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APRIL 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
Builders’ merchants brush
up on fire door knowledge
Builders’ merchants
are stepping up their
game by undertaking
extensive fire door
training to become BWF
Approved Fire Door
Centre’s (AFDCs).
BWF-CERTIFIRE has seen
a rise in requests from
builders’ merchants to
become AFDCs to improve
their knowledge and understanding of fire doors
and offer their customers a
better service.
Builders’ merchants account
for 75% of fire doors sold in
the UK and training is essential for sales staff to ensure
they are qualified to help customers buying fire doors.
To become an AFDC all
sales staff must undertake training, concluding
with a test that requires a
minimum 80% pass rate.
Refresher training is carried
out approximately every
two years to ensure sales
staff remain up-to-date.
Howarth Timber & Building Supplies became one of
the initial AFDCs in order
to improve their fire door
sales service to customers.
Neale Brewster, Marketing
and Product Development
Manager at Howarth, said:
“With the constant
changes in legislation
and requirements coming
through, we need to be in
touch with relevant trade
bodies and associated
parties so we can relay this
communication down to
our staff and customers.
“Being an AFDC provides
us with this and ensures
our staff give customers the
best practice information
regarding installation and
service use. It also provides
us with an authoritative
reference point if we don’t
possess the knowledge to
answer a particular question.”
John Fletcher, BWF-CERTIFIRE Scheme Manager, said:
“Last year the BWF-CERTIFIRE website received double the amount of visitors
Two years since it launched, the UK’s
Fire Door Inspection Scheme (FDIS)
now has more than 400 candidates
registered on its online training programme and more than 150 fire door
experts who have passed the FDIS
Diploma and are using the designation DipFD. People are signing up
to the Diploma programme at an
increasing rate – including 50 in the
past quarter alone.
Sierra Windows now
offers A+ energy rated
windows as part of
its product package.
Speaking about the importance of offering the very latest in product technology,
Adrian Harlock, general manager at Sierra
Windows said: “We’re very excited to have
joined what’s a rather exclusive club. There
aren’t many of our competitors who are currently set-up to offer A+ rated products and
that puts us in a very strong position.
“Investment in energy efficient home
improvement products has fast become a
‘We’re very excited to
have joined what’s a
rather exclusive club’
“We see the benefits of
working with like-minded
companies by networking
and communicating with
them more effectively to
provide our industry with
a more focussed and reputable voice.
“Working closely with
door, glass, hardware,
frame and seal manufacturers will provide fit for
purpose information to
us, so we can pass this
down to the customer.”
BWF-CERTIFIRE recently provided training at a
workshop in conjunction
with the Builders Merchants Federation at their
HQ in Coventry and is
planning to repeat the exercise later in the year. As
a result, selected branches of builders merchants
Buildbase have now taken
the step to becoming an
AFDC with branch training progressing through
March.
Further information on
BWF Approved Fire Door
Centre’s can be found
here: http://www.bwfcertifire.org.uk/types-of-membership/bwf-approved-firedoor-centres
Celebrations For Europe’s
First Fire Door Safety &
Qualifications Scheme
A+ From
Sierra
Windows –
A Different
League
The company’s A+ rated products are
available from the Swish Twentyfour
Seven range and can be achieved
with both double and triple glazed
units. The Twentyfour Seven 44mm
triple glazed unit achieves A+26.
as more and more people
want to improve their
knowledge and understanding of fire doors.
“The merchant staff we’ve
trained truly recognise the
part they play in the fire
door life cycle and want
to provide the best advice
to their customers. After
all, fire doors save lives,
and so it’s vital that merchant customers need to
be informed with the best
knowledge.”
Neale Brewster agrees
with this sentiment and
sees a positive outcome
from a new AFDC recruitment drive via the Builders
Merchants Federation.
‘we need to
be in touch
with relevant
trade bodies
and associated
parties’
reality for many homeowners and landlords,
and as fabricators it’s vital that we give our
customers the very best tools to do their
job; in this case, the highest rated window
available today. As consumers look beyond
the switch and s ave method promoted to
help reduce the rising cost of energy bills,
they will want longer-term solutions, and
that’s why we made the decision to invest
in A+. It puts us in a different league; we’re
more competitive and it allows us to maximise our business potential.”
A dedicated member of the team is also
on-hand to take customers through the
process of registering with BFRC, so for
more information on A+ rated products and
to find out how they can support you in
staying one step ahead of the competition,
call Sierra Windows on 0808 178 3455.
For up to the minute information, news
and highlights follow @sierrawindows
There are now 15 certificated inspectors
who are working with property owners and
facilities managers to carry out full fire door
audits and to provide appropriate recommendations for repair, maintenance and improvements. A campaign is being launched
this year to get more of these inspectors
approved through the FDIS certification
process in order to meet the huge client
demand.
FDIS has also received strong industry
and public support for Theodore Firedoor,
a fire door safety campaign using Facebook,
YouTube and other social media to bring
attention to the widespread problems of
ill-fitting, damaged and poorly maintained
fire doors in public buildings.
One of the drivers of the success of the
scheme has been the numerous fines
handed out to property owners for breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety)
Order, also known as the RRO, because of
incorrectly specified, installed or poorly
maintained fire doors. The RRO identifies
the property owner or representative as the
‘Responsible Person’ accountable for implementing a fire safety plan for the property,
including the installation and maintenance
of fire doors.
‘There are now 15 certified
inspectors who are working
with property owners and
facilities managers’
FDIS general manager Neil Ashdown says:
“The last two years have seen the scheme
go from strength to strength as more building owners and managers become aware of
their fire door responsibilities and look for
expert advice to help them stay on the right
side of their professional, legal and moral
duties.”
FDIS Certificated Inspectors can be
found at: http://fdis.co.uk/inspector.
Pictures of dodgy fire doors can
be sent in to Theodore Firedoor’s
Facebook pagewww.facebook.com/
theodorefiredoor or via his Twitter
account @Theodore_Firedoor.firedoor@
gmail.com