RCANS NEWSLETTER VOL. 9
JUNE 2005
RCANS NEWS
Marg Woodworth, RCANS Office
The members of RCANS had an extremely hard winter and
early spring for roofing due to many snow storms and rain.
Now that summer is upon us, all contractors are very busy
with delayed work. Tenders are plentiful and it appears it
will be a profitable year for both contractors and suppliers.
Our Annual General Meeting took place in November
2004 at the Inn On The Lake, Waverley, Nova Scotia.
RCANS have adopted Habitat For Humanity as our charity
and we were pleased with a presentation from the
representative for Habitat For Humanity explaining how
the monies are allocated to build new homes for the less
fortunate.
Our Board of Directors remains the same until our
A.G.M. in November of this year. Wayne Mack, Manager
of Flynn Canada, Dartmouth branch resigned his position
due to a transfer to the West Coast. We welcome Jon
White who has taken Wayne’s position.
Paula Webber continues to do Torch Safety courses.
All employees who have taken the course have passed
and been issued with certificates.
Meetings with the Department of Labour and Garth
Bradshaw regarding the Fall/Arrest issue continued and
the last report came in. Unfortunately no resolution was
reached.
Meetings with the Workers Compensation Board
continue. Our last general meting was held in Sydney and
representatives from W.C.B. were in attendance to answer
questions of concern to Assessment Issues, rates and
changes for 2006.
We welcome back one Contractor member, A & A
Roofing Ltd. of Kentville. Our membership now stands at
12 Active contractor members and 11 Associate
members.
Our 9th Annual RCANS/CSC/NSAA Texas Scramble
took place on June 9th with a record turn out. Each year
the number of registration grows with enthusiasm. This
winning team this year was Tim Wrigley, Bernie Keay,
Chris Meunier, Bucky LeClair and Ted Pederson. All 132
participants had the enjoyment of barbequing their own
delicious steaks followed by the prize awards. Everyone
went home with a prize. Thanks to all of the sponsors and
to Harry Forbes and his committee for another successful
Texas Scramble.
McCARTHY’S ROOFING RECEIVES AWARD
Firestone Building Products are proud to announce
that McCarthy’s Roofing has been named a recipient of
the 2005 Master Contractor Award. As a 2005 Master
Contractor, McCarthy’s Roofing is one of only 250
Firestone-licensed roofing contractors to be recognized in
North America for its dedication to consistently installing
quality commercial roofing systems. The award is based
on the earning of a combination of minimum number of
quality points earned after inspection of completed roofs
by Firestone Technical Field personnel. They were the
sole winner for Atlantic Canada this year.
Mr. Mike Gorey, CEO of Firestone Building Products
Company said “We truly appreciate the hard work and
commitment to quality demonstrated by McCarthy’s
Roofing and congratulate them on this outstanding
achievement”. Mr. Farrell Fancy and his wife, Aileen,
represented McCarthy’s Roofing at the 2005 Master
Contractor event held at the Atlantis resort on Paradise
Island in the Bahamas in January. Congratulations to
George McCarthy and his craftsmen for earning this
award.
CRCA NEWS
John Harrington, President, CRCA
The 2005 CRCA conference was held from April 2nd to
April 4th, 2005 at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. All
attendees were rewarded with informative business
sessions which included presentations on Roofing Trends
and Issues, CRCA Careers Page, Modified Bitumen
Roofing Practices, NRCA Update & activities, RCABC
Captive Insurance and Update of Ontario Insurance
Program & Developing Issues. The entertainment venue
was first class and included Medieval Times, “Wicked” (a
musical), a trip to the Academy of Spherical Arts and a
dinner/dance in the Royal York Ball Room. Thank you
conference committee and chair, Richard Brissette.
The CRCA Annual General Meeting was held in
conjunction with the conference and the new slate of
officers is as follows:
President
John Harrington
1st Vice-President
Ron Simard
2nd Vice-President
John Nowlan
Honorary Treasurer
Manual Dacosta
Honorary Secretary
Jean Pariseault
Past President
Mel Bruglemans
Executive Director
John Hill
ROOF Tech 2005 was held on April 5th and 6th at the
Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Attendees could visit
82 exhibitors and were treated to seminars and live
demonstrations of various roofing systems. There was
much interest in the “Green Roof” seminar and demo.
Preliminary numbers indicate that attendance at this years
show surpassed the last Toronto event by at least two
hundred. A huge success indeed!
Start making plans now to attend the 2006 Annual
Conference which is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas,
Nevada; February 13th to 16th, 2006.
The 2005 roofing season will soon be in full swing
across the country. There have been many predictions
about material shortages and high prices for available
materials. CRCA will stay abreast of the current trends
and keep our members informed.
The next CRCA board meeting is scheduled for May
25th and 26th in Ottawa. Safe Roofing!
CRCA TECHNICAL NEWS
Submitted by Michael Gilroy, Technical Representative
The last National Technical Committee meting was
held in conjunction with the CRCA’s Annual Meeting and
Conference held in Toronto on April 2,2005.
The final draft of the technical bulletin on firewalls was
discussed and forwarded to the CRCA’s Board of
Directors for final approval. In new construction, the plans
and specifications should adequately address how a
firewall should be built and waterproofed. However, in reroofing or repair projects, the roofing contractor may be
faced with the task of making the firewall watertight
without contravening the National Building Code and
jeopardizing the fire resistance of the building. The
technical bulletin will bring to the attention the issues
surrounding waterproofing firewalls and a typical detail
that could be used in the circumstances.
The Provincial Associations that have their own
warranty programs have or are in the process of changing
their details for modified bitumen roofing to reflect the
changes that are occurring in the market. Torching directly
to combustible materials is now seen by most contractors
not to be an acceptable application. There are peel and
stick and adhesive applied membranes that can be used
to limit the risk of fire. All contractors should review their
application practices with their workforce and their
membrane manufacturer to ensure that the safest
materials are being used.
RCANS does not have a technical
manager/committee like some of the other Provincial
Associations, but the CRCA technical department is
always available to answer your questions.
The simplest way is to go on line to CRCA’s website
@ www.roofingcanada.com and click the "Technical" tab.
When you arrive at this section of the website you can
review all the previous technical bulletins dating back to
1970 or fill out the on-line question form and submit it to
the CRCA for an answer.
The next meeting of the National Technical
Committee is scheduled for fall.
The 9th Annual Texas Scramble Winners
CONGRATULATIONS
We congratulate Richard and Delaine Green on the birth of their baby girl “Sophie” born July 19, 2004.
THE SYSTEM WORKS
Submitted by Harvey Freeman MNSAA. MRAIC.
Last fall, while I was doing a pre-purchase roof
inspection at an industrial site about 1.5 hours drive from
Halifax, I was introduced to a former employee of the
facility. As soon as he knew I was involved in roof
consulting he wanted to know if I could do a report on his
house roof and appear at small claims court the following
Monday evening.
He said the roof in question was done 15 years ago
and had leaked ever since and never been successfully
repaired by the roofer. He had taken the roofer to Small
Claims Court and since this was a low budget effort he
was representing himself but the roofer had a lawyer. I
said I could look at the roof and do a report but because of
prior commitments could not appear the next Monday
night.
The small two-story home had a large shed dormer
across the back and a bay window roof at the front that
blended into the front slope. The leaks occurred at the
sidewall of the dormer to the shingled roof and at the bay
roof junction. I searched for the step flashing at the dormer
and found none. I took some photos and did the report. I
faxed the text of the report and e-mailed the photos to my
client, on Saturday.
I received a call on Tuesday morning from the
homeowner to say that the judge wanted to have me
explain the report. Several weeks later we assembled at
the Court House at 6:30 pm. The lawyer for the roofer
asked me if I knew there was existing continuous flashing
between the wall and roof. The existing shingles had been
left in place and the roofer said there was continuous
flashing below those shingles.
I said that continuous flashing was not an acceptable
flashing according to the NBC to which the lawyer wanted
to know where it said that. My reply was that the NBC was
based on the minimums that were acceptable and did not
list all the unacceptable ways to do something.
Then he said the home was built in 1940 with the
inference that continuous flashing may have been
acceptable then and he wanted to know when step
flashing became the required way to flash this detail. I
replied that in my opinion a re-roofing job was new
construction, no matter how old the structure, and all work
should be to the requirements of the present NBC. A
complete re-roofing job should include correct flashing
details. If flashing was being reused it should match the
requirements of the present Code and if not it should be
replaced. If the home owner wants to save money and
reuse flashing that is not, or may not be, up to Code, he
should be told what the consequences may be and
allowed to make that decision.
I explained the difference between continuous and
step flashing in terms of where water could flow and the
judge obviously knew what I was talking about.
Upon my return to the City I searched all the old
National Building Codes we have in our library and all the
way back to about 1960 the clause for step flashing read
the same. Then I searched my small library of books on
construction and found in the Audels Carpenters and
Builders Guide from 1942 an excellent drawing of step
flashing.
The judge wanted to get the originals of the photos
used in my report because the ones, which my client had
printed at Staples, were not too good. I included copies of
all the
NBC references to step flashing as well as the Audel
drawing in that package and waited for my client to advise
me as to the judges decision, which was to come within 30
days.
It took three months for the judge to render his
decision but it was in favor of my client. He said we had a
more convincing explanation and he awarded $2,500.00
for the shingle roof and $1,000.00 for damage to interior
finishes.
Unfortunately my client’s win was short lived because
the roofer went out of business several days later. My
client was invited to get on the end of a long line of
creditors where he was assured of never receiving any
money.
MEMBERSHIP
ACTIVE ROOFING CONTRACTORS
A & A ROOFING LTD.
ACADIA ROOFING LTD.
ATLANTIC ROOFERS LTD.
BRADSHAW ROOFING CONTRACTORS
BRIMAC ROOFING LTD.
FLYNN CANADA LTD.
FOSCO ROOFING LTD.
I C ROOFING & SHEET METAL LTD.
LINDSAY ROOF SYSTEMS
McCARTHY’S ROOFING LTD.
P.M.C.ROOFING
S & M ROOFING LTD.
902-678-4422
902-582-3809
902-445-5044
902-866-0255
902-736-2617
902-468-8313
902-895-8035
902-468-6479
902-468-5000
902-469-2260
902-893-7702
902-876-7003
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
ARROW CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS
BAKOR INC.
J.W.BIRD & CO. LTD.
CORNERSTONE CONST. PRODUCTS
GALLANT AGGREGATES LTD.
GUILDFORD’S 2000 INC.
I.K.O. INDUSTRIES
SHAW RESOURCES
SOPREMA INC.
TREMCO LIMITED
TRUEFOAM LIMITED
902-468-1551
902-435-1578
902-468-2884
902-468-7663
902-883-3020
902-468-9201
902-688-2979
902-883-2220
506-384-6101
902-883-1015
902-468-5440
MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA (ACTIVE MEMBER)
Any applicant for Active Member status of the R.C.A.N.S.
and C.RC.A must meet the following membership criteria and
general application procedures. (Canadian Roofing
Contractors’ Association).
All members must also meet these criteria on a continuing
basis. At the discretion of the Board and upon any material
change in circumstances, the Board may review the
qualification of any member for continued membership. Such
review may be initiated upon a change of ownership and/or
any other circumstances, which, in the discretion of the Board,
are sufficient to raise concern about the continued qualification
of the member.
1.
MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA
1.1 Membership shall be open to applicants who in the
opinion of the Directors are of good repute. Possess
honesty and integrity, financial responsibility,
experience and capability in the roofing industry.
1.2 Active Member status requires that a major activity of
the applicant be related to the roofing contracting
industry. Business brokers do not qualify as Active
Members.
1.3 Active membership shall require the member to
uphold the By-laws, Code of Ethics and policies of
the Board and to promote the Association and its programs and to actively participate in its affairs.