Our May issue of Roofing Contractor has a feature article on several contractors who became founding member of the United Association of Storm Restoration Contractors (UASRC). 

Storm remediation work represents a major segment of the roofing market, but the havoc reaped by storms can create an atmosphere that draws the roofing industry’s worst elements: unscrupulous, fly-by-night contractors. Contractors who do shoddy work or simply rip off storm victims are the industry’s biggest black eye. Tires of having their reputation stained by these vultures, contractors who usually compete with one another have teamed up to do something about it.

Richard Spanton Jr. (pictured, right) is president of Mastercraft Exteriors, which is headquartered in Rockton, Ill. He’s also the chairman of the board of the UASRC. His company does work in 40 states, and he points to unscrupulous contractors as one of the biggest challenges facing reputable companies that do storm restoration work. “To deal with the unscrupulous contractors, we became a founder of the United Association of Storm Restoration Contractors in 2012,” he said. “The UASRC helps us differentiate ourselves quickly to the consumer because it has a strict entry application, code of ethics and business practices property owners can trust.”

Spanton sees the UASRC as crucial to essential preserving the business model of the storm restoration professional. “UASRC helps the entire industry by continually raising the bar for all storm restoration contractors, vendors, insurance carriers and property owners,” Spanton said. “UASRC is dedicated to cleaning up a bad perception of storm restoration contractors by being a leader in construction standards, community outreach and insurance relations, among other goals. UASRC is a place that homeowners can go and trust that they have chosen the right contractor for their project. With thousands of contractors to choose from, it is a very scary time to be a homeowner after a catastrophic event. UASRC clears up that choice by offering qualified and verified contractors to choose from.”

For more information on the UASRC, visit www.roofingcontractor.com or www.uasrc.org.