Removing barriers to success

Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell welcomes a new trade association.

One market sector that has grown considerably in the last five to ten years has been the balustrade market, and understandably so: balustrades perfectly marry both safety and aesthetics. Furthermore, installers have an ever-increasing choice of hardware, coupled with ongoing advances in glass.

The flip side to this is that some people believe that balustrades have become something of a frontier sector, with varying standards of product and installation quality, and there needs to be greater scrutiny.

Therefore, OnLevel’s Gary Dean has established Babsi (Balustrade and Balcony Suppliers and Installers Association) to address some of these concerns.

“For several years now feedback from the marketplace has been growing regarding the need to identify and improve the standards of installation and the qualification of those responsible,” he said. “It became clear that some action was required, someone needed to kick it off, and so I decided that someone might as well be me.
“Being independent from any one supplier is, however, important to the association’s success I believe, and therefore quickly finding and appointing an independent CEO to take Babsi forward was a priority.”

That independent CEO is Justin Ratcliffe, the former CEO of CAB (Council for Aluminium in Building).

The association’s mission is training, proven and certified independent qualifications, product testing and approval, and working towards enhancing skills and product knowledge and specification.

“Apart from the rather outdated BS6180:2011 standard from major construction companies to Mr and Mrs Householder there is nothing they can check against to see if the installers are competent and are installing tested products to best practices,” Gary Dean told me this week. “As a safety barrier first and foremost this can’t be correct.

“You wouldn’t let an unqualified electrician wire your house. Why would you let any random person install a balustrade on the 23rd floor of an apartment where the risk of failure is someone is dead?

“For me it’s rather a no-brainer: the best interests of the industry as a whole is served by raising standards, education, and skills.”

Since speaking to Gary, it occurred to me that introducing Babsi could increase sales as commercial clients feel emboldened to specify balustrades where, previously, there wasn’t the supporting paperwork and assurance. Especially in the aftermath of the Grenfell disaster.

Glass Times will keep you up to date with developments.