HELP US TACKLE MISLEADING MARKETING CLAIMS
As you may know, there is unfortunately a growing number of manufacturers on the market making misleading claims about their products. Working to tackle this, a new Marketing Integrity Group, set up by the Construction Products Association (CPA), is in place – part of the Government’s work to change our industry post-Grenfell.
We are currently helping to develop a new, ‘Construction Product Information Code (CPIC). Manufacturers who choose to sign up to the Construction Product Information Code (CPIC) will be agreeing to abide by the highest of standards, ensuring their own product information is accurate, up-to-date, clear and unambiguous and can therefore be relied upon when making decisions about using those products at any stage of design, specification, installation, use and maintenance.
The LRWA sit on this Group, attending meetings (currently virtual) to address how we, as the voice of the liquid waterproofing sector, can improve the information manufacturers provide about products and systems in terms of accuracy, consistency, simplicity and clarity.
We Need Your Input
Do you know of misleading marketing claims that are frequently used and you believe should be avoided in our sector?
It is not uncommon to see statements such as ‘slip resistant,’and ‘fire resistant’. The issue is that marketing statements don’t always reflect that some products may have had limited testing, so are unlikely to perform as expected in a real-life scenario. For example, the liquid system may have only been tested on concrete and not substrates commonly used for refurbishment work in the UK, or it may have been fire tested on a non-combustible substrate. It is also dangerous to use absolute terms such as ‘resistant’.
We’d like our members to contribute to this research, by telling us what examples of poor marketing language and product terms you have seen on the market, why you think they are misleading, and suggesting appropriate language that should be used instead. Please see below for a downloadable spreadsheet that can be used to submit your examples to sarah.spink@lrwa.org.uk.
