Roofing industry is prepared for the Wkb

The Building Quality Assurance Act (Wkb) requires burden of proof from construction companies. Or rather, from all companies active in construction, including specialized subcontractors. The KOMO-certified roofing industry is well prepared for this.

For more than 25 years, roofers and their suppliers have been KOMO certified. For pitched roofs, certification is based on BRL 1513 and for flat roofs on BRL 4702. From a quality point of view, both assessment guidelines are the tip of the iceberg in their field. They refer to implementation guidelines and professional guidelines for the implementation aspects of roofing. And they refer to other KOMO assessment guidelines for demonstrating the suitability and quality of materials to be used.

Checks are the core of supervision under KOMO

Erik-Jan de Bont, operational manager at the KOMO Foundation: "The roofing sector is one of the fields within the KOMO system in which quality thinking has been fully developed. KOMO roof inspectors visit roofers on the building site, during the execution of the work. They do this unannounced based on the certificate holder's weekly schedule." How often do they do this? "That varies with the company size and the square meters of roof a roofer completes," explains De Bont. "It starts at several times a year and goes up to several times a month."

Checks in practice form the core of supervision under KOMO. These are supported by checks on the proofs that roofers submit. KOMO auditors randomly assess the certificate holder's project files during company visits. The project files must show that even the projects that were not visited meet the quality requirements set by BRL 1513 and BRL 4702, respectively.

The Dakmeester Foundation and trade association VEBIDAK have been involved in the creation of both assessment guidelines for years. Their members can face the arrival of the Wkb without any worries. What the Wkb requires of construction companies has been commonplace for them for years.

Roofmaster perfects app for Wkb

Will Verwer is president of the Foundation Roofmaster. The Dakmeester Foundation , which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, is a platform of qualified roofers and leading manufacturers of materials for pitched roofs. The individual members are all KOMO-certified on the basis of the BRL 1513. In recent years, expertise and professionalism around sustainable pitched roofs and circular construction has been a top priority. For example, the BRL 9933 'Mounting solar energy systems on and to buildings' is under development, together with SKG-IKOB, partners of the foundation and external parties.

We asked Will Verwer how the run-up to the Wkb is progressing within the foundation. "We started building an app back in 2014 together with SKG-IKOB as a roof file for members' internal quality assurance. In the beginning mainly a checklist based on the Building Code. This app turned out to be an excellent fit for the legislation of the Wkb. Over the years, this app has been further perfected and we are still working on it. Think photos, a list of materials used, a risk analysis, a quality declaration of products, a maintenance plan. All of our members have received a mini iPad with the app on it. I can say that by now everyone works with this. With this, our members are excellently equipped for the new legislation!

VEBIDAK: Wkb is a question of awareness

Deputy director André van den Engel of VEBIDAK indicates that VEBIDAK members have been prepared for the Wkb for years. "All members meet our criteria in terms of business operations, continuity and entrepreneurship. Many of the members hold the KOMO process certificate based on BRL 4702 'Realization and maintenance of roofing structures with closed roofing systems'. The same applies to KOMO product certificates on the basis of BRL 1511 and BRL 1309.

For years we have been working with the Professional Guideline for Closed Roofing Systems, which is part of the BRL 4702. Basically a 'checklist' for design, execution, including photos et cetera. In the coming months we will further perfect this professional guideline and make it available to members as a model.

In any case, we advise members to indicate in their tenders how they will demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the Building Decree and soon-to-be Decree on Building Works for the Living Environment. For new construction requiring a permit, the contractor will ask for demonstrable quality because of his burden of proof under the Wkb. So we are already prepared for that with certification and the professional guideline.

Our message to members in the run-up to the Wkb is: you already have it in order, quality assurance is nothing new and not cost-prohibitive for us. It's a matter of awareness!"