Steve Marr is compliance director at distributor SIG and interim CEO of Construction Product Information Ltd
“It’s hard to build safe buildings without safe products,” said Geoffrey Brown of the Office for Product Safety and Standards at last month’s Building a Safer Future Conference.
It’s hard to argue with that. It’s also hard to change the culture of an industry that has, for far too long, focused on cost over quality and consistently reduced budgets for training and expertise.
However, this situation is finally changing. Without consistently accurate information on product performance, how can specifiers be confident their product choices are appropriate and safe?
“This is an issue for the construction industry worldwide”
This is an issue for the construction industry worldwide – particularly given the international nature of many supply chains. Dame Judith Hackitt, having given her recommendations for the UK industry, has been a key contributor to the recently launched Building Products Performance Good Practice Regulatory Framework produced by the International Building Quality Centre.
The framework takes expertise from industries around the world and sets out best practice that will be adapted to the legislative framework in each country. The idea is for there to be consistency in the way product information is presented.
The UK leads
In the UK we are ahead of the curve. After the appalling Grenfell Tower tragedy major change was needed and those of us in the construction products sector didn’t want to wait for the enquiry outcome before taking action. It was very clear that there were problems with the way products were described and marketed – problems that were only set to get worse as the pace of innovation increases.
What product specifiers need is confidence that they can access clear, accurate, up to date, accessible and unambiguous information on the performance of individual products and systems.
Recognising this as an immediate imperative, the Construction Products Association (CPA) created the Marketing Integrity Group (MIG). This is comprised manufacturers, technical experts, trade associations and government officials who went on to produce the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI). This ambitious scheme commits manufacturers to following very specific requirements when it comes to describing and marketing the products they make.
Losing the hyperbole
The code aims to eliminate emotive adjectives such as “better” or “market leading”. In their place should be clear descriptions, supported by demonstrable documentation, of all certification, classification or industry standards to which the product conforms. Such information should also be version-controlled and dated, ensuring there can be no misunderstanding over what the information in a product’s marketing material is referring to.
Any product performance claims that fall outside certification or standard tests should be supported by specific documentation, which will be easily accessible and available on request. The code also encourages organisations to make all product information, including supporting information on safe handling, installation, maintenance and disposal, clearly and easily available on websites.
So far, so good. All of these requirements could have been laid out in appropriate legislation demanding this standard of information provision.
However, any such legislation would be unlikely to consider that the people responsible for putting together this information need to be sufficiently competent to get it right.
Organisational commitment
This starts with the technical teams who provide the information in the first place. The promotional teams taking technical information and transforming it into marketing material and the sales teams who then pass the information on to customers are equally important.
CCPI therefore looks beyond the detail of information management systems and requires evidence of organisation-wide commitment not only to the letter of the code but to its spirit.
Registered organisations agree to a thorough examination of their processes, including an anonymous survey of staff to understand the leadership and cultural behaviour of the organisation. The intention is to probe beyond the sales literature to ensure the values of the code are deeply embedded throughout the organisation.
Early adopting manufacturers are already working their way through their own processes to meet the requirements of the code. This summer the first of them will be put before a robust and independent assessment and verification scheme.
A mark of quality
Product information that has been reviewed under the CCPI terms will carry the CCPI verification mark, which will be valid for up to two years. We will be recommending that contractors and specifiers where possible actively choose products that carry this important certification.
Changing the culture of an organisation is challenging. Changing the culture of an entire industry even more so, but it is a challenge that must be embraced throughout every stage of the supply chain.
I think we are done with an attitude that regards regulation and commitment to quality as irritations in the way of maximising profit. I like to think we are entering a new era where longer term and more significant imperatives of safety, sustainability and responsibility prevail.
Contractors are working towards their own goals and it is very encouraging to see the first 12 companies signing up to be “champions” of Building a Safer Future. For products, CCPI, as Geoffrey Brown observed, “places the responsibility firmly in one place – the manufacturer”.
Read More
Contributor