In 2016, many Window and Door System Companies joined the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF). Due to the level, quantity and quality of those Members, the Federation has now fully established a new specific GGF ‘Systems House Group’.
The scope of the Group was determined at a preliminary meeting in January 2017 when system house companies met to discuss the potential Group’s scope. It proved to be far reaching and includes;
- Input into the GGF overall strategy such as the future shape and requirements of Building Regulations, e.g. Approved Document changes in England in 2018
- How to tackle the issues caused by restrictive planning conditions (such as Article 4 Directions) that may exclude some framing materials in certain circumstances
- To assess the potential impact of any regulatory changes and through the GGF’s political lobbying campaigns, influence the shape of those changes to ensure they can be achieved and are not detrimental to any specific framing materials
- To ensure System Companies are represented and their voice heard in Industry Standards setting forums
- To work with our partners and develop workable solutions to current or potential issues that may exclude certain companies, in particular small and micro enterprises, from parts of the market, e.g.
- Small/micro fabricators who cannot justify third party certification to supply SBD compliant works
The Group met for its first meeting on 4th May in Birmingham and GGF Members companies such as REHAU, VEKA, Profine UK, Synseal, Deceuninck and ALUK were represented. The meeting was chaired by Gareth Jones, Marketing & Technical Director – Window Solutions REHAU, who commented,
“It was good to Chair the first formal meeting of this essential group for the GGF and the industry.”
Gareth was elected Chairman of the System House Group by the Group’s Members and the position also means a seat on the GGF Board. On taking on this new responsibility, Gareth added,
“It’s an honour to represent the System Houses in the GGF Membership and the sector overall on the GGF Board. I will ensure the Group works to maintain and raise industry standards and that we focus on addressing the key issues affecting the sector.”
Some of the concerns involve changes to Building Regulations, reducing the duplication of certification on some projects and making it easier for companies to use and feed into Building Information Modelling (BIM) which is being used more frequently by architects and specifiers.
The next meeting is in August 2017 for more information on this meeting and if you would like to attend please email info@ggf.org.uk.
