LCA---  25 YEARS OF MAINTAINING STANDARDS
From Alistair Rae, Chairman, Lead Contractors Association 1984 - 1986


It was a cold November day in London as I arrived off the sleeper from Edinburgh to attend the first meeting of a working party set up to consider the formation of a trade association for specialist lead contractors. The meeting had been arranged by the Lead Development Association after earlier efforts involving the BSI had foundered, mainly because of the cost of running a small independent trade organisation of only a hundred members.

I was expecting to become part of an organisation which would involve some very large companies and was therefore somewhat taken aback when Dick Murdoch, Senior Technical Officer of the LDA, (now Lead Sheet Association) asked me to Chair the first meeting.

However, what were to become the basic principals of the new Lead Contractors Association came to the fore right from the outset and over the months that followed, the fundamentals of the Association were developed.

We agreed that all companies would have to prove their ability to install lead sheet correctly by being vetted. Membership would be open to both large and small companies and there would be one vote per member, regardless of company size.

Developing these ideals into a formal constitution didn’t just happen overnight. The discussions ranged (perhaps I should say “raged”) over the size of companies which could be members, the timing and frequency of vetting, the designation of a company and how the LCA could distinguish work carried out on a “labour-only” sub contract basis from that where the contractor took full responsibility on a “supply and fix” contract, as well as many more issues. The arguments were often heated with different views sometimes being quite forcibly expressed by those attending the early meetings. However, despite the different convictions held, the first meetings were purposeful and friendly and a really good camaraderie quickly developed.

My first aspirations for the new Association were to gain early recognition and acceptance by architects and specifiers and in doing so, start to create a better understanding of good design and workmanship. Twenty five years later, the LCA now holds a position of respect within the building industry that few other organisations can claim.

We are acknowledged as specialists by architects and specifiers, with an increasing requirement of LCA membership for building projects that involve the installation of lead sheet. It is recognised that all our members have been assessed for their technical ability in designing and installing lead sheet in order to join our Association, and thereafter their continuing ability to produce work which complies with the current standard (BS 6915) is regularly tested.  

There is no doubt that, essentially as a result of ongoing communication, standards within the LCA have risen since its formation, as photographs over the years in the Annual directory will testify. The training programme that was started at Leicester College in 2001, transferred to the Building Craft College at Stratford in 2004 and is now operated from the Lead Sheet Association’s Roof Training Centre in Kent certainly helped increase awareness of good practice. The LCA technical seminars held annually at various locations have highlighted new applications and discussed problems that have arisen over the years. Specific projects have been dissected and examined as case studies so that one contractor’s experiences have provided benefits for all our membership, both new and old.  

Most importantly, this communication and contact at our various meetings and events has not only brought about the exchange of knowledge between members which in the past rarely ever occurred, it has also provided for both the development of a mutual appreciation in quality standards and a professional camaraderie that I am proud to have been a part of.

The Murdoch Award which has been presented annually since 1996 to the contractor showing excellence in design and workmanship has encouraged members to consistently carry out work of the highest standard. The competitive element of this award has given a quality standards incentive to large and small companies alike.

The future of the LCA is now in the hands of our younger members and if older Councillors like myself could offer any advice, it would be to willingly give of the knowledge they have for the benefit of all - the contractor, the tradesman and the customer. Only by maintaining good design and workmanship will our craft continue to out-live and out-perform alternatives that may initially appear cheaper but which cannot possibly match the long term value of lead sheet in the hands of a skilled specialist.

Work in progress shots from Sykes Roofiing