This past spring, Firestone Building Products recognized 189 firms across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico with the company’s 2014 Partner in Quality Award. This annual award honors a group of Firestone Building Products Red Shield™ Licensed Roofing Contractors for a high level of craftsmanship and the skill set required for quality roofing installations.
As a testament to their expertise, the projects are backed by the Firestone Building Products Red Shield™ Warranty. Depending on the commercial roofing system, terms of the warranty can range from five years to 30 years. To qualify, winners had to: install four warranted Firestone Building Products roofs in each of the past five years; maintain at least one million square feet of Firestone Building Products roofs under warranty; and achieve an annual Quality Incidence Rating (QIR) of 1.5 or less (QIR measures each contractor’s performance based on warranty repair incidences per million square feet under warranty).
As part of the program, winners are able to participate in the Firestone Building Products Community Service Program which makes them eligible for a $1,000 annual credit to donate labor and materials for community roofing projects.
TFM recently spoke with Phil LaDuke, director of quality assurance for Firestone Building Products, to learn more about this award.
TFM: What are some aspects of Firestone’s contractor training? What skills and issues does the training focus on, and how do these skills translate into peace of mind for the facility managers who hire them?
LaDuke: Firestone Building Products Contractor Quality Seminars are ideal for key field employees who are directly responsible for achieving superior installations. The in-depth seminars combine classroom activities with hands-on training and cover the application and installation of Firestone Building Products systems. In addition to these three-day seminars—all conducted at one of our plants–we offer customized training for contractors. The sessions include members of our Quality Building Services team, who are on-site to provide customized training complete with hands-on applications of our building products systems.
Firestone Building Products also offers an online education program, Building Products University (BPU), which is designed to provide an introduction to various roofing, wall, and building envelope topics. The courses use interactive learning techniques with audio, text, graphics, animation, and videos to present key information and concepts. Each course is available in two versions. One version is presented in a more straight-forward format simply intended to comply with American Institute of Architects (AIA) and RCI requirements for continuing education credits. The second version includes a lesson integrating specific products offered by Firestone Building Products.
TFM: Can you expand on the role of the QIR of contractor performance?
LaDuke: Firestone Building Products recognizes high achieving contractors as Partner in Quality winners. The rating system to earn this designation is based on each company’s annual Preferred Quality Incidence Rating, known as a “QIR.” The QIR is computed using the total number of warrantable repair incidents occurring on Firestone Building Products roofs. That number is then divided into the total square footage of Firestone Building Products roofs under warranty. For 2014, a contractor must have maintained a QIR of less than 1.25 to achieve a Partner in Quality designation. In other words, the fewer the repair incidents the lower the QIR.
TFM: How do the winners participate in the Community Service Program? What types of facilities have winners donated the funds to in previous years?
LaDuke: Contractors who earn Partner in Quality designations are eligible for the Community Service Program. The program involves contractors donating labor and materials to projects in their local communities, with Firestone Building Products offsetting associated costs by issuing them materials credits. Some examples of past community service projects include new roofs for: a local children’s home; summer camp; equipment storage building for a youth baseball field; a women’s shelter; a YMCA; several school buildings; and multiple churches.
Visit Firestone’s Building Envelope Channel on TFM’s website to learn more about quality roof installations.
For a list of the Partner in Quality Award Winners, visit this page on the Firestone Building Products website.
