At the time of writing a document is promised on Benchmark training. We can refer to that in our training section once online.
Installers may wish to review the option to host a web page at the HHIC and pre-register for inclusion on the Installer Network when that comes online. HHIC anticipate launching their new website in November 2003 but be patient as problems can arise with these projects as we know only too well.
The Energy Saving Trust (EST) Installer Network has shut down and will be returned to HHIC from whence it originally arrived. If you have not already seen our Comment 35, Best Practice training will be resumed and announced in due course. EST news can be accessed through our EST Focus page linked on our home page.
If we can be permitted to make an observation in favour of Benchmark, we would suggest now is the time to review implementation of the initiative. It is in serious danger of rejection due to avoidable complexity. Once complexity sets it, confusion sets in. Once confusion sets in, rejection sets in. Psychologists must have a rule or maxim for this.
The spirit of Benchmark was quickly grasped by everyone desperate to engage with professionalism. Manufacturers, Installers and Consumers alike. Key to the Benchmark brand was simplicity.
Many initiatives have been devised by others and lost due to complexity. Quality Mark seems to have had more underpinning than the leaning tower of Pisa and it is still struggling to stay upright. An old cliché I know but the means to an end can too often become an end in itself. Don’t let that happen to Benchmark or it will suffer.
Most significantly, The Building Regulations now recognise Benchmark. That is pivotal and also the cue for urgent rationalisation. The application of fundamental management principles – methods analysis - provides the simple answer. If anyone wants us to prepare a treatise on that we would be happy to do so.
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