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Superintendent Training Program Expands
 Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of NAHB, has been expanding its Residential Construction Superintendent (RCS) designation courses across the country as home builders associations and companies offer the program with increasing frequency.
The California Building Industry Foundation (CBIF) has received significant support for the RCS eight-course curriculum from builder D.R. Horton, which recently made RCS certification mandatory for all of its field personnel throughout the state.
“We want our project superintendents to be professional and accredited, for their own self-worth as well as our training regimen” said Tom Noon, the company’s chief operating officer. To date, 63 D.R. Horton employees have graduated from the program in Sacramento and Costa Mesa.
Geared to home builders in need of field personnel with an understanding of all aspects of the construction process, the RCS designation covers the day-to-day responsibilities of site superintendents and includes instruction on general project management, codes and quality control.
 The RCS has registered growing popularity in Florida, where the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA) has been offering the entire curriculum during its annual Southeast Building Conference (SEBC), coordinated by Suzanne Cook, the association’s director of education & training. The courses are also being offered around the state by several local builders associations and a growing number of major builders, including Westfield Homes/Standard Pacific, which will be building more than 1,500 single-family homes in Tampa and Sarasota over the coming year.
“I scoped out the program by taking the classes myself at the last SEBC,” said Robert Clouse, a senior area manager for Westfield. “I quickly realized that this program would be a valuable addition to the training we already provide our construction managers.” The series is being offered to the company’s 27 construction managers.
FHBA Past President Paul Mashburn of Winter Park, who teaches the majority of the RCS courses in Florida, called the employee delegation from Westfield “a very special group, anxious to learn ways that they could improve their knowledge and performance.”
“The training gives our construction managers a broader knowledge of the overall construction process,” said Clouse. “Just as important, it builds loyalty to our company, which decreases turnover and increases productivity.”
Continuing to expand the scope of the RCS designation, HBI has partnered with NAHB’s Concrete Home Building Council (CHBC) to create 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.” The courses will be available nationwide after the pilots are concluded.
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. Building on material covered in the RCS designation curriculum, the courses will expand on topics identified by NAHB members as being important to the field supervisor position.
For more information on the RCS designation courses or a schedule of courses, click here; or e-mail Joseph Krinock, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8928.
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