NFDC’s decision to make site audit visits unannounced marks a giant leap forward.
The evolution of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors’ Accredited Site Audit Scheme (ASAS) has not been a smooth ride; and it has required the intervention of some bold and belligerent NFDC presidents to bring its lofty ideals to fruition.
Former president David Clarke – in his own inimitable style – largely rode roughshod over the views of certain members when the introduction of ASAS was passed during his reign. A few years later, the equally bold and forthright David Darsey made ASAS a prerequisite of membership. And now, current president William Sinclair has put his head above the industry parapet and armed the site audit scheme with a formidable set of teeth.
In future, site audit visits will be unannounced, ensuring that auditors see sites in real world conditions and not sites that have been prepared merely to satisfy ASAS requirements.
The site audit scheme was developed and implemented as an industry benchmark by which all sites of all NFDC members (existing and prospective) could be judged; it was never meant to act as a showcase for sites hand-picked by forewarned members. And yet there have long been suggestions that – in the same way The Queen believes everywhere smells of fresh paint – ASAS auditors believed that all site entrances featured a new red carpet leading to a gleaming site office redolent with the whiff of fresh and expensive coffee and site paperwork redolent with the distinctive aroma of midnight oil and sweat.
As with Clarke and Darsey before him, William Sinclair will likely face criticism from those members that are willing to do just enough to retain their NFDC membership. Indeed, raising the bar to this extent might see some existing members fall by the wayside; and some prospective members may see unannounced audits as a barrier to entry too far. But surely that is the idea.
For the NFDC to claim that its members are a cut above the rest, they must be able to prove as much 24 hours per day, 365 days of the year across the entire corporate membership. Those members unwilling or unable to meet those demands do not, perhaps, belong in the Federation anyway.
The introduction of unannounced audit visits is unlikely to be universally popular. But then popularity was never the aim of the scheme.
