Roofing News | Information and Updates in the Roofing World
Roofing News 2018
Here is a little catch up on all things current in the roofing industry. Its an over view on events, shows, reports and general goings on in our proud trade!
May 21st 2018
Farnham Roofer wins “Local Hero” award at UK Roofing Ceremony
A Surrey roofing company who is owned and led by Lee Moran has been recognised for its outstanding charitable work in the community. The award came at the annual NRFC 2018 UK Roofing Awards in the “Local Hero” category which is aimed at recognising contractors who provide their community with more than just roof services. Its aim is to encourage the industry to improve its image and be associated with giving back to the local area.
Lee was presented the award at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel by a roofing director of a company called SIG Roofing who were sponsoring the event. Mr Moran has been raising money for a charity very close to his heart the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, who have helped some family members with treatment for cancer.
Lee received an incredible amount of nominations for this award most of which came through the facebook group he started called “Farnham Rants”. The group has nearly 20,000 members and has raised over £10,000 for the charity so far.
Director Andrew Wakelin said “ This industry is full of excellent businesses serving the construction sector and contains lots of outstanding people like Lee who really put in effort to change the way society views the industry as a whole”
April 25th 2018
Traditional Building Skills Trade Show proposed for Birmingham
Following the massive success of a building demonst4ration held in Glasgow, manging Director of Birmingham Roofers Harry Maguire, is trying to replicate a similar event here in Birmingham.
In Glasgow, school children, members of the general public and other youth organisations were invited to the event which had a whole array of tradespeople showing the general and basic skills often used in the building industry. Spectators were able to get their hands dirty and try out the different methods, carefully aided by apprentices in the industry.
There was a whole host of skills being showed with the aim of raising the profile of career opportunities within the construction industries. The skills demonstrated really put across the diverse nature of building including bricklaying, joinery, roof tile laying, lead work, plastering, masonry and much more.
Harry Maguire wants to encourage the youth of the city focusing more on roofing as he has struggled to find a decent volume of apprentices coming into the industry. He is hoping to join forces with the local council, the National Federation for Roofing Contractors and local colleges to put on a live show in the town centre this summer.
“I’m really hoping the building show we put on can be well supported in our community where unemployment is still rife in young people who are just not aware of the opportunities that the roofing and building industry offer. So far I have had a positive response from the council and the colleges are keen to help too. Watch this space”
March 29th 2018
The use of Drones in the Roofing Sector
It has been an idea that drone enthusiasts have always advocated, the use of small radio controlled aircraft with a camera to complete inspections of roofs. Negating the need for scaffolding and “guess work” when providing customers with accurate quotes and inspections.
This new technology is fundamentally changing the way you can measure and survey roof jobs, solar installations, insurance quotes and so on. Drones are now safer and much more accurate than traditional methods of viewing roof damage.
Combining the ability to fly and record video with state of the art mapping and measuring technology this has taken it to the next level. Soon it will become a must for any reputable roofing contractor to have a surveyor who is trained and capable of flying these craft to carry out normal roof inspections.
The NFRC are a little bit concerned about safety as there is an art to flying these controlled “helicopters” and there are concerns that there could be a safety issue unless training procedures and possibly licenses can be put into place.
Drones are a much quicker, safer and more cost effective way of gathering information and turning it into planned procedures, data and roofing diagrams. This drone mapping does not just give you basic measurements, pitches and roof area. It can also give detailed cloud based high resolution pictures which can be instantly communicated and shared across of IT communication applications.
Many roofing companies have been trialling the use of drones and already are experiencing quicker quoting visits and much more accurate details of damage to roofs. This really proves that this industry is on the forefront of cutting edge technology and joining the likes of the farming industry in the use of radio controlled drone video capture tech.
January 2018
Green Roof Market Sees Incredible Growth
With the huge raise in awareness for the problems associated with climate change any product that helps the environment has the ability to see great success. This was recently highlighted when a recent survey showed that the green roof sector in the UK is seeing a 17% year on year growth.
The Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy stated that in London they are supporting green infrastructure through an ease on planning policies. This has led to an increase in green roofs that help boost air quality, help the environment and encouraging more wildlife, making the city more attractive.
So there is a huge opportunity for contractors specialising in this niche to help promote the product in other cities around the UK. The country really needs a healthy green roof market if it is to adapt to the necessity for having healthy environmentally safe cities.
The continued expansion of this sector within the roofing industry really does highlight the diversity we have is important in keeping a growing career opportunities market for multi skilled professionals.
