Demolitionnews.com calls for centralisation of utility service disconnections
Gatherings of demolition professionals are remarkably predictable. More often than not, they take place in or near a bar; they almost always include a fair degree of light-hearted, inter-company abuse; and sooner or later, someone will express their frustration over utility service disconnections.
The disconnection of services is an age-old issue that has plagued UK demolition contractors in general and members of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors in particular for as long as anyone can remember. Just about every demolition contractor worth his salt has been left twiddling his safety-gloved thumbs while an uninterested and unhelpful gas company takes three months to shut off the gas and collect the meter, allowing the demolition crews to belatedly start work.
Indeed, the problems and frustrations associated with the disconnection of services are so acute that current NFDC president David Darsey actually made addressing the issue a cornerstone of his two year stay in the federation hot seat. The fact that the problem remains is certainly no reflection on the effort that Darsey and the NFDC team has put into finding a suitable solution.
However, even though this is an issue that could be resolved with a simple directive from a gas industry ombudsman, it is perhaps wrong to suggest that the UK demolition industry is totally devoid of responsibility in this long-running saga.
The gas supply companies have no interest whatsoever in severing a gas supply. They make their money (and keep their shareholders happy) by installing new services, not by removing old ones. If the shoe were on the other foot, I think it’s fair to say that most demolition companies would also allocate disconnection of service requests to the “when we get around to it” file.
And then, of course, there are the intermediary companies that are licensed to carry out such disconnections; companies like PN Daly.
But do we really give them a fair crack of the whip; or does the UK demolition industry’s insistence on shopping around in the possibly vain hope of saving £1 mean that these companies are never able to invest sufficiently to provide the levels of service its demolition customers demand?
I am not suggesting for one moment that all gas disconnection services are handled by a single company. Let’s face it, the Monopolies & Mergers Commission would almost certainly have something to say about it if they were.
But surely if this vital work were funneled through just a few specialist companies, those companies would be able and more willing to invest in a national call centre with guaranteed and consistent contact points and pre-agreed pricing levels. And, just perhaps, those companies would be able to reduce the current waiting time from weeks and even months to just a few days.
With the recession continuing to bite hard, there is little doubt that UK demolition companies will be forced to shop around for best value on all their products and services. But all the time the gas disconnection business remains diluted among dozens of companies, each clamouring for a slice of the action, the chances of service levels improving remain, at best, supermodel thin.
