This year marks my 20th year in the roofing industry. In this time span, I have seen many significant changes in all sectors of the industry: contracting, manufacturing and consulting. As we close out 2007, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on some of these changes and provide a technical perspective on how these changes will affect the future of the industry.
Few things can be more annoying than running a dead-end sales call. Yet, if we do not visit the customer, how will we know if the lead has a chance to turn into a good job? There is no magic rule for qualifying leads, but applying some simple logic can help improve the odds in your favor.
The January 1990 issue of Plumbing & Mechanical magazine had a cover story titled “The Manpower Crisis,” written by me. It featured interviews with apprenticeship recruiters and other industry experts addressing a skilled labor shortage that had already started to rear its head. Demographic and social trends indicated the problem would only worsen in years to come.
My story probably isn’t unique to many of you reading Roofing Contractor, but sometimes I find the lessons that are the most powerful are the ones that have been in front of us all along. When we finally have our eyes opened to see them, that’s when the real impact hits home.
Let’s face it; more Latinos are getting hurt on the job than is necessary or appropriate. I have frequently cited an Associated Press study documenting that for the Latino worker, safety accident rates are four times that of Anglos. (Some studies have put the ratio as high as 8:1.) Many companies struggle with the actual development and implementation of a safety program, while others struggle with the actual nuts and bolts of teaching safety to people from another culture.
Many employers of newly hired young and/or foreign workers are faced with the dilemma of paying them before the workers are able to obtain a Social Security number (SSN). Despite the widespread misunderstanding that it is illegal for an employer to pay an employee who does not have an SSN, there is nothing in the law prohibiting it.
SPF systems provide many advantages on low-slope roof systems. The primary advantage is that the material has a high thermal resistance value that increases per unit thickness. The application method is seamless, and with proper maintenance the system can provide a long-term life cycle in the proper environments. The long-term success of the system is dependent on the SPF coating.
Business always has ups and downs, and fluctuations are to be expected. The U.S. economy has been enjoying an economic building boom for over 10 years. The housing slowdown is definitely impacting certain areas. However, things are not as dire as one might think.
Subcontractors in certain trades experienced a magic moment in time during the roll-up craze of the 1990s. Scores of owners were able to sell their businesses to consolidators for millions of dollars. Many are still living the good life off those deals. A few got burned by accepting payment mostly in consolidator company stock, almost all of which subsequently tanked, but those who negotiated cash or mostly cash buyouts did well for themselves. For a handful it was like a well-paid extended vacation, because they ended up reacquiring their old companies a few years later for pennies on the dollar compared to their selling price.
According to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, workplace fatalities occurred at a rate of 3.9 per 100,000 workers in 2006. The report breaks U.S. workplace fatalities down into a number of classifications, and while roofing is not the most dangerous of occupation, it maintains a top 10 rating in this grim report.
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