We know wall tie replacement better than anyone else
Wall tie replacement work is like anything else in life; it evolves over time. Lessons are learned as experience is gained; new problems are found and overcome. So after 34 years as Yorkshire’s wall tie experts, you’d think we would ‘know it all’.
The truth is that nobody can say this about anything in life. Lesson may be learned, but they can also be forgotten. As a result even experts can be become victims of complacency and arrogance. This is how mistakes happen. It’s why we strive to keep up to date with new technology and accepted industry best practice. But, it’s just as important to re-visit the important basics of everyday work. How come our wall tie surveyors and wall tie replacement technicians are so well known for being at the top of their game? It’s because of the constant hard work we do on improving our standards.
The only college where wall tie replacement is studied.
2020 has started well for us with the official launch of the Brick-Tie college of building restoration. This is our ‘in-house’ name for our existing professional development program. One-to-one and group training has been a staple diet for us over many years. However, we do so much of this that we’ve decided to put all of the training under this new banner. This will help us bring the technical, health and safety, environmental, team working and customer service training under one project. It’s not just a label for training, it means that we can plan, organise and deliver our in-house and outside contracted training more effectively.
To kick-off the new year all our technicians and surveyors sat a test last Friday. ‘Technical and safety implications of residential wall tie replacement’ was a tough one, designed by our MD to really stretch everyone. Everyone achieved a ‘pass’ of course. However, the test wasn’t about ‘point scoring’; it was a crucial way of finding out exactly what we need to do to improve our knowledge and standards; a baseline of our knowledge if you like. By analysing the wrong answers in a statistical way, we can focus on the weaknesses we have, fixing any holes we find in our understanding.
After a test we can write a reactive lesson plan, covering the entire test, with emphasis on improving skills across the board. The anonymised scores are part of the lesson and we’ll soon re-visit testing to measure improvement over the coming months.
Constant improvement for better customer service
One-to-one help for all staff will form part of our college’s work, so that individual staff can explore subjects in a relaxed and supportive way. Just for the record the average overall score in the first test of 2020 was 72%, with 81% achieved for the health and safety section. We’re delighted with these results and it’s a great foundation to build on for the coming year.
For anyone requiring wall tie replacement in Yorkshire Brick-Tie are the clear choice for quality, integrity, safety and service. We never forget that keeping this reputation takes constant work. Work that we are delighted to do.
For wall tie surveys please use of contact page or call direct on Leeds 0113 2652752 , York 01904 566577 or Sheffield 0114 2245121.
Our thanks go to some of the excellent outside organisations we use to back-up our training and quality services. These include Resilient people, Nigel Deane at ND safety, The Property Care Association, IOSH and The Construction Fixings Association.
