Richie Burke, founding member, said, “We are entering a very exciting time in our development, as many important and leading manufacturers and suppliers are taking up Corporate Membership with us. They are realising the enormous benefits of being able to engage with our increasing membership base.”
It is all about progressivae development and bringing along the industry with technical progress. For far too long, strong advancement has evolved at an alarming rate, with, for example, new technologies such as heat pump technology, condensing boilers, hybrid condensing boilers with integrated heat pump technology have all been introduced and, as a consequence, much of the hands-on industry has been left behind.
This is now changing as plumbing and heating engineers have now become very much more open-minded to innovative technologies and are hungry for knowledge.
Ritchie added, “HAPAI now plays a vital and strong role in helping our members improve themselves in conjunction with our Corporate Members, delivering free product training and providing our forum platform for industry engagement.”
And that’s not all! HAPAI provides its members with much-needed deals to reduce their ongoing costs, such as Public Liability Insurance savings, fantastic diesel fuel rates, weekend hotel breaks, restaurant discounts, equipment calibration discounts, and much more.
“Unfortunately, we are hearing from our members that they are experiencing regular van break-ins which are devastating to a tradesman,” said Ritchie. “Seeing the tools of your trade disappear can be soul destroying. From requests from our members, we have negotiated a fantastic discount of only €300 including VAT to have their van fitted with ultra secure van door locks installed at the convenience of their home nationwide.”
So what is HAPAI working on now?
Criostóir McCormack, HAPAI’s Secretary, explained, “So much has to be done, for example, with the upcoming new Plumbing & Heating Regulations called SR50 which is due for Public Consultation sometime in Q4 2017, and we are preparing for this very welcomed regulatory document.
“We have always insisted that our industry needs a level playing field – one standard to work from and some sort of protection for members of the public. That way it’s a win-win situation; the manufacturer wins because they get their product installed correctly with less warranty calls; the installer wins as they get more referral work from the good installations that they carry out; and the customer wins because they get value for money and a job that is fit for purpose.
“We are also continuously adding new features and benefits to our forum and, when finances permit, we are hoping to develop an App-based platform. We are currently working on online video tutorials in conjunction with our Corporate Members so we can reach out to the members who perhaps cannot get to a location based seminar.”
For more information and to join the Heating & Plumbing Association of Ireland, visit www.hapai.ie
