[Clean-A-Windows]

do any of you think we should be licenced as in scotland, having read about "patches" and undercutting, i think there should be some form of regulating our industry as we cant do it ourselfs by the posts on this forum, i think there should be a governing body and some form of offical  trade type card like cscs for builders to say you have reached a certain standard, with h&s and general skills,
Just my thoughts, glad of any feed back.
lets keep the cowboys at bay

[GWCS]

pointless, it took the Scots 10 years to regulate it properly, only now they are pulling their finger out - the police have got  better things to be doing..

i say let the customer decide who cleans their windows.. if they want a "cowboy" compared to a trained, insured professional then thats their choice.

plenty of windows out there.. plenty of customers willing to pay extra for good quality service.

[simon knight]

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[martinsadie]

you want to be careful what you wish for,taxis are licensed round her and the council set there fares when diesil went up there prices couldnt

[leapstallbuildings]

do any of you think we should be licenced as in scotland, having read about "patches" and undercutting, i think there should be some form of regulating our industry as we cant do it ourselfs by the posts on this forum, i think there should be a governing body and some form of offical  trade type card like cscs for builders to say you have reached a certain standard, with h&s and general skills,
Just my thoughts, glad of any feed back.
lets keep the cowboys at bay

I've never been totally comfortable with the idea but what really swung me against it more fully was the news that a W/C was refused a licence because he hadn't paid his council tax.  Assuming he was a "can't pay" rather than a "won't pay", that is effectively banning him from earning a living fort being poor.

[Dave71]

Im from scotland and pay £185 for 3 year and its waste of money cowboys everywhere and nothing done about it,
The council does check if you have paid council tax before they issue you with license but i got nothing against that, why should you get away without paying your council tax, if your on the dole it gets payed for you.

[jouk45]

dave, am from dundee, i am 70 quid for 3 years, i thought we all paid the same fee, where are you in scotland

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

I wish they would bring in a Licence scheme in England, with conditions in the application process i.e. must provide proof on public liability insurance, plus the licence fee must be at a level it will deter the cowboys i.e. £250-£350 for 2/3 years, whats £300 to a professional window cleaner, after all our industry has one of the lowest start up and running cost you could get.




Matt

[mci services]

you are all living in cuckoo land if you think it will deter cowboys, i pay 170 quid for three years and still compete with unlicencened cleaners every day and yes  the slwcn is now starting to make an impact but still has a long way to go before they make a differnce, and as far as solving problems with patches, it makes no differnce, it also limits where you can work, i can drive twenty minutes in any direction and would need another 5 licences.
as far as i am concerned i am stuck with it so need to make it work, but to try to encourage it in england you must be off your heads. be thankfull you dont have it

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

Is it reall that bad then Mac?






Matt

[mci services]

Is it reall that bad then Mac?






Matt

why encourage something you really dont need, does a painter, plaster, bricklayer need a licence even gardiners dont need one, but we all have access to propertys, ie anyone can pick up a scrim and pretend they are a w/c but i could pick a hawk, trowel, and float and become a plasterer, but only w/c, taxi drivers and wheelie bin cleaners, oh and scrap dealerers have to be licenced so why us i ask

[Dave71]

dave, am from dundee, i am 70 quid for 3 years, i thought we all paid the same fee, where are you in scotland

Hi jouk, im from Coupar Angus about 12 mile from you, thats in the in the perth & kinross county.
 Dont know why im paying much more than you, i thought we paid the same fee to. It might go by the size of your county you work in.
Does your license cover as far as  forfar & kirrimuir or just dundee?

[leapstallbuildings]

Im from scotland and pay £185 for 3 year and its waste of money cowboys everywhere and nothing done about it,
The council does check if you have paid council tax before they issue you with license but i got nothing against that, why should you get away without paying your council tax, if your on the dole it gets payed for you.

If you're going through a temporary cashflow problem, IMO you should not be prevented from earning a living in order to rectify the situation.
I don't really have a problem with a licence being needed subject to being tax registered, having PL insurance and maybe even some basic H & S grounding.  However, my view is that the licence should either be free or just the cost of printing it. 

[leapstallbuildings]

I wish they would bring in a Licence scheme in England, with conditions in the application process i.e. must provide proof on public liability insurance, plus the licence fee must be at a level it will deter the cowboys i.e. £250-£350 for 2/3 years, whats £300 to a professional window cleaner, after all our industry has one of the lowest start up and running cost you could get.




Matt

So you don't live on or near the borders of three or four counties then which would up your cost to £750 or £1,000?

[jouk45]

dave, am from dundee, i am 70 quid for 3 years, i thought we all paid the same fee, where are you in scotland

Hi jouk, im from Coupar Angus about 12 mile from you, thats in the in the perth & kinross county.
 Dont know why im paying much more than you, i thought we paid the same fee to. It might go by the size of your county you work in.
Does your license cover as far as  forfar & kirrimuir or just dundee?

i am only covered for the dundee area dave, i have plenty enough  work here, to keep me going, but i have noticed there are loads of new w/c running around since the credit crunch

[Dave71]

jouk i somtimes get offered work in dundee but never take it,  would you be intrested?

[jouk45]

jouk i somtimes get offered work in dundee but never take it,  would you be intrested?

any extra work is welcome dave, thank you, my email is joeuk45@hotmail.co.uk
if you need to contact me