Councils back HVCA members

Local authorities are now more likley to choose a member of the Heating and Ventilating Contractors' Association (HVCA) for H&V conracts following the Association's introduction in April last year of third-party member inspection and assessment.

Research carried out for the association revealed that, of the 89% of authorities which select their own H&V contractors: 30% stipulate that the company be an HVCA member; and 58% prefer the company to be in HVCA membership.

Among the other positive findings of the survey were the fact that some 70% of respondents believe it is either important or essential that all of their contractors be members of a relevant and reputable trade association.

Invited to comment on the HVCA inspection and assessment regime in particular, an overwhelming 76% believed its introduction to be "important", while almost half of these regarded it as "essential".

HVCA director Robert Higgs stressed that he expected these "approval ratings" among local authorities to rise even higher as public sector specifiers became increasingly familiar with the Association's inspection and assessment concept.

"The conclusion must be that the introduction of independent member inspection and assessment is already improving members' chances of being selected for local authority tender lists and so gaining additional work," he pointed out. "That, surely, is the acid test.