Dome standard rooflight.

NARM represents a complete cross section of the rooflight design and material type manufacturers in the UK . The association promotes co-operation between member companies, in order to develop and maintain standards and codes of practice—and to provide an authoritative information portal for rooflight specifiers. All Full and Associate Members of the National Association of Rooflight Manufacturers are:

• Focused on quality and have obtained, or are working towards, BS EN ISO 9001:2000Registration.
• Committed to staff training and development.
• Able to offer balanced advice on the use of rooflights, rooflight materials and rooflight systems without misrepresentation.
• Dedicated to customer satisfaction through the development and supply of quality rooflights, rooflight materials and systems.
• Supplying only those products which comply with relevant UK and European Standards and Building Legislation.
• Promoting good business practice and publish clear statements on terms of sale and product warranties.

A NARM spokesman reflects on their role and the design of rooflights:

“Omitting rooflights from a building is often seen as a short-term (and misguided) cost saving measure. This totally ignores the major benefits natural daylight can bring. Natural daylight is a freely available resource; through a carefully designed daylighting scheme, rooflights can utilise that resource, bringing life cycle cost savings in terms of less power for artificial lighting, therefore benefiting the environment. Improved efficiency through natural daylight also brings the benefit of increased productivity and therefore improving investment ‘payback’ times. Health benefits of natural daylight are well documented.

NARM’s mission must therefore be to continue the promotion of daylight in buildings, through the use of rooflights. Our strengths, as an Association, lie with our Members and a very well respected Technical Team. We’ll continue to be active in research and development and will regularly produce and publish technical documents and bulletins. Rather than just following legislation we are, as a Trade Association, looking to lead the way in contributing to its development.”

NARM is regarded as an active organisation and not a passive, administrative function. For instance:

• NARM has a continuing working function in European Standardisation, leading UK representation on the CEN Working Groups revising and developing European Standards such as EN1013, prEN1873and WI 00128038, and chairing the BSI B/542/8mirror committee to CEN/TC128/9.
• The Technical Committee has commissioned a research report from the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development at De Montfort University, to provide supporting data for the Part L Building Regulations (2002).
• NARM are members of a number of ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) Working Groups looking at revisions to Building Regulations Part L due to be published in 2005.
• NARM is represented on the Advisory Committee for Roof work(ACR) which works on roof safety issues, and NARM is currently developing further recommendations for long term non-fragility of inplane rooflights, published in a document, NARM 2004/1.Details are posted on our website.
• NARM has been heavily involved with development of new harmonised European fire tests, contributing to various PII projects with ODPM, and continuing to be involved with BSI FSH/22/8committee and development work with BRE FRS.

’Xtralite fully endorse those views and as exemplified by this website hope to raise both the level of design and rooflight specification by actively working with specifiers throughout all the stages of specification.