BETTER PUBLIC EDUCATION NEEDED

IHPA President Bill Feely noted that 10 percent of the houses, apartments and mobile homes in Florida were damaged or destroyed by last year’s hurricanes. “It is the responsibility of the IHPA to help the citizens of Florida protect themselves before the next hurricane season,” he told members at an association meeting in April.

Greg Mann of All Points Screw, Bolt & Specialty Co. said it best: “The IHPA as an association and the industry as a whole have to do a better job of informing the public about the cost associated with not properly protecting homes and businesses from the damage from flying debris.”

The IHPA has launched a series of Town Hall meetings. The mini-conferences scattered around the country consist of experts from the insurance, construction, engineering and hurricane protection industry offering advice to the public and the building community on the innovations and the resulting safety features that will help local communities survive when the next hurricane strikes the coast.

Don Leggett, IHPA membership committee chairman, is preparing a report on how Floridians could be better prepared to protect their homes and families from this season’s hurricanes, and the discounts available to them from insurance carriers.

The reason for the meetings and reports is to make citizens aware why proper preparation, planning and the installation of storm protection will save them from some of the problems that many of the citizens of Florida still face.

ROOFING ISSUES RISING

In Florida, well over 50 percent of structures damaged by hurricanes have yet to be repaired, and those that have been repaired might not be repaired to the current building code.

FEMA, in an effort to help the persons affected by the hurricanes, imported laborers from Texas to put up the now famous “blue roofs.” While the immediate need was real, no one is tracking how many of the laborers have returned to Texas or have become unlicensed contractors or unlicensed subcontractors repairing the more than 500,000 roofs that were damaged by last season’s hurricanes.

Building owners who are trying to have their buildings repaired have discovered that the state of Florida relaxed its rules for roofing contractors, which has led to out-of-state roofing contractors flocking to Florida. To find a competent contractor has been a frustrating experience for many Floridians.

The state has set up a Web site to help the public check on legitimate contractors, but the amount of people using other contractor’s numbers is quite high. And even when the out-of-state contractor is legitimate, many are hiring labors left behind by FEMA to repair the damaged roofs. In many cases these workers have little or no experience in roof construction.

Allan Himes of Tampa, FL, explained the situation from a business owner’s point of view, saying he was not sure which roofers are legitimate or which ones are con artists trying to get the down payment. His concern is that when next year’s storms bear down on his business the roof will leak, the tiles will fail and the only recourse he will have is to pay another deductible and start the process all over again.

WORK ONGOING TO RESOLVE BUILDING OPTIONS
Joe Belcher, president of JDB Code Services; Amy Yverlton, Wayne Dalton; and Gary Stokes, PGT Industries, have been working on resolving some of the issues concerning the option of building to internal pressure and the unnecessary damage resulting from that legislation.

The latest reports indicate growing support in the Florida legislature for expanding the wind-borne debris requirements and eliminating the exemptions that currently exist is several counties.

Engineer Frank Bernardo and Mike Madden, Madden Mfg., are working on a continuing-education program for the hurricane protection industry. The newest IHPA board members, Scott Kuntz and Bill Spendel, will be assisting Gene Enyart, Tom Johnson and John Knechvich in spearheading the education, code compliance, ethics and Web site committees.