AWI Quality Times for 03/17/2020

Zach Deas, president of Deas Millwork, began a second, consecutive one-year term as Chair of the AWI Quality Certification Corporation (QCC).  He was unanimously reelected by the QCC Board of Directors at their meeting in Austin, Texas, March 2-3.

“Zach was humbled by the overwhelming support of the QCC Board of Directors who voting overwhelmingly in support of his reelection,” said QCC Executive Director Randy Estabrook.

Deas Millwork manufacturers and installs doors, windows, moldings, casework, countertops and finishings. During the evolutionary process of the company’s expansion, Zach purchased a few small companies, giving Deas Millwork growth opportunities to serve the healthcare, residential, hospitality, commercial, educational, retail, and historic markets in the Southeast and beyond.

Deas Millwork has been a QCP Licensee since 2009.

Erik Fetzer, a 20-year veteran of the architectural woodwork industry and Chief Technical Officer of Fetzer Architectural Woodwork, began a three-year term on the QCC board Jan. 1, 2020.  He was elected during a director’s meeting last fall.

For over 100 years, the company started by Kaspar Fetzer has been producing woodwork of exceptional quality. From a small cabinet shop in downtown Salt Lake City, Fetzer Architectural Woodwork has grown to become one of the largest millworkers in the nation. Fetzer’s work can be found around the world, from retail stores in China and New Zealand to the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In January 2019, Erik also began a second term as a member of the Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI) Board of Directors.  His knowledge and experience have been utilized for presentations at AWI conventions and industry events.  Erik has been a presenter and speaker on Technology, Production, and Lean Manufacturing at several AWI national conventions, the AWI Spring Leadership Conference, and the AWFS and the IWF industry shows.  He has also served as a judge for the Challenger’s Award competition at three IWF industry shows.

Erik is among the fourth generation of the Fetzer family woodworking business.  Fetzer Architectural Woodwork has been a Quality Certification Program Licensee since 1998 and an AWI Manufacturing Member since 1962.

Watch Fetzer’s video here for insights into the company’s history, operations and specialties.

The AWI QCC Board of Directors elected Rosa Cheney as Chair-Elect for 2020, with her term as QCP Chair beginning on Jan. 1,  2021.  She is currently serving her first term on the QCC board.  With two years under her belt, she is passionate about the integrity of the Quality Certification Program and is eager to support QCP as it addresses and reacts to the rollout of the upcoming AWI / ANSI Standards. 

Rosa Cheney is an architect and owner of Rosa D Cheney AIA, PLLC, a firm whose primary service is the preparation of architectural specifications for architects and owner clientele.  Her firm works on a wide range of project types, including institutional and government work such as schools, community centers, and libraries, as well as private developer work such as office, retail, hospitality, and multi-family residential projects.  She is currently serving as Chair of the AIA Masterspec Architectural Review committee.

The AWI Quality Certification Corporation (QCC) held its first Board of Directors meeting of 2020 on March 2nd and 3rd in Austin, Texas.

The significance of this meeting, unlike others, was to work on moving the Quality Certification Program to a more progressive model. One of QCP’s challenges continues to be understanding and awareness, which is especially the case with woodwork manufacturers. The new effort will focus on the delivery of program requirements and how they can be leveraged to help firms differentiate themselves in the marketplace while providing compliant woodwork.

AWI has recently released new standards in sections 100, 200, 300 and installation. Firms will need help navigating these new requirements in order to be in compliance. QCP Representatives are best suited to help provide understanding and awareness because they are interacting with the new standards on an ongoing basis.

The QCC Board enlisted the help of William Pawlucy of Association Options to help spur board conversation and discovery while facilitating the conversation to a comprehensive first stage. Further work will be required to develop the upcoming requirement changes in conjunction with AWI’s impending release of the new ANSI / AWI 0641 Architectural Wood Casework Standard.

Stay tuned for further developments.

As the chart below illustrates, participation in the QCP continued to grow in 2019, and notably compared with 2017. The program reflected an increase of nine (9) licensed companies over 2018. 

Many firms are maintaining their QCP License to take advantage of being pre-qualified to meet specifications that require a QCP project certificate.  The 2019 Year-End statistics confirmed that 595 firms were QCP-licensed compared with 586 in 2018 and 539 in 2017. Project registrations were a bit down in 2019 but projects inspected increased.

Note:  The chart reflects activity through Dec. 31, 2019.

Remember, certification orders must be made at least two weeks prior to the commencement of fabrication to allow for scheduling of compliance inspections during the fabrication phase of the work.

Certification Facts

• Anyone can register a project (owner, design professional, general contractor, woodworker).

• Only a QCP-licensed company may certify a project.

• Project certification fees are five hundred dollars ($500) or one half of a percent, ½%, of the woodwork contract; whichever is greater.

• For complete information on certifying a project, read Section 4 of the QCP Policies.

QCP Project & License Processes

• To register a project, go to www.awiqcp.org/Project/Register.

• To order project certification, go to www.awiqcp.org/Project/Label/Order.  As stated above, this step must be completed at least two weeks prior to commencement of fabrication to avoid any program penalties or project delays.

• To order a project inspection go to www.awiqcp.org/Project/Inspection/Register.

• For complete information on renewing your QCP License see Section 3 of the QCP Policies. If you were Suspended for non-payment of the annual fee and have no other outstanding invoices, you may be reinstated without having to reapply in accordance with Section 3.1.7 of the QCP Policies and payment of the annual renewal fee plus the $300 late fee.  You will need your User Name and Password for renewing your QCP License.

If you’re interested in joining other successful QCP licensed firms and feel it is attainable for your company, explore the QCP application process by contacting Roxanne Accetta 571.222.4945 or visit our website, www.awiqcp.org, for further details.  Prior to applying, be sure to read the entire QCP Policies as your application fee is non-refundable.

QCC thanks all QCP participants who by Feb. 18th successfully completed both written test requirements on the new sections of AWI Standards released to date.  We know it’s not always a high priority when you’re trying to meet contract deadlines but in order to maintain the integrity of the Program it is a necessary step that needs to be kept up to date.

If you have not yet completed either or both tests and received a Suspension letter, your Company’s QCP License will be re-activated as soon as you successfully complete your testing requirements before Dec. 31, 2020. Your License status is reflected as such on the QCP website under “Find a…”

If you have any questions, please contact Roxanne Accetta at 571.222.4945 or at raccetta@awiqcp.org.

Draft AWI & SMA Wood Stair, Handrail, and Guard Systems Standard in Review Phase

First in a series of profiles about Quality Certification Program Representatives – links in the field between QCP Licensees and the Quality Certification Corporation.

Ralph Greco is a wood industry veteran of 57 years.  A former co-partner of United Wood Technology, Ralph closed the firm in 2005 and retired at age 54. After doing household repairs for six months – pleasing his wife Elise to no end – Ralph began a new career as QCP Representative.  He recently celebrated his 12th anniversary with QCP.

Industry Background
So how did Ralph’s long-standing association with the wood industry begin?  It started with his grandfather who established three businesses in New Jersey.  He had three sons; one was Ralph’s father who ran Yonkers Plywood.  Ralph’s mom was the bookkeeper at his dad’s business.  Ralph said, “My daycare was at the plant where I swept floors, and did odd jobs.”  Ralph and his cousins rotated working at each of their fathers’ plants where they honed their skills.  Later, armed with a driver’s license at age 17, Ralph was a Union installer in New York City.

In 1977, two weeks after graduating from Montclair State College, Ralph established United Face Veneer Company, in Mocksville, North Carolina, where one- and two-ply facia was produced for the furniture trade.  Ralph’s brother soon joined him and together they launched United Plywood Industry.  Until 1980, the firm primarily supplied products for the furniture industry, while their secondary market was architectural woodwork.  

In 1984, the two brothers established United Wood Technology, manufacturing veneer raised panels, a business which rapidly expanded by 1989 to 130 employees working 20-hour days in two shifts. Fifteen plant workers produced architectural woodwork exclusively.

The death of Ralph’s brother at age 49 led Ralph to rethink his life. He eased out of the business and closed the plant at the end of 2005.

New Career with QCP
When Ralph started looking for something substantial to do, a friend (a QCP Licensee and AWI member), Don Jackson of Peerless Woodworking, suggested that Ralph explore opportunities with QCP. After reading the Quality Standards Illustrated, Ralph passed a test, and QCC Executive Director Randy Estabrook hired him as a QCP Representative. 

Territory: Southeastern United States, and wherever else he may be needed

Projects Inspected: primarily schools, hospitals, medical offices, and courthouses

Contact Information:  336-813-7761; ralphjgreco@gmail.com  

Personal
Ralph and his wife, Elise, have been married for 30 years and live in Mocksville, NC. In his spare time, Ralph still plays golf but no longer flies his own airplane.

Ralph Gecko is featured in this edition of Quality Times and is profiled in “QCP Rep Spotlight.”  While sharing his industry experience with QT, he passed along his observations about notable changes in the architectural woodwork industry and QCP over the years.

Looking back, Ralph told Quality Times, “Obviously, big changes have occurred with the woodwork standards. In 12 years, the Quality Certification Program has become larger and more widely accepted.  More woodworkers realize the value of QCP for marketing their firm’s capabilities and professionalism.”

Ralph inspects very small to very large projects, and sees project extremes—woodwork built and installed very well but also very poorly.  “I’ve seen jobs where after only a few weeks, cabinets were already falling apart.”

Ralph said that in cases when “Architects are involved with woodwork projects that are not going well, they see more value in QCP as a third-party verifier.”  He cited an example of one architect who had a bad experience with a woodwork project, and who now requires THREE inspections on every job, even though he no longer uses the woodworker who produced a poorly executed job.” A bad experience where the program helped get things corrected speaks volumes about the value of QCP.  Woodworkers will suffer the consequence of poor-quality work.

Within the design/build industry architects, design professionals and specifiers are among the players with whom the Quality Certification Program engages on architectural woodwork projects. QCP attends pertinent trade shows and conferences to build greater awareness of QCP and forge better relationships with them on behalf of our licensees.

On Feb. 20, QCP’s Tricia Roberts participated in Pittsburgh State University’s Technology Fair held in Pittsburgh, Kansas, where she spoke with both future and current QCP participants.  PSU students were there to meet with prospective employers. “They are the industry’s future and after many conversations with them, I would say it’s very bright,” Tricia said.

Confusion about QCP Project Process
“I became aware that there still seems to be confusion about the QCP project process and timing and I’d like to remind everyone of the importance of registering projects that are specified to be QCP-inspected or require QCP Project Certificates at completion as early as possible.  The minimum requirement is to order Project Certification at least two weeks prior to commencement of fabrication but that’s the minimum. I prefer to receive the order four to eight weeks prior to commencement of fabrication.”   

Pictured above: AWI’s Wade Thaxton, QCP’s Tricia Roberts, and Tara Grassie of Limelight Marketing.

QCP Project Process Step-by-Step
Following is an outline of a QCP project’s journey through the program:

1. An architect specifies a project that requires QCP Project Certifications at completion.

2. At bid, the interior woodworker registers the project and obtains a six digit QCP tracking number  https://awiqcp.org/register/ (usually takes 2 to 5 minutes)

a. You need the following information to register a project:

i. Name of Job – mandatory information

ii. City, State – mandatory information

iii. Name, address and email of the architect – mandatory information

iv. Name, address and email of the general contactor (if available)

v. Name, address and email of the woodworking subcontractor (if available)

b. You need the following information to order project certification:

i. QCP tracking number

ii. Contract value of woodwork

iii. Check or credit card payment (https://secure.awiqcp.org/project/label/order)
 
– Project fees are ½% of the contract value

a) Minimum fee $500

b) Maximum fee $10,000

3. Once ordered, a QCP Representative will be assigned and reach out to obtain approximate fabrication dates and coordinate document exchange of the contract documents to include: shop drawings and specifications.  The Representative will be reviewing the shop drawings to either the project specifications or the referenced Standard and will call out any discrepancies to your attention.  Remember, the project specifications always overrule the referenced Standard. 

Here are a few samples.  Learn more here, where you’ll also find many more topics.

• How to Get Drafting Accreditation?
• What Does it Mean for a Woodworking Firm to be QCP Licensed?
• What does “Historic Restoration Work” Cover Under QCP?
• Common Problems with Countertops and How to Avoid Them.
• And much more!

QCP Video Library Grows: Answers to FAQs on the Website

Those searching (architects, specifiers, design professionals, etc.) for QCP Licensees are finding the “Find a…” QCP Firm to be useful.  This search feature of www.awiqcp.org is a popular tool on the top menu bar of the home page – quickly accessed and easy to find.

Make sure your firm is current with licensing fees and other program requirements to be among those included as “licensed.”  The Advance Search feature allows for filtering search results that include: All, Licensed, Resigned, Revoked, Applicant, Inactive Applicant, and Suspended.

INDUSTRY EVENTS
The Quality Certification Program will be represented at the following industry events in 2020:

Construction Specifications Institute
CSI Master Specifiers Retreat
July 22 – 24
Eau Palm Beach Resort
Palm Beach, FL

Specifications Consultants in Independent Practice
CSI SCIP Meeting
August 17 – 18
Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX

International Woodworking Fair
IWF 2020 Fair
August 25 – 28
Georgia World Congress Center
Atlanta, GA
QCP Booth: BC312

Construct AEC Education & Expo 2020
Sept. 30 – Oct. 2
Gaylord Texan Resort
Grapevine, TX
QCP Booth: 629

Architectural Woodwork Institute
68th AWI Annual Convention
Sept. 30 – Oct. 2
Resort at Squaw Creek
Lake Tahoe, CA

SOCIAL MEDIA
Architectural woodwork is showcased on the following social media platforms, incorporating woodwork projects illustrated in editions of AWI’s quarterly journal, Design Solutions. See the following:

• Instagram:AWI_QCP

• Twitter: awiqcp

• LinkedIn:AWI Quality Certification Program

• Facebook: Architectural Woodwork Institute- QCP
• YouTube: