18 | JUNE 2020
Installer Support
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
CORGI FENESTRATION
LAUNCHES ITS
COVID-19 OPERATING
CODE FOR INSTALLERS
AND HOMEOWNERS
GOT 2 MINUTES?
Slick video shows installers how
AdminBase will help re-launch
their businesses out of lockdown
Window, door and conservatory
installers emerging from
lockdown will be faced with
enormous challenges as they
re-launch their businesses, in a
world in which nothing is as it
was when the UK was formally
shutdown on 23rd March.
Social distancing will be the
way of the world for many
months, perhaps even years.
Faced with the new logistical
complexities of running an installation
business, the people at
Ab Initio Software, developers of
UK’s most popular window installer
management system, have
a simple message: Use Admin-
Base to manage your business
as you come out of lockdown
and ensure you make the most
of every opportunity. And to
allow installers to understand
just how AdminBase will do
that, they have produced a short
and highly effective explainer
video.
Just two minutes long, the
video shows how AdminBase,
which has been the go-to window
and door installer management
software for more than 20
years with more than 3,000 users,
can make every stage of the
installation process - including
canvassing, sales, survey, installation,
service calls and warranty
records - slick, accurate and,
crucially, easier to manage.
‘
The video shows how sales enquiries
may quickly be turned into accurate
quotations with everything kept
securely in the same place
’
The video shows how sales
enquiries may quickly be turned
into accurate quotations with
everything kept securely in the
same place, eradicating scrawled
notes on scraps of paper, duplication,
handwritten contracts,
surveys and fitter notes - and
errors. Available on a range
of devices including mobile
tablets such as iPads and with
apps for sales, survey, installation
and service calls, data is
stored centrally with a range of
features that include emailed
quotes and contracts, ordering
from suppliers, installation notes
and through to final sign off and
invoicing.
Rhonda Ridge, who realised
the need for an integrated project
management system when
managing the finances for a window
installation company, says
watching the video could be
the most profitable two minutes
spent: “We set out to produce a
video that quickly shows what
AdminBase can do for installers
– whilst being mindful that there
appears to be a lot to take in. I
am delighted with the result –
for many installers it could be
the most important 2 minutes
they could spend, maybe over a
coffee.”
The AdminBase Video can
be seen here: https://www.
youtube.com/channel/UCsiRs3-
BLOLR7JY1Dk4Z-1w
CORGI Fenestration has
produced a Covid-19 Operating
Code for Installers of replacement
windows and doors in domestic
properties and a corresponding
Consumer Guide for homeowners.
They are free and available
to all as downloadable documents
on the CORGI Fenestration
website – www.corgifenestration.
co.uk/trade/installer-service-2/
They cover the measures that
should to taken by installers to
protect themselves and their
customers whilst working and the
responsibilities that homeowners
have to minimise any risks
to workers that operate in their
properties.
“We have written our Covid-19
Operating Code and Consumer
Guide in preparation for the
relaxing of lockdown restrictions
by the Government and after
consultation with the industry.
Hopefully these will allow
operatives to work in homes on
non-essential installations using
common sense measures to social
distance wherever possible and
use practical hygiene procedures
to minimise risks of cross contamination,”
commented Jacqui
Crawford, CORGI Fenestration
Chief Operating Officer, and the
author of the documents. “They
can also be used by operatives
that are currently undertaking
essential work in homes – which
we believe only includes emergency
repairs of windows and
doors.”
The Code and Guide have taken
current Government approved
methodologies from other sectors
and inserted them into real installer
work practices, procedures
and situations.
The CORGI Fenestration
Covid-19 Operating Code covers
everything from the quotation
and sales process (no face-to-face
interaction) to safe surveying and
installation, to job sign off. The
Consumer Guide tells the homeowner
what they can expect from
an installer following the Code
and what their responsibilities
are too (ranging from advising
the installation company if they
or any of the household have
Covid-19 symptoms to wiping
down frames and work areas).
“Information already provided
about working practices has been
limited to generic construction
sector guidelines. We don’t think
they go far enough and have
therefore created our own very
specific Code for installers entering
inhabited domestic properties,”
added Crawford. “As this
crisis and resultant restrictions
look as if they will be with us for
some time our industry needs to
face up to the new realities and
operate accordingly.”
CORGI Fenestration is very
supportive of industry initiatives
along the manufacturing and supply
chain to get the sector moving
again. “However, we think
that as big an issue will be weak
demand. Quite understandably
homeowners could be reluctant
to have workers in their homes.
Installers operating our Covid-19
Operating Code, with its very
visible measures, could go some
way to minimise those concerns,”
Crawford concluded.
www.corgifenestration.co.uk