Highlights
- FCIA Education and Committee Action Conference Info
- FCIA Quoted in Webcast
- New FCIA Board Member
- Email viruses
- FCIA CSI Show Call for Help
- Advertising
FCIA Spring Conference - Don't miss the FCIA Education and Committee Action Conference April 28 - 30, 2004 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA. Keynote Speakers include Dr. Gene Corley, CTL, Inc., "Lessons Learned from the World Trade Center", Bert Polk, The National Association of State Fire Marshal's, "Partnership for Safer Buildings", Rich Walke of UL USA and Emmanuel Supeju, UL Canada speak about the differences between Canadian and US Standards, new "L" Rating and Ductwrap info. Additionally, John Gryffyn, Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing will speak about codes in Ontario. Jeff Gould & Tom McCarty, FM Approvals will explain FM's new structure that will help make FM 4991 truly a global standard. Bill Koffel, FCIA's US Code Consultant talks about NFPA and ICC Code Strategy. FCIA's Committees Meet during the conference Wednesday. And., don't miss Friday morning's "Industry Strategy Forum", an industry discussion on our joint IFC/FCIA work promoting our industry. You'll see a survey shortly to fill out as we prepare for this session. We're planning a spouse tour program as well.
Call the Fairmont Royal York now for your hotel reservations at 800.663.7229. FCIA's cutoff date for the rate has been extended to April 8th. Rate is $209 Can., about $159/nite. Be sure to mention "Firestop Contractors International Association" to get the rate. Fly to either Buffalo's airport and rent a car, or directly to Toronto's Lester B. Pearson (YYZ). A shuttle, Airport Express is $14.95 Can each way, running each 1/2 hour, stopping at all downtown hotels. The Fairmont is the 2nd stop on the shuttle from the airport. Limos are approx. $39 Canadian, "FLAT RATE" each way available anytime. No reservations required for transportation. Budget about 1/2 hour travel time to downtown from Pearson Airport. The FCIA Golf Tournament will take place at Royal Woodbine Golf Course, Toronto, about 5 minutes from the airport.
Faxback forms are on the website. Rooms for Tuesday, April 27th may be sold out at the Fairmont shortly. Rooms for Tuesday are available at the Novatel, 416-367-8900, ask for Yvonne Bird and the Westin, 416-869-1600. There are plenty of rooms left Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
FCIA Quoted during Consulting Specifying Engineering Fire Protection Webcast - FCIA's "Effective Compartmentation" article on the Chicago City and County Building fire was quoted by host Jim Crockett during the CSE National Webcast last week. FCIA Executive Director, Bill McHugh had submitted our "What if there were fire walls, doors, dampers and firestopping around the fire's room of origin in the high rise building? Would the fire and smoke have spread killing people in the stairwells?" Effective Compartmentation, Detection - Alarm - Communication systems and sprinklers are needed to complete the Fire Protection TRIAD to keep buildings safe and reduce property losses. Effective use of all three parts of the fire protection TRIAD may have prevented deaths in this and other cases worldwide. Panelists included high ranking people at Gage Babcock Assoc., Rolf Jensen Assoc., Schirmer Engineering, Global Fire Protection Consultants, BOMA Chicago and the City of Chicago Department of Construction and Permits.
FCIA recommended Effective Compartmentation and Firestopping as the first practical approach to Fire Protection in buildings in our letter and Chicago Testimony. BOMA Chicago agreed that Firestopping and Compartmentation is a viable option to protect buildings. Sprinkler systems can cost between $6 - $14/SF, not including asbestos removal (around $15 - $18/SF). At $26.50 SF, midpoint for asbestos removal and sprinklers, Class B & C Buildings would become severely stressed and economic viability in question. Firestopping the already existing compartments would cost from $.50 -- $3.00/SF, depending on the building, allowing building owners and managers to budget for sprinklers as can be afforded.
The Fire Protection Engineers on the panel questioned the reliability of Compartmentation, citing open doors and maintenance as an issue. At the same time, they stated that "PROPERLY INSTALLED and MAINTAINED Sprinkler Systems are very reliable". FCIA's Membership believes that "Specialty Firestop Contractor installed and maintained Compartmentation and Firestop Systems" are reliable too. A Building and Fire Research Laboratory Estimate of the Operational Reliability of Fire Protection Systems in the UK, Australia and Japan, showed Effective Compartmentation reliability about the same as and sprinkler systems.
New FCIA Board Member - Bob Hasting, President of SFS, Inc. and C.E.O. of Specialty Firestop Systems has joined the board of directors at FCIA. Bob has been in the construction industry for 29 years and started in the seals and electrical circuit protection industry in 1978. His experiences include work in the commercial, industrial, hazardous materials, marine and nuclear industries in mechanical and firestopping applications. Bob fills the vacancy left by Don Graves, Fire Barrier, Inc., who has chosen to move back to Arizona and is no longer in the industry.
FCIA New Members - Welcome to Atlantic Firestop, Inc., Ken Kuehhas, Northport, FL; ProFirestop, John Sharpe, Scarborough, Ontario, CANADA have joined FCIA this month, as Firestop Contractor Members.
FCIA Committee Members - Committee members can participate via face to face meetings, teleconferences, email and some travel to some fun places. Visit this link for committee updates, and a committee application form. You will benefit greatly by being part of a committee. The committees that need members include:
- Technical - Mike Dominguez, Chair - The MOP is undergoing it's 5 year review...we'll need writers and editors.
- Codes - FCIA needs a new Code Committee chair. FCIA's Code Consultant, Bill Koffel, works with our Code Chair and outside organizations.
- Standards - Don Sabrsula, Chair, Needs help with the ASTM Meetings for the Standard for Joints Inspection.
- Education - Bob Patton, Chair - A fresh set of eyes helps our writers stay focused! We could use one or two new members.
- Marketing - Don Murphy and Richard Keeney have trade shows and speaking engagements we need to fill.
Contact Ray Usher, FCIA 2004 President if you are interested, at 763.571.7464, or email at ray@superl.net .
FCIA Website Advertising - www.fcia.org is constantly being visited by general contractors, architects, code officials, current and prospective FCIA Firestop Contractor Members. FCIA's Google Page rank is a "5/10". CSI, the Construction Specifications Institute, an 18000 member group's site, is a 6/10. FCIA's site is well traveled, and impressive. Consider advertising on the site:
- Home Page - 1" x 2" Ad - $500/ 3 Months, $800/ 6 months $1000/ 12 months, 2 ads available. Approx. 21000 visits ea. 3 months, from 8400 distinct addresses visit the home page.
- FCIA Member List Page - 1" x 1" Ad - $300/ 3 months, $500 / 6 months, $800/ 12 months 2 ads available. Approx. 8400 visits from 3600 distinct addresses to these pages.
- Other Pages -FCIA FM 4991 Approval Page Ad, FCIA Articles, FCIA Events Page, FCIA Specification, other pages. $200/ 3 months, $400 6 months, $600 / 12 months, 2 ads available. Approx. 900 visits / from 750 distinct Internet addresses to these pages.
FCIA E-News Sponsorships Available - Want exposure for your company frequently delivered to the desk of FCIA Members and Friends? FCIA's ENews can be sponsored by any interested party.
- Sponsor "At the Top" - $500/ 3 Months, $800 for 6 months $1000/ 12 months, 1 ad available
- Sponsor "In the middle" or "On the bottom"- $300 for 3 Months, $500/ 6 months $700/ 12 months, 2 ads available.
Alliance for Fire and Smoke Containment and Control - The annual meeting of the Alliance for Fire and Smoke Containment and Control (AFSCC) is June 16 - 18, 2004, in Kansas City. In addition to AFSCC, an Alliance for Fire Safety (AFS...the PR Campaign) summit/strategy session takes place Wednesday, June 16th.. AFSCC's Meeting is from 8 - 6 pm June 17. An AFSCC Board Meeting is June 18.
Don't Be Fooled By Emails with viruses - FCIA has been bombarded with viruses lately. Evidently, other associations have been too. This excerpt came from the Association Forum's Newsletter, "In the last few weeks we've seen the launch of one of the most aggravating mass-mailing worms to come along so far. The Netsky worm gets into the e-mail system of an unsuspecting victim, scans hard drives for e-mail addresses, and sends itself out. The really dangerous part is that this worm uses "spoofing" (replacing the "from" line of a message with a randomly selected address to make it look as though the sender is someone you know and trust)."
We at FCIA have received a number of these messages and know that members probably have as well. Somewhere along the line, the e-mail addresses of FCIA or FCIA Members were picked up out of an infected mailbox and so we're all being spoofed. Please be very careful about any e-mails that you receive with an attachment, or that send you to a strange website other than www.fcia.org . The Subject line and message body of the e-mail vary. The attachment name varies with the .exe, .pif, .scr, or .zip file extension. If only these internet hackers got real jobs......
Thanks for Modern Medicine - Recently, I had the opportunity to use our health care system through emergency appendix surgery, March 18th. The Doctors, Surgeon, Nurses, Patient Tech's couldn't have been nicer. Most important, although there were some complications, I'm on the mend. My lifestyle is a bit slower right now, but that's not all bad. Our health is a precious thing, and sometimes we take it for granted until we're faced with some trouble. I'm smelling a few more roses than usual lately as a result...and hope you can too in our hectic paced world.
Bill McHugh, FCIA Executive Director
FCIA's Firestop Industry Conference dates are November 10 - 13, 2004. Watch for the location shortly
(c) Copyright FCIA 04/06/04 - Permission is hereby granted to forward, print, circulate, quote with credit to FCIA.
FCIA is a non profit organization of Firestop Contractors, Contractor Branch Offices, Manufacturers and Associate Members interested in furthering life safety through the Professional Specialty Firestop Contractor Concept.
For more information, contact the
FCIA Office
Bill McHugh, Executive Director
1257 Golf Circle
Wheaton, IL 60187
630.690.0682 Phone
630.690.2871 FAX
Email: info@fcia.org
Website: www.fcia.org