Florida Roofing Magazine - September 2022

Florida

September 2022

ROOFING A Publication of FRSA – Florida’s Association of Roofing Professionals

FRSA’s Executive Committee Celebrates 100 Years of Success

FRSA’s 2022-2023 Executive Committee

Contents

FRSA-Florida Roofing Magazine Contacts:

6 | Al Singleton Receives Campanella Award 18 | FRSA — 100 Years Strong 26 | It Was an Awesome Event…

Challenges Await!

29 | Affiliate Competition Winners

For advertising inquiries, contact: Keisha Martinez at: keisha@floridaroof.com (800) 767-3772 ext. 127 All feedback and reprint permission requests (please include your full name, city and state) contact: Lisa Pate, Editor, at: lisapate@floridaroof.com (800) 767-3772 ext. 157 Florida Roofing Magazine, PO Box 4850 Winter Park, FL 32793-4850 View media kit at: www.floridaroof.com/ florida-roofing-magazine/

#roofingprotects

32 | FRSA-SIF Safety Awards 58 | Convention Tournament Winners

On Mobile Devices

Florida

ROOFING Available Online at www.floridaroof.com/florida-roofing-magazine/

September 2022

Any material submitted for publication in Florida Roofing becomes the property of the publication. Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the author(s) alone and do not imply an opinion or endorsement on the part of the officers or the membership of FRSA. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission from the publisher.

Florida Roofing (VOL. 7, NO. 9), September 2022, (ISSN 0191-4618) is published monthly by FRSA, 3855 N. Econlockhatchee Trl. Orlando, FL 32817. Periodicals Postage paid at Orlando, FL. POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections (form 3579) to Florida Roofing, PO Box 4850, Winter Park, FL 32793-4850.

www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

3

Sunshine State Solution

Snap-Clad

Tite-Loc Plus Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center, DeLand, FL GC: Charles Perry Partners Inc.

Installing contr.: Quality Metals Inc.

Profile: PAC-150

Architect: Preston T. Phillips

Color: Custom Stetson Green Photo: hortonphotoinc.com

Equally strong and attractive, these metal roofing panels are available in Florida in our full line of PAC-CLAD painted steel, aluminum and Galvalume Plus coatings, ensuring that your roof will endure whatever comes its way. All panels are Miami-Dade County and Florida Building Code approved.

PAC-150

MIAMI DADE COUNTY

APPROVED

CASE STUDY @ PAC-CL AD.COM/STE TSON

102 Northpoint Parkway, Acworth, GA 30102

P: 800 272 4482

F: 770 420 2533

PAC-CLAD.COM | INFO@PAC-CLAD.COM

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Matt Criswell

Cherish the Past, Challenge the Future Congratulations to Joe Byrne on an incredibly successful 100th Anniversary Convention and Expo! This issue of the magazine is dedicated to highlights from the event. If you missed it, you missed a great time.

I’m honored to serve as FRSA’s President as we head into our 101st year. During the Officer Installation Dinner in July, my beautiful wife, Jackie, inducted the new Officers who will serve as FRSA Executive Committee. I’ve had the distinct pleasure and honor of serving on this Committee for the last few years and this is not something that I take lightly.

For 100 years, this Association has stood tall and proud because of the numerous men and women who have formed a bond within the roofing industry. Every industry has an Association that represents the masses, but nothing like the men and women of the Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association.

That brings me to my next group of men and women to thank.

The amazing staff at FRSA continuously work through ups and downs, hardships and, most recently, the COVID pandemic. It is quite possible that our 100th year would not have been as successful if it wasn’t for these individuals.

I’d also like to thank the men that I have served on the Board with: George Ebersold, Bruce Manson, Brian Swope, CPRC, Adam Purdy, CPRC, Joe Byrne, Les Sims, CPRC, Manny Oyola and, most recently, Tibor Torok. You gentlemen help to propel me with new initiatives, ideas and support – the likes of which I never knew possible. Thank you all very much!

Each year, the President chooses the theme for the coming year. After consideration, I selected “Cherish the Past, Challenge the Future.” I chose this title to highlight the past, the men and women that helped form this Association and pave a way for the many contractors just like me who did not grow up in the family business. Yet, I wanted to look toward the future and what we can do as decisions makers today to continue to propel this industry by the way we conduct our business and teach the younger generation the pride we display in our individual companies. Which segues into my next initiative.

As President and First Lady, we also select a Charity of Choice. We chose something I have been involved with since I was a little boy. My parents would often take us to the Children’s Home Society to visit and play with underprivileged kids. Years later, while working at Just For Feet out of high school, I had a young kid, who was adopted through CHS, work for me. That kid ended up knowing my brother from high school football. We struck up a work friendship over sports and CHS. I left Just For Feet and followed him

through graduating high school and going to play college football for Notre Dame. After college, that same kid I met years before was drafted and spent 10 years playing in the NFL. At one point during his NFL career, Jeff was the highest paid center in the league, playing with teams and super stars like the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Matt Criswell, FRSA President Cincinnati Bengals. After Owner, Weathershield Roofing his football career, Jeff Group Inc. came back and, with the help of CHS, his investment manager and his wife, started the Faine House to help support young adults through education and occupational opportunities, providing safe housing and financial literacy. They are now operating as their own independent 501(c)3. So, for this year, our Charity of Choice is The Faine House.

Please help me by spreading Jeff’s mission and let’s support this great cause. I will make a commitment, my wife will probably kill me, but for every $5,000 raised through donations, we will contribute an additional $1,000 to it.

There is no doubt that the economy is starting to tighten up and things are becoming very interesting with labor, material transportation and, well, just the economy itself. I’m not here to make this a left-sided or right-sided debate, but rather to say that as an American – and as all of us are Americans – there’s no better time to get away from your extreme left or right party and work towards initiatives that include compromise toward the middle. One of those initiatives over the past year is insurance reform within our industry. I don’t mean general liability or workers’ comp or auto. It’s about the elephant in the room – the issue of the roofing companies that help bastardize the claims process. Whether you like it or hate it, it has been a massive detriment to our industry these past few years. We’ve got to come up with a solution that benefits everyone. If you are one of these companies that participate in an insurance-only game, I’m not asking you to close up shop, rather expand what you have built and do it the right way. This is something I’ll be working on during my tenure and after.

Continued on page 7 www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

5

Al Singleton Receives Campanella Award FRSA’s highest honor is the Bob Campanella Memorial Award, which is presented each year to the FRSA member who is deemed most worthy of recognition for service to his or her community, the Association and the industry. The award was initiated in 1965 by the Saint Petersburg Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors’ Association, as a memorial tribute to the late Bob Campanella, owner of Ace Roofing Company, in Saint Petersburg.

Suggestions are taken from the membership and submitted to a committee of previous Campanella Award recipients, who select the recipient each year.

For those of you who are not familiar with our Campanella Award tradition, let me give you a few details. We don’t reveal the name of the recipient at the beginning of the ceremony – instead we provide details about them and their service to the industry.

The previous year’s recipient presents the award and speaks about the recipient, sharing background information. While the information about the recipient is being presented, local artist Tony Trotti paints a portrait of this year’s recipient. If you look around the room at the people sitting at the dinner tables, you’ll notice people trying to figure out who the recipient is from the verbal clues and by watching the person who Tony is painting onstage.

6

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

Al Singleton was born in a small town in Georgia to a close knit family with four siblings. He shared a close bond with his father that would last a lifetime and would eventually have a huge impact on his future career choice.

Al has a strong religious faith and is an Elder and Deacon in his church, Newtown Gospel Chapel.

He gives back financially by supporting youth sports, scholarship funds and local human services organizations. He currently sits on the Construction Industry Licensing Board in Sarasota and volunteers on additional boards and nonprofits, including the Women’s Exchange Board.

Al joined FRSA in 1989 and has served on FRSA’s Board of Directors, the Codes, Roof Tile, Convention and Advisory Committees. In 2010, he was FRSA President and his Convention theme was “Aim for the Top.” In 2012, he received FRSA Life Membership for his contributions to the industry. He is involved in his local affiliate, Sarasota-Manatee Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association, where he has served as President.

For all that he has accomplished and given back, we congratulate Al Singleton, Alvin J. Singleton Inc., Sarasota, on receiving the 2022 Campanella Award!

FRM President’s Column, continued from page 5

Another initiative I’d like to address is worker education, training and the idea of bringing younger hard-working men and women into this industry.

Plainly stated, without roofs we would all be in the swimming pool business. This year and into the future, I challenge all of us to step out of our comfort zone and try to find ways to attract the younger generation into this business and the Association. I have no plans on going anywhere in the near future, but as current During his middle school years, Al’s family relocatvolunteers start to age out, it would be nice to see a ed to southwest Florida. Growing up, he liked to play youthful generation filling those spots. There’s a lot to basketball, fish and race cars and was known to get in be learned from these “old guys.” Age does not dictate trouble for drag racing a purple Super B. a person’s ability to teach the knowledge they have In 1969, Al went to work in his father’s roofing busi- learned and I can guarantee that most of the older ness and, in 1977, took over the family business when men and women in the industry would be pleased to his father retired. share their trials and tribulations with those younger Over the years, he had a few different jobs including folks who would listen. one where he worked at the jail in a Sherriff’s office.

As we begin a new chapter in FRSA’s future, I look forHe was also an emergency room nurse, working at ward to working on these goals and welcome anyone Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he met his wife, who would like to get involved on FRSA’s committees Linda, who also worked as a nurse. They married a to contact Lisa Pate at lisapate@floridaroof.com. year later in 1972.

I’m honored and humbled to represent this Al and Linda have four children, two of whom work Association and if there’s anything I can do for you, in the office with him. He has always been active in his please don’t hesitate to ask. children’s lives: coaching football, softball, basketball Best regards, and volleyball, in addition to countless hours of practice for those sports. He volunteered his time in youth leagues and built baseball dugouts.

Al enjoys traveling with his family and took annual trips to Disney when his children were younger and Matt Criswell then to the Bahamas as they got older.

Weathershield Roofing Group Inc. He encouraged and supported his children as they matt@weroofgroup.com continued their education after high school. He had high expectations for them and wanted them to do well. www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

7

Meet the Executive Committee Matt Criswell | President Matt is President of WeatherShield Roofing Group, Inc., a commercial roofing company in Longwood and recently opened Marathon Roofing and Contracting for residential roofing. He is a state certified roofing contractor. Matt is married to Jackie, and they have two children, Elizabeth and Aniston. A Bieler “Enthusiasm Gets It Done” and S.T.A.R. Award recipient, Matt is a third-generation Central Floridian who attended UCF and Rollins College. He loves the closeness, education, problem solving and camaraderie that the Association brings to every facet of the industry.

Matt also serves on the FRSA Credit Union Board of Directors.

Les Sims, CPRC | President Elect Les is President of Armstrong Roofing, Inc., San Mateo, where he began his roofing career in 2000 after being honorably discharged from the US Navy.

He started as a laborer and worked his way up to company President in 2018. He is a state certified roofing contractor. Les has been married to Gina for 22 years and they have three children. Les has also earned the Certified Professional Roofing Contractor (CPRC) designation from FRSA. He takes pride in owning a company that was started in the late 1940s, values the lifelong friendships he has made as a member of FRSA and looks forward to many more years in the industry. Les also serves on the FRSA Credit Union Board of Directors and as a Trustee for both the Educational Foundation and the Self Insurers Fund.

Manny Oyola, Jr. | Vice President

Manny is Technical Manager Eastern Region Florida for Eagle Roofing Products where he has worked since 2007. He received his Florida registered roofing contractor license in 1981 and owned a roofing business in South Florida. Manny has been married to his wife, Arlene, for 47 years and they have four daughters and eight grandchildren. He is an FRSA Honorary Member and has received the Bieler “Enthusiasm Gets it Done Award” and the “Earl Blank Memorial Heart Award.”

Manny loves the camaraderie and friends he’s made through FRSA and strives to educate professional contractors in the industry.

Tibor Torok | Secretary-Treasurer

Tibor is the President of Bob Hilson & Company Inc., Homestead. He has been in the roofing industry for 40 years and is a state certified roofing contractor.

Tibor attended The University of Texas at Arlington, studying engineering and is a United States Marine Corp veteran. Tibor and Toni have been married for 20 years and have two daughters, a son and three grandchildren. One grandson is in basic training and a third-generation Marine. Tibor enjoys the camaraderie of professional roofers and believes contractors need to support their local associations. He is Past President of RCASF.

Joe Byrne | Immediate Past President Joe is the President of Byrne Roofing and BRI Roof Consulting Corp., Palm City. He has been in the roofing industry for over 50 years and is an FRSA Honorary Member. He received the “Jim Carr Lifetime Achievement Award” and is a four-time Palm Beach County Roofers Association “Golden Hammer Award” recipient. Joe and his wife, Vicki, have two children and two grandchildren. He appreciates that FRSA provides a great exchange of information and numerous friendships in the industry that he loves.

8

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

Why Why

?

We Outperform the Competition!

Tyndall AFB, Hurricane Michael, Ground Zero: Although the metal roof was lost, Sharkskin Ultra SA® maintained its integrity with no failure against 175 mph winds with 200 mph gusts.

SEE OUR LATEST “DESIGN UPLIFT PRESSURE” NUMBERS

go to www.is.gd/FL40958

2022

www.sharkskinroof.com

2022

METALCON

WINNER

BOOTH #

1026

BOOTH #

715

FRSA GENERAL COUNSEL Trent Cotney, Partner, Adams and Reese, LLP

How Bankruptcy in Construction Impacts All Parties, Part Two supersedes all others.

The DIP is then relabeled as a reorganized debtor.

Usually, the plan stipulates payments to unsecured creditors over several years. It also includes provisions if the reorganized debtor does not make the agreed-upon payments.

If the DIP and the committee cannot agree on a reorganization plan, Creditor Claims the issue may go before Once a party files bankruptcy, creditors who request a court. In some cases, a payment distribution must file a proof of claim. The the bankruptcy judge may deadline for that claim is called the bar date. The convert the case to a Chapter 7 filing. That means the creditor must complete the proof of claim form, sign debtor will have to liquidate. it and attach all supporting documentation. If the bar After a Chapter 7 filing, the debtor’s assets are date has passed, a creditor will face difficulty asserting liquidated and the creditors are paid based on a a claim for debts. Claims are usually classified by four specific hierarchy. First, secured creditors have legal terms: rights to named assets, so they receive the items ■ Secured: This type of claim is secured by collateral held as collateral or they receive funds from their sale. Next, administrative parties, such as attorneys, or a lien against specific personal or real property.

A common example is the mortgage a person has accountants and other professionals who provided on a home. In construction, a claim from a contrac- post-bankruptcy services, receive payment. After that, tor, subcontractor or consultant can be secured by payments are provided to unsecured creditors, such as pre-bankruptcy vendors and consultants and those a perfected mechanics’ lien against real property. with pre-bankruptcy wage claims.

■ Administrative: This type of claim is filed by a lawyer, accountant or another professional who Pending Contracts provided services after bankruptcy was filed.

During a Chapter 11 reorganization, the DIP is not As discussed earlier in Part One of this article (FRM August 2022), bankruptcy filings in the construction industry can impact everyone involved in a project.

From the property owner to the general contractor to the subcontractor, trades and beyond, all parties will likely worry about whether the project will continue and how everyone will be paid.

No matter what your role is in a construction project, it is critical that you know your rights and can protect yourself if another party enters bankruptcy.

This article will describe what protections you have and what you can put in place.

■ Priority: This is an unsecured claim for specific benefits or unpaid wages not to exceed $4,650 per claimant. It also applies to some taxes, consumer deposits and alimony.

■ General unsecured: This claim pertains to everything not considered secured or priority. One example is payment owed to a material supplier or vendor.

When a party files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it reorganizes and continues to operate its company. After filing, the debtor is then labeled a debtor-inpossession (DIP) since it still possesses its company and assets. A committee of its creditors is often formed to monitor the DIP’s business and negotiate a reorganization. After a plan is confirmed, the DIP and its creditors consider it a new contract, which 10

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

allowed to pay creditors without a court order or an approved reorganization plan but it can take more than a year for such a plan to be confirmed. This delay can cause a financial strain for all parties involved.

However, contractors and subcontractors are compelled to continue working despite the bankruptcy since the DIP’s contract is an asset to the estate.

Some contracts have bankruptcy termination clauses; however, by and large, they are not enforceable. Given that, any party contracted with the DIP must obtain court approval before it can terminate its work on a project.

Most construction contracts are executory contracts. The Bankruptcy Code does not precisely define the word executory but the term implies that during bankruptcy proceedings, both the debtor and the

other parties are obligated to continue working. Failure to do so would constitute a material breach.

In a bankruptcy case, executory contracts can be considered either an asset or a liability. The bankruptcy court will approve such contracts to be assumed or rejected, depending on their value to the estate.

foreclose on a mechanic’s lien against the owner’s real property, since it is not included in the bankruptcy estate.

Final Advice

As you can see, bankruptcy can have serious repercussions on construction projects, impacting all parties Mechanics’ Liens and Payment Bonds involved. When bankruptcy is filed, a creditor must As mentioned earlier, one type of secured claim is held halt all collection activity. Contractors, subcontractors by a perfected mechanics’ lien against real property. and other trades may be obligated to stay on the job In general, mechanics’ liens are statutes created to until the automatic stay is lifted or they receive court offer protections in the construction industry. They approval. protect contractors, material suppliers, consultants It can be tricky to know what your rights are and and vendors from non-payment for services or goods. what claims you are entitled to and you may be unsure And if they are perfected, these liens elevate claims to how quickly you can seek the payments you are owed. secured status.

If you are being affected by a bankruptcy or have To attain the perfected designation, the creditor questions about your contracts, mechanics’ liens or must file a notice of perfection. This notice states that other bankruptcy protections, be sure to use your the creditor has taken all proper and necessary steps FRSA free legal member benefit and contact us at any prior to the bankruptcy filing. However, mechanics’ lien time for initial advice. laws are quite technical. It is essential that all parties FRM comply with the mechanics’ lien statutes; otherwise, The information contained in this article is for general they can lose their rights to claims. educational information only. This information does In Florida, those contributing to a private work not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constiof improvement have the right to a mechanics’ lien. tute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal It provides a statutory lien against real property for advice for your specific factual pattern or situation. which a contractor, subcontractor, supplier, etc. has Trent Cotney is a Partner and Construction Practice furnished labor, materials or services. The dollar Group Leader at the law firm of Adams and Reese LLP amount of the lien is equal to the value of the materials and FRSA General Counsel. For more information or labor supplied and the lien holder has the right to on this subject, please contact the author at foreclose on that property. trent.cotney@arlaw.com.

Another option for protection is a payment bond which most public projects require but may also be present on private projects depending on project size.

Recognize that like Florida lien law, there are a variety of steps required to perfect payment bond claims.

Understanding the Automatic Stay

An automatic stay is entered as soon as a bankruptcy filing is complete. The stay halts all foreclosure and collection efforts. For example, if a contractor, subcontractor or consultant files for bankruptcy, a lien claimant cannot file a lawsuit or seek payment for pre-bankruptcy services. If an owner files for bankruptcy, a contractor or subcontractor cannot seek payment for pre-bankruptcy services or record a mechanics’ lien.

However, the automatic stay does allow collection against property that is not part of the estate.

For instance, if a contractor files bankruptcy, a subcontractor could www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

11

FRSA LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL Chris Dawson, Attorney, GrayRobinson

Election Bypass With Florida’s airwaves and mailboxes inundated with elections messaging, all Floridians are well aware election season is in full swing. All eyes are on November and Florida’s key races for United States Senator, Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer, Commissioner of Agriculture and the Florida Legislature. However, a handful of politicos have already been elected to a state office without having to do one stump speech, mailer or town hall during this election season. This month, while we endure the constant barrage of campaign activity, let’s explore a few of the races that were decided without much – or any at all – campaign activity.

Elected Without Opposition

Winning without having to campaign is the envy of the political world. There are always a few lucky

Florida Senate (District #) 9 out of 40 Senators Unopposed Jennifer Bradley (R – Orange Park)

(6)

Debbie Mayfield (R – Melbourne)

(19)

Kathleen Passidomo (R– Naples) *Incoming Senate President

(28)

Erin Grall (R – Vero Beach)

(29)

Gayle Harrell (R – Stuart)

(31)

Rosalind Osgood (D – Fort Lauderdale)

(32)

Jason Pizzo (D – Miami)

(37)

Bryan Avila (R – Hialeah)

(39)

Ana Maria Rodriguez (R – Doral)

(40)

candidates each election who win by default, but you may be surprised to know how often it actually happens… all the time! Even this year, with five contentious statewide elections and every seat in the Florida Legislature on the ballot due to redistricting, nearly a quarter of legislators will be sworn in without having to run a race. The tables list the lucky not-so-few.

Freedom from having to run your own campaign doesn’t mean freedom from election season. However, expect to see these elected officials crisscrossing the state in support of their colleagues and respective parties. Republicans, in particular, are looking to make gains on their majorities in both the Florida House and Senate with Governor DeSantis’ re-election expected to boost turnout. There are only a few weeks until November 8… then it will be safe to turn on the TV and check the mailbox once again!

FRM Chris Dawson is an Attorney and professional Lobbyist for GrayRobinson’s Orlando office and is licensed to practice law in both Florida and Alabama. Chris also holds two degrees in Civil Engineering and has experience in construction litigation and design professional malpractice defense.

Florida House of Representatives (District #) – 30 out of 120 Representatives Unopposed

12

Patt Maney

(4)

Sam Killebrew

(48)

Lauren Melo

(82)

Jason Shoaf

(7)

Melony Bell

(49)

Kaylee Tuck

(83)

Allison Tant

(9)

Adam Anderson

(57)

Christine Hunschofsky

(95)

Chuck Brannan

(10)

Dianne Hart

(63)

Michael Gotlieb

(102)

Wyman Duggan

(12)

Will Robinson

(71)

Felicia Robinson

(104)

Cyndi Stevenson

(18)

James Buchanan

(74)

Tom Fabricio

(110)

Joe Harding

(24)

Michael Grant

(75)

David Borrero

(111)

Stan McClain

(27)

Spencer Roach

(76)

Alex Rizo

(112)

Tyler Sirois

(31)

Mike Giallombardo

(79)

Thad Altman

(32)

Bob Rommel

(81)

Danny Perez (116) (A Future Speaker of the House)

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

Kevin Chambliss

(117)

COMPASS SALES GROUP

FRSA VIPs

Each year, FRSA’s Life and Honorary Members, Past Presidents, Campanella Award recipients and current Executive Committee members gather for a private event. This year, that event was the President’s Breakfast and took place at the location of FRSA’s first meeting. The Plaza Resort & Spa was originally named Hotel Clarendon and was where FRSA founders Frank Tack, Charlie Johnson, Elmer Blank and Charlie

Stephens, Sr. began a legacy that would launch a first class association that has represented the interests of the roofing and sheet metal industries for a century.

Members at the President’s Breakfast gathered for a photograph in front of a fireplace, part of the original architecture of the Hotel Clarendon.

FRM

Industry Updates materials industry, as its new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

Rahman will focus on setting and executing the FRSA has three industry designations: Certified overall commercial strategy for ICP BSG as the Professional Sheet Metal Contractor, Certified Professional Air Conditioning Contractor and the most company achieves its financial goals. All ICP BSG popular, Certified Professional Roofing Contractor. To sales teams, research and development, product management and marketing will report to Rahman. earn one of these designations, a person must have Rahman joined ICP BSG in late 2021 as its Senior Vice a state certified license and successfully fulfill strict qualifications including a written examination, financial President of Product Management and was quickly promoted to the role of Executive Vice President of and both personal and professional references. By Product Management and Technology. achieving these standards, the person joins a select “Sami has demonstrated transformational leadergroup of 88 contractors who have qualified since the ship skills and strong strategic vision in his time with program’s inception in 1962.

FRSA is pleased to recognize John Kenney, Cotney ICP and we believe it makes him a natural fit for this important position,” said Doug Mattscheck, CEO & Consulting Group, Plant City and Ken Kelly, Kelly President, ICP Group. “We see the CCO position as Roofing, Naples as our newest Certified Professional critical in helping our organization drive alignment and Roofing Contractors (CPRC). meet our growth goals. Sami will work directly with me to evaluate the overall structure of our commercial ICP Building Solutions Group Names New and technical organizations and with company leaderChief Commercial Officer ship to assure we have the right strategies to achieve ICP Building Solutions Group (ICP BSG) has named our objectives.”

Sami Rahman, an experienced veteran of the building

FRSA Awards CPRC Designation to John Kenney and Ken Kelly

14

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

Prior to joining ICP, Rahman spent more than 18 years with James Hardie Building Products, where he served in a variety of roles in engineering, logistics and product management. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Science from the University of Toledo, as well as an MBA in Finance, Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago.

“It is a privilege to join Doug’s leadership team on our journey to become the preferred provider of industry-leading solutions for the roofing, insulation, waterproofing and specialty coatings markets,” Rahman said. “We have a dedicated team driven to serve our customers and meet their goals in evolving market conditions. With a robust product portfolio and a pipeline of upcoming innovations, it is truly an exciting time for the entire ICP team.”

Gulfeagle Supply Promotes Kelly Joyce and Deshawn Carter

addition to debuting this new paver line, Brava is also excited to announce that sales and marketing professional, Lee Martucci, has joined the company as Business Development Manager for this new Aspire

by Brava line.

“We are excited to add to our offerings of beautiful and sustainable building products made from recycled materials,” said Adam Brantman, President, Brava Roof Tile. “Because Aspire by Brava pavers are lightweight and easy to install, this product line is about the everyday luxury of having a space to retreat to. Not only will customers have a beautiful outdoor space, but they’ll be able to take comfort in knowing that they contributed to removing plastic from the waste stream.”

Brava has hired Business Development Manager, Lee Martucci, to lead efforts to grow this line. Martucci brings more than 25 years’ experience in growing revenues in building materials and related industries.

With his strategic and innovative thinking, leadership skills and excellent communication, Aspire by Brava will benefit from Lee’s expertise and in-depth knowledge of pavers.

“I am excited to join the Brava Team and help grow the paver business,” said Martucci. “I believe customers are going to love the look and ease of installation of Aspire pavers.”

Roofing Alliance Announces 2022-2023 Melvin Kruger Endowed Scholarship Recipients Kelly Joyce

Deshawn Carter

Gulfeagle Supply announces the promotion of Kelly Joyce to Director of Purchasing. Joyce joined the Gulfeagle Supply team almost 15 years ago as Branch Manager in Holiday. Most recently, he was the Branch Manager in Tampa. Joyce is based in Gulfeagle’s headquarters, known as Branch Support Center, in Tampa.

Deshawn Carter has been promoted to Tampa Branch Manager. Bill Wilson will continue his role in Vendor Relations and as Vice President of Operations.

Aspire Pavers Rebrand From Azek in Brava Roof Tile Acquisition

Brava Roof Tile, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wildhawk Investments, announces the launch of Aspire by Brava, a line of synthetic pavers, made from recycled plastic and tires, that was recently acquired from Azek. In

The Roofing Alliance, the foundation of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), proudly announces the 2022-23 Melvin Kruger Endowed Scholarship Award recipients.

For over 30 years, the Roofing Alliance has invested time and funds to help educate the roofing industry and the industry’s youth. This has been made possible through the Melvin Kruger Endowed Scholarship Program, which was named after Melvin Kruger, a former President of NRCA, a former President of the Roofing Alliance and CEO of L.E. Schwartz & Son Inc., Macon, Ga. NRCA contractor and supplier members, their families and their employees are all eligible to partake in this program as long as they intend to pursue a career in the roofing or construction industries.

The Roofing Alliance approved eight new Roofing Alliance Melvin Kruger Endowed Scholarship Recipients: ■ Theodore Barton, son of Simon Barton, Branch Manager, Crowther Roofing & Sheet Metal of FL Inc. ■ Davis Edwards, son of Van Edwards, COO, MidSouth Roof Systems

Lee Martucci

■ Caylin Angel, daughter of Adam Angel, Project Manager, Kalkreuth Roofing & Sheet Metal

www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

15

■ Cole Beyer, son of Steve Beyer, Inspection/Roof Management, Allweather Roof

will continue to help TAMKO navigate challenging business environments and achieve successful results to sustain TAMKO’s long-term success.”

■ Cade Edwards, son of Van Edwards, COO, MidBeyer joined TAMKO in 2013 as the Chief Financial South Roof Systems Officer and Vice President of Finance. Prior to joining ■ Grace Wear, daughter of Ryan Wear, Service TAMKO, Jeff served as the Chief Financial Officer of Manager, Kalkreuth Roofing & Sheet Metal Strategic Materials, Inc., a leading glass and plastics ■ Erich Langstine, son of Erich Langstine, recycler. He also was a Managing Director at Willis Engineering co-op, GAF Stein, a middle market private equity firm. Prior to that, ■ Julia Shanahan, daughter of Christopher Shanahan, Jeff was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group as well as an investment banker at Bear, Stearns & Business Development & Bid Manager, Ruff Co. Inc. He earned an MBA from Stanford University Roofer.

Graduate School of Business and an Economics deIn addition, the Roofing Alliance approved two gree from the University of Chicago. renewals: Gandhi will now lead all aspects of TAMKO’s finance ■ Morgan Patterson, attending DePaul University, and accounting functions, while providing powerful Chicago, Ill. insights and ideas and working closely with TAMKO’s leadership team to drive further revenue growth.

■ Zackary Cekalla, attending University of Gandhi brings more than 25 years of experience to Minnesota, Duluth.

TAMKO. He most recently served as the CFO of Fast “A total of $40,000 was awarded for new scholarRadius, a publicly traded cloud manufacturing and digiships with an additional $10,000 awarded for renewal tal supply chain company. Prior to that, Gandhi was the scholarships,” stated Alison LaValley, Roofing Alliance Interim CFO at Owens Corning. During his seven-year Executive Director. “Roofing Alliance leadership is very tenure at Owens Corning, he also held the roles of proud to be able to support the roofing industry with VP Corporate Strategy and Financial Planning and these scholarships. To date, a total of 149 students VP Corporate Development. Prior to Owens Corning, have received $1,010,000 in scholarship awards.”

Gandhi held financial leadership roles at Dover Details for the 2023-24 Melvin Kruger Endowed Corporation and Zebra Technologies Corporation. He Scholarship program and the application guidelines also worked at Morgan Stanley, a global investment will be available in mid-September. For more inforbank, for nearly ten years. mation on the Melvin Kruger Endowed Scholarship Gandhi earned a Bachelor of Science in Matheplus information about the Roofing Alliance conmatics and Economics from the University of tact Alison LaValley, CAE, Executive Director, at California at Berkley, a Master of Arts in International alavalley@nrca.net or visit roofingalliance.net.

Economics from Georgetown University and an MBA in Accounting and Finance from the Wharton School TAMKO Promotes Jeff Beyer to COO and of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Welcomes Prithvi Gandhi as CFO “I am looking forward to Prith joining TAMKO as National roofing manufacturer TAMKO Building an outstanding addition of talent to our leadership Products LLC is proud to promote longtime TAMKO team helping propel TAMKO forward on our mission executive Jeff Beyer to Chief Operating Officer and of long-term profitability for the benefit of our cuswelcome Prithvi (Prith) Gandhi, who joins TAMKO in tomers, suppliers, employees and shareholders,” said Beyer’s previous position as Chief Financial Officer.

Humphreys. “Prith brings a wealth of experience in Beyer will lead TAMKO’s manufacturing, sales, our industry with insights helpful to further TAMKO’s finance and accounting with TAMKO’s Vice President growth and success.” of Operations and Supply Chain Rob Keeling and Vice FRM President of Sales and Marketing Alex Hines reporting to Beyer along with TAMKO’s new Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer Prith Gandhi.

Beyer will work closely with this leadership team to continue driving innovation and impactful marketing strategies, toward the goals of further advancing TAMKO’s strategic growth initiatives while continuing to build upon strong relationships with customers, suppliers and employees.

Beyer will report to TAMKO’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Humphreys who said, “We are excited for this new chapter for TAMKO. Jeff is a genuine collaborative leader whose insight and focus 16

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

The Ultimate

Roof Deck Protection REALIZE MAXIMUM PROTECTION, INCREASED SAVINGS, AND MORE THAN 60 YEARS OF WATERPROOFING EXPERIENCE!

Easy-to-use and economical, Roof Deck Tape® is a 40 mil, self-adhering waterproofing tape designed to tape all roof joints and seams to prevent water infiltration into the building structure. Simply cut to length, peel off release liner, and roll with a hand roller for immediate protection!

Roof Deck Tape® Features: • Aggressively adheres to plywood, OSB, foam board, and other common roof deck materials

Contact MFM Building Products at 800-882-7663 or via email at info@mfmbp.com for more information.

• Textured surface for excellent foot traction • Self-seals around common roofing fasteners • High elongation and flexible to accommodate expansion and contraction • 10-year warranty • Proudly made in the USA

View our Installation Video

®

800-882-7663 mfmbp.com

FRSA – 100 Years Strong Lisa Pate, FRSA Executive Director Throughout 2022, this column will recap some of FRSA’s rich history, through accounts from meeting minutes and a published book called FRSA The First Half Century.

In January, 1965, it was reported nearly 50 percent of the Association’s membership had responded to the group hospitalization insurance program survey and were enthusiastic about the proposal. The survey found 65 percent of the members responding in favor of the proposal and 35 percent opposed.

Once again, labor’s efforts to eliminate the right to work provision were back in the news. Repeal of the section of the Taft-Hartley Act headed the 1965 legislative goals for labor, a report to the Association said.

Members were urged to write their congressman and to lobby against the move by labor.

The Board of Directors approved a group hospitalization insurance program for members of the Association. President Bensch directed members of the Self-Insurers Fund Trustee Board to follow up on the group insurance program and come up with firm recommendations on a detailed plan before the next board meeting.

About this time Bensch’s company, West Gate Sheet Metal Co., built an experimental jungle boat for the U.S. Army, for possible use in Vietnam. Working with designing contractor Franklin Gno Corp. of West Palm Beach, Bensch said it took his shop three to four weeks to construct the air boat, designed to carry 12 fully equipped troops, six times the two-man capacity of those that skim the Everglades. Bensch said one of the big problems in building the boat was an army specification requiring an all-welded aluminum bottom with no tolerance for heat buckling from the weld. The boat was 20 feet long by eight feet wide. Initial tryouts showed the jungle boat could do up to 30 knots and better.

A new attendance record of 310 was set in at the Association’s annual Convention. Tallahassee roofing and sheet metal contractor Robert Dove took over the reins as President.

Hard-working Bill Condermann, Bohnert Roofing and Supply Co., Miami, was selected during the Convention as the first recipient of the “Bob Campanella Memorial Award” for his outstanding performance as Association member during the preceding year. Campanella had died the previous year and the St. Petersburg’s affiliate created the award with the understanding that the recipient of the award would be chosen each year by the Association.

Late 1965 brought a first-class scare to the industry in Florida when the U.S. House of Representatives voted by a slim margin to repeal the Right-to-Work provision of the Taft-Hartley Act. Anxiety increased as the 18

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

bill went to the U.S. Senate but a successful filibuster, led by Senators Everett Dirkson, Spessard L. Holland and George Smathers managed to block any action during the session.

In December, Insurance Commissioner Broward Williams authorized additional rate increases in workmen’s compensation, particularly affecting the building trades industry, citing losses to insurance carriers amounting to $5.5 million in 1964. The increases, across the board, amounted to approximately 6.1 percent of current premiums.

At the January 1966 Board meeting, Charles Farabee questioned other board members about recent experiences with the Self-Insurers Fund. Farabee said his company was having a “problem” with payment of medical claims for workmen’s compensation insurance. He said he couldn’t get replies to repeated requests for payments of claims and for information. He suggested it was “time for someone to look into the Self-Insurers program.” Bill Condermann, a Trustee of the Fund, was asked to take a sharp look at its activities. It is evident the Directors had a feeling something was wrong. Months later they would learn their vague feelings of discontent were manifestations of serious problems in the Fund’s administration, which would rock their industry and the insurance industry in Florida.

With the Convention rapidly approaching, Bill Gibson, Chairman of the Membership Committee,

Bob Campanella

Workers' Compensation INSURANCE

FRSA Self Insurers Fund means

Membership, Service and Safety Join our group of safety-conscious member contractors and reap the rewards!

For more information, contact Alexis at 800-767-3772 ext. 206 or alexis@frsasif.com

announced some unusual, but exceptionally good news: more than 90 percent of the Association’s members would have their dues paid by Convention time.

Gibson said if the payment of dues was any indication of business activity, then Florida roofing and sheet metal contractors must have had a booming year.

Also announced was the news that Florida Forum had been placed on the Honor Roll of the United Community Campaigns of America for “the distinguished volunteer service you rendered during 1965.”

Notification of the honor came in a letter from Walter H. Wheeler, Jr., Chairman of the United Community Campaigns of America.

During the 44th annual Convention held in Tallahassee, Tom Palmer, a Miami contractor, took office as the Association’s President. The Convention was called one of the “greatest private parties” ever held in the Capitol City, with the Convention taking over nearly all the facilities at the Holiday Inn and much of the space available at the nearby Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge. Glenn McNabb was also honored as the outstanding Association member of the year, receiving the second annual Bob Campanella Award.

At the Convention, Florida Forum transferred another $1,000 check to the Association’s general fund. The magazine, which had been bought by the Association at the behest of past President Eldon Goldman, was making a good profit.

In June, the report on the Self-Insurers Fund revealed members had saved a total of $430,971, upon completion of its 11th year in existence. The Fund produced a total gross revenue of $2,182,727, with members receiving refunds of $73,944 and stock discounts of $154,237.

In August, the Board of Directors held a meeting and George Ferber was asked to head a committee to investigate certain questions about the operations of the Self-Insurers Fund. The report was submitted two months later. It noted the Coleman Company had been criticized for neglecting safety programs and safety inspections. But, it noted, Coleman had been forced to spend a lot of time handling workmen’s compensation claims, audits and negotiations with reinsurers, which had been complicated by the deteriorating workmen’s

20

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

compensation market in Florida. In conclusion, the report said, “the Trustees do not recommend the hiring of an actuarial firm to examine the Fund and make recommendations; however, we do feel that there may be substantial value in further considering this…” At this point, however, the writers of the report recommended “that no action be taken to change servicing agencies.”

The Board meeting was heavily attended. Also present were Laird Legg and C.S. Barco of the Robert F. Coleman Company. Ferber said the Board could, if it wished, hire an actuarial firm to make an intensive examination of Coleman’s financial handling of the Fund.

Ferber’s report on the company was discussed. It was noted that he had questioned the Coleman Company about complaints in connection with its administration of the Fund and that the company had admitted it hadn’t done its best in some areas.

Legg fielded questions from the floor – almost all highly critical – concerning billing procedures, investigations and follow up on claims. Legg conceded the company hadn’t maintained adequate communication with the members of the Fund. At one point, it was suggested from the floor that a “name” be given to the members so they’d know who to call at Coleman with their questions. The minutes say, “Laird Legg requested that all correspondence, telephone calls, etc., be directed to him.” Legg was now in a position to ensure that any complaints concerning the Fund would come to him. By mid-December, however, a complaint about Legg himself filtered down to the Association and reported to the Trustees that set in motion a hurried series of meetings. Within a month, one of the most bizarre tales in the history of the Association would unfold and the 45-year old Association would be faced with the possibility of financial collapse of its selfinsurer’s fund and potential collapse of the Association itself.

Lloyds of London, half a world away, would require the Fund members to sign an agreement which, as never before in the history of the Association, would dramatically bind the members together. The whole story was told at the January 1967 meeting of the Board at the Parliament House in Orlando.

Ferber told the story. He noted that the Trustees had investigated the Coleman Company after members complained about administrative procedures. Ferber noted, “at no time did we, or you, to our knowledge, question the financial status of the Fund, which has proven to be an area in which we have been terribly misled.”

Ferber alleged the Trustees had been given false financial reports and that 12 other associations in the state had “been misled and (their) funds mishandled.” In mid-December, Ferber related, the Trustees had been told the Florida Insurance Exchange was “in some financial difficulty.” He continued, “While we were concerned about this, because we were informed that (Laird) Legg was a principal in this

operation also, the magnitude of the problem did not become fully apparent until your Trustees discovered through an investigation that our reinsurance, contrary to what we had been led to believe – we thought our reinsurance was with Lloyds of London – was with the Florida Insurance Exchange.” Incredibly, he noted, the Florida Industrial Commission had informed the Trustees “that there was a good possibility money would be pumped into the Exchange in sufficient amounts so as to allow it to meet its obligations and continue to operate.”

Unsatisfied, the Trustees had continued to investigate. “We discovered that not only was the Insurance Exchange in bad financial shape but that the Coleman Company itself had mismanaged and misappropriated our Fund to the extent that its very existence was in danger…”

Ferber related how the Trustees had appointed new administrators, Fenimore Cooper, Jr., a Winter Park attorney and Dockery, the Association’s Executive Secretary brought in a representative of Lloyds of London to review the Fund. Ferber stated: “The Fund apparently is deficient in the amount of $450,000.”

He said the Trustees had selected Marsh & McLennan, Inc., to take over servicing of the Fund effective January 1, 1967. The new servicing agency, along with Lloyds and the administrators, had drawn up a plan to put the Fund back on its feet, Ferber said.

Ferber had by no means overstated the seriousness of the disaster. W.R. Dorminy, from Marsh & McLennon, along with Cooper, the new co-administrator, drove the point home. Each member of the Fund was liable for the $450,000 debt. The reserves needed for one claim alone totaled $55,000, more than enough to wipe out many of the members. From the floor, someone asked about legal recourse against the Coleman Company or against Florida Insurance Exchange. The answer, “Coleman is broke and has no assets, Florida Insurance Exchange is broke and has no assets.” Could the Fund take action against the principals of Coleman and the Florida Insurance Exchange? The minutes note, “It was decided the right was there, but nobody knows where the main one responsible (Laird Legg) is. The state’s attorney has criminal warrants against Legg but has not gone past this point.”

It was Dornimy, the Marsh & McLennan

representative, who explained to the members how the Fund could be saved. The group would learn in later years that Dorminy was a financial genius who would deliver exactly what he promised them that day, and more. Dorminy noted that Marsh & McLennon was the largest insurance brokerage firm in the world. “One reason Lloyds of London has agreed to accept the reinsurance for the Fund,” Dorminy said, “is because of Marsh & McLennan’s past reputation.”

While a number of members of the Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association had never joined the Self-Insurer’s Fund, those who were members of the Fund certainly represented most of the strength of the Association. A lack of unity in the Fund could have reverberated throughout the Association; collapse of the Fund could have destroyed the Association which fostered it.

By the time the Association convened its annual meeting at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, a feeling of optimism prevailed. The Trade Show was a record-breaker, with 59 booths. A highlight was a sparkling champagne brunch to open the event. Daytona Beach contractor Harley M. Force Jr. was moved up to President and was the third member of his firm to serve as President.

The big topic at the Convention was the SelfInsurance Fund. To make sure history didn’t repeat itself, an article of the Association’s bylaw was changed to provide a revolving and larger Trustee Committee that would supervise the management of the Association’s insurance programs and report quarterly the progress and operations of the programs to the Board of Directors. Its duties were also to disburse all monies due to participating members who would be entitled to them.

There were three prize winners in the R&SMCA Idea Bonanza: Frank Tack of Clearwater, Don Springer of Lakeland and Tom Palmer of Miami. Tack suggested public relations in any industry or commercial venture could easily make the difference between a good, sound business either floundering or becoming a most satisfying success. His main concerns, however, were cleanliness. Springer came up with a labor saving idea by suggesting a list of supplies all roofers should carry with them. Palmer suggested use of a service call form to improve customer relations.

Continued on page 23

www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

21

President’s Award Goes to Vicki Byrne Each year, the FRSA President presents an award to someone who has assisted them during their term on the Executive Committee. Joe Byrne selected his wife, Vicki Byrne, as the recipient of the President’s Award. Joe stated, “This award is going to someone who, without her support, I wouldn’t know what to do. I have said many times, I have a lot of crazy ideas rolling around in my head and sometimes need someone to confide in and seek support from. She’s always been there for me. I also happen to love her so much, so I guess it’s obvious that my President’s Award is going to my best friend and wife, Vicki Byrne.” Congratulations, Vicki!

FRM

Mike Reed, CPA Celebrates 30 Years With FRSA As business owners, we are always looking for that special employee, one we hope will love their job and the company and stay for the long haul, turning a job into a career. Someone whose integrity and dedication will add to the company value and enable us to grow as a business. Over time, you come to rely on these types of employees – the ones that can offer sound advice, understand your business goals, work well with your team and eventually become a friend.

Mike Reed, CPA, FRSA Controller and General Manager, has recently celebrated his 30th year working for FRSA. Mike is also an FRSA Honorary Member.

He has worked diligently for FRSA to assure the Board of Directors and FRSA membership that the finances entrusted to him have been reflected accurately and according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, ensuring the business transactions of FRSA and its entities are precise. During his time with FRSA, he has produced timely financial statements and investment reports and received excellent audit reviews from FRSA’s outside CPA firm.

Joe Byrne presented Mike with a plaque during FRSA’s Officer Installation Dinner, stating, “Mike’s more than just a numbers man – he’s a friend.” Reed received a standing ovation from members at the dinner. Thanks for 30 years, Mike!

FRM

22

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

Rob Foote FRSA’s Newest Honorary Member Honorary Membership is awarded to individuals in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the Association and industry. This year, Rob Foote has been nominated for Honorary Membership. Rob is one of the most trusted insurance placement and risk management professionals in Florida today and has earned the insurance industry designations for CPCU, ARM, AIM and CRIS. Rob is originally from Buffalo, New York and moved to Florida at a young age. He graduated from UCF with a Bachelors’ Degree in Business Administration. Fun fact – during his youthful early days in Florida, Rob experienced what was undoubtedly a fantasy of many boys his age when he spent a couple years as the New York Yankees batboy when they held spring training in Fort Lauderdale. He also found time to learn to play the saxophone.

After graduating from UCF, Rob went to work for Furman Insurance in Pompano Beach in January 1990.

He started working with the roofing industry not long

after and by 1992 had set up roofing division operations at Furman. The past thirty years have seen the roofing division thrive and continue to grow thanks to the reputation they developed for diligence and looking out for their clients’ welfare.

This is no surprise as Rob is known as an agent and person who cares about the welfare of whoever he represents, both professionally and personally. He is known for this work in the South Florida charity community, especially for his relief efforts in the Bahamas and he is recognized at FRSA for all he brings to the table to benefit the Association and industry.

Rob is married to Dora and has two grown sons and a daughter. His oldest son is rumored to be following in his father’s footsteps by working in the construction industry. He is also an avid fisherman but doesn’t get on the water as much as he would like.

Rob was presented with the FRSA’s Charlie Raymond Membership Award in 2007 and has worked tirelessly on the Membership Committee for many years, where he is seen as a link between FRSA and the South Florida roofing community.

Rob was on vacation during FRSA’s Convention and Expo so Tyler Kocis and Nick Ondo from Furman Insurance accepted the award on his behalf.

Congratulations Rob! FRM

100 Years, continued from page 21

A story is told about one of Tack’s “clean-up” jobs. It seems one day a man drove up to his shop wanting to know if Tack would repair his copper still. It had been “worked on real good” with an axe. Said the man, “I’d like a price on repairing this beat up kettle – gonna use it to store honey.” Much to Tack’s fortune, the phone rang and he excused himself, very promptly making a call to the Sheriff’s office. Tack was told to go ahead with the repair but to call the Sheriff when the man returned to pick up his “kettle.” The spunky Tack had helped the law clean up another illegal still.

R&SMCA Director Ed Walker of Homestead informed members about a new program to aid police in their efforts to maintain law and order. Demonstrating Tack’s theory of community involvement, Walker had been busy with his own community’s program called Radio Watch. Drivers of radio-equipped vehicles

served as eyes and ears for the police throughout the community.

George Ferber was named outstanding member of the year for his efforts in shepherding the Self-Insurers Fund through its crisis.

Lou Samuels, hard-working Chairman for the 1968 Florida Exposition, announced a complete sellout of all available booth spaces. Samuels stated, “it’s another record for R&SMCA of Florida.” A total of 57 booths were offered to manufacturers and suppliers who snapped them up five months in advance of the Convention. The show was scheduled to be held in conjunction with the 1968 Convention in Daytona Beach.

The Florida show then ranked third in the nation for the roofing and sheet metal industry among national and regional groups and was the largest show of any state association.

FRM www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

23

It Was an Awesome Event…

Challenges Await!

Mike Silvers, CPRC, Silvers Systems Inc. and FRSA Director of Technical Services It was great to see so many industry professionals at our 100th Anniversary Convention and Expo. For those of us who have been involved for many years, it was a chance to catch up with old friends. For all of us it was a chance to make new acquaintances and build future friendships. I think it was an absolute success.

Having it in Daytona Beach, in the same city where our founding meeting was held 100 years earlier, made the effort to hold it in an unusual venue worthwhile. It will stand out as a unique event for our Association as we move forward into our second century. And move forward we will. Our new President, Matt Criswell, has laid out several priorities for us. During his very thoughtful acceptance speech he stated: “One of those initiatives over the past year is insurance reform within our industry. I don’t mean general liability or workers’ comp or auto. It’s about the elephant in the room – the issue of the roofing companies that help bastardize the claims process. Whether you like it or hate it, it has been a massive detriment to our industry these past few years. We’ve got to come up with a solution that benefits everyone. If you are one of these companies that participate in an insurance-only game, I’m not asking you to close up shop, rather expand what you have built and do it the right way.”

Those of you who are involved in our leadership or who regularly read this column know, as Matt stated, we have been dealing with this issue for the past few years. This abuse has prompted many thoughtful improvements in statutes and the building code. It has also caused many not so helpful knee jerk reactions.

All of these are attempting to rein in the runaway increases in claims, lawsuits and the resulting property insurance premiums. There isn’t space in this article to dissect the many root causes for the problem.

However, we will review some attempts to deal with this problem when the legislation was passed during the recent special session and subsequently signed by the Governor. Now the so-called sausage making starts as state agencies, commissions, workgroups and those being regulated go to work.

Immediate Code Changes Prompted by SB-4D

On August 4, the Florida Building Commission adopted for immediate inclusion in the current 2020 7th Edition of the Florida Building Code (FBC), the commission’s staff recommendations for compliance with 26

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

the legislative intent of the recently passed SB-4D. There are two subjects addressed in the legislation and now state statutes. The following link will download the supplement to the code changes prompted by the bill: www.floridaroof.com/FBC-sb-4d.

Existing Building Inspections (Surfside Changes)

Although the first change does not have an immediate impact on our industry, it will have the potential to do so as we progress. It adds a new section to the Building Volume, Chapter 1 Scope and Administration, 110.9 Mandatory structural inspections for condominium and cooperative buildings. This was adopted as a response to the Surfside building collapse. A new workgroup was created to make recommendations to the Commission. It is called the Existing Building Inspection Workgroup (EBIW). Commissioner (and FRSA Past President) Brian Swope, CPRC, Tampa Roofing Company, who is Chairman of the Commission’s Roofing Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Commission’s roofing representative, was appointed to the new workgroup. As part of the bill’s first assignment, the workgroup will be reviewing the milestone inspection requirements of the

legislation and will then make recommendations to the Commission so that they can then make recommendations to ensure inspections are sufficient to determine the structural integrity of a building and provide a written report to the Governor, the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 31, 2022. As part of the second assignment, the Florida Building Commission shall consult with the State Fire Marshal to provide recommendations to the Legislature for the adoption of comprehensive structural and life safety standards for maintaining and inspecting all types of buildings and structures in the state that are three stories or more in height. The Commission shall provide a written report of its recommendations to the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 31, 2023. As it stands now, mandatory inspections will only apply to condominium and cooperative buildings. That could possibly change but it is fairly unlikely. We will be closely monitoring the progress of the workgroup.

To reiterate, this 25% rule change was prompted due to the perceived insurance claim abuse by those who have created what I call the “free roof syndrome.”

It basically eliminates the 25% rule unless the roof was permitted prior to March 1, 2009, which was the implementation date for the 2007 FBC. If in doubt about which code the previous work was permitted under, confirm this with the building department where your project is located as to when they adopted the 2007 FBC and which code applied.

Claims Adjusters and Insurance Underwriters Adding to the Problems

Conscientious roofing contractors often find themselves defending our occupation when much of the property insurance problem originates from the insurance industry itself. It often begins with easy to manipulate or – even worse – fraudulent independent claims adjusters who seldom understand roofing damage and often approve or accept ridiculously overpriced roof claims. Their inability or unwillingness to properly analyze roof damage and roof condition com25% Rule Exception (Property Insurance bined with insurer’s legal departments reluctance to Relief) fight questionable claims has created an atmosphere The second change creates a very impactful exception that fosters the fraud they then blame for today’s to the so-called 25% rule. This change was effective soaring rates. Some unscrupulous attornies team up in state statutes on May 26. The following final code with similarly minded roofing contractors to take adlanguage was adopted by the Commission at the same vantage of the easy money that exists due to this far August 4 meeting. too costly approach to claims handling. At some point, the underwriters noticed they were paying out too 7th Edition (2020) Florida Building Code – Building, much in roofing claims and decided the best solution CHAPTER 15 ROOF ASSEMBLIES AND ROOFTOP was to only write coverage on buildings with nearly STRUCTURES, Revise section 1511.1.1, (and 1521.4), new roofs. Similarly, too many of these adjusters don’t 7th Edition (2020) Florida Building Code – understand that what separates a good roof from a Residential, CHAPTER 9 ROOF ASSEMBLIES, bad roof is so much more than age alone. Property Revise section R908.1.1, 7th Edition (2020) Florida owners are being forced to replace roofs with years Building Code – Existing Building, CHAPTER 7 of serviceable life remaining, adding to the cost of ALTERATIONS—LEVEL 1, Revise section 706.1.1 procuring coverage.

All were changed to now read as follows (new The second piece of legislation passed during language underscored): the special session made many changes on the legal Not more than 25 percent of the total roof area or side that should help insurers push back against roof section of any existing building or structure shall questionable claims. It also included provisions that be repaired, replaced, or recovered in any 12-month for homeowner’s policies issued or renewed after July period unless the entire existing roofing system or 1, 2022, insurers cannot refuse to issue or renew a roof section is replaced to conform to requirements of homeowner’s policy on a residential roof that is less this code. than 15 years old solely because of the age of the roof.

Exception: If an existing roofing system or roof It also says that for roofs that are at least 15 years old, section was built, repaired, or replaced in compliance a homeowner is allowed to have an authorized person with the requirements of the 2007 Florida Building perform an inspection and, if the inspection states Code, or any subsequent editions of the Florida Building that the roof has five years of useful life remaining, Code, and 25 percent or more of such roofing system then the insured may not refuse to issue or renew a or roof section is being repaired, replaced, or recovered, homeowner’s policy solely because of the age of the only the repaired, replaced, or recovered portion is roof. This seemed like a win for quality-minded roofing required to be constructed in accordance with the contractors and property owners who are interested in Florida Building Code in effect, as applicable. Pursuant buying quality roofs. However, the insurance company to s. 553.844(5), Florida Statutes, a local government underwriters are fit to be tied over these provisions. may not adopt by ordinance an administrative or They are already implementing interpretations that technical amendment to this exception. www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

27

require a roof be newer than 15 years and that the roof system must also include a direct to deck secondary water barrier. This new restriction wasn’t part of the bill. Word is out that the insurers have the elimination of these requirements at the top of their legislative hit list. If you missed them, you can find additional information on these recent changes in the links below to FRSA’s Legislative Counsel Chris Dawson’s (www.floridaroof.com/frm7-22p10) and my (www.floridaroof.com/frm7-22p24) columns, both in the July issue of Florida Roofing magazine.

We have recently received reports that many insurers are now using similar underwriting standards for low slope roofs. So far, these have mainly been for condominium roofs. They are typically well-performing roof systems that may be great candidates for coatings and routine maintenance. In one example, a 20-year-old modified bitumen roof covering with no reported issues was performing very well on a highrise building. It had enhanced and still code-compliant fastening to an insulating lightweight concrete deck.

The owners were required by their insurer to replace the roof system. This despite the fact that with proper maintenance it could provide several additional decades of serviceable life. Not only did the roof covering need to be replaced but the removal process would damage the insulating lightweight concrete fill which

would be compromised during removal of the numerous fasteners and also need to be replaced.

FRSA and the industry have joined together and overcame many challenges during the previous century. This one, which President Criswell recognized in his acceptance speech, is among the most imposing.

FRSA is addressing this issue on many fronts. The future reputation of our profession, occupation and craft depends on how well we can tame Matt’s “elephant in the room.”

FRM Mike Silvers, CPRC is owner of Silvers Systems Inc. and is consulting with FRSA as Director of Technical Services. Mike is an FRSA Past President, Life Member and Campanella Award recipient and brings over 40 years of industry knowledge and experience to FRSA’s team.

WHY JOIN FRSA? BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION THAT WORKS FOR THE INDUSTRY

FRSA Member Benefits Code and Technical Support

FRSA SIF

FRSA Credit Union

Access to Workers' Comp with an unmatched safety and training program.

Access to our Residential Roof loan program. FRSA CU can assist with equipment loans and all other banking needs.

800-767-3772 ext. 142.

28

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

WWW.FLORIDAROOF.COM

ANNA@FLORIDAROOF.COM

Florida Roofing Magazine Discounts on advertising Legal Counsel Adams and Reese HR Services - Seay Management Aflac supplemental insurance

Affiliate Competition Winner?

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation During each Convention, FRSA’s Affiliate Council plans a friendly competitive event and invites the 12 state affiliate chapters to participate. Entry fees and rules are established by the Affiliate Council, which is made up of the Affiliate Representative and the President from each chapter. Affiliates compete for bragging rights and get their name engraved on the FRSA Affiliate Challenge Cup. This tradition has taken place every year since 1981.

Of course, the real winner is the President’s Charity of Choice – this year, the Tunnel to Tower Foundation.

Entry fees and buy-in bets from the competition, along with donations made through the Convention

registration site and personal donations to the charity, enabled FRSA to donate over $21,000 to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation – the largest amount to date raised for a charity.

Being in Daytona, home of NASCAR racing, inspired the Affiliate Council to select a slot car race as the competition. Affiliates from across the state competed and had a great time. The winners of this year’s competition were: ■ First Place – Kenny Harp, Polk County Roofing Contractors Association ■ Second Place – Katherine Cleary, Palm Beach County Roofing & Sheet Metal Contractors Association ■ Third Place – Sandy Brinson, Northeast Florida Roofing & Sheet Metal Contractors Association ■ Honorable Mention – Andrew Peet, Central Florida Roofing & Sheet Metal Contractors Association After the competition, the racetrack was boxed up and donated to the Foundation Auction, where lucky winner, Tim Ellsworth won that competition and headed home with the race set. We thank the Affiliates and those who made donations to the 2022 Charity of Choice!

FRM

Joe Byrne and NYFD Lt. Brian Grisanti, Tunnel To Towers

www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

29

2021 FRSA-SIF Safety Awards Each year, the FRSA Self Insurers Fund issues Safety Achievement Awards to outstanding member companies who have improved or shown exceptional safety compliance within their companies during the prior year. The awards are given to members in each of the four areas within the state that FRSA-SIF Loss Control Representatives oversee.

Springer-Peterson Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc., Lakeland Kevin Lindley, Central Florida Loss Control Representative Springer-Peterson Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc. is the 2021 recipient of the Outstanding Safety Award for the Central Florida district.

Quality Roofing, Inc., Tampa

Brad Mang, West Florida Loss Control Representative The 2021 Outstanding Safety Award for the West Coast of Florida district goes to Richard “Rick” Jenkins, owner of Quality Roofing, Inc. located in Tampa.

Quality Roofing, Inc. is a third generation licensed and state certified roofing and general contracting firm. Rick has been in the roofing industry since 1974 when he first started working for his father’s roofing company. In 1994, Rick established Quality Roofing and opened his doors in Florida with 15 employees.

Since then, the company has grown to 175 employees and $20 million dollars in annual sales.

His success in the roofing industry is credited to his strong relationships with his staff, including wife Susan, daughter Tara and son-in law Nathan Cole. His mission statement of “Honest Integrity, with a focus on Safety and Quality” says what Rick truly believes is important at Quality Roofing, Inc. In 2018, Rick brought in David Placensio as the company’s Safety Director and since, the company’s safety and injury rate have greatly improved. David has been able to establish strong relationships with the personnel of Quality Roofing, Inc. and has created a proven safety culture through weekly safety meetings, incentive programs and specialty training with their loss control consultant.

We congratulate Rick, Susan, Tara, Nathan and David, along with all the employees at Quality Roofing for a great job and wish them continued success with their business.

Brad Mang, David Placensio, Rick Jenkins, Susan Jenkins, Tara Cole and Nathan Cole

32

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

Diana King, Daniel Boatwright, Jamie Wetherington and Kevin Lindley Since joining the FRSA Self Insurer’s Fund in 1981, this is the second time Springer-Peterson has been awarded this distinguished recognition. In speaking with the owner, Rob Springer, CPRC it became very clear that the company is determined to have the best team. They recognize the importance of training workers not only in the most productive manner in which to complete their job but also in the safest way, with the most productive outcome. “Employees are essential to having work completed in our industry, it is a company’s responsibility to train each employee to complete their work in a safe manner to enable them to return home every day and work another day. Quality service and strong performance are not an option, but rather a minimum requirement,” stated Rob. Springer-Peterson was founded in 1981 by Don Springer and Brooke Peterson to provide more service for customers. Don wanted to start a company where he wanted to go to work each day so that his employees would want to do the same. It has since grown into one of the largest roofing companies in the Central Florida area with over 130 vehicles on the road and over 200 employees. The unique set-up and capabilities of Springer-Peterson have allowed them the ability to work on and be part of many diverse, complicated projects. All operations are conducted out of one location, which is centrally located in the state and has enabled them to work a very large territory.

In recent years, Springer-Peterson has been fortunate to be able to expand their facilities so that each division within the company has a designated area of their own. Rob Springer started working for SpringerPeterson in 1985, when he bought into the company and became Vice President and partial owner with his father. Rob has obtained and retained the best, invaluable staff, both administratively as well as in the field.

Springer Peterson Roofing and Sheet Metal has maintained an impeccable experience modification rating. Rob attributes the company’s safety culture to the EHS Manager, Jamie Wetherington. In 2018, Jamie assumed the safety responsibilities at SpringerPeterson and was able to analyze the safety behavioral needs of the company and, with the support of the entire company, made an immediate impact. Safety is not a career choice in Jamie’s opinion, it is a passion that he has to empower and grow in each individual worker, so that they recognize the impact each of them have on one another’s wellbeing. Springer-Peterson has developed and utilized a training program for each worker that starts the first day for every new hire and continues throughout their duration of employment.

They have constructed a training room and soon plan to build a training center where they are able to conduct hands-on full safety training at their facility before workers are sent into the field. They are proactive in obtaining information before starting each job to ensure their employees have all the tools and equipment needed for each project before they arrive on the job to make them successful from day one.

We congratulate Springer-Peterson Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc. and all their employees for receiving this award and wish them continued success with their business.

Bohemia Roofing Co. Inc., Jacksonville

Matt Savin, North Florida Loss Control Representative The 2021 Outstanding Safety Award for North Florida was awarded to Bohemia Roofing Co., Inc. Bohemia Roofing was founded by Ivana Hodulova and Pavel Rathousky in 2004. The two have worked together to create a roofing company that thrives on their name and reputation and they have done a great job.

They maintain that quality and safety are their largest concerns with any roofing project, which is no easy task for some of the high-end custom roofs they undertake.

Pavel makes sure that he is actively onsite and managing the projects, always maintaining control of the safety and quality of each roof. They ensure that all of their employees are properly trained for safety

Pavel Rathousky with a rescue dog

and all aspects of the job at hand. One point that Pavel stresses is to never use outside subcontractors and only use his own employees so that he can always ensure quality, control and safety.

When Pavel and Ivana are not working in their roofing business, they also run an animal rescue which provides and cares for 10 to 20 animals at any given time. We congratulate Bohemia Roofing Co., Inc. on receiving this award and being a valued member since 2012.

Provincial South, Inc., Oakland Park

Jorge Castanon, South Florida Loss Control Representative

Lucas Lucio, Paulo Souza and Jorge Castanon Provincial South, Inc. (PSI Roofing), is the 2021 recipient of the Outstanding Safety Award for the South Florida district.

Darrick Gockerell, CEO, founded PSI Roofing in 1994. Throughout the years, Darrick has been involved in many recognized trade associations and organizations. He is one of the founding members (2005) and a former board member of The National Roofing Partners (NRP). In the past, he held executive positions on the boards of the Roofing Contractors Association of South Florida (RCASF) as well as the Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA).

Paulo Souza started working for PSI in 2006 as a Project Coordinator and, through his hard work and dedication, has worked his way up the ranks to become President of PSI Roofing in 2014. Paulo is very involved with RCASF and has held several board positions, including Past President.

Due to their high morals, ethical standards and continued dedication toward workplace safety, this company has become a success. Through their hard work and concern for workplace safety, Darrick and Paulo have established means for the control and prevention of losses, giving them an outstanding loss history record that has earned them this esteemed award.

We congratulate Darrick and Paulo, along with all the employees of PSI Roofing, for a great job and wish them continued success.

FRM www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

33

Tom Gans Receives Memorial Heart Award

Tom Gans pictured with Earl Blank’s daughters: Carol, Tina and Patsy.

FRSA has been fortunate to have many wonderful Associate members over the years. Candidates for the Earl Blank Memorial Heart Award have always been plentiful and Tom Gans is counted among them. Tom is truly a lot like Mr. Blank, who was a humble and knowledgeable person respected by all who knew him.

Like so many in the Florida roofing industry, Tom is not originally from Florida. He was born in Ohio and grew up in Winchester, VA where he attended National Business College in Roanoke, before eventually finding his way to Florida.

His roofing career has also been like others in the industry, working in various capacities until he found his niche. He has been a sales representative for Koppers, an employee of Milbrand Roofing, Miami and was a contractor partner in Gulfstates Industries, New Port Richey. Tom eventually sold his interest in the roofing company and started his own consulting firm, TCG Roof Inspections, which is now well known in the Tampa roofing and consulting community.

His marriage to his lovely wife Donna produced two children and later a granddaughter, all of whom are the joys of his life. He also enjoys golf whenever he has the

time, something he will tell you there never seems to be enough of.

Tom has served on FRSA’s Codes and Roof Tile Committees and the Codes Subcommittee for many years, probably the hardest working committees at FRSA. He currently serves as the co-chair for the Codes Committee. The knowledge he has gained from his varied career is an important component of what these committees accomplish, and they accomplish a lot. Tom was awarded a well-deserved Honorary Membership in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the industry and Association. You will find him at every FRSA function, but reliable sources tell us he especially enjoys after hours festivities at the annual Convention. He is probably not unique in that respect, but there are some interesting stories.

For the professionalism and insight that he brings to every FRSA meeting and his dedicated service over many years, it is our honor to present the 2022 Earl Blank Memorial Heart Award to Tom Gans, TCG Roof Inspections, Tampa. Congratulations Tom! FRM

Rip Hanks Wins Enthusiasm Award Enthusiasm shows it’s face in many ways. There is the Bill Bieler style, all high energy and nonstop movement and there is also the more quietly effective enthusiasm of many of our volunteer members. Rip Hanks is somewhere in the middle. He has been a member of FRSA for four years and has built a reputation among FRSA staff as ready and on-call should he be needed.

Rip is a Pensacola native, growing up with a daredevil streak that led him to challenge himself at an early age. He was a pioneer in the Pensacola skateboarding community in the 1970s. Don’t believe me? Check out the video on YouTube. In 1977, he held the world skateboarding high-jump record, over five feet straight up – jumping off of and back on – a moving skateboard.

Not content to just roll around on solid ground, Rip also took up surfing at an early age. He attended the University of Florida where he was on the UF Surfing team and participated in the 1984 National Surfing Competition. He designs and makes his own boards, unique creations of mahogany, red oak and poplar.

Rip graduated from UF with a degree in advertising, opened his own ad agency at age twenty-five and worked in advertising and marketing for many years. During these years, he found the time to invent and patent products using connectivity technology (think batteries).

It was also during this time that a friend suggested he look at roofing as a possible career change. Rip, challenging himself again, took him up on the offer and went to work in the industry. He worked for others for a while, then sat for the state roofing contractors’ license exam and became a certified roofing contractor.

Rip started his own company four years ago, about the same time he joined FRSA. Weather Shield Metal Roofing, Gulf Breeze, is already a fixture in the Panhandle residential metal roofing market.

Rip is married with two grown children. He is especially proud that his son just passed the roofing

contractors’ license exam at age twenty-four. Rip is starting a new company specializing in shingle roofing, where the newest contractor in the family will be in charge.

Upon joining FRSA, Rip immediately became involved with committees. He serves on FRSA’s Board of Directors, co-chairs the FRSA Membership Committee and sits on the Codes and Roof Tile Committees. On the Membership Committee, he has used his marketing experience to assist staff with ideas and ways in which to promote FRSA and membership.

For the positive presence he brings to every meeting and his good will ambassador personality, we are pleased to present the 2022 Bieler Enthusiasm Award to Rip Hanks. Congratulations Rip! FRM

Convention by the Numbers Affiliate Competition Winners 1st PCRCA – Kenny Harp 2nd PBCRSM – Katherine Cleary 3rd NEFRSA – Sandy Brinson

Total raised for the Charity of Choice $21,500

Amount Raised by the competition

Sports Tournaments 246 Participants

Foundation Auction Auction funds raised

$43,356

Highest grossing item

$5,300 STAR Awards 27 Submissions 11 S.T.A.R.

Award Recipients One Shining Star Congratulations Register Roofing & Sheet Metal!

2,986 Total Hotel

Room Nights 3,564 Convention & Expo Registrations

Team FRSA 11 Staff Members

$3,100

Ed Foundation Raffle Winner Joe Byrne $5,000

Number of items 152 Average bids per item 10 Total number of bids 1,524

28 Educational Seminars 21 Speakers 24 CE Credits Offered 905 Seminar Attendees

Scholarships

Number of Recipients 19 | Total Awarded $33,500

415

Booths Sold

241

Exhibiting Companies

78

Event Sponsors

2023 Expo 100% Sold Out 406 Booths

Social Media Engagement During Convention LinkedIn 784 followers 294 unique visitors, a 410% increase from the prior month Facebook Engaged 1,643 people 1,900 followers on Facebook and 1,400 likes 42

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

Instagram

1,100 followers Twitter Over 800 impressions Feathr Digital Advertising FRSA Expo marketing campaign hit 100,175 views with 9,949 reach

Florida Roofing Over 500 issues of Florida Roofing magazine were distributed to new readers

ers b m Me w site e N p on u d e 7 Sign

Why General Liability Insurance Isn’t Enough in the Event of a Disaster Corey Slavik, Property and Casualty Advisor, HUB International dangers of the trade. If an employee is injured on the job and you don’t have workers’ compensation insurance, your roofing company may have to pay for medical treatments and missed wages out of pocket. Also, when an employee accepts workers’ compensation benefits, they cede the right to sue the company, which protects you from exorbitant punitive damage costs in court. Most states, including Florida, mandate that employers purchase workers’ comp.

Surety bonds are another important coverage for roofing contractors. Sometimes known as contractor bonds, they pay your customers if you don’t complete a job, go out of business, go bankrupt or simply run into unforeseen issues. Having this type of coverage may be required for larger contracts; ultimately, customers prefer contractors with surety bonds because they know they will be compensated if you fail to finish the work.

Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance coverage, as What Coverage Do You Need?

In the alphabet soup of insurance – GL, E&O, P&C, etc. the name suggests, covers businesses for mistakes, – it can be difficult to determine the essential coverag- giving bad advice or failing to perform certain aspects es that a roofing contractor in the state of Florida may of the job. An E&O policy might cover, for example, the businesses that made the flashing mistake and HVAC need. Here are details on each of the main insurance calculation blunder mentioned earlier. E&O insurance types you should consider obtaining to protect your is similar to general liability insurance but is specifically business. related to the professional services you provide, not A general liability policy covers businesses from the property, equipment or operations. financial losses related to property damage, acciCommercial auto insurance covers your company dental personal injuries or lawsuits. Notably, it does vehicles when an auto accident causes third-party not include employee injuries, tools or work vehicles, injuries and property damage. It also provides coverpunitive damages, or errors and omissions. age to repair company vehicles that are damaged by There are two types of general liability insurance: weather damage or vandalism. Purchasing commerclaims-based and occurrence. Claims-based, which cial auto insurance is mandatory in Florida, but it’s also tends to be cheaper than oncurrence, only covers insmart business to protect such key assets. cidents where the claim was made during your period Another key asset to protect for the health of your of coverage. So, if an accident occurs and you weren’t business are your tools and equipment. Tools and aware of it until after your policy had expired, you won’t be covered. Occurrence insurance, on the other equipment insurance, also known as tool or equiphand, provides coverage for any incident that happens ment floater insurance, can pay for the repair or during your coverage period, even after the policy is no replacement of important tools like shingle cutters and roofing knives. This type of insurance covers both longer in place. damage and theft of tools and equipment; it does not Workers’ compensation is an essential insurance coverage for roofing contractors due to the inherent Continued on page 55 There are many risks involved in roofing. Roofing contractors who have the proper insurance coverage, beyond just commercial general liability, can better protect their business and gain a competitive advantage.

There is little room for error in roofing. Faulty workmanship, the use of defective materials and poor design are all risks roofing contractors must avoid when performing their work.

Large-scale mistakes, like propane torches left overnight that cause a fire, have become major liabilities for roofers. Problems can also arise in a more indirect manner, such as a failure to secure proper flashing during installation that leads to water intrusion; or, a miscalculation of the weight needed to secure an HVAC unit on a roof that leads to distress of the building’s exterior foundation and walls.

Any of these scenarios can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damages and put your roofing company in peril. Smart businesses know that to recover quickly from a setback, they need to be prepared. Having general liability insurance is a crucial form of protection for your business but it often isn’t enough to fully cover the costs associated with work-related incidents.

www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

43

Thank You for a Successful Foundation Auction in Daytona Beach John Hellein, FRSA Educational & Research Foundation Director The 2022 Foundation Auction raised over $43,000 for industry education, research and scholarships this year at the 100th Annual Convention and Expo. Manny Oyola’s and George Ebersold’s custom AR-10 went for $5,300. We are not sure but this may be the highest amount paid for a single item in the three decades of the Auction. Dale Martin, Dal Mar Roofing Industries, South Daytona Beach, was the high bidder.

Crown Royal Whiskey Gift Trunk to Return to 2023 Auction in Tribute to Steve Steele

One Auction item that stopped people in their tracks was a Crown Royal 1920s Travel Trunk package, donated by FRSA Technical Director Mike Silvers, CPRC. It featured several bottles of out-of-production and hard-to-find Crown Royal Whiskey along with cigars, a “.22 cailber” cigar lighter, waterproof playing cards and more. The package received the highest number of bids (52) of any non-roofing material auction item. It was valued at $750 and, by Thursday, the bidding had already topped $1,000. On Friday, a couple of hours before the Auction closed at 1:00 pm, Tonya Steele – who had been bidding on the item all along – placed one final bid at $1,550 to outbid the previous high bid of $1,525. The bid held and Tonya was the high bidder – but that was just the beginning.

Tonya being Tonya, she informed Mike that she was donating the collection back to the Foundation to be auctioned off again next year in memory of Steve Steele, her late husband. Her generosity proved

contagious. Foundation President George Ebersold, who was at the Auction after it closed to help deliver items to high bidders, heard the news.

“Maybe,” he said to Tonya, “maybe I’ll donate my bottle of XR to add to the basket for next year.” The bottle of Crown Royal XR (Extra Rare) – from the burned down Lasalle distillery – is valued between $500 and $1,000. It was clear, as George warmed up to his own idea of donating the bottle, that he had become a little attached to it.

“Are you going to?” Tonya asked encouragingly, holding her hand up for a high five from George. The high five sealed the deal and now that bottle will be featured as a part of the “Steve Steele Crown Royal Travel Trunk” package in next year’s Auction. So, if you missed winning this item this year, you’ll get another opportunity in 2023.

Many Hands, Light Work

Of course, the success of the FRSA Foundation Auction depends upon the many donations that we receive from people and companies throughout the industry and beyond. In all, there were 152 separate auction packages up for bid. Thanks team!

FRM

Top Ten Highest Bid Items Item

48

High Bidder

High Bid

Custom One-of-One AR10

Dale Martin

$5,300

The Catch-All‚ Medium Landscape Protection Kit

Donald Schwartz

$2,830

CertainTeed‚ One Pallet of Flintlastic SA

Wesley Cone

$2,425

Crown Royal Whiskeys – 1920s Leather Travel Trunk Gift Basket

Tonya Steele

$1,550

Eagle Roofing Products – Eagle Armour (One Pallet)

Edgar Quintin

$1,525

Old Fitzgerald, Crown Royal, Johnnie Walker, Gran Patron

Chuck Peterson

$1,480

Gulf Coast Supply and Manufacturing – DJI Air 2S Fly More Drone Combo

Wesley Cone

$1,275

KARNAK Package #3 of 5‚ 502 K-Flex

Joe Snyder

$ 975

TAMKO Titan XT Shingles‚ 10 Squares

Chris Wiedenhoeft

$ 950

IB Roof Systems – 2022 Chick-Fil-A Kick-off Game Tickets for Two

Brendon Mitcham

$ 900

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

Seven Ways Business Texting Improves Customer Communication Briquelle Simpson, Freelance Writer Email has been the business communication method of choice for years, but emails don’t reach customers.

The truth is that customers are dealing with a flood of emails every day. Your roofing company’s high-priority emails are getting buried under email ads, coupons and bills. For the most part, your customers might not even realize they got your email. So how do you fix this? The answer is business texting.

Think about it. People like texts. In fact, 87 percent of homeowners primarily want to talk to roofing contractors over text. That’s over 20 times the number of people who want to hear from you by email (only 4 percent – 9 percent other means).

If most homeowners want to be texted, why do so few roofers offer texting? Everyone knows the benefits of personal texting, but the advantages aren’t as clear for business interactions. Here are seven major ways business texting can help your roofing company.

Get Your Messages Read

A fast-paced world means more information and less time to read it. Make sure customers read your messages by communicating with them on their terms. Email is outdated and phone calls can come at inconvenient times. But texting is simple and homeowners want simplicity.

They can easily open your text message and respond when they have a free moment.

Not only do texts have a five times higher open rate than email but 90 percent of people open a text within three minutes. With texting, you know customers see your message even if they never respond.

www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

49

Save Time with Automations

Do you want to send personalized messages without spending tons of time on them? Automated texts let you do just that. Write a text message template and then the platform can autofill the customer’s name and address for you.

Texting automations also prevent messages from falling through the cracks: they’ll always go out when they are supposed to. You can create your message in advance, save it as a template, then schedule the software to automatically personalize and send it.

Those nuances make a big difference in how your customers perceive you. If you don’t know what or how your staff is talking to your customers, you don’t really know what kind of experience they’re having.

Captured and controlled texting ensures you don’t have any blind spots in your business communications.

Provide your customers with a better experience and give yourself full insight into your company with one simple feature.

All Messages in One Place

How many times have you sent an email only to hear your customer never got it or the message was automatically directed to spam and deleted? You aren’t sure if anyone sees your email and email responses are slim to none. But texting has an eight times higher response rate than email.

If you rely on email for all your customer communication, you’re holding your business back. Texting ensures your roofing messages make it to your customers and get seen.

Using a texting platform keeps all messages in one place for better business continuity. All your business texts are consolidated for easy tracking.

Andrew Stockton from Elite Windows and Doors says that business texting is “not only communicating with the customer but the biggest thing is that companies have is their own internal data on the team, taking notes on what’s being said.”

If one of your employees has to hand off a customer, the new rep can see all the past texts in the system.

They’ll have all the information they need to provide a seamless customer experience.

Get More (and Better) Reviews

Have an Advantage over the Competition

Avoid Email Issues

Poor communication leads to bad customer experiences and reviews. In fact, 47 percent of negative reviews trace back to a lack of communication. Your customers want to know what’s going on with their roof. Typically, all they need is a quick update. If your customers have to reach out to see what’s happening, you’ve already failed.

Text is the perfect way to keep your customers in the loop. It takes you a second to send them a message and then they know what to expect. A little bit of communication can shoot your reviews through the roof. Not to mention that customers are more likely to leave you a review if you ask them through text instead of email.

Texting also helps when customers aren’t happy with their roof experience. They can text you before they post a negative review about what happened.

You’ll have a chance to smooth things out before it ever reaches the internet. As a bonus, you can use that feedback to improve future customer interactions.

Customers want a convenient roofing experience. If your competition offers texting but your company doesn’t, who do you think homeowners will choose?

To beat out your roofing competition, you have to give customers a phenomenal experience and texting is the key.

Your customers want to be able to communicate with you and get an immediate response. If you adopt business texting before your competitors do, you’ll have a clear advantage. Your roofing company will be the one raising the bar that everyone else has to measure up to. And that brings more customers to you.

Harness the Power of Texting

Business texting makes communication convenient for both your roofing company and your customers.

With more homeowners wanting to text your company than ever before, you don’t want to miss out. The industry has several texting platforms to choose from, including Salesmsg, Textedly and, the newest option for roofing contractors, JobNimbus Engage.

Start reaching your customers the way they want Track Conversations for Better Visibility to hear from you with text. Both sides will enjoy Only 12 percent of companies track customer commusmoother communication, faster response times and nication. Most businesses have individual sales reps a better experience. reach out to customers. But do you know what those FRM reps are saying? Do you know what promises they’re making to your customers? Take that a step further: Briquelle Simpson is a freelance writer and search do your reps know how to spell and use correct enthusiast who loves to cover everything from law grammar? to software. Since 2014, Briquelle has contributed to several magazines and websites, including JobNimbus, Roofing & Exteriors, Ancestry and Podium.

50

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

PROUDLYREPRESENTING THE

ROOFING INDUSTRY

ADAMSANDREESE.COM // TRENT.COTNEY@ARLAW.COM // 866.303.5868 MAIN OFFICE: TAMPA

COTNEY CONSULTING GROUP John Kenney, CPRC, CEO, Cotney Consulting Group

Pre-Operational Planning to Reduce Risk This approach can reduce the impact of significant disruptions and clearly define what actions to take to restore your business operations.

You need a tool that considers the context Learn to Identify Business-Critical of your overall business Processes structure to allow for better decision-making. As you As an owner or manager, you must understand how model the potential for risk and impacts of a pandemany risk of interruption impacts operations and the ic, for example, models need a common denominator, customer experience. It would be best if you learned how to contain the impact of risk by planning and pre- a complete data set.

Impact models allow you to make better choices paring for those times when a threat rears its head. and to better understand the potential impacts of a The pandemic is only one example of the many unexpected challenges. No one can predict the disrup- crisis and how to manage it. Ask these questions: tive forces that lie ahead that will throw your business ■ What effects will your company feel if the econoworld into chaos. Your best weapon is to dig deeper my shuts down? into your core business processes to prepare them for ■ How will this shutdown affect your daily work the next risk wave. routine?

The construction industry, especially the roofing industry has never had a more significant wave of risk than in the last few years since the pandemic’s start.

It put the entire world in partial lockdown, leading to shortages, supply chain issues, inflation and many other issues.

Address Challenges, Establish Effective Risk Management

A business transformation platform is crucial to understanding your business’s complexities and Every company needs a pre-operational plan to reduce managing its risk effectively. Today, nobody managrisk. There are many complex challenges to anticipate es their financial data without a spreadsheet. So, do not try to address other complex processes without and it is essential you have a plan established, an efa process-oriented business model. While it can be fective risk management plan. helpful to look at past experiences, risk assessment When developing a pre-operational plan, you must capture every critical object that risk will impact. While makes it possible to imagine what may happen next and the potential impacts of the event. A process-cenmany companies take an IT-heavy approach – and tric business model shows data and impact together technology is essential – the scope is too narrow.

Include people and processes, two areas often ignored in the process context, so you can fully understand the effects of a risk incident. during such planning in a business transformation platform.

3 Ways to Start a Process-Centered Model Complex relationships exist between people, Identify your most critical processes. This is important capabilities and strategies and each has risks. Add to reduce risk at high strategic and operational prothe technology – the applications and systems infracess levels. Are your current controls effective enough structure – and you will see multiple overlaps across processes. Find the tools to deal with these complexi- to handle the increased risk?

Identify your critical supply chain. With this, you ties, including a process-oriented business model. For can analyze your workflows regionally and identify continuity, you must manage the risk of impacts and maintain your business operations. Like the COVID-19 the regional and global potential for disruption.

Understanding your supply chain will help you restore pandemic, use this kind of model for an overall busithese connections quickly. ness transformation to manage massive risk. A Identify your critical people. Have a backup stratprocess-oriented model shows you how to improve egy of responsibilities to ensure your key processes your work.

Use technological developments such as workflow are covered during a large-scale disruption. This leads to a continued positive customer experience and automation and process mining to identify where you helps you maintain your operational business. Using can achieve the most effective return on investment.

54

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

a process-centered business model reduces the time lost determining who is responsible for what decisions and getting problems solved as they occur.

A process-centered model allows you to onboard people quickly and effectively. This includes processes that allow employees to work remotely where possible. This is also a great reason to document processes and keep them up to date.

Understanding the degree of impact on various parts of your business will help you when it is time to bring people back online. So, know which processes belong to which departments and how they matter.

There may be a role and a function that go hand-inhand. Suppose multiple people are capable of filling that role. In that case, you can mitigate any potential risk by plugging people in based on their location and ability to perform.

Knowing your suppliers and partners, you can identify potential backup suppliers to help mitigate risk and ensure continuity.

And, of course, you must understand your IT landscape and its effect on all your business processes. Have a mitigation plan in place in case your IT is suddenly unavailable. Store all this information in a cloud repository where it will be accessible when risk hits. This will help you prepare to move from “normal mode” to “emergency mode” when necessary.

Act now while chaos and its risk are fresh on your mind. This will give you and your team more confidence, knowing you have the tools to handle any trouble as it arises.

FRM John Kenney, CPRC has over 45 years of experience in the roofing industry. He started his career by working as a roofing apprentice at a family business in the North-east and worked his way up to operating multiple Top 100 Roofing Contractors. If you would like any further information on this or another subject, you can contact John at jkenney@cotneyconsulting.com.

Insurance, continued from page 43

cover damaged or stolen materials such as roofing shingles.

Umbrella insurance is a type of add-on coverage to an existing policy that raises the maximum coverage for your business. Depending on the amount of risk you’re assuming and the types of projects, equipment and properties your business maintains, your existing coverage may be too low to fully protect you in the case of adverse events.

The Professional Difference

Insurance coverage can protect your roofing company from potentially catastrophic losses associated with running your business, allowing you to rebound and continue to grow. Just as importantly, though, is

how the proper coverage can impact your customer’s perception of your business. Fly-by-night contractors without the proper insurance don’t have the longevity or respect of professionals with solid insurance coverage.

FRM Corey Slavik is a Property and Casualty advisor for HUB International in Melbourne. He is responsible for new business development and maintaining client relationships. Corey specializes in complex Property and Liability Insurance and Risk Management programs for businesses, with a focus on Contractors, Commercial Real Estate and Manufacturers.

Growing. Expanding.

Remaining True to Quality & Service.

772-584-2654

integritymetalsfl.com

www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

55

FRSA Convention Tournament Winners Each year, during FRSA’s Annual Convention, sports tournaments are held the first day and include fishing, golfing, pistol and rifle shooting events.

Fishing Tournament

Tournament Winners ■ First Place – Andrew Mullen ■ Second Place – Joe McCormack ■ Lady Angler – Jennifer Cape

Pistol Shooting Tournament

The pistol shooting tournament was held at Volusia Top Gun, an indoor facility. The event was sponsored

by BRI Roof Consulting Corp. and hosted 14 people.

Tournament Winners ■ First Place – Sean Beery 192 ■ Second Place – Peter Helton 170 ■ Third Place – Dave Lyons 125

Rifle Shooting Tournament The fishing tournament sponsored by Walker Rep Group took place in Cape Canaveral with 80 anglers on 15 boats.

58

FLORIDA ROOFING | September 2022

The rifle shooting tournament was also held at Volusia Top Gun, sponsored by FG Building Products and hosted 24 people.

Tournament Winners ■ First Place – Chris Rajala 188 ■ Second Place – Steve Stanchick 184 ■ Third Place – Abraham Nichols 184

Golf Tournament

The golf tournament, held at LPGA International, was sponsored by Sunniland Corp. and Furman Insurance and hosted 128 golfers.

Tournament Winners First Place Team ■ Andrew Bateman ■ Justin Dorminey ■ Shea O’Neil ■ Ethan Cash Second Place Team ■ Jeff Sommer ■ Brian Swope Longest Drive ■ Jeff Sommer

FRM

TM

Sell work. Produce work. Keep score.™ Stop mixing and matching software solutions to run your construction business.

Job Address Tracking

Job Scheduling

Appointment Scheduling

Earned Revenue Forecasting

Documents Management

Transparency Reports

Observation Reports

Certification Documentation

ozbee.com www.floridaroof.com | FLORIDA ROOFING

59

METALCON IS ROARING INTO INDY! OCTOBER 12-14, 2022 INDIANA CONVENTION CENTER

OCTOBER 12-14 '22

INDIANA CONVENTION CENTER

SAVE SAVE TIME TIME WITH WITH EVERY EVERY ORDER ORDER Beacon Beacon PRO+ PRO+ connects connects with with your your local local Beacon Beacon branch branch enabling enabling you you to to order order all all your your building building materials materials online. online.

24/7 24/7 online online access access to to your your account account Place Place and and track track orders orders Jacksonville, FL 32209 (904) 503-9400 Jacksonville, FL 32209 (904) 503-9400 Tallahassee, FL 32304 (850) 574-7600 Tallahassee, FL 32304 (850) 574-7600 Odessa, FL 33556 (813) 749-5354 Odessa, FL 33556 (813) 749-5354 Orlando, FL 32804 (407) 291-7244 Orlando, FL 32804 (407) 291-7244 Tampa, FL 33619 (813) 740-8790 Tampa, FL 33619 (813) 740-8790 Fort Myers, FL 33916 (239) 935-5077 Fort Myers, FL 33916 (239) 935-5077 Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 (954) 969-8000 Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 (954) 969-8000 Miami, FL 33142 (305) 635-7177 Miami, FL 33142 (305) 635-7177 Orlando, FL 32809 (407) 367-6246 Orlando, FL 32809 (407) 367-6246

Go Go to to BECN.com BECN.com to to sign sign up up or download the app. or download the app.

Ocala, FL 34474 (352) 622-3933 Ocala, FL 34474 (352) 622-3933 Melbourne, FL 32904 (321) 369-7892 Melbourne, FL 32904 (321) 369-7892 Ormond Beach, FL 32174 (386) 301-4471 Ormond Beach, FL 32174 (386) 301-4471 Palmetto, FL 34221 (941) 722-6800 Palmetto, FL 34221 (941) 722-6800 Leesburg, FL 34748 (352) 818-6120 Leesburg, FL 34748 (352) 818-6120 Orlando, FL 32804 (407) 859-9997 Orlando, FL 32804 (407) 859-9997 Winter Haven, FL 33880 (863) 293-1555 Winter Haven, FL 33880 (863) 293-1555 St. Petersburg, FL 33716 (727) 565-4630 St. Petersburg, FL 33716 (727) 565-4630 Sarasota, FL 34243 (941) 203-6320 Sarasota, FL 34243 (941) 203-6320

Fort Pierce, FL 34982 (772) 466-3461 Fort Pierce, FL 34982 (772) 466-3461 Stuart, FL 34997 (772) 223-8881 Stuart, FL 34997 (772) 223-8881 Vero Beach, FL 32960 (772) 778-0549 Vero Beach, FL 32960 (772) 778-0549 Orlando, FL 32810 (321) 442-0061 Orlando, FL 32810 (321) 442-0061 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315 (954) 525-1158 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315 (954) 525-1158 Riviera Beach, FL 33407 (561) 863-9899 Riviera Beach, FL 33407 (561) 863-9899 Clearwater, FL 33762 (727) 573-6075 Clearwater, FL 33762 (727) 573-6075 Panama City, FL 32401 (850) 763-0851 Panama City, FL 32401 (850) 763-0851 North Port, FL 34289 NOW OPEN!!!

North Port, FL 34289 NOW OPEN!!!