Tech Talk

Tech Talk

2020 in Review

In this special feature, David Borland, GGF Senior Technical Officer provides a review of the GGF Technical Department’s progress in the last 12 months.

The Technical Department has seen a lot of changes in 2020. As we said a fond farewell to two GGF technical stalwarts in Steve Rice and Russell Day, off to enjoy his retirement and to pastures new respectively, in spring, we welcomed two new Technical Officers, Steve Chappell and Kevin Jones.

Both Steve and Kevin bring a wealth of experience in the glass and fenestration sectors. Regular attendees to our Technical and Regional Groups’ meetings will already be familiar with both technical officers and though there have been no face -to face meetings due to the pandemic, Members who have attended technical meetings this year should already have a clear understanding on what both Steve and Kevin will bring to the GGF Technical Department.

After a short hiatus in early 2020, our regular Technical meetings were re-instated in late April, albeit through video conferencing. A medium with which more and more Members are becoming familiar with and we will continue to use this channel post pandemic when we hope to resume face to face meetings. By doing physical meetings that simultaneously incorporate video as an option, all Members will have the opportunity to attend wherever their location.  

Throughout 2020 we have continued to argue the case for laminated glass’ removal from the MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) Combustible Materials Ban and this month sees the presentation to MHCLG of a 94-page technical document providing evidence and test results to justify its removal. We will keep members updated on how this is received and hopefully see a positive outcome for the industry with a balanced and common sense decision.

Back in January and as a result of the Future Homes Forum held for Members in Solihull, we responded to both England’s Part L & F and the Welsh equivalent. As of today, we still await the outcome of these. November saw the introduction of the Welsh Consultation document for Part L & F -Existing dwellings & Commercial Buildings. After we have completed our own review, we may hold another Members’ only Technical Forum early in 2021 by Video.

Since March, the Technical Department has also created and/or updated 19 Datasheets and this will reach a total of 30 Datasheets by early 2021. These covered a wide variety of topics with some being particularly overdue for update. We’d like to thank the Members who contributed and assisted in making this considerable achievement possible. Staying on the subject of Datasheets, in October 2020, the GGF introduced a Document Review Page on the Members’ Area of the GGF website. This new section now allows members to review, comment and contribute to new Datasheets and technical documents on an on-going basis.

We continually strive to improve the service to our Members and have made several changes over this year. Our Technical Inbox prioritises our Members with the aim to provide same day/next day replies to Members’ technical enquiries. In addition, mobile numbers for all Technical Officers are available to view on the GGF website for quicker and more direct response. Starting 4^th January 2021, we will also introduce a new Technical Hotline, which will ring through to all Technical Officers simultaneously and answered by the first available Technical Officer. These procedures are in place to help Members make contact with and use the GGF’s technical resource to benefit their business.

One of the year’s highlights for the GGF Technical Department was the organisation and hosting of the GGF Technical Forum and Technical Presentations via Video link to the Membership during Members’ Week. This was positively received by all who attended and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our guest speakers Mark Barsby of BSI, and Sanmukh Bawa of G-SMATT Europe for sharing their expertise and perspectives.

Whilst we certainly see 2021 as another challenging year, be assured that the GGF Technical team will continue to develop and improve the service provided to our Members. On behalf of the Technical Team, I wish all Members the very best for the festive break and we look forward to working with you in what will hopefully be a healthier and prosperous New Year.