Recent years have seen an exponential growth in leak detection and prevention services in the construction sector.  Wherever there is a significant upturn in any specialist business, this brings with it a flood (pardon the pun!) of “me-too's”; an array of ill-qualified copycat businesses trying to cash in on the growth.  In particular, there has been an upsurge of a “one test fits all” policy, when the opposite is true.  This results in meaningless certificates being written and submitted, which undermines the whole concept of such testing.

WITA (Waterproof Integrity Test Association) has been formed to bring order and credibility to the industry, especially in respect of on-site certification of waterproofing systems.  One aim will be to set standards by which test methods can be monitored and controlled.  The founder members, LR Services, RAM Consultancy and Thornton Consulting, are all long and well established test houses specialising in this sector.  They have been jointly concerned over spurious and even outrageous claims made by some of the more recent entrants to the market place.  These have the potential to place individual roofing and waterproofing contractors at risk and, worse still, besmirch the industry as a whole.

All WITA members will have to meet strict criteria, including, but not limited to, proof of experience and training of individual test personnel.  WITA believe it is vital to the sustained growth and reputation of this specialist sector that customers can feel confident they are dealing with professional companies, which possess the necessary background knowledge to ensure that site-specific test procedures are both correctly specified and executed. 

WITA has agreed with NFRC that it will provide a range of administration services for the new organisation.

For more details on WITA please contact Bill Jenkins via email at billjenkins@nfrc.co.uk.