Contractor accreditation scheme for window cleaners?

[Iurie]

Hi everyone : )

this is my very first post and probably I should've introduced myself but have a question and i will appreciate if you can advise ... anyway I am a self employed window cleaner for about 5-6 years have 300+ customers mainly domestic and very few commercial . Recently I received an email from a commercial customer (management company) asking me to get a full SafeContractor accreditation by 31st of March ...

Since this is the only customer who asked to get accreditation I am wondering if it worth ? as it costs £226 per year I think https://apps.santia.net/AccreditationRegistration/resources/documents/Subscription_Rates.pdf

Below is a copy of the email I have received

kind regards

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear XXXX

 


Your Unique Referral Code: XXX YYY XXX

 

 


At Hurst Warne, our primary goal is to provide a safe environment for the sites we manage and to ensure that no one is harmed as a result of our activities or the activities of those we employ.

 

 

 


In order to achieve this, we have aligned ourselves with SafeContractor, the UK’s fastest growing contractor accreditation scheme, and from the 1st April 2017 it will be a mandatory requirement for all of our contractors to have full SafeContractor accreditation to continue to undertake work at any of Hurst Warne’s managed properties.

 

 

 


Your business provides a valued service to us and to ensure that your services can continue to be used, we will require you to be SafeContractor accredited by 31st March 2017. In order to do this you will need to register by the 18th January 2017

 

 

 


Further information regarding safe contractor can be found on their website, details below:

 

 

 


Safecontractor Fact file http://www.yoursafecontractor.com/docs/Factfile.pdf

 


Safecontractor Client List http://www.yoursafecontractor.com/docs/Clientlist.pdf

 

 

 


To begin the accreditation process, you can either:

 

 

 


Register quickly and easily online by clicking here and entering your unique referral code xxx

 


If you have not received your invitation from SafeContractor, or would rather speak to someone in person, please contact their team of advisors directly stating that you are registering on behalf of Hurst Warne on 02920 266242

 

 

 


We thank you for your co-operation. Should you have any queries or wish to discuss this matter further, please do contact us anytime

 

 

 


Yours sincerely

 

[Clisty1989]

I'd call the commercial custy in person and find out why. You don't need any of the benefits as a windy, so its not worth it, I personally would rather not do through the hassle. For that price I'd rather lose the job. If you say no and explain I'm sure that either a, they'll give up or b, bin you and struggle to find another windy that'll sign up for it and come crawling back. Its up to you, but it doesn't sit well in my head

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Call your contact there and explain that you need to revisit each site to revise the price of each job due a sudden and unforseen rise in business expenses.

In short if they want it up their bill and make them cover the cost. Otherwise I would bin them and move on.

 

[jay198127]

I would do along the lines of same....say you don't generally need this as window cleaner but if they want to continue using you, you will have to factor the cost of accreditation on to there future bills, example 25% or 50% of the cost added to each clean until cost covered then resume normal price for future cleans..

Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

 

[Iurie]

thank you for your replies

will give them a call after holidays . im cleaning a block of flats £70 monthly and would prefer to continue as takes me 1 hour to do the job /emoticons/smile.png will have a think

cheers

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

I have safecontractor some companies like you to have it now it can also help speed things up with the tender process.

One thing to consider is depending on what your current health & safety policy and practice is it could cost you in time.There is quite a bit of paper work involved.

You need to have up to date h&s policy,full Rams,insurance,Coshh,if you use ladders ladder tags and check form,H&S procedures,first aid etc and a lot of form filling from safecontractor

it then takes around 6-8 weeks possibly longer if it's your first time to get accredited unless you fast track it which costs an extra £90.

 

[Iron Giant]

Ultimately if you are going after big commercial work then yes I would go for the Safe Contractor & Chas other wise its pointless for a £70 job , I get the odd call off HS Direct to do Chas and they will assist in the form filling but as a Sole Trader I don't see the point right now .

 

[Iurie]

thought to keep you update with the above - after telling them that I might stop doing the work they replied that I've got that email by mistake : P

so .. happy days

 

[DMD]

We use chas and safecontractor as we need ssip for our work.

You'll find if you want to tender large jobs or a lot of council work (especially in Scotland) it's mandatory.

Because we deal with construction it's also looked upon favourably.

Don't rule it out if you wish to take on jobs outwith domestic.