Position in 2008: 8
Getting installation right and making the installer's voice heard is still an issue, but at least there are some moves in the right direction...
In an ideal world, installation really shouldn't be on this list at all. It's obviously such an essential part of every single sale of a kitchen, bedroom or bathroom that it should be taken as read that if a customer hands over the money, then their purchase will be fitted by a competent professional with all the necessary training and qualifications and with the minimum fuss or disruption.
However we all know that's not always the case and never has been.
There are, of course, thousands of fitters and installers who more than fit that description but even they find themselves frequently hamstrung by faulty products, late deliveries, unworkable designs or problems that should've been spotted a long time before they were.
The issue centres around the fact that anyone can decide one day to be a kitchen or bathroom fitter and start the next day without any comeback apart from the cries of the unsuspecting consumer.
With so much marketing spend put into selling the product, and so much hard work put into designing the room, it's perverse that there is often still a strangely old-fashioned 'you don't know a good kitchen/bathroom fitter do you?' element to the customer experience.
However, installation has dropped down our top 10 and that's because of several significant changes since 2008. Back then, we questioned whether the new formation of the Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom and Bathroom Installers (iKBBI) would have an impact, but now, in 2010 it's still here and it's making major inroads into its goals of raising standards across the board.
It's now up to more than 500 members, buoyed by fitters looking for new business as the market slumped, and that can only be seen as very positive. It has also scored an important coup by pinning down a commitment from Tesco that only iKBBI members will be called on to fit its new kitchen and bathroom offer.
Elsewhere, the KBB National Training Group (NTG) announced the Industry Standards Register (ISR) at the end of September 2009. Designed to act as, among other things, a directory for consumers to find qualified fitters, it also has a final aim of raising standards and improving the customer experience and the industry's reputation.
The ISR has the support of the iKBBI but, as with them in 2008, time will tell whether this initiative will turn out to be helpful - and, equally, will the introduction of another body simply bind up the good ideas and best intentions in red tape?
There have already been some heated discussions between NAPIT, the inspection body appointed to run the ISR, and the iKBBI over who exactly should go on what list. That kind of public disagreement won't encourage the already sceptical installer to join either, let alone both.
However, the sheer fact that these discussions are taking place at all shows that the kbb industry is moving in the right direction when it comes to installation standards. Also it's always worth mentioning that many manufacturers are now directly engaging with the fitter not only in training on existing products, but also at the development stage of new ones.
But it should never be forgotten that those installers prepared to attend training courses and join professional bodies are probably the ones who didn't need the help in the first place. Enforcing regulations to eliminate unqualified cowboys is always going to be a much bigger problem and one that only the Government can solve.
