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NARM, The National Association of Rooflight Manufacturers, has for many years been active as a forum for the promotion of daylight use in buildings. 2004 sees the launch of a new Association web site and the publication of their definitive new document ?Natural Daylight Design Through Rooflighting?
As part of a new thrust to raise awareness of the association and its work, Jim Lowther, Chairman of the Association�s marketing committee answers some questions about NARM and its objectives.
What�s the reasoning behind this change of image?
Our Technical Committee, led by Chairman Bill Hawker, has been very active in producing some highly valued industry research and development documents. To be more active in promoting the Association, we�re now planning to use the website to promote this work. With the new website we now have a vehicle for publishing extracts from our technical documents and getting them in front of interested parties.
In a rapidly changing market we see a website as a portal for visitors to access the latest daylighting and rooflight information, signposting to other trade bodies and associations and to act as a forum for rooflight manufacturers, working groups and specifiers.
What would you say is the Mission of NARM ?
Omitting rooflights from a building is often seen as a short-term (and misguided) cost saving measure. This totally ignores the major benefits natural daylight can bring. Natural daylight is a freely available resource; through a carefully designed daylighting scheme, rooflights can utilise that resource, bringing lifecycle cost savings in terms of less power for artificial lighting, therefore benefiting the environment. Improved efficiency through natural daylight also brings the benefit of increased productivity and therefore improving investment ?pay back? times. Health benefits of natural daylight are well documented. NARM�s mission must therefore be to continue the promotion of daylight in buildings, through the use of rooflights.
Our practical aim is to make NARM the first port of call for information on rooflights and daylighting, whether it�s to source a rooflight manufacturer, access daylighting and rooflight information, or request technical help. NARM aims to provide authoritative, unbiased, factual advice and information on all aspects of natural daylighting using rooflights, for all applications from small individual modular rooflights, to completely glazed architectural structures.
The Association�s Code of Practice is integral to membership. What are the key criteria ?
Our Code of Practice is very focussed on quality, so it�s important that existing and potential members are committed to meeting and retaining the criteria set out within that Code. Ultimately, we want all relevant parties (such as specifiers, developers, designers, contractors and clients) to value NARM membership as a benchmark when selecting a rooflight manufacturer. This gives them the reassurance of knowing that the rooflight products and services they are specifying and using, comply with relevant UK and European Standards and Legislation. All Full and Associate members of NARM are:
- Focussed on quality and have obtained, or are working towards, BS EN ISO 9001:2000.
- Committed to staff training and development.
- Able to offer balanced advice on the use of rooflights, rooflight materials and rooflight systems.
- Dedicated to customer satisfaction through the development and supply of quality rooflights and systems.
- Supplying only those products which comply with relevant UK and European Standards, Building Regulations and other relevant legislation.
- Promoting good business practice and publish clear statements on terms of sale and product warranties.
What do the NARM Council see as the key drivers for a successful trade association and how do you think NARM can achieve these ?
We think committed, active involvement of Members is the key. With the combined strengths of the Council, led by current Chairman Vince Cranmer, we are all committed to creating a stronger voice for the rooflight industry to customers, specifiers and legislators within the construction industry. There�s no doubt that we�re united in our desire to build an effective and active Association that serves its Members well. Our strengths, as an Association, lie with our Members and a very well respected Technical Team. We�ll continue to be active in research and development and will regularly produce and publish technical documents and bulletins. Rather than just following legislation we are, as a Trade Association, looking to lead the way in contributing to its development.
We� re united in our vision of NARM as an active organisation and not a passive, administrative function. For instance:
- NARM has a continuing working function in European Standardisation, leading UK representation on the CEN Working Groups revising and developing European Standards such as EN1013, prEN1873 and WI 00128038, and chairing the BSI B/542/8 mirror committee to CEN/TC128/9.
- the Technical Committee has commissioned a research report from the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, at De Montfort University, to provide supporting data for the current (2002) Part L Building Regulations.
- NARM are members of a number of ODPM Working Groups looking at revisions to Building Regs Part L due to be published in 2005.
- NARM is represented on the Advisory Committee for Roofwork (ACR) which works on roof safety issues, and NARM is currently developing further recommendations for long term non-fragility of inplane rooflights, to be published in a new document, NARM 2004/1.
- NARM has been heavily involved with development of new harmonised European fire tests, contributing to various PII projects with ODPM, and continuing to be involved with BSI FSH/22/8 committee and development work with BRE FRS.
We are going to continue to be busy and active and open.
How does the NARM Council see it's function within the construction industry, in relation to other trade associations ?
The Council also sees its support and work with other Trade Associations, of compatible products and common interests, as key to NARM�s future. We have already forged strong links with many associations such as the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC), Metal Cladding and Roofing Manufacturers Association (MCRMA) and Flat Roofing Alliance (FRA), and have contributed to many of these organisations, their publications and advice. NARM will continue this dialogue through representation and working groups.
Membership of the Construction Products Association (CPA) is particularly valuable, and a relationship, which NARM will be strengthening. CPA provide a wealth of relevant construction industry information - commercial, technical and legislative - with a bearing on our industry, and provides the best routes by which we, as a trade organisation, have a direct voice at government level.
How does an organisation interested in Membership find out more ?
Naturally we want to see NARM continue to flourish and grow as an organisation. Membership already includes major manufacturers across a wide range of products and services, as well as smaller manufacturers also having an excellent product range. Membership is truly representative of the industry, but we would like to see a continued growth to attract as wide a diversity of Members as possible. That�s exactly our objective: to act as one voice for a variety of interests � I know it�s a clich� but we really do want to make sure that rooflight manufacturers are all singing from one hymn sheet.
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