Installations in shopping centres & dealing with Jobswor

[duncan24]

Signmakers always get the poo end of the stick (:)

youre doing the guy a favour insurance wise, nice to know you want to cover yours & his own back when doing a job, i mean blimey why would you want to risk doing that ?? 👿 👿 what a waste of time….

HEAR THE SARCASM

🙄 :lol1:

Let it out mate, friday tomorrow. 😎

[George Elsmore]

i have had the misfortune to do a contract for shopping centres and i dont know if it comes with the job description but yes they are complete tossers!! they put hurdles in the way of every single step of the way. everyone has a boss so try and get past him to someone higher up and ask them if it is there policy to alienate contractors. If you are busy body swerve it go back in wait till there are public about and humiliate the twat! or just butt him in the face!!!

sorry there is not much advice there but i had a bad experience and it took me an age to get my money!!

[Roy Roffey]

hey dave,

I know exactly what you mean pal. on a recent job at a new shopping center in Plymouth i had the " DEVELOPMENT MANAGER " come up with the idea he was god and every thing had to go through him before anyone was allowed on site. I was being a true professional and tried to accommodate his wishes but as he kept pushing his luck it came to a point where i had to tell him that "unless you are the one paying my invoice – sod off and get out of my way son !!! "

therefore unknowing to me his boss ( MD of the whole development ) was stood behind me and gave me all the approvals i needed to complete the work……funny that.

point is Dave these things are sent to try us pal and my advice is to go to whoever is employing you and see if they can resolve the problem

good luck

roffs

[David Rogers]

I’ve had the potential for problems with shopping centre management, but thankfully it’s always gone quite smoothly as they WANT the new shops trading as quickly as possible…no access for me, means no trading.

All the usual: artwork pre-approved, risk assessments, COSHH, method statements, permits to work, unsocial access times (7.00pm+).

So far, so good…almost ‘easy’, especially when working for a retailer & not the centre themselves for some reason.

Just sounds like your local guy is a bit of a git…maybe he has mates who are signmakers & tries to give them work?

[Dave Harrison]

Dave I was thinking exactly the same thing 😀 his brothers probably got a sign company !

Anyway thanks for all your comments guys, I’ve had a few hours to calm down. I’ve decided its best I bite my lip and carry on.. no need to cut my nose to spite my face so to speak.

thanks again

dave

[Shane Drew]

Its almost a relief to discover you have these same problems. I think the guy has figured you make more money than his dead end job, and is getting is pound of flesh :lol1:

I had one the other day. A bus transit centre here wanted me to change a 600mm x 600mm steel sign on the wall, advising customers of new bus timetables.

But because of the anti terrorism thing, I was not allowed to park my van onsite, but rather had to park it away from the area (no ‘unauthorised’ vehicles (read:buses only) to park in the bus apron)

Then the centre management tells me that I have to sit a 15 minute induction, but I must be there 2 hours before the induction to register on the day. Then, I have to pay $20 for the induction fee.

All I need to do is unscrew 4 holes, remove the old sign and fit the new one.

I told them, and my client, that I was not interested. It would cost me more in labour than I was going to get for the job. I suggested they pay my hourly rate, and parking fee whilst I waited for the course to start, and they declined.

So I told them I’d supply only, and they could get the maintenance man to fit it. They decided that was a better idea.

🙄

[Martin Pearson]

maybe we are a bit luckier in Scotland, Dave says he hasn’t had any real problems and I have done work in quite a few different shopping centres and apart from having to increase my liability insurance the first time I had a job to do have never really had any problems. As Dave says they all want to make sure you are doing the job properly and normally access is during the quiet hours but thats about all, I did have a security guard once ask me to ensure the area which I was working in was coned off which made me laugh as we were the only people in the centre but as I always carry cones in the van it wasn’t a problem.
As Dave has also said perhaps he has a friend who is a signmaker or is on commission for work done by someone else.

[Dave Harrison]

Shane that is crazy !
It also illustrates why we need to know exactly what is expected of us when quoting so we can price accordingly !

Martin – I think I should move to Scotland 🙂

I respect correct working practices, health and safety, security, out of hours working restrictions and so on.

However when I request a list of the correct procedures and requirements to work at a specific location, I expect my inquiry to be met with a professional and informative response. Not verbal abuse !

[Shane Drew]

quote Dave Harrison:

I expect my inquiry to be met with a professional and informative response. Not verbal abuse !

Amen to that! 😕

[Alan Cooper]

We had something similar – I don’t think you can get a job in these centres unless you’re a jobsworth. A customer of mine has a store in a centre in the south east. One of his windows had etch film on the inside, and he wanted me to put up a temporary poster on the outside of the window. Jobsworth came up as I was about to peel off the d/sided tape and slap this poster on the window and told me that because of health and safety he had to cone the area off! He went off to get his cones, and I stuck up the poster while he was away! It took me about a minute.
Maybe he should have stood next to me with a megaphone warning the public of the hazard I was causing. I know where I’d like to stick his cone….

[Russell Spencer]

Well apparently we are all doomed anyway, Steve Martin of XMO Strata (a nationwide fitting company) has written a book and to quote Sign Link magazine ‘ blows the whistle on alleged scams, frauds, dodges and health and safety breaches which he claims occur through the sign industry’
Now I know this is aimed at larger companies but it will make it more difficult for smaller businesses to even step up to the mark and make an effort in in health and safety, instead of making positive efforts to bring companies up-to date with the current legislations which are changing on a monthly basis, it effectively alienates small signmakers and this book is a cheap effort at bringing himself more work, which unfortunately will probably work in the current climate. To me he is the classic health and safety jobsworth, more concerned with paperwork and form filling than actually getting the job done, there are hundreds of signfitters out there who dont do risk assesments and work to method statements but probably have much more common sense and practical application of health and safety than anyone.

[Robert Lambie]

quote signsurfer:

there are hundreds of signfitters out there who dont do risk assesments and work to method statements but probably have much more common sense and practical application of health and safety than anyone.

i am all for safety at work and i believe that there is necessary health and safety procedures as well as experience qualifications needed in many cases when it comes to proper sign installations and materials used. if for nothing else, it will prevent the cowboys of the trade with very little or no experience undercutting us and possibly killing a public passer by in the process, if not themselves.
however, although contradicting myself, your statement above is VERY true… :appl:

[Dave Harrison]

huh. . .

My mate the Shopping Centre Manager, has probably gone out and bought himself a copy. thats why he’s being a pain in the arse !

At £14.99 its got to be worth a read !

[John Harding]

Hi Dave

Just read this post frankly I think you’ve answered your own question

quote :

I know these things are sent to try us but right now I feel like just calling back the client and telling him I won’t be submitting a quote.

Its nice to hear your busy I think forget the hassle jobs and concentrate on the simpler ones usually makes for better financial rewards.

John