Separating the good from the bad | As I was saying …Bill Good
For too long, professional roofing contractors have been
struggling to find ways to be sure their customers—and
potential customers—know how to tell the difference between
their companies and the fly-by-night companies that continue to
plague our industry. There are, of course, no easy answers, but
there are some things to be done.
NRCA's current strategic
planning process sparked a discussion about developing
certification programs—or some other measure of
accreditation—for people who work in the industry. The
programs would be developed, for example, for foremen,
superintendents, estimators and safety professionals. Part of the
idea behind their development is to show our industry's workers we
take training, and their careers, seriously. Another part is to
enable professional roofing contractors to tangibly demonstrate
their commitments to being professional.
Details of the program are being developed. Most likely, we'll
begin with a program for roofing foremen. It will include some
prerequisite requirements, such as experience, as well as
prescribed training and successful completion of an examination.
This approach is consistent with best practices in the adult
education field, and it will help consumers have confidence that
the people responsible for their roof systems have the necessary
skills and training to do the job right.
I know there are concerns about such a program. Budgeting time
away for training—especially for foremen—is difficult.
And not all accredited foremen will necessarily be great foremen;
the message to consumers will need to be properly framed. Yet we
know people who enter the industry expect to be trained, want to
have a well-defined career path and take pride in their profession.
An accreditation program for them is consistent with...
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