AAC Waterproofing

"As a company, we tender for a significant number of contracts in the public sector and with large commercial clients. Having both these certifications has certainly reduced both time and complexity in completing PQQs, and they are viewed by our customers as a stamp of approval, demonstrating that we are a well organised company with proper policies and procedures in place.

"I was a little daunted at first, knowing nothing about the ISO system, but working alongside the Equas consultant, Dave Maxwell, I got to grips with it quite quickly. The fact that Dave has a construction background was a real bonus as he understood our business very quickly. It's my job to keep the system updated and life is now a lot easier."

Cheryl Thomas, Office Administrator

The company

Established in the 1970s, AAC was one of the first UK companies to adopt single-ply EPDM membranes. It has a purpose-built facility for accurate and efficient prefabrication of waterproofing solutions.

It holds the only UK licence for installing Prelasti, a lightweight, environmentally friendly rubber membrane with proven durability of more than 50 years. Its workforce of 20 or more includes a team of experienced in-house installation technicians. Projects span public sector, commercial and private buildings, architectural structures, cladding, tanking, lake and pond linings, and waterproofing for extreme environments.

The challenge

Although successfully winning work, the company recognised that large construction firms and utilities were increasingly demanding ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification, and that holding both would improve its conversion rate and provide leverage towards preferred supplier status.

The approach

Given his previous career, consultant Dave Maxwell already understood the contracting process AAC needed to go through. He spent time with Cheryl familiarising himself with how the company worked, and carried out an audit to identify gaps.

A lot was already in place but not necessarily in the right place, so much of the initial work was pulling disparate documents together and integrating them into a system that was quick to access.

Formal procedures were introduced. Management review meetings had been happening in the background but with no documented evidence, so agendas were set. New logs were created for flagging problems and improvements. Vehicle checks were introduced, along with waste records and site diaries for each project.

In less than a year AAC obtained both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification.

The benefits

Few roofing companies hold this certification, so AAC improved its chances of winning new customers while strengthening retention of existing ones. The company dramatically reduced fuel and tool hire costs and reached a 100% recycling rate.