Director's Message: What is Your Process?
Why Construction Success Depends on Strategy, Not Just Products
For a number of years, the construction industry has been focused on products. If you’ve been around construction for a while, you’ll notice that the ways homes were put together 20 or 30 years ago are significantly different than how they are built today. Many items are now required by the code while others are specified by the architect or engineer of record. Whether it’s a variety of metal connectors or various membranes, several products have been added to the scope of work for framers.
But how much thought goes into the process for installing those products, or even the process of how homes are built? It seems everyone and their dog has some novel product that is going to revolutionize construction, but how many of those “solutions” actually stack up against traditional means? What is seldom discussed or proposed is what goes into the process of actually constructing those buildings. That is something that is usually left up to the framer.
SBCA has conducted a number of time-motion studies for home construction projects that compare a variety of methods and the success always comes down to the process with which they are installed. Framers, and the builders who hire them, are significantly more successful when they have a strategic process that is well thought out and maximizes the intended efficiencies of those products being used. Whether it is a multi-family building with hundreds of thousands of square feet or a custom single-family home, framers need a well-thought-out process.
Framers, and the builders who hire them, are significantly more successful when they have a strategic process that is well thought out and maximizes the intended efficiencies of those products being used.
A recent example of the importance of process occurred during this year’s HUD’s Innovative Housing Showcase (IHS), which is held annually in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall. NFC and SBCA have participated for the past four years in building a two-story structure on a temporary foundation on the gravel portion of the National Mall. This year we framed a 3,000 sq. ft. two-story duplex in roughly 10 hours. How? The framers had a plan and a process for success. Each wall panel, floor cassette, and roof section was well thought out which limited handling and maximized vertical progress.
As part of IHS, SBCA and NFC staff reiterated the importance of process at every turn during the Showcase. While other groups representing other sectors of the home construction industry wanted to talk about alternative options like 3D printed concrete homes or manufactured housing, NFC was there to remind them of the importance of process and the efficiencies that can be gained by constructing homes that people actually want to live their lives in.
It’s time that we as an industry got more vocal about the importance of the process involved in construction. Whenever a new product is being discussed in the codes or promoted to a specifier, process involving the utilization and handling of the product needs to be at the heart of the discussion. The benefits of the product need to be measured along with the process by which it is installed. After all, we’ve shown time and time again that it’s the process that is as important as the products and the determining factor in whether a project is deemed a success.
Jess Lohse
Executive Director
National Framers Council
(224) 236-3904 (desk/text)
Who is the NFC?
The National Framers Council (NFC) is a council of framing professionals. NFC is creating a community of like-minded framers, GCs, suppliers, and design professionals to foster better communication and collaboration among framers, design professionals, and component manufacturers. NFC’s goal is to develop best practices and professional support systems to increase knowledge, improve safety, and encourage camaraderie among framers at companies of all sizes.
In June of 2013, a small group of framers and component manufacturers met to discuss mutual goals within the framing industry. The outcome of the meeting was to begin a more formal dialogue and collaboration under the umbrella of a “National Framers Council.”
NFC came to life as a council within the Structural Building Components Association (SBCA). With aligned missions, this gave NFC the ability to leverage the best practices and training work that SBCA had already created. The initial focus was on framing field operations and management to be used as industry best practices nationally with the ultimate purpose being to help ensure framers leave the jobsite the same way they came to it. As a result, FrameSAFE was created, and the first version was released in Summer 2015.
In mid-2021, SBCA and NFC began working on bringing the two groups together more often by planning events that incorporated programming of interest to both component manufacturers and framers, such as SBCA’s annual tradeshow BCMC & Framer Summit, SBCA’s long-standing Open Quarterly Meetings (OQMs), and the exhibit build for HUD’s Innovative Housing Showcase in Washington, D.C. Since 2023, the Framer Summit has been integrated within the main show floor of BCMC, enhancing attendee and exhibitor experiences. The show expanded with value-add through education sessions geared towards framers, and component manufacturers, plus various framer-focused and CM-focused events throughout BCMC week.
Additionally, members of NFC sit on the SBCA Board of Directors and, in turn, SBCA Members actively participate in NFC Committees.
SBCA and NFC have made great strides collaborating together and it has provided and continues to provide great benefit to framers and component manufacturers alike.