Builder Guide

The Gas Safety Trust has agreed to fund a series of ‘free’ seminars delivered by CORGI Technical Services Limited. These will be aimed at a wide range of gas/fossil fuel associations and organisations, including housing professionals working with the elderly, the infirm, vulnerable people plus ethnic minority groups.

The national programme of seminars is designed to reduce carbon monoxide poisoning in the UK, and will include a focus on the additional risk faced by those suffering from social deprivation, those on low incomes and single parents. The seminars will provide all-round gas/fossil fuel safety awareness and will also equip delegates with tools and advice so that possible dangerous issues are spotted before they arise and cause serious or fatal incidents.

Nigel Dumbrell, head of charitable operations for the Gas Safety Trust said: “The Gas Safety Trust’s Hotspot Report 2010 and our latest Downstream Incident Data Report for 2009/10 both show how important such education is. But it is difficult to reach certain audiences. So when we had the opportunity to work in partnership with a professional body like CORGI Technical services, and support these seminars, it seemed a perfect opportunity.

“Bringing these ‘free’ seminars to such a focused and influential group means that particularly vulnerable consumers will have a further defence against exposure to carbon monoxide from all fossil fuels including: gas, oil, coal, smokeless fuel and wood, as well as the newer bio fuels.”

CORGI Technical Services Limited is one of the industry’s key providers of technical advice, support and training. Trevor Batt, the company’s technical safety manager will manage the programme.

Mr Batt commented: “As a qualified carbon monoxide incident investigator I know only too well the devastating consequences that carbon monoxide poisoning from fossil fuels can have. Gas Safety Trust’s funding will allow us to educate those who interact with some of the high-risk groups identified in the Downstream Incident Data Report for 2009/10. It’s great to see such a positive, practical step being taken by the Gas Safety Trust in response to the findings of its report.”

To find out details of the seminar programme, contact Trevor Batt, CORGI Technical services Limited on 07740 062067.

The Association of Plumbling and Heating Contractors (APHC’s) has appointed a new CEO.

The former deputy CEO and technical manager John Thompson has been named as the Association’s new chief executive officer.

Mr Thompson brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to the role. He began working for APHC in the early 1990s, having already worked as an engineer in the industry and a tutor in a college. Mr Thompson took his apprenticeship and qualified as a plumber and building services design engineer with the family business, whose roots in the industry stretch back to the mid-18th century.

Mr Thompson has worked on numerous education and training qualifications with organisations such as BPEC and City & Guilds. He managed APHC’s successful undertaking to run a Government-approved Water Regulations Approved Contractor Scheme and Building Regulations Competent Persons Scheme. He has written a number of current publications that support new entrant learning in plumbing and heating.

He commented: “This is a new challenge, which I am looking forward to tackling. The Association’s new chairman has already outlined the way in which the Association is re-focusing its development of membership support services and tackling members’ everyday issues; it will be my job to take this forward and make it happen.”

A Surrey roofing company has been fined after two workers were spotted working on a roof almost 30 feet high without using any safety equipment.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted BRC Industrial Roofing Specialists Ltd and its managing director, Lee Berbridge, after an inspector saw the men while driving past the scene.

Crawley Magistrates’ Court heard BRC had been contracted to ‘oversheet’ a roof at Independent Business Park in East Grinstead.  Oversheeting is when a metal grid system is fixed to a roof and insulation fibre is rolled out on top of the grid, after which a metal sheet is fixed on top.

On January 5 this year, HSE Inspector Russell Beckett was driving past the site when he saw two BRC employees standing on the asbestos roof.

The men had no means to stop them falling from the eight and a half metre fragile roof and nothing to break their fall if they had tripped over the edge or fell through the roof.

Though they had been issued with lightweight staging boards, they were not using these to walk on as intended, and one man was spotted walking on the metal grid while the other was standing on the asbestos.

The inspector instantly issued a Prohibition Notice stopping any further work. An Improvement Notice was then issued to ensure a risk assessment and correct procedures were in place before work could commence again.

The HSE investigation showed that work by the firm was not properly planned or appropriately supervised and it was not carried out in a manner that was reasonably safe.

HSE’s inspector Russell Beckett said: “Working on roofs is a high-risk activity. Nearly a quarter of all roofers are killed in falls from height. Falls through fragile materials, such as rooflights and asbestos cement roofing sheets, account for more of these deaths than anything else.

“Employees who work on fragile roofs without the right equipment risk not knowing if their next step could be their last. It is sheer luck that in this case the two men were not severely injured or killed.”

BRC Industrial Roofing Specialists Limited of Kings Yard, Kings Road, Long Ditton Surrey, pleaded guilty to Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The firm was fined a total of £2,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,000.

The company’s managing director, Lee Berbridge, pleaded guilty to Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was fined a total of £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,653.

NICEIC has welcomed the recent announcement by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

The DECC claims the RHI will provide an incentive to increase the number of industrial, commercial and public sector installations by seven times to 2020.

The announcement promises to deliver £860 million to increase green capital investment by £4.5 billion up to 2020, stimulating a new market in renewable heat.

A full system of RHI payments will be available to households from October 2012 and before that more than a quarter of the first year’s budget is to be guaranteed for up to 25,000 household installations through a ‘RHI Premium Payment’ to encourage take-up.

Emma McCarthy, chief executive officer for NICEIC said: “We are delighted that the Government has announced this major incentive for renewable heat.

“The DECC believes 150,000 existing manufacturing, supply chain and installer jobs will be supported by the incentives and NICEIC believes any boost to the trade through promises such as this are vital in the current economic climate.”

Secretary of State Chris Huhne said: “Renewable heat is a largely untapped resource and an important new green industry of the future.

“This incentive is the first of its kind in the world.  It’ll help the UK shift away from fossil fuel, reducing carbon emissions and encouraging innovation, jobs and growth in new advanced technologies.”

Emma added: “With householders now given the incentives to install renewable technologies, the opportunities for the electrical, heating and plumbing trades are significant and NICEIC will be at the forefront of this industry, providing certification, training and advice.”

Registration to enter the Housebuilder Awards is now open.

The Housebuilder Awards 2011 are the highlight of the housebuilding calendar, celebrating the very best of the industry and recognising the achievements of those leading the way in innovation.

This year the winners will be announced at a black tie event on Thursday, November 3 at the Millennium London Mayfair Hotel. People have until Thursday, April 28 to sign up and entry is free.

Now in its seventh year – the Housebuilder Awards bring together the best of innovation and excellence in the housebuilding industry.

Judges will be looking for examples of initiative, innovation and imagination in addressing the demands of each category. Entries are open to developers and suppliers/consultants, where appropriate. Third party testimonials in support of entries are strongly encouraged to establish the overall reputation of a particular project or initiative.

Judges will select the winners of the ‘housebuilder of the year’ awards from the entries submitted in other categories.

Entrants may submit as many individual entries as they wish in all categories. All entries will automatically be entered into the housebuilder of the year categories.

Winners may advertise their success in promotional literature and on stationery, stating the year in which they won.

Specflue, a provider of stove and flue products, is urging people to ensure that their stove is installed by a qualified HETAS engineer.