Contractor Membership
Our contractor members are some of the best in the sector. Membership provides the tools to develop your business and demonstrate your organisation’s professional excellence.
Why should you consider joining the FIS?
FIS is the trade association for the Finishes and Interiors Sector, a growing community of fit-out contractors and contractors, installers and suppliers of ceilings, steel framing systems, partitions, operable walls, plastering and drylining.
We are run as a not-for-profit company and our Board of Directors are all (non paid) members of the organisation. Through their leadership and working closely members through daily contact, our specialist working groups and regional contractor forums our team provide targeted support to help set and raise standards and support the day-to-day challenges of businesses in this sector.
Included in your membership subscription is:
- Technical support and guidance
- Professional advice on cost or quantum issues (e.g. disagreement over a variation or valuation)
- Contractual and legal assistance
- Expert guidance on employment issues
- Unlimited credit checks
Below is a list of benefits, but remember joining the FIS means you have an expert, dedicated team, on your side and just a phone or email away.
It’s about Quality, Integrity and Reassurance: All FIS members are vetted
FIS Membership allows you to demonstrate your quality credentials to clients. FIS members are:
- Regularly audited and compliant with the FIS Code of Conduct.
- FIS Members are up-to-speed on compliance issues, industry developments and focused on quality.
- FIS have a strong reputation as a proactive organisation that gets stuff done, our reputation and technical guidance helps to project our community and members to the wider construction, client and specification world.
It’s about Risk Management: Helping you to identify and manage risk in your business risk
FIS will help you to identify your risks and how to overcome them:
- Evidence compliance and support your risk management processes by using our simple Product, Process, People (PPP) model and Risk Management Toolkit
- Our Health and Safety Toolkit is kept up to date with latest compliance and best practice advice.
- Our Contractual Tool kit includes template resources, standard terms and access to a network of specialist legal advisers and delay and quantum experts.
- FIS Members can, through FIS, review and test their existing insurance arrangements.
It’s about Knowledge: Expert advice
FIS offers you access to independent and expert advice and knowledge:
- FIS can help you overcome obstacles, manage difficult clients and plan change.
- As well as developing expert guides and toolkits, FIS retain an expert team that can support with commercial, legal, technical and sustainability matters.
- FIS regularly publish and share key market trend and benchmarking reports to support your planning.
- FIS have developed the Digital Spine to support contractors in understanding digital tools, this is backed up by an expert digital mentoring service designed to help companies to consider and plan any investment in digital tools.
- FIS appointed a Sustainability Champion to join our team in 2021, as well as developing guidance and template tools, setting up and delivering projects that support a sectoral approach and advsing our wider work, we can provide individual guidance and support to members on their net zero journey and setting policies to support their tender work.
- We have an extensive online knowledge hub, supported by a dedicated advisory service and helpline, including a technical team to answer your queries, if necessary we can arrange expert witness work at preferential rates for members.
It’s about Community: Be part of a dynamic network
FIS draws the community together to encourage collaboration and best practice exchange:
- Regional Contractor Forums our Annual Conference, Regular Webinars, and SpecFinish magazine.
- Regular specialist working groups in drylining, heritage plastering, operable walls, ceilings, partitions, digital construction, health and safety, steel framing systems and fit-out.
- Members can access our monthly special interest webinars and online meetings too
It’s about Sales: FIS is focussed on helping you to win work
FIS promotes its members through an extensive outreach programme:
- Members are promoted to the construction sector via our online Member Directory Search (over 14,000 searches in 2021).
- Through our Specifiers Guides and partnerships with Barbour ABI and NBS, FIS promotes our community
- Gain recognition as a top fit-out company in the UK through FIS Awards and projects director
- We have regular dialogue with clients, specifiers, main contractors and other key stakeholders (who often participate in our working groups and events).
- Supported through the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) tender process.
It’s about Competence: Attacking the profound labour and skills gap
FIS is providing the training and skills the sector needs:
- Our dedicated skills team works with a network of Approved Training Providers and FE colleges to attract new people to the sector and deliver a qualified and competent workforce.
- FIS has developed competency pathways for key roles to support recruitment and career planning.
- FIS has run a number of Regional Workshops with the Department of Work and Pensions, CITB and careers advisors to support a targetted approach to recruitment. This is being used to develop a more consistent recruitment strategy for members.
- On our skills and funding clinics recouped almost £250,000 for members in terms of additional grant claims in 2021.
- FIS has developed a Competency Passport system with a leading provider dedicated to the finishes and interiors sector and available to members at a fraction of the open market rate.
It’s about Value: Saving you money
FIS as well as developing support tools and information, FIS works with partners to highlight opportunities and negotiate premium service or discounts:
- FIS Members and their teams can access a basket of discounted services through the FIS.
- We have expertise available to help you to identify and secure training and local business grants and R&D Tax Credits.
- Plug in to our specialist team to access funding to support NVQs (see latest offers here)
- Visit our Benefits Hub to see the range of services provided through FIS and our partner network focussed on saving you money
It’s about You: Fighting your corner
We ensure our members’ voice is heard in the development of policy, technical standards and building regulations.
- Fair payment in construction – FIS is an active voice on the Construction Leadership Council we remain dedicated to end cash retentions, unreasonable contractual clauses and transfer of design liablity and unfair payment practices.
- Modern Methods of Procurement – FIS is actively researching and promoting better procurement practices and early supply chain engagement.
- Unravelling red tape – through our newsletters, magazines and direct engagement we help members to future proof their businesses, and prepare for industry and regulatory changes and uncertainty
- Conflict Avoidance and Disputes – FIS is a signatory of the Conflict Avoidance Pledge and works with members to avoid disputes whilst providing support through our legal advisors and specialist team when disputes arise.
Membership criteria
FIS membership is not automatic and applicants are subject to strict vetting procedures.
The main criteria for contractor membership is that companies should:
- Have an established track record in the interiors sector
- Have traded for at least two years (two sets of accounts filed with Companies House)
- Be financially stable
- Workmanship meets commercially acceptable standards
- Be able to comply with the FIS Code of Code (where applicable)
(Should a company not meet the above criteria, they may be eligible to register for Associate Membership – KickStart)
Code of Conduct
On being accepted into the Association, all members agree to subscribe to and abide by the terms of the FIS Code of Conduct (where applicable to your company), which establishes a minimum standard of conduct for members in order to raise and maintain industry standards.
The FIS code of conduct requires members to:
- Conduct business in a manner that will reflect credit on the Association, the industry and themselves.
- Adopt and commit to the principles and practices laid down by FIS.
- Act with integrity towards others and exercise high standards of business practice and workmanship.
- Be committed to training its workforce.
- Ensure that they are conversant with and adhere to the relevant current British, European and International Standards and other relevant technical standards, regulations and practices.
- Ensure (in so far as they are able) that their products or systems are tested and/or comply with the recognised standards specified by the client or statutory authorities.
- Not knowingly mislead others by fact or implication as to the performance of their products or systems.
- Hold required levels of statutory and appropriate insurance.
- Operate an effective health and safety policy and have a current health and safety policy statement.
- Keep records of all RIDDOR reportable accidents and provide annual accident statistics to FIS.
- Have and implement an appropriate environmental policy statement.
- Display wherever practical the FIS Accredited Member Logo or FIS Associate Member Logo (as applicable) on its premises, website, business stationery and brochures and make this Code of Practice available for inspection.
Subscription Rates
| Turnover under £500,000 | £64 per month | |
| £500,000 to £5m turnover | £105 per month | |
| £5m to £10m turnover | £119 per month | |
| £10m to £20m turnover | £146 per month | |
| Over £20m turnover |
£175 per month |
Members joining the FIS are charged a one-off joining fee: £275 + VAT (used to part cover the cost of the vetting process)
Subscriptions are annual (1 January to 31 December) and subject to VAT. They can be paid annually or by monthly direct debit.
Membership (additional categories or directory listings)
Where companies wish to also be represented under more than one category of membership, the relevant application form must be completed to allow us to assess that the company meets the category criteria. A reduced subscription will apply for the second category.
Additional category annual subscription rate:
Associate membership (service provider/training provider) – plus £150 + VAT
Supplier/contractor membership – plus £264 + VAT (Note: Companies wishing to become members in both the supplier and contractor category must pay the supplier subscription plus £264 for contractor membership).
Branch directory listing under same category: £35 + VAT per address.
We decided to join the FIS to show clients we are a genuine, honest company who wants to install quality installations that are safe by following the best practice guides. Plus, with the various types of help the FIS provides, it is a comfort to know there is always someone or somewhere to go to get advice
For any company that actively works within the fit-out sector, I would strongly recommend they become a member of FIS. As a company, we have gained from the various FIS groups that we have been associated with and we became nationally recognised with an FIS Gold Award for our work in their annual Contractors Awards competition.
We called on the help of the FIS for technical expertise regarding an issue on a live project relating to CE marking; their response was swift, informed and, above all, resolved the issue. We would recommend FIS membership to anyone in the interiors sector
Or contact us on 0121 707 0077 and a member of our team will be happy to provide additional information and answer any questions that you may have