August 2014

NRCA members are no strangers to charitable acts. They believe it is a call of duty to help their communities and share their roofing knowledge. NRCA members performing acts of kindness not only help their communities, but they also help improve the roofing industry's image. Every August, Professional Roofing collects some of these stories and shares them with our readers.

Although running any business has its risks, roofing arguably is one of the riskiest. In addition to safety and health issues, roofing contractors need to be aware of the risks of laws, regulations and human resources. The evolution of risk management has led to enterprise risk management, the idea of creating frameworks to effectively identify, assess and manage risk.

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was founded in 1861 and consistently ranks among the top liberal arts colleges in the U.S. The All Campus Dining Center located in the Students’ Building serves the entire Vassar community. In 2012, the dining center’s slate and copper roof systems, including a gold-leafed copper finial, were restored by Hayden Building Maintenance Corp., West Nyack, N.Y. For its work at Vassar College, Hayden Building Maintenance received a 2014 Gold Circle Award in the Outstanding Workmanship: Steep-slop category.

Whether you have been running a roofing business for many years or are just starting one, it is important to analyze your business practices and improve upon them. Professional Roofing spoke to five NRCA contractor members about their best business practices regarding business knowledge, team management, safety practices, building relationships and evolving with their environments. It is clear there are many approaches to running a business, and there is no one right way to run a successful enterprise.

As sustainable buildings and designs continue to increase in popularity, vegetative roof systems are on the rise. The environmentally responsible roof systems offer many long-term benefits when installed correctly, including controlling storm water runoff and erosion, improving environmental water quality and curbing urban heat-island effects. Although the cost to install vegetative roof systems is more expensive than other roof systems per square foot, the long-term payoffs can be great.