Mark Graham from the NRCA spoke at the Ramada Plaza Hotel & Convention Center late last month to give an update on all the hot topics in the roofing industry or at least as many as he was able to address given the time constraint of three hours. Mark is an engineer by education and has been with the NRCA since '93 in a technical capacity. Although his job description is technical services, it appears as though if it is roofing related Mark knows about it.

The seminar hit on topics from 2009 IBC & IRC adoption to IGCC development and a lot in between. Mark's seminar really seemed to hit home given the fact that many of the topics can or will affect how we all do business on a day to day basis.

I feel compelled to share some of the discussion points and information being that not everyone was able to attend. I will only touch on a few items, but if you have more questions or are interested in another topic please visit the NRCA website at www.nrca.net for more information.

Here are just a few random tidbits we were given during the seminar I thought were interesting:

Product

• Average lifespan of a residential roof is approximately twelve years.
• Average lifespan of a commercial roof is approximately seventeen years. Interesting -- given the warranties. Of course this factors into account natural disasters as well but still a lot lower than most expected.
• Mark also warned of many products to keep a close eye on including premature aging of 45 mil TPOs exposed to intense heat and reflection, delaminating gypsum products, inconsistent ISO insulation performance, and wood fiber cover-board adhesion issues.

Safety

• Anyone inspecting or not actually doing work on a roof during construction is expected to be wearing fall protection.
• As everyone probably already knows slide guards are no longer in play and we must use fall arrest.

Legal

• According to the AIA General Conditions it is the responsibility of the contractor to notify the architect of any conditions not conforming to almost anything otherwise it could be the responsibility of the contractor to remedy. This one is definitely worth reading it is located in the AIA General Conditions article 3 section 3.2.3 and 3.2.4.
• The next big thing following the construction defect litigation could be litigation with regard to requirements of the IGCC (International Green Construction Code). For instance if certain insulation values are not met or maintained law suits may be generated based on both pre and post energy loss costs. It could make construction defect look like a weekly church donation. Combine this with the above mentioned inconsistent performance of ISO values and it is like riding a bull with nitroglycerin in your pocket.

2009 IBC

• Secondary drainage requirements with regard to parapet wall situations and roof drains.
• Crickets and saddles required behind anything greater than thirty inches.
• There are is also information about Fire resistance and Re-roofing to check out but it is a little too detailed for this article, please look it up.

IGCC

• The International Green Construction Code is a set of requirements to reduce the negative impact of buildings on the environment. It will be a mandatory set of requirements and in all likelihood it will be here soon. The IGCC was created by ICC in cooperation with ASTM, AIA, USGBC, producers of the LEED, and the GBI. Everyone and their mother are involved with this so its adoption seems inevitable. Their goal is to produce environmental benefits on a massive scale that voluntary programs have not and could not achieve. The IGCC will more than likely implement requirements such as recycle content and indigenous material usage to name a few. As Mark said in his seminar "the IGCC will fundamentally change the construction industry."

After reading much of what we reviewed in the seminar maybe you are glad you were not there. It was not exactly what you would call uplifting. But on the flip side it could provide an opportunity for innovators out there to separate yourselves from the ever growing pack.

As a disclaimer, I would like to note that there was a lot of information in a short amount of time. Please be sure to double check any of my information before acting on it.

Kirk Tiley
Tiley Roofing, Inc.
CRA President