Seeking service you can trust?

Empowering consumers to make informed choices when buying compressed air goods and services is a common aim and during the last two years BCAS has been developing a register managed by Referenceline to help users find the right firm for them

All businesses on the AirSAFEregister web site have been vetted and approved by BCAS to ensure that they operate in a legal, honest and fair way.

The register aims to drive up business standards and boost customer confidence by using a standard set of questions for customers to rate the performance of the firms they use. As all members use the same set of questions, customers can benchmark all firms on the register. Those listed are regularly audited by BCAS to ensure processes, standards and complaint procedures are being maintained.

Independent checks A firm's technical skills have been independently checked through peer review, as well as checks on their trading record and financial status. All firms have signed up to a code of practice that includes insurance, good health and safety practices and customer care. The BCAS AirSAFEregister is managed independently by Referenceline who has checked and will continue to monitor the firm's quality of work, trading practices and customer satisfaction; Firms will be able to tell you about any compressed air system regulations you must comply with and may also be able to provide appropriate certificates. If you have a problem or disagreement, a user-friendly complaints procedure is there to help resolve the issue.

If a firm displays the BCAS Member logo you know that we have approved the firm and found that it meets the required criteria.

Before employing a firm, please check its status on the AirSAFEregister.

More than 90% of consumers recommend the BCAS member firms listed. However, nobody's perfect and we will publish complaints as well as praise. BCAS Member firms can't ask us to hide some comments and publish others - it's all or nothing.

The BCAS AirSAFEregister is just like word of mouth: Don't take our word for it.

Don't take their word for it.

See what their customers say.

Referenceline is free to consumers, because it's paid by BCAS. However, it is independent of BCAS and its members.We don't TELL you, we SHOW you.We want you to be confident that we don't edit your responses, so we show handwritten comments on our site.We think it's more interesting - even if, sometimes, they do take a little time to read! Over 90% of the feedback we receive is positive, recommending the firm concerned.

But you can read the complaints as well, even if the firm doesn't agree with the customer.

How do I choose? Don't be impressed by a few high ratings: Look for a consistent pattern of references Expect to see the occasional low rating.

You can't please everybody.

Read the work descriptions and comments to get a flavour for the firm's reputation.

Treat the information as a starting point and raise any questions with the firm.

The work by Referenceline with other schemes suggests a pattern which we expect applies to most businesses.

Customers report that the vast majority of BCAS member firms meet most of the code requirements most of the time. The top 10% of firms stand out from the rest with consistently higher ratings for Satisfaction, although this reaches a 'glass ceiling'of roughly 9 out of 10. These same firms also achieve the highest response rates, because their loyal customers are more likely to make the effort to reply to our survey.

So, a large number of responses is likely to indicate a firm with very happy customers, and is also most likely to be representative.

To try out the scheme, please visit: www.bcas.org.uk and click on the AirSAFEregister link.