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FEBRUARY 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
BM TRADA launches MTC
cards for door and
window installers
BM TRADA has launched a Minimum Technical Competency (MTC) card to allow installers
of external windows and doorsets to demonstrate that they meet the strict new government
requirements for approved competent person schemes in the sector.
Under the Department for
Communities and L ocal
Government (DCLG) requirements, installers and surveyors within competent person
schemes for windows and
doors must verify their competence against the Fenestration MTCs by 6th June
2014. BM TRADA’s MTC card
will enable each installer/
surveyor to demonstrate
they meet this requirement.
To obtain an MTC card each installer /surveyor must be assessed
against the MTC. Although,
installers / surveyors who have a
current NVQ, can obtain an MTC
card without undertaking a full
MTC assessment provided the
NVQ can be verified.
To minimise disruption to the
installer’s business, BM TRADA’s
approach to demonstrating
compliance with the MTCs has
been designed to allow assessments to be completed alongside the routine site inspections
that are required as part of its
Competent Person Scheme.
BM TRADA has teamed up
with Industry Qualifications Ltd
(IQ), an OFQUAL registered
awarding body. BM TRADA will
carry out the MTC assessments,
which will then be independently verified by IQ, who
will issue the MTC card. Each
MTC card will last for a period
of three years, at the end of
which, a re-assessment will be
required.
BM TRADA will assess the
installer / surveyor’s knowledge
and competence, through a series
of tests and observations. The
identity of the installer / surveyor
will be confirmed first, before
they are asked to undertake a
written test. Following the test,
the inspector will observe the
installer / surveyor as they carry
out their work, asking additional
questions to verify scenarios that
cannot be observed during the
assessment.
Commenting on the new MTC
card Simon Beer, BM TRADA
Business Development Manager
stated:
“Before putting a solution in
place, we wrote to each of our
installers and surveyors to outline
the DCLG requirements and gain
feedback in order to determine
the best way to proceed.
“The feedback that we received
was that whilst the majority of
installers/surveyors don’t have
formal qualifications, they have
worked in the industry for a
number of years and have extensive knowledge and experience.
“We put a solution in place that
recognises this and allows the
MTC verification to be completed
as part of an extended site inspection, with minimum fuss and
disruption to our customer’s business, and at a competitive cost.”
Under the government’s MTC
requirements, an MTC-assessed
installer will need to be present
for each installation. This means
that all installation team leaders are likely to require assessment. Similarly anyone who is
conducting a survey will also
need to be assessed, unless the
company can demonstrate that
each survey is carried out under
‘MTC recognises
installers’ extensive
knowledge and
experience’
the supervision of a competent
surveyor.
Companies who choose not
to have the competence of their
installers/surveyors assessed will
not be able to remain in any of
the approved competent person
schemes on the market, including
those operated by BM TRADA,
BSI, Certass, FENSA and Network
Veka. They will instead be required to register each door and
window installation through Local Authority Building Control.
For further information,
visit www.bmtrada.com or
contact Simon Beer;
tel: 01494 569821;
email: [email protected]
Forgotten Invoices: SMEs Are
Losing Out On Billions Each Year
Small and mediumsized enterprises
(SMEs) in the UK
could be losing out on
as much as £3.7 billion each year through
failing to submit or
chase up invoices, a
new study claims.
The survey analysed 450
SMEs and was commissioned by business and
finance software provider,
Exact. Out of the businesses surveyed, 20 per cent
had forgotten to invoice
for services or goods at
least once. The elapsed
invoices did not merely
equate to pennies, as the
study found approximately
12 per cent of the invoices
were worth between
£5,000 and £10,000, while
six per cent were for services or goods worth more
than £10,000.
SMEs make up a huge
proportion of the private
sector - 99.9 per cent of
all new enterprises in fact.
2012 was hailed as the
"year for UK SMEs", and
they have been described
as being the "backbone
of the British economy."
However, despite appearing to be a flourishing slice of the British
economy, according to a
report conducted by the
Surrey Business School,
only 45 per cent of new
enterprises in Britain survive the first five years.
The Exact review also
showed the leading cause
of anxiety for SMEs is
competing for new business, followed closely by
concerns over finances
- namely issues with cash
flow, debtors and business
planning. Clearly, failing to
send or chase up invoices
will make life harder still.
Hartmut Wagner, Exact's
managing director, said:
"We don't want to blow
this issue out of propor-
tion, but these findings do
highlight that many SMEs
who are eager to grow are
not doing themselves any
favours - particularly with
so many of them expressing concern over their
cash flow."
The report claims that
one quarter of SME owners acknowledge that they
don't feel in control of
their business finances,
while 45 per cent of the
study's participants admit-
ted they have had to defer
some sort of payment due
to problems related to
cash flow.