UK manufacturer Quinn Radiators has been awarded BES 6001, ‘Framework Standard for the Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products’, by the BSI.
The fact that the company sources all of its steel from Britain was a significant factor in the accreditation.
The BES 6001 certification is awarded to manufacturers that can demonstrate responsible sourcing throughout the whole life cycle of a product, from initial extraction of the raw materials through to manufacture and processing, installation, use and recycling, as well as the environmental and social impacts of its procurement throughout all stages of the supply chain.
Quinn Radiators has received the Responsible Sourcing certification for its state of the art production facility in Newport and all of the radiators it manufactures.
Mike Vernall, health, safety and environmental manager at Quinn Radiators, comments: “These days we’re all more concerned about what goes into the products we buy and responsible sourcing is becoming increasingly important in the construction industry. We are delighted to be recognised for the investment we have made in the way we source, manufacture and supply our products.
“Materials traceability throughout the supply chain is an important part of the BES 6001 certification and the fact we source all of our steel from Tata Steel, just 20 miles down the road in Port Talbot, was a significant factor in our accreditation. In fact 90% of the constituent materials in our products were already BES 6001 registered.”
As well as adding to Quinn Radiator’s ISO 9001 and 14001 accredited management systems for quality and the environment, the new certification offers significant benefit to specifiers.
Mike Vernall adds: “Using products that are responsibly sourced allows specifiers to deliver projects that achieve a higher number of credits within the BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes certification schemes. Responsible sourcing will also become increasingly significant as targets already exist, through the Strategy for Sustainable Construction, for 25% of all construction products to be responsibly sourced. On top of this, the UK Contractors Group has set an ambitious target for 100% of its products to be responsible sourced by 2015.”
Quinn Radiators is the only panel radiator company to not only manufacture all its products in the UK but also to source 100% of the steel from Britain as well. This means customers benefit from consistent quality, guaranteed supply with just a day’s notice, reduced environmental impacts and transport costs, ten year guarantees and after sales technical support.
