There are several conditions pertaining to
membership that must be adhered to by every member in order
to retain active membership of the Australian Furniture
Removers Association. These conditions are noted on the
application form, (Statement of Adherence Criteria) and
are available from the AFRA Office.
Every company, before membership is granted,
will be subject to an audit. After membership is granted,
an audit will be conducted after 12 months and thereafter
every 4 years.
At the first audit, following the initial
membership application audit, and at each subsequent audit,
members must fulfil basic requirements. These are laid out
in the Current Membership Audit.
Failure to meet any of these conditions will
suspend membership until those items identified in the audit
have been rectified. A member will be given 21 working days
to bring their membership into line following the audit
and will incur no penalty. If the member requests assistance
in meeting the requirements, this will be given immediately
by the AFRA Office.
If the situation is not rectified, the member
will be struck from membership.
Members are expected to deal promptly and
efficiently with all clients.
The member agrees to at all times co-operate with other
members, particularly in the event of unforseen difficulty
or emergency which would otherwise adversely affect the
level of service being provided to a client or clients.
Member companies must maintain an office with
public access that is in accordance with Local Council regulations.
These premises, whether used for office, depot and/or storage
should be adequate and suitable for the work undertaken
and as stated in the member company's advertising.
It is expected that you will maintain the
appropriate number of staff to conduct removal services
for your clients.
All members are expected to provide training
for their staff with 50% of all permanent staff are to be
accredited through an approved training program. (In some
instances, certain jobs cannot be undertaken unless at least
one of the removalists is AFRA accredited )
It is also an obligation of each member to provide details
of any staff who receives AFRA accredited training to enable
the Office to maintain an up to date database for the industry.
Vehicles and Equipment
Member must own and maintain a minimum of
1 furniture van, with a minimum carrying capacity of 35
cm. The vehicles used by the member must be suitable in
all respects for the work undertaken, maintained to the
standards required by legislation, fully enclosed, and kept
clean both internally and externally.
The member must ensure that all materials
and equipment used are in a safe and sound condition, adequate
for the work to be undertaken and able to meet relevant
Occupational, Health and Safety standards.
All members must maintain the correct insurance
cover for their businesses to protect them against public
liability, motor vehicle third party property damage, and
damage to goods in transit or storage.
When offering insurance to a client, all the paperwork must
be easy to understand and offered to the client for their
perusal.
As part of your membership requirements under
the Code of Conduct Item 7, disputes resolution is extremely
important. If complaints are not handled correctly or in
proper time, they come to the notice of the AFRA Office.
As the resolution of these claims takes time and resources,
the following conditions will apply.
a) In the event of a company having 3 complaints
made against them that have not been resolved at company
level, over a period of 12 months, the company will be
put on notice that any more complaints will result in
an increase in their bond to $5,000.
b) In addition, any complaints received
after the first 3 in a 12 month period, that have not
been resolved at company level, will result in a $150.00
administration fee.
c) If in the opinion of the Executive Director
or the Disputes Committee, it appears the company is not
maintaining the conditions of membership or the Code of
Conduct required in solving complaints, the offending
company will be subject to the procedure noted under Disciplinary
Action, immediately.
Every member must procure and maintain a bank
guarantee, for each region, in favour of the Association
to the value of $2000.00. Membership does not commence until
a bond is in place.
Please include an explanation of your Storage
Tracking System showing how you keep track of all goods
in store.
No misleading advertising will be condoned
by this Association. This means a company cannot make a
claim to do something or provide a service, when it does
not in fact have this facility.
No company may advertise in the Yellow Pages
or in any other avenue, as being an AFRA member until their
membership has been approved in writing. When a company
ceases to be a member, they must remove all mention of AFRA
from their premises, stationery and vehicles immediately.
Failure to do so may result in legal action being taken
against the company. A company advertising AFRA membership
before approval, in any medium, may find itself barred from
membership for up to 2 years.
The member agrees to display in a prominent
position at the principal place of business and at each
other office, depot or warehouse at which clients attend,
a notice to the effect that the company is a member of the
Association and is bound by the terms of its Code of Conduct.
Members agree to abide by the AFRA Code of
Conduct.
As this Association depends on the contribution
of every member, it is a basic requirement of the terms
of membership that members will attend as many meetings
as possible.
Country members, those living 300km from the central GPO,
will be expected to attend at least 2 meetings a year. One
of those meetings may be the Annual General Meeting.
Members living within 300 km of the central GPO must attend
at least 50% of meetings within a year.
One of those meetings may be the Annual General Meeting.
The contract conditions used by the member
must be at least as favourable to the client as those
contained in the AFRA Contract. Any subsequently adopted
variation thereof must be approved by AFRA
In the event that a member fails to abide
by the Membership Criteria or Code of Conduct, and in the
opinion of the Council or Executive Director a case must
be answered, the following steps will be taken.
a) A letter will be sent to the member from
the Executive Director, requesting an explanation. If
it is felt or the member requests, a face to face meeting
between the company owner and the Executive Director or
his equivalent, this can be organised at this time in
an attempt to rectify the problem.
b) If after 14 days, no satisfactory response
is received from the member, the owner of the company
will be asked to appear before a panel as appointed by
Council, to answer the questions that have arisen of the
membership.
c) If no attempt is made to rectify the
situation within 14 days of the meeting noted at b), a
final letter of warning will be sent requesting the member
to explain why they should remain a member of the association.
d) If after this process, no rectification
of the problem has been effected, the member will be expelled
from membership and cease to be able to advertise as an
AFRA member, or enjoy any of the other member benefits
that AFRA membership brings.
If after a two (2) year period or at the discretion
of the Council, a member may be invited to convert their
bond to cash, to be deposited in a trust account maintained
by AFRA.
|
