Pro Installer May 2016 - Issue 38 | Page 16

16 MAY 2016 PRO INSTALLER PRO NEWS www.proinstaller.co.uk BE AWARE OF CHANGED REGULATIONS The Construction Design and Management Regulations (CDM 2015) cover the management of health, safety and welfare when carrying out construction projects. The regulations directly affect those carrying out any kind of construction project in a domestic setting. Smith, Managing Director at Which? Trusted Traders. “Now a legal requirement, many traders are still unaware of the changes that came into force in April 2015, which aim to improve health and safety practices by ensuring risk assessments are carried out before starting the work.” CDM 2015 affects all traders, from builders and plumbers, and even smaller traders such as handymen or indeed any professional “This could include the installation of kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, repairs on a roof, building new extensions, conversions or any other kind of construction project where you are either a principal contractor or if you provide the service to your own domestic clients,” Said Paul New Window And Door Guide The GGF has launched the updated ‘Guide to Good Practice in the specification, installation and use of replacement windows and doors within England and Wales.’ Launched at The FIT Show by Michael Sulston, GGF Technical Officer, this latest publication is an update of the 2011 version and is in response to the recent revision of the British Standard BS 8213-4: 2016 ‘Windows and Doors –Part 4: Code of practice for the survey and installation of windows and external doorsets.’ The new guide has been re-designed and edited by a technical working party of the GGF Window and Door Technical Committee. As well as complementing the British Standard, it reflects feedback from GGF members, along with the expertise of specialists covering all the elements of window surveying and installation including window design, glazing components and hardware for both windows and doorsets. Michael Sulston commented: “The technical working party was very undertaking small scale planned works in a domestic setting. The regulation aims to improve health and safety by helping you to: • Sensibly plan a project so the risks involved are managed • Ensure traders are the right ones for the job at the right time • Cooperate and coordinate your work with others • Have the right information about the risks and how they are being managed • Communicate effectively to other professionals, contractors and traders who work on the project, and consult with workers about the risks and how they are being managed. If you are the trader working for a domestic client then it is your responsibility to take control of the project. If you are the only contractor or principal contractor one of the key things you must do is prepare a Construction Phase Plan (CPP). Traders can be put off by perception that this is an arduous task. But it doesn’t have to be. The CPP is a simple plan to show that you have thought about health and safety, marking out key start and finish dates, the build stages and organising the work and collaborating with others to ensure health and safety. Some of the things you will need to address in the CPP will be measures to prevent falls from height, exposure to building dust and asbestos, isolation of electrical installations and collapse of structures and excavations. You will also have to take into account the welfare of yourself and others by, for example making sure there is access to toilet and washing facilities. To download a free guide to the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 from the Which? Trusted Traders website visit: www.which.co.uk/CDM Real-time data on Salestracker Finding new customers is a time-consuming and expensive process, especially when thousands of companies and key contacts are changing details every month. careful to ensure that the GGF document in no way contradicted the British Standard. To achieve this it has gone through a rigorous review allowing all sections of the home improvement sector to comment whilst the working party continually monitored both the new guidance and standard to ensure there was no conflicting information. The completed guidance is a true reflection of modern working practices rubber stamped by those that actually carry out such work.” The GGF has also added good practice notes throughout the guide. Due to its protocols, the British Standards Institute (BSI) cannot include such notes within its publications. The guide is now available for free download from the members area of the GGF website http://www.ggf.org.uk/ members Now Insight Data has released the latest version of its online prospect database, Salestracker, and promises even bett er sales and marketing results. Salestracker v3.5 provides users with up to 60,000 potential new trade and commercial customers with over 62,000 verified email addresses. It is the only database that provides the industry with real-time marketing data for better response rates on direct marketing and lead generation. Using Salestracker companies can instantly target fabricators, installers, general builders, architects and construction firms. The latest version has several new features including financial data and credit rating provided as standard. In addition to targeting customers by products, markets and even volumes, users can now select potential customers by credit rating, saving considerable time and money on their marketing activity. The system can even send alerts when selected customers or prospects have a change of credit rating. Using different databases for prospect lists, customer data and sales leads is no longer necessary as Salestracker 3.5 includes a new, private database that enables customers to securely store all their data together in one system with SSL encryption, providing a more efficient way of managing all sales and marketing activity. You can attach documents such as quotes, contracts and order forms while a clever ‘highlighter tool’ helps users easily run customer surveys, telesales campaigns or market research and instantly mark and follow-up contacts depending on their response. Visit www.insightdata.co.uk or call 01934 808293