TTF guides members on the code of construction product information (CCPI)
The Timber Trade Federation has launched a detailed guide for its members to the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI), including six key steps to assure business processes related to providing information and customer training are in line with the aspirations of the currently voluntary Code. The CCPI, due to start rolling out across the construction products sector during the summer, requires that product information provided through every channel, online and offline, in print and in person, adheres to five 'acid tests' and is: clear, accurate, unambiguous, up-to-date and accessible. It also requires that those preparing and presenting information are competent 'to the level required for their role'.
"The Code takes a rigorous stance on the provision of product information and the competence of all those interacting with that information day-to-day, " says David Hopkins, CEO of the TTF. "We wish to make sure that our members are aware of the depth of its requirements, and, even if not directly in the path of its initial wave of implementation, are ready to service their customers with unambiguous information, with product claims clearly backed up, and purveyed by provably-competent people, capable of giving requisite advice.
"Many TTF members provide their customers with information, imagery and also training, particularly for customers in the builders' merchant and specification sectors. Demonstrating the alignment of their business processes with those set down in the Code will help to show that they are operating to the highest standards of ethical and communications behaviour. This in turn breeds trust and confidence amongst all those working with our sector, underlining the principle of supplying 'timber you can trust'," TTF's David Hopkins asserts.
TTF's Guide to the CCPI is available only to members by logging into the member area of the TTF website. In addition to the basic guide, for those smaller companies who perhaps may not have systems in place to document the production, provision and regular review of information, a simple spreadsheet is provided for members to adapt. Although many TTF members have HR systems in place and policies which deal with questions of ethical behaviour and whistle-blowing, again for those who may need a starting point, TTF has also created an accompanying business ethics tool and decision 'tree', for members to use or re-formulate to reflect their own business practices and needs.
"In the light of the Grenfell tragedy, and the subsequent work of the Construction Leadership Council and Construction Products Association in improving operating methods within construction, we are encouraging all members to ensure that they have documented systems around information creation, its use in sales, marketing and training throughout their supply chains, and around the competency of their people," TTF's David Hopkins adds.
"We are additionally launching a review of job roles, mapped against available training and qualifications, reigniting work originally undertaken some time ago, and will be updating guidance on people competence for the 21st century business world," he adds. "We will be involving and reporting back to members regularly as this next phase of our engagement with CCPI progresses."
