Redland is experiencing a boom in demand for its pitched roof Estimating course with builders’ merchants in particular sending their staff to the company’s National Training Centre in Gloucestershire for estimating training in a bid to provide faster roof estimates and a better service to their customers.
Those merchants that still have a dedicated estimating resource are finding that their estimators are overloaded with work, meaning that customers sometimes have to wait several days for a price. Others, who rely on counter staff and software, need all their people to be competent and confident in providing estimates.
“Merchants of all sizes are seeing the value of having their customer-facing staff trained and confident in reading technical drawings and creating a basic roof take-off,” says Mat Woodyatt, Redland’s Technical Training Manager. “Even if you have estimating software, it’s only as good as the information that goes into it. And users need to understand the output from the software.”
Redland’s two-day Estimating course covers basic principles such as understanding elevations and scale, using tables, and calculating a roof’s dimensions and areas. Attendees will also leave the training centre having produced their own scale drawings, and with an understanding of how a roof manages water and what constitutes a complete roof system.
Candidates, who come from both merchants and contractors, will work through a series of scale-drawing scenarios, producing complete roof take-offs based around a variety of metric tiles, plain tiles and Cambrian Slates.
An outdoor practical session teaches participants how to carry out an on-site survey and scale a drawing from a site visit. They will also explore the mysteries of vertical tiling and what to do with a dormer.
The Redland National Training Centre was the UK’s first centre for roofing industry training and the firm says it has been leading the industry for over 30 years. The classrooms and purpose-built 480m2 heated workshop allow participants to learn in a comfortable environment and practice ‘real-life’ roofing techniques. The Estimating course, which can accommodate up to eight people at a time, runs every month at a cost of £195 (exc. VAT) per person. Funding may be available for members of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC).
For more details visit www.redland.co.uk/training
