It is something that continues to bug me.
The solid roof market has exploded into life over the last few years. In an industry that has been struggling, the replacement conservatory roof market has boomed. The likes of Guardian’s solid roof and others have created a profitable market that customers have really bought into. It has come about because it is a product that meets a real need. Conservatories have for decades, suffered from overheating, freezing cold temperatures in the winter, noise, glare and other well known issues. Solid roofs have come along and appeared to have solved these issues. But as we all know, it isn’t all that simple.
Despite attempts from the conservatory market to try and clear things up, there remains much confusion about whether or not conservatories upgraded to solid roofs requires building regulations, planning permission, both, or non at all. Ask one installer then another, you’ll probably get two different answers, probably both stemming from advice from their own councils. Despite this not being ideal, this isn’t the most pressing issue.
It’s something we all know. There are going to be cowboy companies out there fitting these solid roofs very shoddily. No structural checks, no reinforcing of the old frames, no involvement of building regs or planning etc. The worst case scenario is if there is an old conservatory, unreinforced, that is then retro-fitted with a heavier solid roof, it could quite easily collapse. The situation isn’t worth thinking about if someone happens to be the conservatory at the time of collapse. But, this is the stark risk that is posed if one of these roofs are incorrectly installed.
And this might sound dramatic, but if the time comes when tragedy strikes because of poor workmanship, that incident will very quickly ruin the entire solid roof market. I believe it is as serious as that. With the way the media is now, with things like Twitter, Facebook and Google+, it will not very long for a story like that to get out into the wider public knowledge. Once that happens, you can bet your last fiver that the solid roof market will disappear quicker than a dictator on the run.
There is a disaster waiting to happen here. But there doesn’t have to be. At the moment there are too many grey areas. Too many councils and too many companies giving conflicting information to the end user. Whilst there is confusion within the industry, poor practice will continue. What needs to happen is local Government needs to really get a grip on this area of our industry. It needs to understand it properly, then issue clear and straightforward guidelines, without loopholes and a load of “what ifs”. Do that, publish unified advice and guidance, then we all might then start to all be on the same page, helping us to install what is essentially a great idea of a product, safer and risk free.
At the end of the day, when we have the responsibility of fitting such a product, we also have the responsibility of installing it safely. Whilst it’s important we use this as an opportunity to grow our businesses, it could all easily be ruined if we start to risk the safety of the homeowner because some of us are blindly plonking these roofs on without doing the necessary checks.
What’s your opinion? Is there a disaster waiting to happen? How long might it be before an accident occurs because of a poorly fitted solid roof? All comments welcome in the section below.
Don’t be silly with MTC and NVQ improving industry standards how could this happen.!!!
I started an NVQ last week they are a joke compared to C & G
I think you’re right, the solid roof conversion has given the industry a shot in the arm. There are several problems with solid roof conversions though. 1. The LABC has issued guidance for installation companies’ and local authorities to work to. This information is far too open to interpretation. We have carried out installations in three different council areas and each building control dept has treated the guidance differently. 2. We have and always will register all roof installations with the local council. We install the Guardian roof system and we’re told that it is the only LABC approved system.… Read more »
I totally agree with this. I am one of those who would have many sleepless nights worrying. The thought of putting someone else’s family at risk makes me feel sick but like you said not everyone cares enough to make sure it is safe! We definitely need clear, factual guidelines and requirements that will be enforced!!
The “cowboy companies” you refer to can be put out of business or brought up to industry standard in one easy way, but main suppliers to dot have the bottle to do it. The way is simple all manufacturers are not allowed to supply goods to trades people without correct card or building consent form. The problem is as soon as one supplier breaks rank to gain so called extra business the system fails. I can hear you say what about DIY, but again they should have building notice and they must get before they order. We can have a… Read more »
The four comments published regarding this article are correct and appear to point in one common direction: The need for more regulation. But for this to work properly, the regulation needs to encompass the whole process. By this I mean that design/manufacture/installation all need to be regulated properly and meet pre-approved criteria. it is a little known fact that the vast majority of our industry currently ignores BS6399 when designing a polycarbonate or glass roofed conservatory, that roof is then fabricated by a business without any quality control or accreditation such as the BBA. The conservatory is then installed by… Read more »
When the solicitors involved in a house sale find an issue with a potential building control/notification issue , it doesn’t halt the sale in one bit .
The solicitor sells an insurance that will cover the costs of getting it put right if anything untoward crops up with regards the regs !! Easy.
Personally, I am pretty convinced there are plenty of companies fitting glass roofs on conservatories as a retro fit to replace polycarb, with no thought of the extra weights involved , and quite probably fitting new conservatories without taking support through to the brickwork.
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