Mike Silvers, CPRC, Silvers Systems Inc. & FRSA Director of Technical Services
Anyone involved in the roofing industry knows that the greatest challenge we face is attracting and maintaining a willing and qualified workforce. FRSA continues to address this issue on numerous levels. So, when the opportunity presented itself to partner with other industry groups at the Future Builders of America (FBA) Leadership Summit this spring, FRSA and the FRSA Educational Foundation jumped at the opportunity. We not only became a major sponsor, but also committed to – for the first time – presenting a roofing program at the summit.
The summit is attended by high school students active in FBA from throughout Florida. They spend several days at the camp learning about the construction industry and participating in other camp activities. We needed to present an introductory course on roofing for eight different groups of students. Each class would last 75 minutes and needed to include classroom and hands on work. The classes took place over two full days.
Our classroom course was titled: “Why Roofing?” The intention was to expose the students to opportunities available if they chose to pursue a career in the roofing industry: not only in the application, sales and management on the contracting side, but also in manufacturing, distribution, product testing and code compliance. We covered the importance of maintaining a watertight building envelope in order to protect all structures and the ramifications of not doing so. We also stressed the overall value of the roofing market and how it is less dependent on new construction than many other construction trades.
We then covered some roofing basics including the principle of rise over run, and how roof types are referred to as low slope and steep slope and the difference between discontinuous and continuous roof coverings. Examples of steep slope (shingles, tile, metal, etc.) and low slope (single ply, built-up, modified bitumen, etc.) were shown and discussed.
The hands-on portion of the presentation created a few challenges. The time for this segment was limited to about 30 minutes. Many of the students had never driven nails, so shingles would have been very challenging. A good option was roofing low slope wood
frame mock ups with a self-adhered, low slope roof system. All but the first class started by removing the previous class’ work. They then nailed a base sheet in place, installed and stripped in the metal edge, and then installed a granule surface self-adhering cap sheet. This approach turned out to be the perfect combination of practical experience and an opportunity to explain roofing theory.
I want to thank several folks who helped with this endeavor: Jim Bennett with CertainTeed who donated all the self-adhering components and Gulfeagle Supply which helped with the material logistics. I especially want to thank Les Sims, CPRC, Armstrong Roofing Inc. and Kenny Harp, Imperial Roofing of Polk County, who graciously donated a full day each of their valuable time. They had to endure multiple classroom presentations by yours truly, prior to providing invaluable direction and assistance with the hands on portions of the class.
Overall, I think this was a good experience for these young students. Many of them stayed at the end of the class to ask questions. Some were interested enough to ask about potential wages and other trade-specific items.
This event is just one way to promote our trade and our industry. Hopefully it will create a spark with a few of these young people that our profession so desperately needs. We should continue to support this effort along with the new and very exciting regional apprenticeship programs and many other industry-specific training courses taking place throughout the state. The future of our industry depends on it.
Michael J. Silvers, CPRC is FRSA’s Director of Technical Services. Mike is an FRSA Past President, Life Member and Campanella Award Recipient. He is a Florida Licensed Certified Roofing Contractor, who brings over 40 years of industry knowledge and experience to FRSA’s team. Mike is available to FRSA members who have codes or technical questions and can be reached at 800-767-3772 ext. 169 or by email at silvers@floridaroof.com.
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