How to decide if a roofing company is trustworthy and reliable?
A roofing job can be expensive and - literally - affect the very roof over your head. No wonder choosing a good roofing contractor can be a stressful task. We all have heard of cowboys who charge a lot and leave the issue worse than it originally was. Although nothing beats your own experience with a given roofer, there are a few things that help new customers make a decision, including certification and accreditations.
At HiSolution, we put the quality of the workmanship and safety of our team and the general public at a premium. Whether it’s a classic rope access job such as a bridge inspection or traditional roofing project, including slating, repairs, flat roof work or lead and stone masonry work, we do our best to do it safely and reliably, to a high standard.
In addition to our day-to-day use of best practices and tried and tested safety protocols derived from rope access (we retain certain rules that make eminent sense also when working on bigger roofing projects and using conventional scaffolding), we believe that our customers, and people who might want to use our services, deserve to have a proof of our working to high standards.
That is why we are very proud to be trained and accredited by some of the most respected safety and quality schemes in the country. These include accreditations by CHAS, Federation of Master Builders and Edinburgh Trusted Trader and staff training by IRATA. What are these certifications and organizations about?
CHAS
CHAS, or the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme, is a popular scheme used by building and roofing contractors and ensures our health and safety procedures conform to strict standards. The annual assessment covers a huge area of the company’s functioning, from the business and personal standing of the directors to diversity and sustainability, but the key part of the CHAS assessment concerns health and safety: procedures and rules, staff training both professional and health and safety related, communication processes in the company and much more.
Federation of Master Builders
This is a very different assessment, which focuses on know-how and quality specifically. An on-site inspection by specialist assessors confirms the quality of the workmanship and using best practices and tools of our trade.
Edinburgh Trusted Trader
This scheme consists of the official list of vetted traders and is backed by The City of Edinburgh Council and supported by Police Scotland. Customers can review our roofing jobs and other services we provide there, and these reviews are verified for authenticity by the scheme. We are really proud to have excellent ratings there, 5 out of 5 at the time of writing: you can see what our customers say about us here.
IRATA
IRATA, or International Rope Access Trade Association is a specialist body that provides rope-access training to rope access professionals. Ranging from Level 1 to Level 3, each certificate requires a number of hours worked and registered in a logbook, as well as a theoretical and practical test of rope access knowledge and skills. The qualification has to be renewed every three years to ensure that the skills and knowledge don’t go rusty. Although we do more work using traditional scaffolding more suitable for larger projects nowadays, we highly value our rope roots, and Artur, HiSolution’s founder and director, has just renewed his IRATA Level 3!
Of course in addition to health and safety certifications and rope skills, HiSolution also works on continuing development of professional skills applicable to our core market: roofing repairs and replacements and other work on the roofs and external plumbing of Edinburgh’s tenements and family homes, from traditional slating techniques to lime mortars, masonry repairs and lead work.