HVCA name change a ‘reflection of reality’

The Heating and Ventilating Contractors' Association's (HVCA) forthcoming name change is a reflection of reality, said the association's chief executive Blane Judd.

A professional body for building services engineering contractors, the HVCA's forerunner was founded in 1904 to represent the interests of firms active in the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration products and equipment.

But on 1 March, it will say goodbye to the HVCA name and logo – which have been in place since 1963 – when it rebrands as the Building and Services Engineering Association (B&SE).

Judd told the annual HVCA luncheon that the time had come to recognise that its members do more than install heating and ventilating equipment and ductwork, .

“The change is basically HVCA catching up with reality,” said Judd, who took up the reins as chief executive in the middle of last year. “The name reflects what our members do. It was time to demonstrate the breadth of our members' services.”

Many are involved in the installation of building management systems, from energy monitoring systems to renewable energy technologies.

The decision to change the name was made after consultation with members, as well as members’ clients. Clients need more than just fitters of equipment and HVCA members are offering more than just that, Judd said.

More than 90 per cent of members voted for the change late last year.

Judd said another driver is the government’s search for a 20 per cent reduction in construction costs. Public sector organisations are looking across the supply chain for solutions in construction procurement.

Many HVCA members are in a niche market, but more and more they have to be in to several niche markets to survive, especially in the current economic climate, said Judd.

Diversify is the name of the game, said Bruce Bisset, director of Galloway Group and vice president of HVCA. Bisset joined Galloway from technical college in Dundee in the mid-1970s and was eventually part of a five employee management buy-out.

Few companies can afford to be a single niche player in the current economic climate, he told FM World.

Galloway Group was founded in 1872 as a Dundee-based tinsmith. The company has offices and over 10,000 square meters (100,000 square feet) of manufacturing capacity between its two plants in Dundee and Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

The group’s primary activity is ventilation ductwork, for installation and also to sell on to other installers and contractors. But, more and more, the company has been diversifying based on what clients have been asking for, said Bisset. “You’ve got to be flexible.” 

Revenue over the past several years at Galloway’s acoustics division has jumped dramatically after discussions with its offshore clients, who were buying heating and ventilation ductwork.

Galloway now makes bespoke soundproof enclosures for equipment, not to shield people on off-shore oil rigs from noise, but fish, he explained. As part of corporate social responsibility and environmental credentials, Galloway’s clients need to protect the fish surrounding platforms and rigs from noise intrusion, a market  Bisset said the company was not at first aware of.

Other news for Monday, 23 January 2012