Over the last couple of months our announcement of the acquisition of Stroma Installer Certification has been widespread industry news and it has been tremendous to see such a positive response. NAPIT members and industry experts will be aware that there have been significant changes over the last 12 months since the release of the 18th Edition, which has added a great emphasis on accountability, regulation changes and of course increasing consumer expectations. We feel confident that the acquisition will be a positive development, not only for our members but also for Stroma Installer Certification members and the industry as a whole.
Since NAPIT was established over 27 years ago, we have been continuously pushing to raise standards and safety within the construction industry. We hope that by bringing the two companies together we can further this commitment to all our members. NAPIT’s contribution to the proposed legislation for private rented housing, sitting on The Electrical Safety Roundtable industry forum, and creating our award-winning Codebreakers Guide has enabled us to gain the reputation as an organisation with a significant voice on electrical safety standards. In the meantime, The Stroma Group will continue to exist and will endeavour to focus on their essential areas of service around environmental management, building performance testing and building control.
For the second year in a row NAPIT have achieved the Investors in Customers Gold Award for excellent service and my gratitude goes out to all our staff, from the customer service team, to the assessors and senior management. We all relish in the opportunity to talk directly to our members whether that is answering their queries or listening to their feedback. It allows us to continually improve our service. I want our members to know that each of them is an integral part of NAPIT and that our membership schemes have always had value and service at the heart and will continue to do so.
Additionally, I would like to express how pleased I am with the pace in which our members have complied with the 18th Edition transition, it is a testament to the commitment everyone has put In, and we hope that we made completing the new qualification as straightforward and stress-free as possible.
This year we have the privilege of being headline speakers at the Professional Electrician ELEX Shows. These events take place across the UK and its been great to see so many of our members present, we appreciate the effort that was made to travel to come and see us.
A lot of you may be asking ‘So what next?’ Over 3,500 standing Stroma Installer Certification members will continue to be UKAS accredited by Stroma Installer Certification Limited. This does not mean that they are now NAPIT members, NAPIT is the owner of the Certification Body. Just as before the change of ownership, Stroma members have the choice to apply to become NAPIT members under the same conditions as any other applicant.
Moving forward, myself and other senior management will spend some time considering the best practice from both certification bodies before we make the decision about what offers the best service to all of our customers moving forward.
NAPIT will continue to stay on track for maintaining high standards around competence and ensuring that our members are accountable for the compliance of their work. As Stroma have been UKAS accredited against all the same scheme standards as NAPIT, there should be no problem that members will meet the expected standards. I feel positive that his exciting development will be a huge step-forward in the electrical industry and I hope that if you are part of this acquisition, that myself and all the NAPIT Team can make your experience with us as pleasant and beneficial as possible.