Member Services

We work incredibly hard for our members, after all, without our members we are nothing.

By promoting the industry and our individual members, the services they provide and the benefits those services have to offer, we can help the glass polishing industry make the jump from a 'niche' to a mainstream industry, readily accepted by all industries and commercial markets.

By working with our members to constantly improve the services we offer and the way in which those services are provided, we WILL drive the glass polishing industry forward.  As we become more mainstream, our members will secure more work, making a better living, employ more glass polishers and expand glass polishing into an ever increasing range of markets.

We also, through group purchasing, negotiate good deals on tools, equipment and consumables for our members, together with cheaper rates for insurance and admin services and accountancy.

With the introduction of Guild Qualifications, Guild members finally have the opportunity to gain Industry Recognised Qualifications and recognition as a true professional.

But probably the strongest tool in for our members is access to our network of Guild Qualified glass polishers.

The Guild Network offers a skilled, fully equiped work force made up of experienced Guild Qualified glass polishers, throughout the U.K. at a fixed cost.  Our members are able to access the Guild Network whenever they need additional polishers.  At a glace of a Guild members profile, you can see their skill level, their working area, their levels of liabilty insurance, their additional skills such as I.P.A.F. or rope access ability, giving you the confidence that they will represent your business in a professional manner.

A fully skilled and equiped workforce on an as and when required basis allows you to accept contracts when you yourself maybe busy on another contract, all at a fixed cost.  Or perhaps your customer has a short contract in an area of the country that is not cost effective for you to travel to on a day rate.  This is no longer a problem, simply use the Guild Network to find a member in that area and you still make money.

And... don't forget, any contract booked through The Guild comes with an independent guarantee that your contract will be completed to your customers satisfaction.

Industry Recognised Qualifications

The Guild of Glass Polishers have been working to establish an industry recognised training and qualification programme, providing skill training, skill recognition and professional verification.

To date there has not been any form of qualifiaction in the glass polishing industry, allowing anyone to pick up a polishing machine and call themselves professionls.  This often has a detremental effect on our industry, leaving customers with substandard repairs and giving our industry  a bad name.

By introducing and promoting an industry recognised qualifiaction, we aim to give industry customers a simple method to easily identify a true professional glass polisher.  By choosing a Guild Qualified glass polisher, you as a customer can be assured that they have the skills and experience to repair your glass quickly, safely and that you recieve real value for your money.

What's more, using a Guild Qualified glass polisher means that your repair will be independently guranteed by The Guild of Glass Polishers giving additional peace of mind.

Whether you are a residential customer with a single scratch repair or a commercial or construction manager with large multiple repairs, a Guild Qualification shows that a glass polisher not only has the professional skill and ability, it shows that they possess the correct liability insurance, valid C.S.C.S qualifications, their equipment is PAT tested, they operate within their Method Statement and that they will have carried out and submitted a full risk assessment for your project.

For an industry professional, a Guild Qualification mean industry recognition, not just within the construction or commercial sector, but for insurance, C.I.T.B. and a whole host of other sectors.  It also helps with employing new technicians.  Employing a Guild Qualified glass polisher means you already know their ability and standard of work.

Overall, an industry recognised qualification programme will help us to promote and instill a sense of confidence in the glass polishing industry, providing customers with the best service and our members with a strong industry to thrive in.

In much the same way as you would only employ a Gas Safe or Corgi engineer to service your boiler, we hope that you would only employ a Guild Qualified glass polisher to repair your scratched glass.

For more information on finding a Guild Qualified glass polisher, or to learn more about our training and qualifiaction programme, please call us, we are happy to help.

Raising the Bar: A New Standard for Visual Quality

For the past 17 years, the Standard of Visual Quality for Installed Flat Glass, introduced by The Glass & Glazing Federation, has been the accepted industry standard for the glazing and construction sectors.

If we are brutally honest, it was accepted as the industry standard because it was the only standard available at a time when a standard was needed.

When this standard was concieved, it was a godsend to the industry and it has served us all well for many years, but as the quality of glass improves and the abilities of glass polishing systems improve and, more importantly, as the end user expectations become ever more demanding, a new standard is called for.

The Guild of Glass Polishers have recently published a new Standard of Visual Quality for the repair of installed flat glass, which demands a much higher standard of repair and viewing criteria.

Although originally written for the viewing of repaired glass, many users have found that these standards of visual quality far exceed any others in the industry as they perform equally well for the general inspection of installed flat glass.

This document is freely offered to assist indutry and end users alike to establish an increased acceptable visual standard for flat glass.

 

Advice: Any dispute relating to a standard of glazing is between the supplier and customer.  Although you can seek expert advice and or mediation from a number of sources, remember that this is a third-party service, usually chargeable.

Although some organisations may lead you to believe differently, there is no official governing body for the glazing industry.  Organisations offering guidance and advice, including ourselves, have no authority and cannot legislate or enforce anything.

The best advice we can give you is to include a standard for the visual quality for installed flat glass in your initial purchase, supply or installation agreement.  In this way you have stipulated your required standards for the installed glass and had it agreed to by your supplier that will stand up in a court of law.

 

For further information relating to our standard of visual quality for the repaired flat glass, or any other service offered by The Guild of Glass Polishers, please visit our website: www.guildofglasspolishers.co.uk

 

By Popular Demand: Our Service Desk is Launched

We have recieved so many requests to oversee glass polishing projects that we have created our Commercial Service Desk.

Designed to be a ‘One-Call’ service for scratched glass repair anywhere in the U.K, our commercial service desk takes away the hassle and uncertainty involved with your glass polishing projects.

At no extra cost to you, The Guild can arrange every aspect of your scratched glass repair, from the initial site survey through to completion. What’s more, if a repair is booked through The Guild, our independent guarantee ensures that your repairs are carried out to the highest standards in the industry and our members do not get paid until you have signed to show that you are completely satisfied with the repairs. In the unlikely event something should go wrong on your contract, The Guild will be on hand to rectify the situation, all at no cost to you.

Whatever your scratched glass problem, our Service Desk, manned by a team of highly experienced, professional glass polishers, is on hand to provide advice and guidance and to provide the solutions you need.  Simply call our Service Desk on 0121 680 4440 or email us at info@guildofglasspolishers.co.uk

The Guild of Glass Polishers is a free resource to anyone with a scratched glass problem. Our primary aim is to promote and support the scratched glass repair industry and the services of our members. Just as important is to safe guard the end users of our industry, as without them – You – the customer, we would not have a industry.

Damage Assessments : Should you pay for 3rd party damage?

As scratch damage to glass becomes an ever increasing problem for contractors, so too does the issue of meeting the cost of repair. Counter charging within the construction industry is now standard, but that brings with it many more issues in proving culpability.

If you have the need to prove, disprove or identify liability in the cause of scratch damage to glass, The Guild of Glass Polishers can help.

Our senior technicians have the skills and experience to determine how scratch damage has been caused and to establish a time-line, comparing the cause of the damage to tasks or projects that would have been working in the immediate area of the damage.

The most common causes of scratch damage on a construction or commercial development are down to careless cleaning, decorating or rendering and usually have nothing to do with the installation.

These reports also include a step by step guide as to how the damage was caused and how that could tie in with works carried out around the immediate area of the damage caused.  Our reports also detail the precise location of the damage and a full, fixed cost of repair, together with the time required to undertake the repairs, giving you a complete assessment of your scratch damage problem.  This sort of comprehensive information proves invaluable when looking to 'counter charge' the cost or repairs.  Our damage assessment reports have been successfully presented in the courts.

A growing number of our clients are now regularly using our Damage Assessment Reports as standard practice on completion of large glazing contracts, instructing us to assess all glazed units within a specific contract.

Using our reports in this manner provides our clients with documented evidence that their contract was completed without scratch damage and that the standard of glazing at the time of completion complied with The Glass & Glazing Federations standards for visual quality as fit for purpose.

Please note that our damage assessment reports are carried out without bias and should not be used for avoiding liability.

For free advice, free estimate or free site visit call our customer service team today, even the phone call is free!

We have a fixed cost for undertaking Damage Assessment Reports throughout the U.K. of £440 +VAT
The Guilds own Master Glass Polishers carry out every Damage Assessment Report.
If you have one or two scratched units in your house, then no, it is not worth spending money on something that would be cheaper to replace, but if you have a large project where multiple glass units have been damaged, then most definately, as our reports provide all the information and technical details required to seek compensation or legal reimbersement.