For a long time roofing has been considered a weak link in the construction process. This is down to people with minimum qualifications and experience calling themselves roofers before carrying out sub-standard work.

However, the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) has developed a 4 year plan which aims to tackle this. The plan, which has been dubbed a Workforce Development Strategy, is designed to raise the standards of the roofing trade in general and help ignite growth and interest, reaffirming it as a valuable trade.

The plan aims to attract the backing of the government and private sector corporations and aims to open the doors to new jobs, higher standards of work and help the UK hit its construction goals.

The development is a result of research carried out by Skyblue research on behalf of the NFRC, the Roofing Industry Alliance and was funded by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). The research wanted to look into the key challenges facing the roofing industry. After it was complete it was concluded that the roofing sector could be boosted by targeting 3 key objectives:

Objective 1: Establish the roofing sector as a professional, modern, respected and aspirational sector with clear career paths; able to attract the best and the brightest apprentices, students and new workers.

Objective 2: Formalise and standardise a higher UK-wide training, accreditation and assessment infrastructure: to upskill and multi-skill its growing workforce.

Objective 3: Proactive engagement with all roofing sector companies, suppliers and trade associations, and seeking endorsement and commitment from all procurement stakeholders: enabling growth, increased training, and access to grants and higher standards.

The NFRC Chief Executive James Talman had this to say about the development:

                “The Workforce Development Strategy sets out to provide insight into the specific areas of recruitment, training, accreditation and modernisation, that are perceived to be lacking in the roofing sector. By adopting the three key objectives recommended in the report and obtaining Government backing for roofing, there would added benefit to the wider construction industry, apprenticeship and employment figures, and the UK economy as a whole. We are confident that we will see a resurgence in our sector.”

DPR looks forward to seeing the development of this scheme. If you require, or want to learn more about, any of DPRs roofing services just call us on 0113 335 0043.