The roofing sector is hardly renowned as a political hotbed, yet now, more than ever, the industry is being affected by a host of external issues that are having a huge influence on the market. Skills and training, the environment, health and safety, changing planning policy and even the weather are all having an effect. This is not just operating at an unseen boardroom level - they are influencing the way everyone in the industry works on a day-to-day basis, including manufacturers, roofing contractors, house builders, architects and building merchants. The roofing industry constantly has to adapt, and, worse, the issues have become intertwined - each growing issue needs to be looked at with all the others in mind and that's even before you take more traditional roofing values such as aesthetics into account. This can make life confusing, but clever manufacturers can make sure they are killing several birds with one stone by introducing products to the market that help address all of these issues. To the untrained eye, today's roof tiles and slates may just look like they always have done, but they are now being designed to help the environment, be quicker and cleaner to produce, weigh less, ease the effects of the skills shortage, be easy to fix and more resistant to shifting climatic conditions!
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