AEPMA is welcoming its members to become signatories to the new Codes of Practice, the documents that will help achieve higher levels of professionalism within our industry.
As the professional pest management industry’s representative body, AEPMA is committed to promoting a culture of professionalism and innovation not only within our industry but in associated industries such as building and construction, public health and food manufacturing.
It’s probably common knowledge that we at AEPMA have been working on a suite of industry Codes of Best Practice. These Codes have been developed, in large part, to raise the level of quality and professionalism of our industry.
Recently, the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) granted formal approval and authorisation of the two termite management codes:
- AEPMA Code of Best Practice for Termite Management During Construction
- AEPMA Code of Best Practice for Termite Management in Existing Buildings.
These two codes are now complete and available for free on the AEPMA website to interested parties including pest managers, builders and other stakeholders e.g. property managers, strata bodies, business owners, developers and homeowners, all of whom are our customers.
AEPMA has recently written to all members asking if they would like to become signatories to these new Codes. The Codes are voluntary and any pest manager (member or non-member) who signs up to them will have a valuable point of difference with which to market their business.
Pest managers who choose to be bound by the Codes are also required by the ACCC to meet specific levels of practical experience, skills and ongoing training in termite management practices in order to become signatories.
Point of difference
Development of the Codes has been an extensive, collaborative and consultative process, involving several highly experienced and knowledgeable subject matter experts with diverse backgrounds and insights. This has resulted in reference documents that truly represent best practice. This is in stark contrast to other guidelines or standards which albeit, have served us reasonably well up to this point, but only advocate minimum standards.
To further support this initiative, dedicated training courses are being planned by AEPMA, specific to each Code. In essence, the Codes are valuable resource packages that have not been available before.
The Codes of Best Practice offer pest managers helpful resources, including:
- More prescriptive reference documents that pest managers can use as instruction manuals and/or benchmarks for the setting up and delivery of structured, professional services to their clients
- Guidelines for fair dealing between pest managers and their clients, including what a client can expect from a pest management company when he or she agrees to engage its services (including clear dispute resolution guidelines)
- Benchmarks against which pest managers can measure their current practices and methods
- Step by step processes and policies from customer communication, quoting, proposals and service delivery, all the way through to follow-up record keeping and customer satisfaction.
There are many advantages of signing up to the Codes, with obvious benefits including:
- The Codes are voluntary and freely available to any pest manager (member or non-member) as well as to all other stakeholders, including consumers
- The Codes provide a clear and transparent dispute resolution process for both pest managers and their clients
- The Codes set out industry standards of conduct
- Pest managers who become signatories to the Codes undertake work following the Codes of Practice, and their businesses will be listed on the AEPMA website (free to members and at a charge for non-members)
- Enhances your reputation and integrity in the marketplace
- Creates common ground between pest managers and clients in terms of what they should expect and what you should deliver
- Reflects your commitment to service stewardship and quality.
There are many compelling reasons for pest managers to sign up to the Codes of Best Practice and not a single reason not to do so.
Vasili Tsoutouras
AEPMA President
