Bathroom Manufacturers Beware!

A new booklet from the UK Government arrived at the Bathroom Manufacturers Association (BMA) offices recently.

'Good news for those who treat customers fairly - Bad news for those who don't.'
It is all about treating customers fairly and the booklet gives details about new regulations which clamp down on unfair sales and marketing practices.

The new rules were introduced by The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in May 2008 and all businesses involved in the manufacture and sales of goods are affected. And bathrooms are no exception.

Many of the existing laws (including most of the Trade Descriptions Act) have been replaced by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Quite simply it is an offence to mislead consumers.

Time to reflect
‘Now is the time to reflect on how well you are dealing with your customers’ says Yvonne Orgill, Chief Executive of the BMA. ‘The economy has slowed and business is suffering a downturn and bathroom manufacturers can easily fall into the trap of cutting corners to cut costs. Businesses which already trade fairly will have no worries. But those who cut corners and perhaps bend the rules will need to know what may happen if they do. The Trading Standards Service will have new powers of investigation, and possible prosecution, if customers are misled or treated unfairly.’

Product Descriptions in Brochures
Under the new rules misleading descriptions could be dealt with more severely than ever before.
For instance, in a manufacturer's bathroom brochure, describing an acrylic bath made from 5mm sheet as simply a '5mm bath' could be deemed a 'deceptive message.' Consumers may be misled into thinking that the acrylic sheet is 5mm thick all over, when in fact the manufacturing process causes the sheet to vary in thickness. Manufacturers must be very careful how the bath is described and they must be vigilant to ensure that their PR agency is fully and carefully briefed.

Technical Claims
Manufacturers must also be careful what claims they make about the technical standards to which their products comply. For instance if a vitreous china manufacturer claims that a particular WC Suite complies with the requirements of The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 then, clearly, it must. Similarly, shower enclosure manufacturers must be careful. If they claim that an enclosure meets BS EN 14428: 2004 Shower enclosures, then it must do just that.

The BMA
‘As I see it’ say Orgill, ‘if manufacturers follow the rules, don't cut corners, and take care to ensure they don't mislead their customers then they won't have anything to worry about.’

More information about the new regulations can be found at this website http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/unfairtrading

In addition, the Bathroom Academy - a division of the BMA - imparts the very latest information about bathroom products and the relevant regulations. One of the academy's modules goes into the details of Competition Law. More information about the Bathroom Academy and its on-line learning is available from the BMA.

Further Information
For further information please email info@bathroom-association.org.uk or
telephone 01782 747123 and visit http://www.bathroom-association.org