To Certify or Not to Certify
The CFA Board of Directors had an in-depth discussion over the merits and need for certification prior to its board meeting in Las Vegas. There is a movement in some building jurisdictions for all contractors and subcontractors to be certified. If we don’t take action, it could boil down to someone outside the industry dictating […]
Being A Member…
Membership is not just about paying your dues after the first of July, or when every your membership expires, and then waiting for the dues to come up the following year. And although this is a great publication, it’s not about just reading what’s between the covers of Concrete Facts. On a larger scale, membership […]
Your CFA Membership Benefits
Are you taking full advantage of your membership in the CFA? Hopefully you are. But just in case, I thought I would highlight a few of the relatively new member benefits, as well as remind you of some the old standbys. First, let’s talk about the CFA cold weather effort. Now that winter is upon […]
Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It
Technology, wow, what’s next? It is hard to comprehend how the life of the concrete contractor has changed in recent years. I remember when very simple (by today’s standards) Boman Instruments pocket calculators went on sale for about $120 each. If I recall correctly, it took three AA batteries. Now a solar powered -1/16 the […]
Hurricane Katrina: Can CFA Members Help?
The world was stunned by the devastation wrought on Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama by Hurricane Katrina. The images, as horrifying as they were, couldn’t convey how complete the destruction was. Hurricane Rita then extended the problems to the west, including Texas. The extent of the damage defies description and understanding. What we do understand is […]
Technology: The Key To Successful Growth
I have the dubious task of authoring a substitute for the inspirational letters you have grown accustom to this past year from our current CFA President, Terry Lavy. I know you will look forward to his next letter in issue five, as he makes his way back from some health issues we are glad to […]
Guide Publications Improving
Barring any unforeseen challenges or last minute glitches, the walls chapter of the ACI 332 Standard will be incorporated, by reference, into the 2006 version of the International Building Code. The final step will occur at the ICC meeting this fall in Detroit. This is a milestone for ACI and the residential concrete business. Prior to […]
The CFA – Then and Now
Our little company first joined the old Poured Concrete Wall Contractors Association (PCWCA) I think in 1978. The meeting was in Cambridge, Mass., and my boss, Dan Lavy, and I flew out to see what this was all about. It was a fairly small group then, it seems to me that there weren’t more than […]
Looking Back – CFA Celebrates 30 Years
The Concrete Foundations Association will celebrate its 30th Anniversary at this summer’s meeting in San Francisco. What’s even harder to believe is that I will have been with the Association for nearly half of those years (14 to be exact). There have been a lot of changes in the industry and the Association during the past […]
CFA’s First Regional Meeting
It is hard to turn away from a recipe that works, but that is what we did for the recent Spring Board /Foundation Fundamentals program. Brent Anderson has done a terrific job of educating contractors on the basic (and sometimes not so basic) engineering principles of foundation construction that we all should know. He has […]
