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HBI Addresses Growing Role of Field Superintendents
 Industry members attending the International Builders’ Show last month in Orlando, Fla. learned about what the Home Builders Institute (HBI) is doing to support quality home building through its Residential Construction Superintendent (RCS) designation and received a sneak peek at pilot courses that will be expanding the program.
At a standing-room-only session on “Eight Tips to Super Success,” veteran RCS instructors Paul Mashburn, CAPS, CGB; Mike Weiss, CGR, CGB, GMB, CAPS, RCS; and Beverly Koehn, MIRM, CMP, GMB, CAPS, CGA addressed the growing importance of superintendent training.
Currently, the designation’s eight courses are offered through home builders associations in 29 states and more than 100 classes are being taught annually.
Deborah Liftig, RCS, a superintendent with Aubuchon Homes in Cape Coral, Fla., said that she “would highly recommend taking the certification classes, they were all excellent. The courses addressed all components of project management and the instructors were very knowledgeable and energizing.”
The recently published “2005 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study” by J.D. Power and Associates reports a direct correlation between the quality of field superintendents and consumers’ overall satisfaction with their homes, and home builders have begun to take notice.
New Courses Added
Responding to the growing demand for effective superintendents, HBI, the workforce development arm of NAHB, has announced that it is expanding the number of RCS courses.
Partnering with NAHB’s Concrete Home Building Council (CHBC), HBI has created three pilot Concrete Specialization Courses that will be held early this spring: “Best Practices for Concrete Pavers and Segmental Retaining Walls;” “Concrete Mix Designs, Construction Guidelines and Troubleshooting;” and “Handling Moisture Behind Brick Veneers to Back-up Walls.”
HBI will also be launching an Advanced RCS track, with the first three courses ready this summer and three more completed by year’s end. These courses build on material covered in the RCS designation and expand on topics identified by NAHB members as being important to the field supervisor position.
NAHB members, HBA staff and instructional designers have been involved in the development of the Advanced RCS courses.
For more information and a schedule of RCS courses, click here; or e-mail Joseph Krinock at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8928.
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