Whilst at a friends BBQ last week I met a German student who will shortly be completing his studies and returning to his homeland . Amongst the usual topics of conversation we somehow got chatting about tradespeople . I was interested to hear that unlike the UK it is a lot more difficult for a tradesman to earn a living in Germany unless they are a member of a trade association . He went on to say that his own father who had been a joiner for many years found it a lot more difficult to gain work because he wasn’t a fully qualified joiner and part of a recognised and well respected body.
It seems to me that as much as some have a dislike for these disciplined and well trained Europeans that they have got it right in many areas and regulating what appears to be well appointed trade associations is one of them.
I’d like to think I’m not alone when thinking about some trade associations and websites in the UK that claim to find a reputable tradesman for you who is vetted , checked on a regular basis etc etc in thinking with quite a lot of scepticism how much is done to check the tradesman in question or whether in reality it’s more about a commercial entity making money out of charging trades to become registered with the association and seemingly not doing a lot more to be accepted than to pay a fee every year .
I was proud this week when excellence floorcare was accredited and accepted by Trust Mark as a member ; trust mark is a non profit organisation which is government licensed and supported by consumer protection groups operating to government endorsed standards . In our case we became a member of the National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) having undergone the necessary training , passed the examination , met the criteria and invited to join .
We have worked hard to show our customers that we deserve this accreditation and that we aren’t just an outfit who’ve bought a carpet cleaning machine and are out there cleaning carpets.
We are experienced carpet and upholstery cleaners who are government approved working to a high standard keeping on top of industry developments and delivering a reliable , trustworthy , competitive service to both commercial and domestic clients.
Furthermore Excellence Floorcare are one of only 2 carpet cleaning companies in the York Area who are members of the NCCA but the only carpet cleaner in the York Area who are accredited by the government approved Trust Mark.
Having gone through this we encourage every tradesman to eradicate cowboys by undertaking the appropriate training and turning every industry in to one were every member is a qualified , trustworthy Proffesional who is a member of a properly qualified industry body.
I’m sure that such a step would slowly but surely help to cleanse each list of Tradespeople.