[ Viewpoint: Cabling and jointing ]
The power cabling market has expanded greatly over recent years
How is it governed?
I currently chair the Cabling and Jointing Committee – it comprises four contractors, along with representatives from the ECA, Unite the Union and the JIB. It effectively self-governs, encouraging companies to join the register, and reporting cases where a JIB member has used an unregistered contractor. So far, it’s been relatively successful – the committee is a group of contractors essentially in competition with each other but working together for a greater cause, as we want to keep the sector on a level playing field with the same rates and same benefits for all operatives.
in recession, there has been a growth in data centres; it may decrease slightly on occasions, but there is a definite growth over time. There are some massive projects under way, although most are fairly secretive and are not made known until they are up and running. Banks, credit card companies, insurance companies – even retailers and supermarkets – are taking up a lot of space in data centres. The biggest issue is availability of power.
What is the role of the JIB Cabling and Jointing Register and Committee?
The 30 contractors on the JIB’s Cabling and Jointing Register all agree to accept the JIB rules on rates of pay and terms and conditions of employment for operatives. In return, JIB members who subcontract cabling and jointing work are obliged to use a company from the register.
The JIB Cabling and Jointing Committee exists to monitor and manage this arrangement and to provide leadership of the sector. When the committee was established in 1989, there were numerous contractors who were not on the register and they all used different rates of pay and terms and conditions of employment, creating an unfair advantage against those adhering to the rules. So the committee was established in an attempt to rationalise and standardise this sub-sector of the electrical contracting industry. Working this way has improved relationships across the sector. Because the cabling and jointing sector has grown rapidly, there needed to be something to draw contractors together and ensure all were operating under the same rules. Whilst there is certainly a great deal of competition across the sector, our collaboration on rates of pay and terms and conditions of employment ensures it does not have an adverse effect on operatives, with all of them being paid properly and treated fairly.
58 ECA Today September 2012 It’s vitally
important that we acknowledge the skills of our employees
What does the future hold for cabling and jointing? Like every industry, it depends heavily on the political emphasis on keeping up investment in utilities and other infrastructure. If the government doesn’t invest, it affects the construction industry; we need continued investment in infrastructure to sustain the work that eventually comes down to fuel cabling and jointing contracts. But at present we’re looking at things like nuclear plant development, wind farms and emerging tram and rail networks as all providing opportunities for cabling and jointing contractors. On the workforce development side, contractors would like to review the current cabling working rules, which have not been updated for a number of years, but this is on hold until a formal training infrastructure for the sector has been established, as this will determine much of the way forward. From a collaborative perspective, I’d like to think that more cabling and jointing contractors would want to be part of our register in the future, to create a fairer market for their employees, and that the wider JIB membership fulfills its side of the partnership by sub-contracting cabling and jointing work only to registered companies. By doing so, they can ensure that quality of work and level of competence is maintained.
n For further information, visit
www.jib.org.uk/cjregister Who’s on the register?
Babcock Networks Beaver Management Services
Cable Jointing Services CBL Cable Contractors Conquest Cabling Services Creatside FB Taylor (Cable Contractors) Ltd IES Instrumentation Electrical Services Industrial Power Solutions Integrated Cable Services
LG Farncombe Esq Cable Jointing Specialists Mains Distribution MBS Power Installations MEC Cable Division Metricab Power Engineering
MGR Contracting Limited Midland Cable Jointing Murphy PFM Power Powerseal Electrical Cable Contractors
Premier Cable Installations Quartzelec
South Eastern Cable Contractors
SP Cabling Co Ltd S W A Cable Installations Thames Cable Co TA Ronan & Co TM Lievesley Wirepoint WT Parker Group
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