NIA Members Special Briefing Event

On Wednesday 5^th October 2016 the National Insulation Association held a special members briefing event at the Building Research Establishment in Watford attended by 90 of its members. 

The event covered Quality, Standards and Consumer Redress, Government Energy Efficiency Policy and Programmes and the ECO Extension.  It included presentations by Peter Bonfield, Chair of Each Home Counts Review, the British Board of Agrement, Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy and Ofgem.

During his talk Peter Bonfield commended the NIA and its members on their leadership in the work they are doing in the development of new industry wide specifications and schemes to provide additional quality assurance in support of the Each Home Counts Review and revisions to PAS2030.  These developments cover cavity wall insulation, external wall insulation, loft insulation and room in roof insulation.

The BBA gave an insight into a how Brexit could affect the industry and its work in helping to instil confidence in consumers, the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy provided an update on the current political landscape, its policy developments to stimulate the uptake of insulation and address fuel poverty.  They acknowledged that more work was needed to address the solid wall insulation market which is still relatively untouched and yet there are over 7 million properties still in need of SWI.  Ofgem completed the line up with details of the new deemed scores and rules for the ECO Extension from April 2017. 

In the afternoon the NIAs CEO Neil Marshall provided a comprehensive update on the activities that NIA is undertaking to support its members and how the NIA provides its members with a strong collective voice.

Commenting on the day Neil Marshall said: "One of the key benefits of being a member of the NIA is receiving important information and advice to aid members business planning and gain competitive advantage vs non-member companies.  This event enables our members to receive the latest news affecting the insulation industry and also provided an excellent networking opportunity. We are planning more of these types of events during 2017 in order to keep our members fully updated." 

Companies interested in finding out more about the benefits of NIA membership should contact Bev.hodson@nia-uk.org 01525 383313

NIA to host Insulation Industry Summit on Quality and Standards

Last year Amber Rudd, Secretary of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) commissioned an independent review of quality and consumer protection across the energy efficiency market designed to restore consumer confidence.

 

The review which is being led by Peter Bonfield is due to be published in the near future and will include a number of key recommendations.  The NIA is actively involved in the review through participation in its working groups and it has also been working alongside other leading organisations including the BBA, BRE, Guarantee Agencies, BTOpenreach, the Heating and Hot Water Industry Council, Energy Companies and the Association of Technical Monitoring Agents in putting in place enhanced standards and quality processes.

 

The Bonfield Review is expected to recommend the development of common industry standards to ensure that all participants are operating to the same high levels and a consistent approach is adopted throughout the supply chain.  With this is mind Neil Marshall the CEO of the National Insulation Association (NIA) has today announced that he intends to host an Insulation Industry Summit to which industry bodies from the across the insulation supply chain will be invited to agree on a collaborative approach to the development of the new standards.

Announcing the Summit Neil Marshall said: "It is very important that industry bodies work together in developing a set of common industry standards for the various insulation measures that can be adopted across the market and be referenced in relevant regulations, schemes and documents.  This will help ensure efficiency, consistency and avoid duplication, overlap and possible confusion from multiple standards.  To help facilitate this I intend to invite other industry bodies to a summit in the next few weeks to discuss and agree how this can best be achieved through collaborative working."

NIA develops new standards and specifications for solid wall insulation with leading industry partners

As part of its on-going work to improve the quality and standards of insulation installations, provide reassurance to householders, specifiers and support to its members, the National Insulation Association (NIA) has and is undertaking a range of activities with leading industry partners including:

• Collaborated with BTOpenreach in developing a new process for installers of external wall insulation to notify Openreach prior to installation so they can survey the properties and carry out any enabling works.  This new, improved process is both quicker and cheaper for installers than the previous one.
• Worked with the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council (HHIC) and British Standards Institution (BSI Group) in developing new industry wide best practice guidance and a specification for dealing with appliance flues, combustion air ventilators, fuel supply pipework and fittings during the installation of external wall insulation.
• Currently working with the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in the development of industry wide best practice guidance and a specification for the initial assessment and survey of buildings to receive Solid Wall Insulation.
• Working alongside the Solid Wall Insulation Guarantee Agency (SWIGA) and British Board of Agrément (BBA) in strengthening the quality assurance frameworks and surveillance of solid wall insulation. 

This work is in addition to the NIA’s strict membership criteria and Code of Professional Practice that applies to its registered installers.

Neil Marshall, CEO of the NIA said: “As the leading industry trade body for insulation in the UK we are committed to improving quality standards. We are feeding into the independent review of quality standards and consumer protection currently being undertaken on behalf of Government.  In carrying out this work we feel it is important to work with other leading industry bodies to ensure a holistic and robust approach”.