www.rcabc.org  l  7 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE KEVIN MOSS RCABC President S pring is here to deliver warming weather, demanding sched- ules, and a much-needed boost in confidence, as our industry looks to secure a busy roofing season for the workforce. But with all those price proposals and closing dates, it some- times feels like we spend too much time working in the business and not enough time working on the business. We exert so much effort trying to secure contracts that we often neglect to understand what it is that we are actually doing. Some would say that at the most basic level, the subtrade industry is essentially an exchange of risk for payment. We are paid to properly plan and execute onsite work so that our customers can obtain a new roof while taking on as little risk as possible (i.e. they are passing that risk on to us). But are we getting paid enough for the liability that we assume? Each and every day our members are at risk of burning RISKY BUSINESS down apartments, flooding businesses, and having employees fall off the roof, not to mention the numerous other things that can go wrong with an estimate or onsite installation. But how much time do we actually spend understanding the cost of these risks? To protect our industry, the communities we live in and the well- being of our hardworking employees, we ought to spend more energy analyzing the risks and ensuring that the business is adequately compensated for that burden. While many roof assemblies do not share the same fire risk as torch-applied SBS systems, the use of open flame is often required and not going away any time soon. Therefore, we will always be just one bad decision (perhaps by an apprentice not feeling well, or even a journeyman having a momentary lapse in judgment) away from inadvertently starting a fire on our client’s property. In that situation, the unfortunate contractor better hope that all fire code and liability insurance obligations were met. This includes BC Fire Code section 5.2.3, which essentially bans any hot work from occurring in close proximity to combus- tible contents unless all combustible materials within 15 metres are protected, a one-hour fire watch is conducted, and a follow-up to the fire watch occurs four hours after the completion of all work. Most insurance requirements go even further by explicitly requiring all combus- tible surfaces adjacent to hot roofing be covered with non-combustible materials. These responsibilities are not negotiable, and come with severe consequences for those who do not obey. Another major hazard for the roofing industry to contend with is leakage. As with the potential for fire during roofing projects, poor judgment can also lead to costly damage from water ingress. It can be as simple as an early storm arriving halfway through tear-off, or as scary as an overlooked loose seam being preyed Est.1969