PCA Best Practice Awards 2017 – Winners
The 10th annual Property Care Association’s awards showcased the best of the specialist structural repair sector, as well as the structural waterproofing, wood preservation, damp-proofing, flood remediation and invasive weed control industries.
Held at The Slate, University of Warwick, the ceremony represented another record breaking year for entries – with almost a 20 per cent increase compared to the number received last year.
The awards’ independent judging panel, Dr Hector Altamirano, a building scientist for UCL, Paul Cribbens, Standards Manager at NHBC and Ray Ferris, Head of Compliance and Standards for the Government-endorsed scheme for trades in and around the home, TrustMark, judged the Best Practice categories.
Award sponsors included Triton Systems, Delta Membranes Systems, PAGeotechnical, Stallard Kane Associates, Elta Fans Residential, CITB, Shepherd PR, Pam Ties, Aquobex, Newton Waterproofing and Safeguard.
Student of the Year Awards
CSRT Student of the Year – David Woodhouse, Tony Flower and Associates
CSSW Student of the Year – Alan Martin, Cemplas
CSJK Student of the Year – Brian Taylor, The Knotweed Company
PCA Qualified Technician Damp & Timber – Solomon Okaikoi, TPS Damp Proofing
PCA Qualified Technician Structural Waterproofing – Joint winners: Craig Yates & Michael Williams, ICB (Waterproofing) Ltd
PCA Qualified Technician Japanese knotweed – Peter Watson, RPS
Apprentice of the Year – Joint winners: Luke Hainsworth, Timberwise & Danny Williams, Shaw Preservation
Best Practice Awards
Training & Staff Development – Joint winners: Ebsford Environmental / Richardson & Starling
Innovation & Sustainability – Highly Commended: Ebsford Environmental / Winner: Delta Membranes
Project of the Year – Highly Commended: Wise Property Care / Winner: Richardson & Starling
Outstanding Customer Service – Highly Commended: London Waterproofing Solutions / Winner: Olympic Construction
Website of the Year (small company) – South East Timber and Damp
Website of the Year (medium/large company) – Wise Property Care
Employee of the Year – Highly commended: David McPeake, CK Walker Damp & Timber / Winner: Paul Sears, White Rock Property Care
Contractor of the Year Awards
Japanese knotweed – The Grounds Care Group
Structural Waterproofing – Site Sealants
Damp & Timber – Richardson & Starling
The awards marked the end of a highly successful conference for the PCA, which addressed topics including flooding, ventilation and indoor air quality.
Over the years, the association’s event has gained increasing recognition across the industry for the quality of speakers, the relevance and timeliness of the subjects addressed and its lively debate.
This year leading representatives from a range of specialist sectors join the panel across three sessions.
The first session looked at current and future challenges faced by industry, with the issue of retrofit insulation under the spotlight. Speakers included Phil Parnham from Blue Box/SAVA who talked about the impact this is having on surveyors, while Nigel Donohue from CIGA, discussed the challenges the industry is seeing.
This session also included a discussion by Jessica Lamond, from the Centre for Floods and Communities, who gave an insight into effective measures and the importance of good practice in Property Level Protection (PLP).
The second session brought together an academic perspective to ventilation and indoor air quality, with Clive Shrubsole from UCL and the Bartlett Institute and Fernando Sarce from UCL both sharing their perspectives on the subject, as well as Ian Mawditt from Fourwalls.
Finally, the third session looked at the next 10 years in timber protection, with speakers including Gervais Sawyer and Hudson Lambert of Safeguard.