They’re very good at putting conservatories up in double quick time

A few years ago I would have agreed with Ross, and in many respects, if you were designing an ideal window industry from scratch then I’m sure most people wouldn’t start with the phrase:

‘Hey, let’s promise to go back and fix any potential fault for the next 10 years!’

However, I’ve been thinking about this for a few days, and have decided that companies who offer and manage 10 year guarantees correctly can use it to their commercial advantage.  And, I believe it should be allocated as a marketing cost on the profit and loss account (assuming your company analyses management accounts).

Just imagine you’re a salesman for a moment…..

You go visit Mr & Mrs Jones and they purchased uPVC windows and doors from your company 9 years ago.  They now need a conservatory and have invited you in to quote.

Since the windows were installed there’s been a couple of issues.  One of the doors was not locking correctly after six months, and last year one of the sealed units broke down.  Your company fixed the lock promptly (the door just needed toe and heeling a bit) and they also replaced the sealed unit recently and didn’t charge the customer for replacing it.

Tell me this, do you think you would have a good chance of selling the conservatory?

Anyway, we’ve had the conservatory complete for a few weeks now, and I have to say we’re really delighted with the transformation from the old conservatory we used to have.

Here’s a few pictures we’ve had taken:

(Use these pictures on your website and I’ll sue you!)

I do feel that this style of conservatory will take off in the market place, and we’ve added a page to our website for promoting them.  We opted for aluminium frames but to be honest I think this style of conservatory is equally suited to uPVC, especially when you consider the cost and leadtime for aluminium.  In fact, the one thing my wife was disappointed with was the handles on the bi-folding doors which are a bit old fashioned, and I can’t get my head around the thick black gaskets, compared to the more modern looking uPVC systems on the market these days.

I’d like to thank Ultraframe for supplying the conservatory to me efficiently, and also Custom Glass for doing me a deal on the glass.  The oak doors were supplied by the joinery shop in Kendal which is a sister company of one of my dealers Planet South Lakes.

If you have any questions about the conservatory, or wish to add your thoughts please do so.

The key points here are:

1) Consumers can request investigation completely free of charge and installers must enter this process and be bound by its decisions. They are contracted to do this at the point of entry into the scheme. They cannot refuse and opt-out if they don’t like the potential consequences.
2) The costs of all of above and any inspections are covered by DGCOS
3) The Awards are legally binding on both parties (under The Arbitration Act 1996)
4) Any awards not complied with are covered by the members pooled Compensation Fund. This ensures any awards will be paid. Normal awards of the courts or arbitration awards do not have this protection in place.

Dr Barham has dealt with hundreds of cases of mediation involving inspections and in his capacity as QA Ombudsman. He has also dealt with and made over 200 legally binding Arbitration Awards in the construction industry in this same capacity. All are binding on both the complainant and respondent.
 
The Ombudsman is supported by independent inspectors who are highly qualified and who have direct experience of the window industry. You can request a copy CV of the senior inspector from: tony@dgcos.org.uk.

The Ombudsman himself, Dr Ronald Barham, is, like yourself, a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators but in addition is a qualified lawyer and was formerly in practice as a chartered surveyor and consulting engineer and has been a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and of the Rating & Valuation Association; the Chartered Institute of Building; The Architects & Surveyors Institute and the Construction Surveyors Institute as well as a Member of the International Real Estate Federation and the Society of Engineers. He is registered as a Professional Engineer (UK).

He is also a member of the arbitration panels of several professional and government bodies.
 I am not sure what further qualifications you think would be required but if you require a copy of his full CV please do get in contact on: tony@dgcos.org.uk

Ombudsman Schemes:
 
There are a number of Ombudsman Schemes in the UK. Some Ombudsmen are Government appointed, for example, The Financial Services Ombudsman, The Heath Service Ombudsman, The Police Ombudsman, whereas others are optional schemes where interested parties group together and set their own scheme up to protect consumers eg, The Surveyor Ombudsman, The Estate Agent Ombudsman, The Telecommunication Ombudsman etc. The Double Glazing & Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme (DGCOS) is a similar optional scheme protecting consumers who buy from its members.

The points of this scheme Mr Appleyard, are:
1) to give consumers confidence that they are using good, honest, professional installers in the first place (see www.dgcos.org.uk –accreditation)
2) if any disputes do occur they will be dealt with swiftly and robustly with no additional cost to either the consumer or installer for mediation, adjudication, inspections or arbitration (see www.dgcos.org.uk – Ombudsman)
3) These decisions are legally binding on both parties and are backed up with a Compensation Fund if either party is non-compliant (see www.dgcos.org.uk – Consumers- Compensation Fund)
4) the customer is fully covered should any member installer go out of business. Every customer using a DGCOS member has a robust underwritten guarantee in place (not just the ‘offer’ of one) [see www.dgcos.org.uk – Consumers- Deposit Protection / Insurance Backed Guarantee]
5) members of the scheme benefit from addition consumer confidence, point of sale material, the endorsement of Nick Ross, enquiries from consumers wanting to use DGCOS members (see: www.dgcos.org.uk –Installers)

I’m sure you’d agree Mr Appleyard that the current trade bodies cannot offer all these things to both consumers and installers and that if this level of protection, accreditation and investigation had been around for the last 20 years consumers would have a much better impression of the industry.

If you would like to find out the real information about DGCOS may I suggest you visit www.dgcos.org.uk or apply for a ticket to our first national conference at The Ricoh Arena, Coventry on 11th Nov 2011.

Rod Appleyard

Now it is easy to reach for the solicitor or run off to the small claims courts. The first option only runs up a hugely disproportionate bill and the second option is as reliable as a roulette wheel. So just hang back a second and read on, I might, just might, be able to save you not only money but, in some cases, your company.

In recent months there have been considerable column inches (sorry, centimetres) covered on the matter of alternative dispute resolution and, in particular, mediation and ombudsmen schemes.

Given that there will be the inevitable confusion about how they work and other more legal aspects, I believe it is time to put keyboard to work and prevent any misunderstanding that may arise.

So, let us look at the five routes of ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) mechanisms.

Firstly, we have Arbitration which sits just under the courts and is a legal mechanism which can only be appealed through the Court of Appeal. It is long- winded, expensive, (although not as expensive as court) and can become most complex. This is ideal for really big cases which are both complex and multifaceted. There springs to mind at least one case in fenestration history that would have done well to go to arbitration, but became driven by the legal system and ended up in court, much to the cost of the parties. I am sure there are many more up and down the country that I do not know about. I have seen cases where costs of the parties are very much a multiple of the disputed sum, in one case it reached almost a multiple of ten. Who says proportionality is alive and well – I do not think so. Big cases go to arbitration it makes so much sense: unless you want a quick fix then read on.

We then look at my favourite, Adjudication. It is legally binding, the courts almost never overthrow a decision unless it is incorrectly conceived within the law or there is a conflict of interest. You get the answer in 28 days and if a party does not pay or perform within the stated period, usually 7 days, it can be enforced through the courts like any other court decision. The great thing about adjudication is that you get an adjudicator that knows the discipline and not someone who the day before was listening to why the boat that was sold sank two days after the purchase date. Another advantage is that you can ask for costs of, not only, the adjudication but also the costs of getting to the adjudication. Just remember, you do not get if you do not ask.

Costly? Well considering the time allowed, definitely not. Good for small disputes and domestics? Very much so, just make sure that it is in your terms and conditions that in the event of a dispute either party may go to adjudication as described under the JCT Home owners’ and builders’ contract if it is a company against a householder. This mechanism can be used also after the event if both parties agree or, for larger disputes, under the Scheme for Construction Contracts. Adjudication is my favourite route for dispute resolution because you get a fenestration expert looking at fenestration disputes – this just cannot be beat. The adjudicator will be legally trained and recognised by the courts and by his professional body as being competent and fair. I have yet to find anyone, either claimant or respondent, that does not agree that it is an open and fair mechanism that works. Did I say that it was behind closed doors so there is no publicity? It just has to be good for the PR people in the company. I can hear it now ‘Yes, we put this clause in so that if a dispute arises our clients know what to do’, followed closely by ‘It never gets used but we feel that it indicates how fair we are as a company’. Just remember in both levels of adjudication if you do not ask the adjudicator to decide something, he will not even down to who pays the parties costs and interest, it is all down to you, 28 days and it is all over. A very much overlooked and extraordinarily simple means of settling the most smallest of disputes in an economical manner, and as I have said before it is legally binding. A further question that may arise, is that of on what it can be used on. Hob adjudication can only be used on disputes between home owners and builders (contractors). The main adjudication system is mainly geared to construction issues under ‘The Act’ or as I have said ‘The Scheme’. These block the parties ability to litigation if it is in the contract. However, anything can be adjudicated as long as both the parties agree.

Route No. 3 – Expert Determination. This is where you get an expert in the discipline of the dispute, in our case, fenestration and they will listen to each party, read all the documents submitted and make a decision. This is a binding decision and carries the weight of the courts; all done very quietly and without fuss. Has a decision ever been overturned? Not to my knowledge, but then it is without publicity, so I would not know. Enforceable in the courts? Yes. Is it as good as adjudication? As much as it hurts to say, yes, almost. Expert determination has the same privacy surrounding it and, as with adjudication, does no need solicitors representing the parties in small claims, although it helps sometimes.

Mediation. This is the big buzz word at the moment within legal circles. So what do you get? You get anyone from a solicitor to an accountant who runs between the parties and encourages them to make a deal. No one wins and the optimum is that no one loses. Mediation is all about brokering a deal between the two parties and the best bit is that there is a better than even chance that the mediator has not a clue what a spandrel panel is let alone a mullion so this is a very costly exercise, that is, unless the parties fall for the manipulation of the mediator. It will either fail or be a compromise that has cost a considerable amount of money and achieved at eleven o’clock at night through sheer exhaustion and a loss of the will to live.

Is it legally binding? Well, I suppose it is unless one party shouts foul afterwards and will not honour the agreement even if it is in writing. Does it cost much? Well, I have been told recently that a fourteen hour mediation meeting where the parties, through sheer fatigue, reached a settlement and the bill for just the mediator was £2,500.00, plus VAT, of course. Staggering, but true. On that basis, the mediator, being a solicitor, confirmed that he had not a clue what the subject matter was but that did not matter as the parties reached a decision and the £2,500.00, plus VAT, was just for that day not all the other hours that had been clocked up.
Another person round the table openly admitted that he was an accountant and regularly did construction mediations although, apart from watching his extension being built, knew very little about building works. I pointed out that this could be a bit frightening and I was frowned on as being a little sensitive on what cases a person should, or should not, act as a mediator.

I pointed out that surely the parties should have confidence that, not only is the mediator competent, but is also knowledgeable of the terminology of the discipline. You see, the mediator cannot use his expertise to help the matter along, but I believe that he needs to know what the parties are talking about – but apparently not – poor parties, such misguided trust!

The answer came back as, ‘not one bit’. So, next week, I fancy being a mediator on a medical dispute – anyone out there? I know nothing about it but that would apparently not matter. Mediation is an expensive way of, what we call, either ‘doing a deal’ or ‘making a commercial decision’. Go to mediation at your peril. It may work but you will have to compromise, along with paying for the benefit of that compromise. Costs? Well, invariably, you meet your own and half the mediation costs. It is a bit like court system really, where you never fully win or lose, just kind of make the system go round in a jaundiced manner.

An Ombudsman. This is a new kid on the block to the fenestration industry and, to be quite honest, in this case, it is a name only. From what I can gather there is no named ombudsman in our industry, it is done by a group of people. Do they have legal standing? Not to my knowledge, but then I may be wrong. Are they totally independent? Well, if you disregard how the ombudsman is funded then, perhaps, to a blind, deaf man living on Mars, it could be. Is the ombudsman open to anyone or just a select few? From what I can discern, the answer is both no and yes, in that order.

The big question is ‘Does it have legal recognition and legal gravitas?’. Sorry, Mr. Ombudsman, your decisions are neither supported by the courts or, from what I can gather, made by a suitably qualified person. One of the board of directors of the outfit that is operating the scheme, is not sufficient to demonstrate that there is not a conflict of interest. To be quite honest, is this not just another scheme that tries to appear independent but is, in fact, a trade association supported by its members? Now let me think, where have I seen this before?

Well, unfortunately, this article may ruffle a few feathers but then it needs to. We have more than sufficient ADR mechanisms that will do the job, if used correctly. These are supported by legislation and the courts, without pseudo- ombudsmen popping up offering non-legal or unenforceable decisions. Times are hard and work is, to say the least, tight. If you get into a dispute, put your money with either adjudication or expert determination and do not forget to get that clause into your terms – you are then protected against litigation and, like many insurances, it is hoped you will never need it but it is there if you do.

Much ado about nothing? That just depends on your position, does it not?

Rod Appleyard works as a fenestration expert with many years experience in the industry and dispute resolution. He is a Chartered Building Surveyor, Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He practices as an Adjudicator and Arbitrator along with his work as an independent expert surveyor to the fenestration industry. He can be reached on either 01274 569912 or 07785232934

Yesterday, our website went live, and I’d appreciate your thoughts on both the website, and what we are hoping to achieve with the charity:

http://www.inspiredbypeople.org/

My friend Anniek Verholt will be working full time, and Willson, Shane and myself will be working as volunteers in the background supporting Anniek best we can.  The application process through the charity commission is ongoing, and we hope to be completely official shortly.

I will be remaining a trustee of Heal, and crucially Inspired By People will be fundraising for Heal, as well as two other overseas projects, Kopila Nepal and Ripple Africa.

From now on, any fundraising events I dream up will be to raise money for Inspired By People, with a guarantee that 100% of the money we raise will go to the projects we support.  The profit from the upcoming football tournament will all be donated to Inspired By People, and I’m thinking of organising a charity bike ride in Malawi for next year.  Anniek is organising a trek through the Himalayas as well for October, and there are still places left.

If anybody wishes to support our efforts in any way, please get in touch with either myself or Anniek through the website.  I’m particularly keen to develop the environmental angle, particularly with reforestation in Malawi and elsewhere.

How do I comply with the new regulations from 1 October?

This is the question which we are still being asked; we have known and published the details of the new requirements since they were published at the end of April – ie replacement windows need to be WER B and C rated or better or whole window U-value 1.6. The centre pane U-value is not accepted as a method to show compliance for the majority of replacement windows.

The BFRC WER approach has been in existence for over 10 years, with the Authorised Retailer scheme and Licence of Addition; the route for covering your products is now very comprehensive. More details are available from www.bfrc.org

If you want to use the whole window U-value approach; the difficulty with this change in regulation compared with the existing 2.0 U-value is the window needs to be validated to achieve the 1.6 U-value. Currently to achieve a 2.0 if you use low emissivity glass, 16mm air gap you are deemed to be compliant. The magic specification to achieve a 1.6 U-value keeps on being requested.

The work which has been undertaken by BFRC with the detailed simulation of thousands of window combinations and the resulting whole window U-value and WER means we can look at which combinations achieve the 1.6 U-value. One solution is that if you have a timber or PVC-U frame (as long as it has five chambers) and you use an IGU comprising: soft coat low-e glass, 90% gas filled and warm edge spacer bar; you will achieve a 1.6 U-value.

We know there are many other combinations of component which can achieve the 1.6 U-value and this does not preclude the use of hard coat low-e glass or standard spacer bar, however, the above specification is a clear simple guide for FENSA registered window installers who need a quick guide solution to be prepared for 1 October 2010.

We would also like to remind readers that there are transitional arrangements applicable for the replacement window industry for the change to the 2010 regulations under Approved Document L1B. Any contract signed before 1 October 2010 can be installed using 2006 guidance as long as the installation starts before 6 April 2011; all contracts signed after 1 October must comply with the 2010 regulations.

FENSA inspections will be reflecting the transitional arrangements therefore, it is assumed that all installations registered during October and November will have contracts signed before 1 October therefore will be compliant via the 2006 regulations. From December FENSA will be checking against the 2010 regulations (if the contract was signed before 1 October 2010 and is inspected; any non compliance due to meeting the old thermal performance requirements, can be cleared by producing a copy of the signed and dated contract and still comply with the 2006 requirements).

Yours

Giles Willson
BFRC / FENSA

gwillson@ggf.org.uk
020 7645 3700
enquiries@fensa.org.uk

I’ve just started to read a book called ‘Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time’ because I’m curious to see what the Author has to say … what do you guys think? Are the days of cold calling over?

The question raised a few comments and I pitched in suggesting that although door knocking and tele-canvassing clearly work, I’d be quite happy to see tougher regulations to ban cold calling altogether.

However, it seems my sentiment is not shared by everyone with one of the GlassTalk members suggesting that the industry had developed from cold calling:

I wonder how many on this site started out as knockers or took leads off them as a sales rep or was the fitter that fitted the job that came from cold calling. We all loved the little toe rags then eh? Now just imagine that the bat phone stopped ringing, how long would it take YOU to get out and create some business by knocking doors again or get somebody in to do it for you? Or would you fold because you’re too proud?

I do understand his sentiment and appreciate that many people have become very rich over the years using this marketing strategy.  But it doesn’t mean it’s right and I have never condoned it in my business.

Andy Mac weighed into the discussion by suggesting that times may be changing:

I was brought up in sales cold call myself and then covering cold called leads. It is not for the feint hearted and can be a very time consuming and expensive process.

You also need to be able to sell on the night and sell finance, it takes a very different animal to sell cold called leads successfully.
Firstly who cold calls, do you get your sales people to do it? Good Luck!

Do you set up a telephone canvass room with students and other people desperate enough to sit and take the abuse they are likely to get just to earn a few quid. A good telcan room is as good as the supervisor who knows how to motivate people and also knows all the blaggs, they will try anything to get a salesman’s bum on a customers couch to earn a sit bonus, you can waste a lot of time and money and demotivate salespeople unless you know exactly what you are doing.

As for door canvass teams, multiply the problems and blagging by 10, you need a strong sales manager who is going to confirm decent leads and blow out the rubbish, the door canvass manager will then complain that the sales manager is blowing out good leads, the canvasser or their manager will the recall the customer to get the lead back on. Are you starting to get the idea about cold calling, you shouldn’t get involved unless you are extremely savvy, anyway why would you want to have all the hassle of the pro-active, scatter gun approach if you don’t need it? With the www you are much better spending your money on SEO and conversion rates on your web site, you will attract a much better quality lead and have much higher closing rates. To answer the question ‘Are the days of cold calling over’ not quite, not for the nationals like Zenith and Weatherseal but even they are spending much more on web sites now and generating leads that way, but cold calling is dying a slow death, the public are getting wiser and less likely to accept unsolicited calls.

I couldn’t agree more with Andy.  I’ve traded for 17 years without ever employing door canvassers or tele-canvassers who just use the scattergun approach.

With the internet, everything has changed.  SEO and PPC are the new door knocking and tele-canvassing.  And its power to the people as they won’t contact you unless they choose to.

And, that’s how it should be!

According to GGP:

Its new research shows that with 191 companies ‘in trouble’, 377 others ‘powering ahead’ and a further 215 set to be taken over, the market has never been more fragmented.

David Pattison, author of the new Plimsoll Analysis – Windows & Doors stated: “Having rated 191 struggling companies as ‘danger’ and given 377 others a ‘strong’ rating, I am surprised at the gulf in performance in the market. Despite all other factors, success still comes down to how well a company is run.”

Should this continue, Mr Pattison was certain where this would lead to: “Acquisitions. The market, in the current economic climate, cannot support this many companies. There has to be further, more radical consolidation in the market. Strong companies will be buying up distressed competitors in the next 12 months”.

I regularly buy the Plimsoll books, and although they are far from comprehensive (eg. some leading companies are not listed and sometimes the information available on companies is limited) I’m sure they do give an overall view of the state of the market.

It seems to me that the consolidation required is well overdue.  There’s many of the big names in the industry have been unprofitable for years, yet you don’t see the amount of acquisitions and mergers you’d expect, and it’ll be interesting to see whether Plimsoll’s prediction for the next 12 months takes place.

And, with smaller companies, if I get an installer contacting me about supply, I’m pleasantly surprised if I get a positive response to a credit check.  It doesn’t happen very often, though.

At present, the following companies are committed or trying hard to get a team together:

Conservatory Outlet (factory lads)
Conservatory Outlet (office)
West Yorkshire Windows
Veka
Motionlab
Tailored Systems
Fab n Fix
Eurocell (profile division)
Eurocell (roof division)
Polyframe
TWS (Leeds)
Mid Wales Windows
GGF
Anglian
Leads2Trade
Synseal
Distinction Doors
New Look Windows (Rochdale)
Cantifix
Mila
Window Widgets
GM Fundraising
Classic Design Conservatories
ConservatoryLand
Quickslide
Lister Trade Frames

So, we’re about 8-10 teams short, and not all the teams above are guaranteed to be able to get a full team together.  If there’s anybody fancies taking part, but can’t get a full team then we could consider having a GlassTalk team, or even a Renegade Conservatory Guy team.

Ian at Fenestration News has put the downloadable PDF at:

http://www.fenestration-news.com/pdf/Power_League.pdf

Anybody interested please get in touch with me ASAP so I can finalise numbers with the venue.