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- Keep It Current!
Don’t forget to renew your QCP license by Dec. 31, 2014. Details follow.
- QCC Embarks on Strategic Marketing Plan Development
From focus groups managed by Smith Bucklin, QCC will gain input for shaping the direction of the program and taking the Quality Certification Program to a new level.
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Top News |
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| Keep It Current: 2015 QCP Renewal Period Open through Dec. 31, 2014 |
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| By Tricia Roberts, QCC Senior Director of Operations |
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The annual renewal period for all current QCP licensed firms began Nov. 1, 2014. Each licensee was sent an invoice to their designated QCP liaison by USPS the first week in November. The renewal process involves two simple steps:
- Payment of renewal fee.
- Signature and date of acknowledgement on the AWI QCC Code of Ethics form (this is on your invoice as well as a mandatory check box on-line).
Those who have not yet been licensed for one full year are also required to renew, and will receive a prorated renewal invoice for 2015.
Renewals may be submitted by mail (Be sure to include the signed invoice if paying with a check.), by fax with a credit card number, or they can be remitted online. There is no payment plan offered. Simply click here to renew online or visit the website, www.awiqcp.org, at your convenience. (NOTE: You will need to log in with your
username (P-number) and password (C-number) to renew online. The access codes are printed on your invoice.)
QCP Renewals are due by 11:59 PM EST, Dec. 31, 2014. Companies that submit after that date will be charged a $300 late fee.
We look forward to your continued association with the QCP in 2015 and appreciate all the licensees that have already completed the process. If you haven’t yet renewed, make sure to complete the process by Dec. 31, 2014 to avoid late fees and ensure that your company’s licenses continue to be active and listed on the QCP website. Remember, we are always open to suggestions which might lead to improvement of the program. Feel free to contact us or visit our website at www.awiqcp.org anytime at your convenience and click on “Contact Us” in the left-hand column. | |
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| QCP Begins Development of A Strategic Marketing Plan—And You Can Help! |
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| By Randy Estabrook, QCC Executive Director |
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Don’t be surprised if you receive a call from the Smith Bucklin Group.
The Quality Certification Corporation (QCC) Board of Directors in October 2014 selected a proposal to provide market research analysis and strategy development. Smith Bucklin is an association management and services company founded in 1949. Its mission is to achieve the missions of the client organizations they serve and provide uncompromised stewardship for their long-term prosperity.
QCP has contracted Smith Bucklin to schedule and provide market research about the Quality Certification Program as well as support in the development of a strategic marketing plan.
Market research will be conducted using several focus groups communicating via teleconference. The results of these conversations will be very helpful in shaping and designing the direction, message and tactics that QCP will utilize in a new marketing campaign targeting the construction industry.
So if you do hear from Smith Bucklin, please opt-in to help shape QCP’s future.
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| AWI Gains ANSI Approval as Accredited Standards Developer |
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The Vision of the Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI) — To be the global leader in architectural woodwork standards, industry-specific education and member networking opportunities — drove AWI to apply for accreditation with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) this year.
Since 1961 AWI has actively written and published standards for the architectural woodwork community, working diligently to improve upon predecessor editions of the Architectural Woodwork Standards (AWS). With an eye to refining the standards writing process, maximizing cost efficiencies, and expanding interaction with stakeholders of the industry that AWI serves, “The association’s Board of Directors decided it was time to take our association’s standards
development to a higher level by becoming an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer. The goal is to achieve ANSI approval of future architectural woodwork standards. Accordingly, application was made to ANSI and AWI was accepted as an Organizational Member within the ANSI community. On August 15, 2014 AWI received official approval as an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer (SDO),” AWI President Randy Jensen announced recently.
“Although the Architectural Woodwork Standards, Edition 2 became effective on October 1, 2014, the work of writing standards for our industry is not left idle. In addition to ongoing AWS, Edition 2 maintenance, AWI’s Technical Committee is actively working on concepts for the next generation of standards writing…Stakeholders across the spectrum of general interest, and users and producers are invited to engage in the process of achieving ANSI-approved architectural
woodwork standards,” Mr. Jensen said.
For details about the decision to seek ANSI Accredited Standards Developer status and insight into the effects of such accreditation on the standards writing process moving forward, see the Nov. 6th issue of AWI e-briefs here.
About ANSI
Founded in 1918, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization system. Comprised of government agencies, organizations,
companies, academic and international bodies, and individuals, ANSI represents the interests of more than 125,000 companies and 3.5 million professionals.
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QCP Policy Watch |
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| Why Register Your Project? |
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| By Roxanne Accetta, QCC Coordinator |
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Are you aware of the advantages of registering a project with the Quality Certification Program (QCP)? Architects and General Contractors alike benefit greatly from registering QCP-specified projects.
QCP published policies require its licensed woodworkers to register certified projects immediately after being awarding the contract (unless registration has already occurred earlier in the initial stages of the project). Completing the registration permits the licensee to request project certification and pay the associated fee. Accomplishing these initial administrative requirements is especially important if the project requires inspection, since a shop drawing review and
fabrication inspection ideally occurs in the project’s early stages. It is not until after the certification request and fee payment that a QCP inspector is assigned to a project. The inspector then becomes available as an additional valuable source of technical and administrative information as the licensee navigates the process.
Best of all, project registration is easy and completely free of charge! Any member of the construction team (including those bidding the project) may register a project by completing a brief form on our website. Please note when registering projects or ordering project certification, that you may encounter compatibility issues using Internet Explorer 10. Please use another browser to avoid these issues.
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Tech Talk |
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| Dec. 10th “QCP Talk” Webinar to Explore Common Specification & AWS Missteps |
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| By Wayne Hintz, QCP Program Manager |
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Every quarter, QCP contributes a presentation to AWI’s series of educational webinars for its members. Last quarter we discussed the five categories of inspected projects which a QCP-licensed company might experience. We also dissected the anatomy of a typical project inspection, explaining the administrative milestones which occur before, during, and after our inspector’s visit to your facility or jobsite. In addition, we touched on a few of the procedural
considerations which can derail certification of a project, but on the other hand are easily avoidable once identified.
The 4th Quarter “QCP Talk” webinar continues in this vein with an exploration of the project specifications and Architectural Woodwork Standards (AWS) line items frequently missed by our licensees and subsequently reported by our inspectors as “non-conforming”. As was the case with the administrative considerations covered in our last webinar, these errors could jeopardize certification of a project. However, with some awareness these technical
issues are also easily avoidable when taken into consideration during the engineering, drawing, and submittal process. Our presentation is entitled “Steering Clear: Avoiding Common Errors in QCP Certified Projects”. Contributors will include QCC Executive Director Randy Estabrook, QCP Inspections Manager Greg Parham and me.
Visit www.awinet.org for a description of all upcoming webinars, and as well as registration information.
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The View from Here |
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| Projects: With / Without QCP Specs |
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| By Matt Lundahl, QCC Board of Directors |
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 Sitting on both sides of the fence, that is "being a director on the QCC board” and also in charge of running an architectural millwork company" put me in conflict once in a while. Regardless, I've always been an advocate of professionalism, licensing and quality assurance within our industry, and that is
exactly what the Quality Certification Program does and promotes. The QCP helps to level the playing field by assisting our customers when evaluating our proposals for goods and services.
The reality is that QCP is still fairly new and is not perfect. However, I assure you that with the leadership of Randy Estabrook our new Executive Director; board member Rick Kogler, a driving force in QCP's formation; and the team of other people on the Board of Directors and committees, we continue working to improve QCP for the benefit of all in the industry. We are keeping the ultimate goal in sight — of making QCP indispensable and of unparalleled value —
to benefit all firms that choose to participate.
As the program continues to gain more licensed firms and as more Specifiers require, uphold, and use the QCP for their projects, it will afford us an opportunity to consider reviewing the program fees to even further increase the use of the program and quality assurance for our industry. As QCP participants, we all expect and want our license to present us with opportunities to win more projects and differentiate ourselves from non-licensed firms. As owners, contractors and design firms, we
expect the program to assure that we receive the quality of work that we paid for and that it meets the Architectural Woodwork Standards. And, if we feel that was not accomplished, we have resource with QCC. This basic principle of qualifying firms that can meet the Standards and then providing end users with the assurance that the licensed firms can and will produce projects in compliance with the Standards, gives our industry some backbone it once did not have. Unfortunately,
the current trend of encouraging the removal of the program from the specifications by some of our licensed firms or owners who are seeking cost savings, is only harming the people and the program that QCP was established to benefit and protect. This practice needs to be curbed.
I encourage everyone to seek ways to keep QCP specified on your projects; it will only increase your value as a licensee and give you the assurance you expect.
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QCP on the Road |
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| QCP Presents and Learns in San Antonio |
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| By Randy Estabrook, QCC Executive Director |
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 The AWI 62nd Annual Convention, Oct. 22-24, in San Antonio was well attended with over 240 participants. QCP Representative Joe Fleck and I represented the Quality Certification Program (QCP). The QCP tabletop exhibit attracted numerous visitors and we provided attendees with QCP hats, flash drives, marker
pens, and other branded mementos. Representatives from three firms talked with us about submitting their application for QCP Licensing which can be completed online.
(Pictured above right: QCC Executive Director Randy Estabrook talks with AWI Past President (1995-1996) Craig Johnston at the barbeque and celebration concluding the AWI convention.)
There were many breakout sessions, including a technology session that Joe Fleck liked very much. A new app called “Trello” was demonstrated by Eric Fetzer of Fetzer Architectural Woodwork. This app can provide users with an interface to list tasks, status reports and
completed items in a transparent format. Joe Fleck was very interested in how this may help QCP in the future.
The Plant Tour, always a high point of every AWI event, was well received. We visited Supra Doors where we experienced an impressive tour of the firm’s extensive facility just outside San Antonio. We witnessed a demonstration of their unique method of manufacturing MDF full-size doors in many different styles. Supra is currently completing the QCP Licensing process. |
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| Round-Robin, Face-to-Face Meetings at ARC-US |
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| By Randy Estabrook, QCC Executive Director |
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ARC-US 2014 was held Nov. 20-23, in Carlsbad, Calif., a welcome respite for those traveling from the east coast.
For those of you who are not aware, ARC-US has been called “speed dating” for Architects. A series of tables are set up in a hotel ballroom, and suppliers of products and services to the built environment spend 30 minutes with a selected list of Architects and Specifiers from firms located across the United States. The format is quite simple and this year attracted the largest group of participants to date with 107 tables in the hall.
My experience as a new attendee was very exciting. Our enjoyment was enhanced by the highly interesting seminars included in the daily program. We learned about human resource issues in the age of millennials and gained insight about some instances in which when hiring someone of the millennial generation, you are also hiring their parents. In addition, we heard from Stephen Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics and Think Like a Freak. The studies in Think Like a Freak are truly enlightening,
even when they shatter prior beliefs. We also heard David Zach speak about what the future of architecture might look like.
QCP met with 16 Architects and Specifiers from firms such as Gensler, HOK, SOM, Cannon Design and several others. The meetings were productive and we answered many questions about the value of QCP, the program’s functionality, and the related fee structure. The QCC Board of Directors is confident that investments in forums such as this will help strengthen the future of QCP.
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Congratulations to the following companies that recently earned licenses from QCP. Look for these and more than 550 other QCP-licensed woodworkers at www.awiqcp.org.
Anvil Cabinet & Mill
Brigham, UT
QCP License Date: 11/07/2014
AWS Sections: P5, P6.1, P6 E, P8.3,
P8 E, P10.3, P10 E, P11.1, P11 E, C8.1, C10.1, C10.2
AGA Architectural Millwork
Southington, CT
QCP License Date: 09/02/2014
AWS Sections: P5, P6.1, P8.3, P11.1, P11.2, P11.3, P11.4, P11.5, P6 E, P8 E, C10.3
Cabinet Max
Baltimore, MD
QCP License Date: 11/03/2014
AWS Sections: P6.1, P6 E, P8.1, P8.3, P8 E, P10.1, P10.3, P10 E, P11.1,
P11 E, P11.2
Huck's Cabinets
Marietta, OH
QCP License Date: 10/29/2014
AWS Section: P5, P11.1, P11.2, P11.3
J.T. Wood Products, Inc.
Petersburg, VA
QCP License Date: 10/28/2014
AWS Section: P10.3
Rick's Custom Wood Design
Akron, PA
QCP License Date: 09/02/2014
AWS Sections: P10.1, P10.3, P11.1
Saroyan Lumber Company
Huntington Park, CA
QCP License Date: 09/12/2014
AWS Section: P6.1
____________________________
AWI QCC Board of Directors
Rick Kogler
QCC President
Strategic Development Group
Bruce Spitz
QCC Treasurer
Classic Millwork & Products, Inc.
Jerry Campbell
Jerry M. Campbell & Associates
David Knockenhauer
McCarthy Construction
Bill Knight
Hollywood Woodwork, Inc.
Matt Lundahl
Meyer & Lundahl
Joseph A. Sorrelli
Aljoe Woodwork Consultants
Joe F. Winters
HOK, P.C.
Phil Duvic*
Architectural Woodwork Institute
Randolph Estabrook
Corporate Secretary
Quality Certification Corporation
* ex officio
The board, which convenes in the fall each year, is responsible for program oversight, including policies and budgets. |
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Although most visitors expressed the desire for a digital copy of the Standards, they were willing to add the weight to their luggage in order to have the latest version of the AWS hot off the press. Besides reconnecting and catching up with Design Professionals that specify the QCP, CONSTRUCT provided
unparalleled networking opportunities for future QCP projects.
The Quality Certification Corporation extends holiday greetings and best wishes for a prosperous New Year! 
