For some time now, I have been predicting that it will not be long before we, as Gardeners and Landscapers, will have to become members of a Licensed Industry.
I have been constructing and working in gardens professionally for fifty years, and the workplace of today is radically different from the one I started out in.
Much of the change is for the better. When you consider that in the late sixties we worked with many lethal products and chemicals, some derived from First World War nerve gas and other agents, without the benefit of protective clothing or information (no doubt they existed, but we never used to even think about the danger in handling these materials)
In more recent years, there has been a whole raft of much needed Legislation designed to protect the industry workers, and also the environment at large. Not only in chemical use, but all manner of disciplines, from chain saws to ladders, stone saws to manual handling. The list is ever growing, as products and machinery become ever-more sophisticated, with computers and satellites carrying out much of the mental and physical work on our behalf.
The gossamer of legislation has been tightening in recent years, with many products that were main stay favourites amongst gardeners, lingering at the back of the shed until we thought they were needed, now banned under all kinds of Directives.
Along with this legislation there has grown a body of Professional Gardeners and Landscapers, all working on ‘the land’ in one way or another, on both domestic and commercial sites as well as Estates, Schools, Industrial Parks and just about everywhere that the need for garden construction and maintenance is called for.
These individuals and firms have joined Professional Trade Associations, that demand a very high standard of practical skills, but also a strong awareness of the requirements of the various Statutes and Laws. Not only is the entrance ‘examination’ very robust, annual re-vetting ensures that those standards are maintained, along with all legal documentation and evidence of a full training programme for all staff is in place.
New legislation
that will affect Landscapers and Designers
There is one piece of Legislation that has drawn pretty much all of this gossamer of legal requirements into one Act. Something all encompassing, that will prove of great value to us all.
Starting in 2007, The Construction Design Management (CDM) Regulations came into force, aimed predominantly at the Building Industry, which was going through a particularly bad patch with many accidents and near misses being recorded. CDM 2007 addressed many of the problems found on site, particularly in relation to Health and Safety.
CDM somehow combined Health and Safety with Risk Assessments and Method Statements,
(I realise this is a simplistic statement) which led individuals into appreciating not only the need to improve safety standards, but the was the Regulation was formed allowed for a site ‘story board’ to be produced, that made sense of all the different strands and place them in one document.
The result has been a dramatic fall in the statistics showing accidents and near misses at work within the Building Industry, and the most recent set of CDM Regulations, issued in April 2015 should prove just as effective within the Landscape Industry.
In practical terms, the Act calls for a logical methodology that must be applied by everyone, from the smallest firm operated by one person, to the largest companies, to follow a paper trail designed specifically for a particular project. Anything that has an end product, that is to say virtually all ‘hard’ landscaping, and including some elements of ‘soft’ planting works etc if they involve certain sizes of plant or methods of planting that require lifting equipment of machinery are included within the CDM Regulations.
In practical terms, as a part of your quotation, there is a requirement to set out your Method Statement i.e. how you intend going about carrying out the work. What equipment, including proving that you or your operatives hold the appropriate certificates to use the items, how you intend to complete the works schedule, step by step including recognising all aspects of Health & Safety throughout the process.
This is the beginning of a document or ‘pack’ that will evolve, bespoke to a particular scheme, and will ultimately, on practical completion, be formally handed to the client as a record of all important elements of the construction. These may include plans, drawings, lighting and irrigation layouts. This should be an accurate record of the work you carried out, and will serve as an invaluable document that is intended to remain with the property and form part of any sale agreement in the future.
It is also an opportunity to include other information such as the type of paving or brick used on the project, sand types, mortar mixes, suppliers details as much more. You may also include any instruction manuals, leaflets and warranty on goods or products.
Personally, I welcome this new recognition of the professionalism that goes into creating a garden, and if the industry does ever become a licensed trade (similar to gas installers and chimney sweeps) and only those craftspeople who have received proper training, and hold professional certificates and insurances will be able to work in gardens – even domestic properties – if the house owner wishes to remain covered under their House Insurance policies should anything go wrong as a result of any unlicensed activity.