (FMB) has called on
the public sector to lead by example in
order to tackle the scourge of late
payment.
Brian Berry, Chief
Executive of the
Federation of Master
Builders, said: “The
Government’s
acceptance there is a
serious imbalance of Above: Brian Berry, FMB.
power between small
and large companies when it comes to
securing fair payment terms is a step in the
right direction. FMB members are telling me
that more than three quarters of their
payments are late, which is clearly
unacceptable. What is needed is a culture
change in the construction industry so that
late payment is no longer standard practice.
Fundamentally, to rebalance market power for
small to medium-sized companies (SMEs),
the public sector should lead by example by
breaking up contracts into smaller ‘lots’ and
desist from the wholesale ‘bundling’ of
contracts. This will help SMEs to act as the
principle contractor. By introducing more
competition into public sector procurement in
this way, payment terms will improve as the
balance of power is restored. What is
encouraging is that the consultation
responses echo what we already know from
FMB members, that the Small Business
Commissioner isn’t being marketed enough.
The FMB would be willing to work with the
Government to help raise the Commissioner’s
profile amongst construction SMEs.”
BREATHE EASILY WHEN WORKING ON SITE
The British Safety Council has called on
employers of outdoor workers to join its Time
to Breathe campaign.
Initial exposure data from Canairy, the charity’s new
mobile app, shows workers breathe air that
regularly exceeds levels recommended by the World
Health Organisation (WHO). The British Safety
Council is concerned about the health of thousands
of people – including construction workers –
exposed to illegal levels of air pollution day after
day. Employers are reminded they have duty of care
obligations and immediate action is required.
The British Safety Council launched its Time to
Breathe campaign in March. As well as encouraging
employers to use Canairy and show their
commitment to sustainability, the charity is urging
everyone to contact their MPs to request action
including; the government to immediately recognise
exposure to ambient air pollution as an occupational
Emplas says it works with some of
the industry’s most established
businesses and it has a nocompromise
approach to product
quality.
The fabricator says it was this
commitment to deliver the highest
standards that 10 years ago led it to
using the GeoFast system from The
Georgian Bar Company.
Kush Patel, Operations Director at Emplas,
explained: “We were having lots of issues with
the old astragal bar system that we used at the
time and it was causing us a real headache. It
was a common occurrence to get call-backs to fix
bars that had fallen off, and for Emplas, where
we pride ourselves on product quality, it obviously
wasn’t good enough.
“Also, because the bars were handmade it
created a significant expenditure to replace them,
health hazard; the government to invest in improved
pollution monitoring across the UK. Reducing
exposure requires detailed pollution
measurements and all UK regions have the right to
the same accuracy in emissions data as London;
the UK to adopt the World Health Organisation’s
(WHO) exposure guidelines for nitrogen dioxide,
particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) and ozone;
employers to act to both reduce the exposure of
their staff and to minimise their companies’
emissions of pollution.
Matthew Holder, Head of Campaigns at the British
Safety Council, said: “Neither regulators or
employers have committed themselves to
monitoring outdoor workers’ exposure to air
pollution and measuring its effects on their health
and wellbeing. Yet, there is no time to lose.
Employers should stop burying their heads in the
sand, look at the data Canairy is capturing and
take action.”
EMPLAS PARTNERSHIP ‘CUTS CALL-BACKS’
Emplas says its move to the
GeoFast system has
significantly cut call-backs.
not just production costs and
materials, but also time.
“The production manager brought the
GeoFast system to our attention.
Incredibly technically-minded, he
identified that GeoFast would solve
the problems that we’d been having.
“He saw the product from an
engineer’s perspective and
recognised that GeoFast had been designed so
that natural expansion and retraction wouldn’t
affect it and cause the issues we suffered with
from the old bars.
“So, we switched to the GeoFast system 10 years
ago and haven’t looked back since. We’ve gone
from a stream of regular call-backs to none,
which is an incredible turn-around! That level of
quality gives us complete confidence that our
Georgian windows and doors leave the factory
right first time.”
10 TIJULY/AUG 2019 PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST