As the largest supplier of quality certification in the window, door and glass industries, CENSolutions takes a keen interest in matters that effect not only its customers, but the industry as a whole. That’s why the company volunteered to provide training presentations on the Construction Products Regulation to various Trading Standards Regions across the UK.

Mike Gaillard, Joint Managing Director of CENSolutions explains: “One of the most common complaints from our customers when it comes to compliance is the fact that there is still an  unethical element of the marketplace that does not comply with current legislation. This is a huge frustration for them as obviously they invest time and money in ensuring they are doing everything they need to in order to produce quality products, when other companies continue to manufacture without the necessary procedures in place to prove compliance.

“In order to try and drive out this unethical element, CENSolutions has  provided a number of training presentations to Trading Councils across the UK on the Construction Products Regulation in order to  educate and raise awareness of the issues the industry faces. This issue is of great importance to CENSolutions, and my role as Chairman of the GGF Insulated Glass Manufacturers Group and a Licensed Consultant for Secured by Design helps to put us in a great position to work towards ensuring matters improve. We have included information on BS EN 1279 – for which we have provided checklists and detail on BS EN 1279, as well as information on low site units,  the sharing type test data and the rules governing it. We have also provided information on BS EN 12150 toughened glass, BS EN 14449 laminated glass, BS EN 14351 Windows and External Doorsets and PAS 24. This training is ongoing, but what we have delivered so far has been extremely well received.

“With 4-500 products in the marketplace, it is difficult for Trading Standards Officers to know what they are looking for in order to police this matter, as no information has been provided to date by the Government or any other industry Governing Bodies. CENSolutions wants to do what it can to raise standards, not just for our customers but across the industry as a whole as better working practices create  better products, which creates better reputations. We are delighted our presentations have been so well received and hope that by investing our time in this way, we can help eliminate those not meeting the current legislative standards.”

The Window Outlet, a high quality aluminium fabricator, has recently partnered with CENSolutions for support with CE Marking compliance and not only is the company reporting that the whole process was made easy, it also achieved a staggering 99 out of 100 on its first audit.

Ben Warren, Managing Director of The Window Outlet explains: “We were looking for someone to help and guide us through the CE Marking maze and CENSolutions were very helpful. Our dedicated independent consultant, Steve Monk, has provided us with our CE Marking Declaration of Performances and a Factory Production Control Manual that is very easy for us to keep fully up to date to ensure we are wholly compliant with all current legislation. As a result, but also thanks to the company’s no hassle approach, the audit procedures are not too time consuming, leaving us more time to concentrate on what we do best – making high quality windows and bi-fold doors.

“As a relatively new company that sells itself on high quality products with outstanding customer service, our reputation is everything to us, so we want to do everything right. To achieve such a high pass rate in our audit we had to have: A detailed technical file on all products used in the manufacturing process, from silicone to screws; Training matrix record of all factory and office staff; Quality records throughout the production process, culminating in a rigorous final inspection and quality control procedure; Calibration records for all measuring devices; Maintenance records of all factory machinery and up to date failure records for all occurrences of minor faults and non-compliances. This may sound like hard work to people who have a busy factory to run – it did to me at first – but CENSolutions made it easy and the benefits in terms of improved quality and efficiency in our factory are exponential.”

CENSolutions’ Steve Monk says: “The team at CENSolutions are very aware that talking about compliance, records and matrices leaves most people cold but as all the consultants also have experience of working in factories and being under pressure to hit targets and deadlines, we cut out the jargon and offer a level of empathy that you don’t often find in your certification supplier. We understand how important quality is to companies like The Window Outlet, especially in such a competitive market for aluminium fabricators, so our aim is to facilitate quality processes that ultimately make their lives easier, their factories more efficient while at the same time ensuring full compliance to all relevant legislation.”

For more information on CENSolutions, call us today on 01785 716625