Maintaining Flow of Work - Reassuring your customers about Covid-19

Government guidance currently includes:

• do not have visitors to your home, including friends and family

This is naturally putting people off from having work carried out at their homes, and a number of members have already told us about jobs cancelled based on covid-19.

It is of course up to each customer to assess their own circumstances and many (e.g. in high risk categories) will quite rightly choose not to receive a floor layer based on government guidelines. Others, at the other end of the scale, for example with empty properties or new build projects, could easily go ahead. Some customers will have to receive home visits from tradesmen for crtical work and so NICF has gather some best practice together for you to consider to maintain as much of your work flow as possible.

What can you do to secure your income during this period?

As an NICF member, here are some suggestions for things that you can do to help keep your business (and yourself) afloat during this period:

• Contact your customers for upcoming jobs. Reassure them that you are on track to commence their jobs on time and are following NHS guidelines regarding the virus and have the required PPE/Antibacterial products you need to apply them.
• Tell customers you have a number of questions to ask them to help decide if your visit should go ahead. Ask them if:
  - you or anyone in your home has been diagnosed with Covid-19
  - you or anyone in your home has been advised to self-isolate
  - anyone in your home is at higher risk – i.e. over 70, diabetic etc

If the answer is “yes” then your visit should NOT go ahead.

If the answer is “no” and both you and your customer are healthy and showing no signs of any of the symptoms of Covid-19, suggest to the customer that you are happy to go ahead and would like to outline safe practices to include:

• the use of anti-bacterial gel and wipes on vans
• you carry some basic cleaning materials (liquid soap, a bowl, water and towel) on your van to allow you to wash your hands before entering and leaving a customer’s premises
• you to remain 7ft or 2 metres away from them at all times to minimise contact
• wear disposable overshoes in their home
• reassure customers that you have increased hygiene at all premises you work from

By implementing these practices, we hope to help you maximise work available and keep yourself and your customers safe and healthy.