Formed in 1958 in Montreal, the CRCA was incorporated in 1960. A key reason for its creation was manufacturers pulling their warranties of work being done at the time. This saw roofing contractors come together to address this important issue. A board was created, followed by provincial associations that still exist today.

Over 60 years after its creation, Ottawa-based CRCA remains the voice of Canada’s roofing industry. Advocating, representing, supporting, and defending the interests of its more than 300 members, the Association informs its base about important national and international matters, including professional and technical issues and developments.

Active bodies under its aegis include National Technical Committees, an Associate Members Committee, a Workforce Solutions Committee, a Governance Committee, the RoofTech Steering Committee, and many other valuable initiatives enabling members to stay as up-to-date as possible.

Strong leadership and governance
At the CRCA, governance remains integral to its strategic mandate. Executive Director Jim Facette reports to a Board of Directors who reflect the membership and serve as stewards of the organization.

Within the Board, the CRCA has a Chair, Vice President, and Second Vice President, and a succession plan. New directors are voted in by the Associates. To raise awareness of competition law and trade procedures among its members, the Board recently underwent training.

“That kind of governance is exceptionally important,” says Facette. When he came in as Executive Director in mid-2023, he brought about 25 years of industry-association experience with him, including eight years (from 1995 to 2003) at the Canadian Construction Association.

One of the biggest advantages of being a CRCA member is communication. At meetings, board members regularly report on what’s happening on the ground—so to speak—in the roofing industry, and many also continue serving on their provincial boards as well.

Facette strives to attend as many annual general meetings of provincial associations as possible, making himself accessible to all. “When I speak to policymakers here in Ottawa—be they government officials or elected persons—I can say, ‘In your riding, we have these companies, and they have said ‘XYZ’ to me,’ so I’m able to make tangible what might otherwise be theoretical,” Facette says. “Boots on the ground are extremely important.”

Of its 388 member companies, Facette estimates that in each company at least two persons regularly review materials from the CRCA. One of the latest methods of keeping companies directly informed is the CRCA Members Hub (https://www.crcaacec.ca/articles/welcome-to-the-hub).

A digital platform, the Hub was initially going to be put out monthly, but because of overwhelming demand, information is now being updated almost every week. Members receive a push notification that there’s something new on the Hub which they can check out for themselves to see what is going on at the CRCA. And then, of course, there are direct phone calls from Facette and reports to board members to keep them informed.

Members small and large
At the CRCA, different membership categories and fees apply depending on the type of member, such as associates or contractors. Most members fall into the category of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) or very large roofing product manufacturers, like Soprema and IKO. Some members, like Chair of the National Technical Committee, Stéphane Poissant, are smaller roofing contractors of about a dozen people who are also active in other areas, such as plumbing. Others, such as Lindsay Pochynuk, who became President/Chair last year, came to the Association through the local Saskatchewan member, the Saskatchewan Roofing Contractors Association.

Pochynuk was part of the national technical committee (from 2016 to 2019) before joining the CRCA board around 2020. He is a second-generation Chair of the board, with his father serving on the board around 2010. A roofing contractor with a family-run business, Pochynuk’s and his brother’s business has about 100 employees.

With a presence in all provinces and territories, the CRCA has eight provincial association members, contractors who wish to join the CRCA. Where a provincial association exists, these contractors must first be members of that association. And where there aren’t provincial associations—such as the territories and the provinces of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland—they may join directly as at-large members.

“It’s an integrated membership from a structural perspective point of view,” explains Facette. “That said, associates and other organizations or businesses that have an interest in roofing may join us directly.”

The role of research
What some people don’t realize is that the CRCA has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the National Research Council Canada (NRC) (https://nrc.canada.ca/en) going back to 1960. Founded in 1916, the NRC is the country’s largest federal research and development organization, dedicated to research and development in science and technology.

The CRCA has six to eight projects underway with the NRC at any given time, many having to do with materials, installation, and how materials work together. “Through our National Technical Committee, we bring the entire industry together with the NRC,” says Facette. “Going forward, this is important.”

The Association is involved with the U.S.-based National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) (https://www.nrca.net/) on certain projects, including joining technical meetings and sharing joint testing information. By being involved in this technical research with the NRC and NRCA, the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association can share valuable information with its members about different roof systems, ways to build, new materials, and more.

“There has been a lot of focus lately on green building and sustainability,” says Pochynuk, who, as a smaller contractor from Saskatchewan, appreciates access to valuable, shared information. This includes keeping all members up to date on certification and warranties, an activity administered through the provinces that further sets CRCA members apart from non-members in the roofing sector.

“A lot of criteria go into being a member and each province is different, but it takes into consideration insurance and years in business,” shares Facette.

Industry developments
To keep members informed about roofing industry developments, technical news, and much more, the CRCA publishes Roofing Canada Magazine (https://roofingcanada.com/roofing-canada-magazine/). Published twice a year, Roofing Canada reaches a subscriber audience of over 6,000. In addition, subscribers receive important news every two weeks via CRCA’s emailed ENews, and by attending the key roofing-industry trade show event, RoofTech.

Held over two days, RoofTech is filled with dozens of exhibitors, demonstrations, educational opportunities, presentations, panel discussions, and tremendous networking opportunities for roofing industry stakeholders. The next RoofTech is set for 2025, while the CRCA’s annual conference will be held this year in Victoria, B.C.

“Everybody and anything involved in roofing is at RoofTech, whether salespeople or all the major manufacturers of membranes, products, equipment, and software,” says Pochynuk. “We get the architects and the specifiers out and they love it, whether it’s new products or different roof systems they can see being installed hands-on.”

Addressing issues
When appropriate, the CRCA comments on public policies affecting the roofing trade.

As with other construction sectors, the biggest issue facing members is the shortage of labour. Many companies, like Pochynuk’s, want to grow but can’t find the people they need. “So what we do here at the CRCA is bring all that together,” says Facette. “We’ve been talking to the Minister of Immigration lately about how the current immigration program can work better for construction and roofers. I’ve had several meetings with him, his staff, and his department about some of the ideas that we have.”

Working with the Minister, the CRCA constantly communicates about the importance of the roofing trade and system improvements. To date, temporary workers cannot move from one province to another for jobs. This is problematic since many CRCA members work outside their home province and can’t move people around for jobs. Executive Director Facette has been explaining to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada that the system needs to work better so the industry can attract people from around the world.

Another issue remains prompt payment legislation. Effective last December, published regulations finally came into force, ensuring that roofers receive prompt payment for federal projects. This way, roofers know they will be paid soon after the job is done. If contractors aren’t paid promptly, there are measures they can take to get paid.

Future of the sector
In the coming years, the CRCA sees sustainability becoming a growing issue in the roofing industry. ‘Green’ roofs are becoming a hot topic in the fight against climate change, along with ‘blue’ roofs that hold water, especially in the face of severe rain events like flash flooding. Rather than having excess water run through storm sewers and cause flooding—or having massive holding tanks on the ground—blue roofs are becoming an alternative.

Along with different technologies and materials, other key issues include increasing the use of recycled materials and members becoming more involved with entire building envelopes, including cladding, rather than just roofs alone.

The CRCA is in the very early days of discussions with the Federal Government, specifically the Treasury Board Secretariat, about environment product declarations (EPDs), which already exist in some other sectors, like the cement industry. More discussions will take place in the coming months, and the CRCA hopes to use a lifecycle assessment of the job in the bidding process since much more is being asked of roofers today.

“We are hoping to be able to use a lifecycle assessment of the job in the bidding process,” says Facette. “Right now, governments who put out work for tender tend to—almost exclusively—focus on price and the lowest bid. We are in some early talks to see how the Federal Government can use lifecycle assessment in those valuation processes as they demand greener buildings and more sustainability in the work they put out for tender.” This is crucial because, although the demand for greener technology is there, it doesn’t always come with the lowest bid.

Initiatives and advocacy efforts such as these demonstrate all that the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association does for its members on the ground while providing information to them that is timely and relevant. “The CRCA has a long history and we’re proud of it, but at the same time, it’s evolving,” says Facette. “Roofing today is using new technologies all the time, including artificial intelligence, and as an organization, we are changing with the times.”

The post Under One Roof<p class="company">Canadian Roofing Contractors Association</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Formed in 1933 and incorporated as William P. Dowd and Sons in 1966, Dowd Roofing Inc. has been a prominent player in the roofing and construction sectors in the province of New Brunswick for decades. To meet growing demand, Dowd Home Improvements Ltd. was established in 2004 as a dedicated supplier and installer of shingle roofs, residential windows, doors, siding, and decking.

Committed to every customer
From installing sophisticated materials on large commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities to constructing basic porch roofs, Dowd Roofing treats each project with care, attention, and professionalism.

Utilizing 20,000 square feet of storage space at its warehouse and 25 service trucks in its fleet, the company’s experienced and skilled employees assist their clients throughout the Maritimes on a variety of projects.

“Dowd Roofing is the commercial side of our business and does a lot of industrial, commercial, and institutional work such as hospitals, schools, pulp and paper mills, and refineries—any type of large commercial warehouses, reroofing apartment buildings, new construction of buildings, and shopping malls,” says General Manager Peter Wilson.

With an abundance of apartment buildings going up in Saint John at present, the company has been involved in quite a few new projects. Dowd has worked with many large customers to reroof their facilities over stages such as Market Square in Saint John, which is a large retail operation in the heart of Saint John. Bruce Dowd explains that the company put the roof on the original construction of Market Square in 1982, and in fact Dowd Roofing has worked on many buildings that were roofed in the original construction phase by Dowd Roofing.

Another satisfying project was the roofing of St. Joseph’s Hospital, one of the larger hospitals in Saint John.

Good projects, good staff
As far as servicing its customers goes, Dowd Roofing goes above and beyond, as evidenced by its longevity and success in the industry. “We’ve been around a long time, and we have a lot of older customers and repeat business as well,” says Wilson.

Dowd Roofing also has a higher-than-usual number of long-term employees, a reflection of its commitment to working with and caring for all its employees in every way it can.

“We’re a good company that way,” says Bruce Dowd. “We have people who need flexible time and time off for whatever reason, and we can do it. If they need some support around their family, we can help them with that.”

That support of employees is also evident in the company’s steady growth over the years: it currently has approximately 65 full-time employees including operations, an accounting staff, and maintenance.

“We try to do everything internally in our business. If we need to fix pieces of equipment, we do that internally,” says Wilson. “We have our own boom truck and our own container truck for garbage and refuse. We have a lot of depth in people such as our project management team and estimators, with close to 100 years of combined experience in our project management team.”

Dowd also has a team of around 35 roofers on the commercial side, many of whom have been with the company for 40 years or more. Those long-term employees are testament to the quality of Dowd Roofing’s management and its commitment to continuous improvement—not to mention its policy of growing its employee base via an apprenticeship program.

Training, learning, growing
Through apprenticeship and professional development of its employees, Dowd continues to grow. “The apprenticeship program is run by the province,” Wilson explains. Essentially, “we hire someone off the street; they work for so many hours and go to school for six weeks. Then they come back to us for another year, then go back to school for six weeks. They do that until they become a Red Seal journeyman, or registered tradesman, if you will.” This process typically takes about three to four years.

Dowd Roofing has progressed steadily over the years from five or six apprentices to 16 or 17 now. Enticing younger people into the trades is an ongoing challenge across all fields, and apprenticeships are an excellent and proven way to bring new workers into the fold.

Becoming aware, several years ago, that its succession planning with regard to its tradespeople was a bit lacking, the company set about bringing in suitable candidates, and those who showed interest in further training were enrolled in the apprenticeship program and became fully-fledged journeymen.

“We support continued education for those folks and promote the trades as strongly as we can,” Wilson says, adding that as a construction company, Dowd Roofing strives to make safety a top priority.

“Five or six years ago, we might have hired a bunch of labourers and if we didn’t have the work, we just laid them off,” he says. “Now we hire labourers and they become apprentices; we try to keep them working to get them through the program so they can become our long-term employees and become a stable presence in the business.”

To better address that ongoing shortage of skilled tradespeople, working to promote the genuine benefits of trades—including salary and paid training—is essential. “It’s good money,” Wilson says. “Someone with no experience at all can come in off the streets and do well right away and will earn even more upon completing the apprenticeship program of three to four years,” he explains. Once they obtain their Red Seal they can advance up to a foreman position or work anywhere in Canada in the roofing trade.

“We’ve had folks who aren’t sure what to do with their lives and are good with their hands, but they come in and learn a trade, become a contributor to the industry, learn other parts of the trades, go through the program to become a journeyman.”

This certainly goes for women as well: the company has supported women in the trades with summer students and the apprenticeship program.

Helping out
Along with helping to provide training, Dowd Roofing also steps up whenever there’s a need in the community, particularly when destructive weather strikes, such as a pre-Christmas storm that tore the roof off a local apartment building.

“We like to be under the radar, but we do have our own mobile boom truck, we have our own dumpster truck, and we have 35 roofers plus another dozen shingle guys,” Wilson says. “We have a crew of 45 people such that, when an extreme emergency like that roof blowing off happens, we can pivot quickly and service that customer the next morning. That roof blew off in the morning; we were there that afternoon looking at the situation and back on site in the morning tearing the roof up.” Being so close to Christmas just added to the urgency of helping out the community as quickly as possible.

“We have a good relationship with our customers,” Wilson adds, “so when we had to stop working on our customer’s roof that morning to send workers over to the roof that blew off, our customer was good about it because he knows we’d do it for them too. We did it as quickly as we could, and were back to the site we left as quickly as possible.”

With that level of commitment to both customers and employees, it seems certain that Dowd Roofing will only continue to build a reliable and skilled workforce over time.

“One of our biggest accomplishments is being able to grow our manpower here over the last six or seven years,” Wilson says. “We’ve been able to identify that that was one of our weaknesses. Now we bring people into the core of our business, figure out what their strengths are, put them through the programs that are best for them, and utilize them as a foreman or lead hand or a journeyman roofer.”

An attitude lives on
Wilson is also proud to be part of a team with a company that is locally owned by the family’s second generation.

“The owner, Bruce Dowd, lives here with the people that work for him, down the street and within a five-minute drive of his business,” he says. “He’s 83 years old and still comes in to see what’s happening; he still talks to the guys in the driveway. He still knows what’s going on when he comes in and talks to our project management and our accounting team here… It’s his passion.”

While Bruce Dowd doesn’t get involved in the day to day operations as much anymore and is trying to step back, he’s still very much a vital part of the business. “I think that’s a huge part of our success,” says Wilson. “His attitude drives the business. He’s well-known in the industry and has been involved in many projects.”

Dowd Roofing is also involved in the community in another important way: giving back through a variety of support initiatives ranging from fundraising for hospitals to donations to local food banks, soup kitchens, and churches.

“We don’t do it for the recognition; we do it because it’s the right thing to do,” Wilson says. “We try to help the community.”

Looking ahead, Dowd Roofing will continue to embrace its past, deriving success from treating employees and clients like family and supporting quality training and education.

“It’s all about the right people in the right seat; it’s not just about filling the seats,” says Wilson. “Not everybody’s meant to be a doctor or a roofer or lawyer or plumber, but if you can find the right person that’s passionate about whatever it is they’re going into, you have to nurture them and let them do it.”

The post Where Quality Is Through the Roof<p class="company">Dowd Roofing</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Bill Godfrey, founder of Godfrey Roofing in 1984 and fearless entrepreneur, personally fitted residential roofs in Ottawa, Ontario’s East End and downtown areas from the back of his iconic big bus for the first year. While those days are gone and Bill Godfrey has stepped back somewhat, the company he built still observes in every way the values of integrity and thoroughness on which he founded it.

However, true to his character, quitting the job entirely is not quite what Godfrey Sr. has in mind just yet as he winds down his involvement in the day-to-day running of the company. His sons, Mike Godfrey, now President, and Bob Godfrey, Vice President, are both aboard, taking the company into the future.

A new generation takes the helm
Mike Godfrey stepped into his leadership position in 2016, following a well-structured succession plan that stretched over several years. Joining the Godfrey Roofing office in 2010, he first spent six years in the field building hands-on experience and relationships. Set to take over as President of the Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Association in 2025, Mike is fully committed to continue building the company’s reputation for excellence.

Still based in the 9,000-square-foot Ottawa facility it has called home since the early ‘90s, the company deploys its highly developed skills in flat roofing, shingles, and siding as part of its roof installations, maintenance, and service offering on buildings in condominium communities, small and large commercial roofing including warehouses, and private homes.

Godfrey Roofing serves customers as far afield as Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, where it focuses mainly on maintenance. Its most current project is a condominium siding replacement project throughout 16 blocks of townhouses, a testament to the team’s capabilities. Godfrey Roofing is also a proud service provider to many real estate investment trusts, local school boards, an international airport, a local university, and several condominium management companies in the region, among others. Business is growing.

While COVID-19 changed the market significantly some four years ago, Mike notes a sudden revival in large projects as companies that had their property development schedules curtailed in that time can now complete much-needed upgrades to their roofs.

Projects and people
The company has had many proud moments in its time. One such occasion was a 4,000-square-foot green roof installed for Ottawa’s Ashbury College, which has received acknowledgment from publications like greenroofs.com as one of the few pioneering outdoor classrooms in the country.

As a complex structure that incorporated many new design elements and safety measures, the project was a test of the team’s skills. Now this roof serves as a beacon of quality modern-day education and a way to bring future generations closer to nature and its ecosystems.

As a leader in product and service excellence, Godfrey Roofing is especially proud of its people. The feeling appears to be mutual as most staff here have significant tenures, often exceeding 30 years. Of course, such exemplary stability in a workforce means that skills and knowledge are retained and passed to the next generation of roofing experts to continue the legacy. In a sense, the team also grows when employees are so obviously content in their jobs because family members are often keen to join its ranks, too.

Mike is gratified and proud: “It’s pretty great, and a good show of faith when our people bring their family members to work here,” he says.

Safety in high places
The company ascribes its high staff retention to taking genuinely good care of its people, which naturally includes taking their safety to heart in a big way.

For this reason, safety protocols are so well established and integrated into Godfrey’s activities that the company reports zero labour time lost to injuries—a notable accomplishment and a sign of high competence in this industry. That naturally requires substantial training, something Godfrey Roofing spends a lot of time on. Much of this training happens during the winter season when suppliers and other contributors visit its warehouse to educate their staff on safety practices and other valuable topics.

Product knowledge is a large part of Godfrey’s training schedule, ensuring everyone is on the same page when the roofing season picks up in spring. It is also an opportunity for staff to sharpen their skills and swap notes on their experiences in the field from the past year, to take part in question-and-answer sessions and establish their confidence with new products.

While some of the company’s staff is seasonal, Godfrey Roofing maintains a large enough team during the low season to service existing customers with repairs and other support like rooftop snow and ice removal. During peak season, the team comprises around 75 people, and Mike is visibly proud of them. “They are great. A lot of them have been with us for a long time and they do excellent work. It’s a hard, labour-intensive, difficult job and we really appreciate them.” he adds.

He mentions, of course, what a mission it is to find new people willing and able to work in the industry. That only adds to the company’s commitment to the job satisfaction of its teams and their well-being.

Taking part
As a result of all the work Godfrey does to build relationships within and outside its own ranks, the company also maintains strong industry affiliations, particularly with the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA) and Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Association (OIRCA), of which Mike is currently Vice President.

“I’m looking forward to the responsibility of presidency. I’m also looking forward to working with the OIRCA in the direction it’s taking,” Mike says. Alongside its membership in these groups, Godfrey Roofing is certified with the International Standards Organization (ISO 9001:2015), ensuring adherence to state-of-the-art global quality standards. Finally, the company is a proud member of the GAF President’s Club as a Master Elite® and Master Select contractor, and is recognized as a premium contractor by one of its longstanding, trusted suppliers.

Efficiency, of course, is an important driver of its success. Here, being as efficient as possible means having a complete GPS system always lined up with clear visibility of the exact whereabouts of all its vehicles. That translates into faster response times, especially on urgent callouts.

In addition, a modern customer relations management system allows crews, and the office, real-time access to detailed information on customer callouts via their smartphones—complete with job notes and images. The system also employs aerial measurement software for project data collected via satellite, together with drones used to photograph project areas for quoting and to identify damaged areas using thermal imaging.

Working for others
At Godfrey, it’s not only roofs that are raised. The company also raises much-needed aid for charity.

Helping to raise well over $10,000 annually through its participation in an annual golf tournament that it hosts alongside other industry players, the team considers it a privilege to support the sterling work of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

In addition, the company supports the Canadian Kidney Foundation, the Diabetes Association, and the YMCA. Its giving also extends to the natural environment, with large amounts of steel and office materials avoiding landfill thanks to the firm’s conscientious recycling habits.

High aspirations, high standards
The Godfrey Roofing commitment to continued growth is inspiring. “I would like to think that we’ve grown through our commitment to craftsmanship, safety, and providing efficient roofing and siding solutions to our clients,” Mike says. Expansion plans include staying up to date with technology that can keep humans safe and make the job easier.

The company has indeed come a long way from the early days of lugging heavy equipment and materials to and from an old bus parked at precarious angles on site. Yet, while Bill’s big bus is now just a historic image pictured on a video screen welcoming customers to the company, something more important remains from those days: the company’s reputation for excellence in all it does.

The post 40 Years of Excellence<p class="company">Godfrey Roofing</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

It is a fairly typical suite of construction services and markets, except that the company performs these duties in Canada’s Far North, the coldest, most sparsely populated part of the country. Consisting of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon territories, the Far North boasts fewer than 120,000 residents spread out over roughly 3.8 million square kilometres.

With offices in Yellowknife and Hay River, Northwest Territories, ARCAN’s reach extends “north to Alert and from the Yukon to the tips of Baffin Island. We’ve even looked at projects in Greenland,” says Vice President of Design, Caelin Cameron.

True North
Alert is a very isolated military base located on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, close to the North Pole. The largest island in Canada, Baffin Island, Nunavut, has barely 13,000 residents and temperatures that can dip to -50 Celsius in winter. Yukon territory is famous for the 1890s Gold Rush and inhospitable weather.

“Without a doubt, logistics is our biggest challenge: access, transportation, weather, and a very shortened construction season. The North is a very big area with a very small population,” Cameron states.

Some Far North communities lack access roads and can only be reached by air or water and in addition, staffing is a significant challenge. “As in the rest of Canada it seems, there’s not a lot of local labour available in a lot of communities so it’s important for us to provide training and employment incentives as much as we can,” he says. In part to alleviate labour shortages and partly to build ties in small communities, ARCAN tries to hire local Indigenous workers whenever possible.

“All communities in the North have significant Indigenous populations. It’s different than in the south; communities are often quite small, less than 1,000 people. We love the opportunities to employ and involve locals in every community we work in. We’re a northern company after all, and we’re working to [grow] in our own backyard, so it’s something we’re passionate about,” explains Cameron.

Unsurprisingly, ARCAN excels at “keeping people warm while working in the coldest environments in Canada,” as the company puts it. Weatherproofing a building in the Far North starts with using well-trained crews and high-end materials, says Cameron. The company recommends that clients invest in something called “the perfect wall”—a cutting-edge method of keeping interiors warm, dry, and airtight.

“You’re taking the insulation as well as the vapour barrier and trying to push that to the exterior of the structure,” Cameron explains. “This limits perforations within your vapour barrier, creating a much better airtight seal around your building. It also pushes the insulation to the exterior of the structure so that thermal penetration through a wall or roof system is also mitigated.”

Making its mark
ARCAN is proud to be the only general contractor in the Far North with registered architects on staff, a distinction that helps the firm stand out. Some of the company’s more high-profile projects include a fish processing facility in Hay River and a seniors’ housing facility in Yellowknife, on which the company worked with Indigenous partners. “It’s a big, big renovation. It’s pretty much a full gut of an existing building then reconstruction in partnership with the Det’on Cho [Group of Companies].”

There are two main ways that the company lands work. The first is through straight tender, where “the tender is released by a client or government group. The design is typically already completed, and we just bid the project against other contractors. Depending on the scoring system, it’s usually the lowest cost that wins,” explains Cameron.

Then, there are two forms of design-build projects, those that involve a request for proposal and those that do not. In the first scenario, the outlines of the project already exist, so ARCAN submits a proposal including pricing, design, and other factors required by the proposal. Lastly, design-builds that aren’t responding to a request for proposal are usually instigated by private clients, the company works with the customer to develop the building concept, budget, and design. In general, territorial governments are the firm’s biggest clients.

Building the team
ARCAN Construction Ltd. was originally founded in Hay River, Northwest Territories in 1995 by Duncan Cooke. “He was a good businessman,” Cameron recalls. “He started the company as a general contractor with a truck and ladder in Hay River. He was able to build it up to what is now one of the largest—if not the largest—northern construction companies that is a true northern construction company.”

The firm initially focused on roofing and cladding, and over the decades, the company amalgamated with other businesses, added services—becoming registered to practice architecture in 2010—and underwent name changes. In January 2023, after combining various disparate companies that were run under a single corporate banner in a drive to get back to its roots under new President Aaron Doyle, the company rebranded as ARCAN Construction, a name it had used in the past.

In addition to its Yellowknife headquarters, it maintains a branch in Hay River and an administrative office in Okotoks, Alberta. All told, it has 25 salaried employees and 100 full-time site crew personnel who receive hourly wages.

Beyond basic construction-related skills, potential new hires must “have a good attitude. You’re going to be working long hours and be away from home for a long time,” says Cameron. Crews typically work on rotational shifts in ARCAN’s western markets—that is, a number of days or weeks on a job site in a community, then a number of days back at home. The number of days varies per project and location.

Facing down COVID
Understandably, COVID-19 had a dramatic impact on the company’s work schedules and general operations. Pandemic regulations on businesses were particularly strict in the Far North, where communities are widely dispersed, medical centers few and far between, and the population often skews toward the very young and very old. Because of this, ARCAN implemented a rigorous testing and quarantine regime for its field staff.

“Especially in Nunavut, our crews would quarantine for up to two weeks in a hotel at an airport before flying in. They would have to spend two weeks of their rotation sitting in quarantine, and then usually on their way back, they would also have to sit in quarantine before they were able to be back with their family. It was very challenging,” Cameron remembers.

Nunavut was already “the most challenging of the three territories,” he explains. “It’s boat and air access only to all the communities. There’s no road access, so materials have to be shipped in advance by boat. You get one or maybe two boats a year—if you’re lucky—to some of these communities, and air transport is cost-prohibitive when it comes to construction and sending in materials.”

COVID also wreaked havoc on ARCAN’s supply chain, as it did with all construction companies. Due to rising prices, the company pulled out of Nunavut, although it plans to return for the appropriate opportunities.

The company’s comprehensive COVID response reflected its commitment to health and safety. New hires go through intensive safety training and field crews undergo daily safety meetings. The team has a safety manager who runs the company’s safety programs and travels to sites to check conditions and conduct further training, and in addition to annual internal safety audits, the company is inspected by external Certificate of Recognition (COR) auditors every three years. The COR program is an occupational health and safety accreditation initiative organized by the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations.

Rising to the housing challenge
In 2022, ARCAN teamed with the Hay River Métis Government Council to create METCAN Building Solutions Inc. (MBS) to design and build ready-to-move, modular structures which are then shipped around the north.

MBS was founded to address the Far North’s critical housing shortage. The company felt that “quick turnaround housing, like a ready-to-move or modular solution [would] be very profitable in the North. The climate-controlled manufacturing facility extends the shorter construction period, allowing production to continue through the winter months when typically construction halts until warmer weather allows. Hay River is a hub community, so we turned to our friends there at the Hay River Métis and put together a corporation with them. They are the majority owner but ARCAN brings in its expertise in architecture and construction,” explains Cameron.

Looking five years ahead, he forecasts the following: “I think we will have a better-established facility with MBS and a constant [stream] of ready-to-move structures coming out of that facility, operating year-round. I see expanded partnerships with First Nation groups, and First Nation development corporations providing more design-build opportunities… We have some exciting prospects on the horizon that could result in some nice expansion at all three offices.”

The post Building in a Harsh Environment<p class="company">ARCAN Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Brookfield Place—the tallest building in Calgary’s skyline—also boasts Igloo Erectors’ product in the top floors of the tower. The ICE Tower in Edmonton is another showcase project for the company, with ACM panels starting at 400 feet and going up the wall to 800 feet, as well as work in the lobby area.

Igloo Erectors also operates closer to ground level, with marquee projects like the Telus Spark Science Centre, the Calgary Airport Casino, and numerous automotive dealerships, schools, hospitals, malls, and even high-end homes rounding out the project list.

Richard Nesbitt is General Manager of Igloo Erectors. He entered the industry in 1980 and joined Igloo in 1998, and has seen dramatic changes in the construction industry, in both the work and the materials, in the decades since.

“We do a lot of standard siding, but a lot of custom panels as well,” he says. “In addition to ACM panels, we install phenolic panels, which have a wood grain appearance, as well. We’re also one of only a few approved applicators for Kalzip, a product we import from Europe.”

What sets Igloo Erectors apart from much of the competition is its fabrication capabilities. “We fabricate our own flashing, subgirts, and panels,” says Nesbitt. “We have our own standing seam roof machine, so we can produce panels on site.”

Up until now, Igloo Erectors has only had this fabrication capability in its Calgary location, but that’s about to change. “We’ve got another CNC machine on order,” Nesbitt shares. “We’ll be installing that machine here in Calgary and the one from here will be moved to our shop in Edmonton, so we’ll be able to cut and form material there as well.”

The technical capabilities of the company extend beyond fabrication. “With an ACM panel project, everything is cut to fit that project, so everything has to be measured. With scaffolding and man-lifts, it takes forever. With the digital building scanner we recently purchased, we can measure from the street in a few minutes.”

The company, and the industry in which it works, has come a long way from its initial form. The current owner, Dennis Hayden, began working in construction in Ontario with his father-in-law, installing metal roofs and walls and architectural cladding products.

When that company landed work on the Sheerness Power Plant in Hannah, Alberta, Dennis Hayden moved west to handle the job. And he never looked back.

“When Dennis was working on the project,” says Nesbitt, “he saw what Alberta was, how different it was from Ontario, and he decided that he wanted to stay once the project was finished.”

Hayden started his own company in 1987, and Igloo Erectors was born. Nesbitt joined a number of years later. “I was first introduced to Dennis around 1993. It took about five years, but Dennis convinced me to leave my job and come over to join him.”

When he joined the business, the company was just completing work on the BHP diamond mine in the Northwest Territories and in 2007, work started on the Snap Lake diamond mine. These were the last of the company’s major industrial projects, as he was hired to move Igloo Erectors into the supply and install business on commercial and Institutional projects. The company rented a small shop, began fabricating its own architectural panels and flashing, and business took off.

Earlier, with what turned out to be a stroke of foresight, Hayden had purchased a parcel of land near Calgary downtown. Igloo Erectors built its current head office and fabrication plant there, opened a second office in Edmonton, and the business continued to grow. Currently, the company takes on projects in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories.

When Hayden relocated from Ontario to Alberta, he was used to working with unionized trades and was a union member himself. It was his decision to form Igloo Erectors as a unionized business. When the recession in the early 1980s caused many of the businesses in the industry to become non-union, Igloo Erectors chose to buck the trend. It remains a unionized business to this day.

“We are the only unionized contractor in our trade doing commercial work,” Nesbitt says. “Every one of our competitors is non-union. Dennis has a lot of passion for the guys working out in the field. He wanted to give them something at the end of the day—pension, benefits, better pay.”

It’s challenging competing against so many non-union companies. Margins, already squeezed for every business, can be even narrower for Igloo Erectors. But the focus on more than just profit is what drew Nesbitt to the company in the first place. “Dennis has always been more concerned about providing a quality product that the owner and contractors are happy with than making all the money on every project. I liked that.”

On this arguably unbalanced playing field, however, the business competes effectively. The secret weapon: its people.

“We’re able to compete because we attract better workers and we keep them. Lots of our employees have been with us for 15, even 20 years and longer. Most companies in the industry can’t say that. We take pride in having so many long-term employees. They’re loyal, and they work their butts off.”

It’s not just the unionized status of outside workers that attracts and retains talented employees; Igloo has created a culture that expects people to do good work, trusts them to do so, and supports them when they need help. “We bring people on board, we give them freedom and the opportunity to learn and grow. We don’t hold their hands, but at the same time, we’re a team. Nobody’s ever left alone to solve a problem,” says Nesbitt.

Of course, the nature of the business itself has changed significantly over the course of three decades, and builders push to get work done as quickly as possible, putting pressure on every company involved in a project.

“Schedules are so condensed. What used to be a year has turned into six months. And we can only go as fast as the trade in front of us. If they’re delayed, the end date never changes. We have to make up the time at our own cost.”

Competition for the work is also more intense. For a job which, at one time, would have seen four or five bidders, Nesbitt says, Igloo Erectors is now one of 13 or 14 companies competing for the work. And many of those competitors are ‘truck and ladder guys,’ he says, without the foundation and facilities that Igloo Erectors has built.

All of these challenges are compounded by the fact that business is far less personal than it used to be. “We used to be in our customer’s face; we’d go to their office and spend time getting to know them. Now, everybody’s behind their computer. We don’t always know who we’re dealing with, and it’s harder to develop relationships.”

Supply chain challenges and skyrocketing costs in recent years have taken their toll as well. “We’re locked in on our prices. When we first quoted some jobs pre-COVID, we could buy material for $X per square foot. In the end, we had to buy it for 250 to 300 percent more per square foot,” Nesbitt shares. “We lost money on some jobs, but we managed, and we’re coming out of it.”

Igloo Erectors has 60-plus employees at present, and in the company’s words, a ‘growing arsenal of young talent.’ This is critical for the company because there are some transitions underway already, and more to come.

For instance, the company’s long-term field superintendent retired last year. And while Dennis Hayden remains involved in the business, he’s partially retired and no longer involved in the day-to-day operations. His son Scott Hayden, currently Operations Manager; Barry Bohane, Project Manager; and Carla Giebelhaus, Branch Manager in Edmonton, will take the reins at that time. Nesbitt plans to retire next year as well.

The company has been intentional about developing the capabilities of its young talent, though, and there’s a cohort that Nesbitt says is eager and ready to take on management roles.

Even Nesbitt acknowledges that he won’t be quite ready to leave the business entirely behind after so many years. “We’ve got a great up-and-coming team, but old talent doesn’t disappear. This is my baby. So even when I retire,” he chuckles, “there’s still going to be some ‘young old blood’ kicking around.”

The next generation of leadership is well-prepared to continue Igloo Erectors’ 37-year legacy. And an honest legacy it is.

“We stay focused and true to what our beliefs are. We never give up. We never walk away from a job. We stay with what we know, because we’re good at what we do. We won’t do something if we’re not 100 percent sure we can do it, and do it well.”

The post Building the Next Generation of Leadership<p class="company">Igloo Erectors </p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

That is a great accomplishment, but what makes it startling, even, is that the family-owned company only started up in 2017, just three years before its recognition by the roofing industry’s leading magazine. Hargrove was also recognized three years in a row by Louisiana State University (LSU) which publishes its own annual Top 100 lists, celebrating the 100 fastest-growing LSU graduate-owned or graduate-led businesses in the world.

The company has indeed grown in its seven years: from one office to seven; from a handful of employees to over 90; from three million dollars in its first year of operation to five, then eight, then eighteen, then twenty-four million dollars, with a projection of $32 million or higher at the end of 2023. And Hargrove’s catchy invitation, “Know Who’s On Your Roof,” seems to be everywhere.

Starting at the top
We spoke with Billy Hargrove, who brings to his role of company President and CEO a unique skill set derived from his formal studies in architecture at LSU, his experience as a licensed architect working mainly in the health care sector, and his experience as a member of a musical band which saw him touring across the U.S., from Los Angeles to New York and even playing live shows in London.

Initially, the company provided roofing services to residential customers only, but in its second year of operation, Hargrove went back to his architectural roots where he had specialized in medical and health care facilities. “I reached out to my hospital contacts and started doing roofs for them, and so our commercial division was established with 70 percent of its work in health care,” he explains.

In case you’re wondering how time in a touring band can enhance your success in the roofing industry, wonder no more. “The music industry teaches you to sink or swim,” Hargrove says. “Some nights we didn’t have enough money for gas, and after the show, I’d be selling CDs and t-shirts. It taught me to see other perspectives and to be thankful for any money I earned; it taught me leadership and helped me deal with chaos.”

Certainly, there are chaotic times in the roofing industry, particularly in the southern U.S. where hurricanes and tornados can rip off roofs in a matter of seconds; where ‘storm chasers’ arrive in town to take advantage of residential customers and then disappear with the insurance check. Of course, this doesn’t apply to all ‘storm chasers’ and there are good ones too, Hargrove says, who get the job done—but it’s simply not his company’s style.

In contrast to the out-of-town storm chasers, Hargrove Roofing has established seven regional offices in two states. In Louisiana, the company has a presence in Shreveport, Natchitoches, and Lafayette/Baton Rouge, while in Texas, there are offices in Austin, Tyler, Texarkana, Dallas, and Houston. The Houston office, the second to open after Shreveport, focuses on commercial roofing and is led by Hargrove’s sister, Mae Hargrove O’Brien and good friend, Brad Frost.

“Our model is to be entrenched in the local region,” Hargrove says, “and not go chasing storms. Yes, we do make money after a hurricane, but we also look to see how we can help the families whose homes have been severely damaged and see what we can do to get them watertight as quickly as possible. We just want to do our job as good citizens of Louisiana and Texas.”

Communication is quality
Hargrove explains how important it is to communicate with the client during every step of any project, whether it involves a roof replacement or a specific service such as attic venting, gutter installation, or window replacement. “Sometimes people will say we communicate too much, but that’s a good problem to have, and something I’ve tried to drill into the culture,” he says.

It’s also important to maintain open communication channels with suppliers, and of course, with employees, so that everyone is on the same page.

In addition, Hargrove believes in educating clients so they can make informed decisions about whether to repair or replace a roof, and in choosing materials not only by cost but also from the perspective of longevity, building performance, and environmental impact.

More pies and more slices
Billy Hargrove says he’s very happy with the locations the company has now and won’t be acquiring more any time soon; instead, his focus is to make the current operations as successful as possible while driving the standard of quality the company has set to new heights.

“We need to focus on what we do best: talking to clients and making sure they have a maximum quality of experience with us. I’m not going to grow if I can’t do that. This company is only eight years old, and I want to be doing this work for the next 30 years. I can’t do that if I have a bad reputation,” he says.

“I’m going to spend a bit more money than my competitors and do it the right way, (which will give myself a smaller piece of the pie regarding profits), but eventually, we’ll end up with a lot more pies, and that’s how we’ll continue to be successful.”

The post Get To Know Who’s on Your Roof<p class="company">Hargrove Roofing</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

By combining its investor-supported strategy designed to optimize performance and minimize expenses with its cutting-edge technology, Roof Manager®—an industry-leading software solution—the company has revolutionized how data and insight can be used to optimize the state and lifetime of a company’s most expensive building element.

It all started in 1990 when David Denman identified a void in the roofing market. By 1994, he had founded Roof Management, covering Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. During those initial years, David’s perseverance, commitment, unwavering determination, and staunch optimism enabled the business to grow.

“Dad started Roof Management 30 years ago, so we’re a family-owned business,” says Managing Director Lisa Sligh, who, along with brother and President Chris Denman, strive to carry on their father’s legacy today.

“We specialize in providing global Roof Asset Management services, which include roof condition evaluation, project design, construction management, and a digital civilized Asset Management program for our commercial industrial clients or real estate investment trusts,” says Sligh.

While there are numerous factors that contribute to the company’s ongoing success, it was David’s initial passion and determination that provided the solid foundation that has helped it thrive over the years.

“I remember being in middle school and Lisa was in elementary when he started out at our home office, and he just saw a niche in the industry,” says President Chris Denman. “He had worked on the contractor side and the manufacturer side, and he had worked a lot with building owners that didn’t have the history or roof knowledge of their own assets. And he said, ‘you know what? I could really help these people out.’”

Today, Roof Management provides a host of services, from providing managed solutions that optimize portfolios by giving the clarity needed to plan, execute, and set priorities, to underwriting, with a comprehensive understanding of the possible risks and advantages associated with the roof.

For Roof Management’s commercial industrial clients, roofing is frequently the most expensive element to replace and maintain. To help combat this reality, Roof Management always endeavors to effectively and efficiently manage roof replacements that provide the best roof at the most cost-effective price.

The team’s knowledge base and extensive footprint affords them the ability to get things done where others cannot. Their focus is to bring this expertise to their clients, so they are getting the best in workmanship, price, inexpensive roof systems. and security that it is being done correctly.

Employing real-time progress data combined with skilled supervision guarantees that a company’s investment is installed to the highest standards with complete transparency throughout the process, while the use the technological platform Roof Manager® pinpoints the best places for value-added energy solutions. Additionally, sustainability actions are supported by the Roof Manager® platform, allowing the company to assist clients in measuring the rooftop sustainability data, from daylight savings to cool roofing and beyond.

“It’s a unique niche,” says Denman. “There have always been roof consultants around, and we called ourselves consultants for quite some time until someone said, ‘No, you’re more of a roof asset manager.’”

“I call us asset managers for roofs,” adds Sligh, who, after graduating college, moved into a property management role for a commercial real estate company. “We’re coming up with budgets for all of our clients, we’re forecasting what repairs need to be completed for them, when and what roof replacements need to occur, and we’re overseeing those roof replacements as they arise. We’re helping them with these major decisions when buying multimillion-dollar buildings and portfolios.”

The roof is one of the most expensive capital expenses, she says, and Roof Management largely deals with industrial warehouse buildings. “It’s a big expense for them, and they have to really budget and plan for the future in terms of how much money they’re asking their investors for to do building enhancements.”

It’s definitely not a part of the building any company should ever skimp on, which is another reason for Roof Management’s ongoing success.

“We’ve always been a very honest and upfront company,” says Denman. “There are guys out there who want to design what we call the Cadillac roof, and the building owners we work with are dealing with tens to hundreds of million square feet, and they just can’t afford that approach. We focus on keeping it straightforward, help them understand and get the absolute best bang for their buck for a roof—one that’s going to be a solid roof, a 20 to 25-year roof, but at the most cost-effective price best suited for that asset and the owners requirements.”

To assist with that goal, Roof Management has vetted some of the best contractors throughout North America to help with installations, and strives to treat them as valued team members, Denman adds.

“We’ve grown unbelievable relationships… some of them for over 20-plus years, and we’re starting to see second generations take over their own families’ companies, which is really neat.”

Roof Management’s own team of experts is also highly trained in all areas of the company’s business, able to provide a variety of services and responsibilities.

“We’re proud that everyone in our company has the versatile skill set to do almost any task,” says Denman. “So if someone needs help, we can immediately find someone to help them out in that area. We’ve created quite a staff. We have a support staff of about 23 people in our headquarters in Marysville, Ohio, and the remaining staff are located in prime markets throughout the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, and Europe.”

On the technical side of the business, Roof Management provides a new level of clarity to new clients who come onboard. Upon the initial inspection process, the client is now armed with detailed condition reports on their portfolio, long-term capital forecasting, and a maintenance plan designed to optimize the condition and longevity of each roof. All this data and more is provided to the client in a centralized database called the Roof Manager®.

The company manages those roofs year in and year out, assessing them on an annual basis and utilizing both performance data and visual observations to continually finetune the ongoing maintenance plan and capital forecast.

“If they extend the service life of a roof even by a year, we just saved our client money,” Denman says. “And if we keep helping oversee their roofing year after year, we’re saving them millions and millions of dollars in money they would have had to spend if they did not have our services.”

When it comes to the project side—when it’s time for a replacement—Roof Management provides a project design and construction management team to help clients lay out the most economical and effective route for their needs that fit the budget.

“We listen to our client, understand their plans for each asset, and tailor options to suit those needs. This is where our experienced design team and vast knowledge base allow us to design solutions to meet the specific needs of each project.”

While many people may think all roofs are alike, characteristics such as deck, existing roof types, coastal regions, and hail zone areas make each project and design solution unique. It is vital to find the best roofing solution to suit the specific needs of each company and project. “We lay out the options for our clients and share our recommendation; however, they drive the ultimate decision based on the options presented by us,” says Denman.

Sligh agrees. “We always work with our clients, and while a roof is a roof, there are a lot of different aspects of the roof, and so many different types of roofs,” she says. “It depends on what the client really wants to do with that building. That is why close communication and understanding their goals is imperative.”

The different types of tenants make a big difference when it comes to roofing projects, she says. “That’s why we create so many great relationships with these contractors, because we work as a team with them to get this project completed from A to Z,” says Sligh. “And we don’t want any disturbance for the tenants; we want our clients not to hear any kind of issues with the project from their client.”

When it comes to sustainability, creating environmentally friendly materials and practices is becoming more and more popular and in-demand.

“Our clients are prioritizing sustainability right now, and we’re tracking detailed data for them on that aspect,” says Denman. “After a project is complete, we’ll calculate how much landfill avoidance they saved not having to tear off a roof and doing a recover of a new roof system, increased r-value, solar reflective values, and daylighting.”

Additionally, a lot of Roof Management’s clients are now focusing on rooftop solar, with some design requirements pushing for a 30-year solar-ready roof to increase the amount of solar-ready rooftops available in their portfolios for the future.

“For a lot of our clients lately, it’s been a hot topic,” says Denman. “And we’ve just made it a priority to track how they are helping the environment on these projects.”

All of this is done, of course, with an eye to the foundations that David Denman laid years ago. Family is at the heart of Roof Management’s legacy and the reason why his children plan to uphold it for as long as possible.

“This company meant the world to our dad,” says Denman. “When he got sick and passed away three years ago, he told Lisa and I to run this our way: ‘You don’t have to do it how I did it. You’ve learned the knowledge, now run and put your own thumbprint on this and run with it.’”

And that’s exactly what they’ve continued to do, with great success.

“The foundation is similar to how he would run it,” agrees Sligh, “but as we grow, we’re just putting in different protocols and processes and making it more efficient. And it’s that efficiency—not only for our employees, but also for our clients—and our Asset Management Program that all of our clients use, which holds all the data [that makes the difference]. The future is a lot of this data that we’ve been collecting for over 30 years.”

This family-run business plans to stay that way for the foreseeable future as well, with both Denman and Sligh—along with their mother—acting as co-owners and taking a team approach in all areas, including maintaining a healthy and happy culture.

“Our dad started it in our home,” says Sligh. “Chris and I would help him with reports and glue pictures down, so keeping that feel and team closeness is very important to us. We have staff throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, and Brazil, and we want them to know we can always lean on each other and continue to be a team, calling anyone around the country to have them come help out.”

Responses from team members over the years have been extremely positive, Denman adds.

“One of our new hires recently said, ‘You say you guys work as a team,’ and he’d heard that from three or four other companies he’d worked for, but this is the first time he’d ever really felt like a part of a team,” says Denman. “I thought that was such a nice compliment. That made us feel really good. I know a lot other companies preach teamwork, but he said with the way we interact, and how we’re so tightknit, that he really felt like part of the team.”

This is particularly complimentary considering many Roof Management employees work remotely and by themselves across the country, although the company does reach out on a constant basis to stay in touch with them.

“And we—Lisa and I, as owners—we say our phones and doors are always open, and to never be afraid that you’re bothering us if you want to reach out about anything, work or personal. We’re here to help.”

This personal connection and leadership from the top down has created not only loyal employees but steady growth over the years. Growth, while it is always ideal and welcome, presents new challenges that Roof Management tackled head-on during a recent surge fueled by the logistics expansion brought on during the COVID pandemic. “The booming growth and capital spend cycle in the real estate market was met with a roofing industry now facing extreme material production, delivery, and pricing problems. No one was immune to the challenges entirely, but we worked tirelessly to leverage our relationships both with our network of manufacturing partners and contractors to deliver the results our clients expect from our services,” says Denman.

“It’s one of those things you live and learn,” he says. “Every day is learning, adjusting, and evaluating in order to keep evolving through growth cycles and new challenges in the market. We’ve got some great new tools available to help optimize our teams’ scheduling, productivity, and work deadlines.”

To be sure, while growth is always welcome, making appropriate changes within the company structure is vital in order to keep up and keep ahead.

“It’s bittersweet because sometimes we get nervous,” says Denman. “You always hear about the horror stories of growing too fast and getting yourself in trouble.”

Roof Management has, however, created a way to be efficient in order to not interrupt that growth.

“Christopher and I have a management team, and we meet quite often and bring our heads together and come up with different ideas on all different aspects,” says Sligh. “Jeff Schultz, Managing Director of evaluations, leads our evaluations and due diligence team, which helps our clients budget and forecast how their roofing assets and/or potential roofing assets are performing. Jonathan Chamberlain, Managing Director of design and construction and also our architect, handles all the design and construction for Roof Management. As a team we are always looking for ways to enhance, improve, and support the team out in the field doing the inspections and the project work. We’re coming up with new applications and efficiencies. We just hired a field operations manager to optimize productivity and key milestone dates within our client base. We’re really excited to see those pan out.”

As for accomplishments, the company counts many in its impressive history, some of which include, of course, its 30^th anniversary, along with a varied client base and involvement in seven of the top 10 REITs in North America.

“You know, you’re not paying attention to that, you’re not trying to accomplish that; it just comes naturally, and that feels really good,” Denman says.

And in keeping with David Denman’s other passion—flying—Chris is also a pilot and has followed in his footsteps of visiting clients whenever possible by plane.

As a result, “We’ve been able to respond to client needs and any issues quickly,” says Denman. “We had a leak on a project in Columbia, South Carolina, and the tenant called us in Marysville, Ohio, and said, ‘We have a leak going on right now. I think the roofers must have created a hole somewhere.’ And I said, ‘I’ll be right there.’ Two hours later, I was in Columbia, South Carolina, in this guy’s office. He said, ‘I don’t understand how you’re here right now. Where were you when I called you?’ And I told him, and he was just in disbelief. We’re pilots and we can respond very quickly to any issues.”

Their father would surely be very proud of not only how they’re carrying on the family business, but carrying on quality customer service as well.

“A lot of people ask, ‘how are you guys different?’ And I say, ‘there are tons of roof asset managers and consultants out there. There are guys out there who have their own software and asset management program, but they don’t have the history in their asset management program that we do,’” says Denman. “We have over 25 years of roof history. Dad didn’t come up with the Roof Manager® until five years after the company started. But we have over 25 years of data insight that we can crunch to make the best decisions and forecasts possible for our clients. At the end of the day, accuracy in our recommendations and insight is paramount and our depth of data is second to none in the industry.”

And, of course, being pilots also certainly sets the Roof Management owners apart from other companies in the field, he adds. “Our dad’s passion was flying, and he wanted to try to incorporate flying into business. And that’s the way he traveled around and spread the geographic coverage area, was being a private pilot to service clients.”

It’s that kind of personalized care and attention that is being carried on from one generation to the next, and hopefully more to come.

“We’re an honest company that wants to help our clients in the most positive way with our resources,” says Denman. “And we’re a team and will always stay that way.”

The post Teamwork, Trust, and Technology<p class="company">Roof Management</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.