It’s been a quiet period at the national level as we plot our way forward with a new structure for the association.
Canadian Glass Association
It’s been a quiet period at the national level as we plot our way forward with a new structure for the association. The Canadian Glass Association has parted ways with the management team at the Glass Association of North America following its merger with the National Glass Association and will delegate administrative activities to our volunteer board for the time being. A series of discussions are planned to map out a strategy and mission for the association going forward. We need your input! CGA members are encouraged to email David Langton, president, at dlangton@compglass.com with your thoughts on what your national industry association can do for you. Changes to regulations, building codes, technology, training, product certification and more are moving across the country. What can we do to help your business?
Fenestration Association of B.C.
FenBC’s October 26 conference was a huge success. We had the largest attendance on record. A well-rounded program offering relevant and interesting topics and speakers provided the attendees with a lot of information to think about and process. Our full program description is available on our website at fen-bc.org.
FenBC has been quite busy. We are updating our Glazing Systems Specification Manual to reflect the 2015 National Building Code. FenBC in partnership with RDH Building Science has completed and published “Reference Procedure for Simulating Spandrel U-Factors.” This public resource includes a reference procedure, a user guide and a calculation tool. [See page 24.] This resource can be found on the FenBC website at fen-bc.org/content/view/resources-spandrel.
A few “save the date” notices for 2018: we will hold our first annual Poker Tournament on Jan. 31 at the Northview Golf Course in Surrey, B.C. The Fenestration West Technical Conference and AGM will be held on Feb. 28, also at Northview Golf Course in Surrey.
FenBC would like to congratulate the following FenBC members for winning 2017 Awards of Excellence from the Vancouver Residential Construction Association: Glastech Glazing Contractors (Trade Contractors – $1 to 3 million President’s Trade) for the Langara Science and Technology Building; Flynn Canada (Trade Contractors – over $7 million Director’s Trade) for The Hub located at King George Station Phase A; and Garibaldi Glass (Manufacturer and Supplier) for the Pacific Centre Redevelopment Project.
Provincial Glaziers Association of Alberta
Our last meeting was held Sept. 20. Minutes and reports from that meeting are on the PGAA’s website at pgaa.ca.
The Master Glazier Program and its funding was discussed at length. It came to light that the PGAA had given the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology an initial deposit back in 2012 that had not been taken into consideration previously. This helps to make SAIT’s numbers more realistic. We are underway on the development of both the Structural Glazing and Specialty Glass courses, with a mandate to maintain efficiencies and to have both courses finished by year’s end. This will leave us five courses to develop in 2018 and beyond.
A seminar was held on Sept. 22 to get both the Glass Trades Association and Glass and Architectural Metals Association up and using the PGAA umbrella website. This went very well and we are now in the process of getting the website fully up to date. A goal here is to get links between our membership list and individual members’ websites to help drive traffic and business to members.
Following issues with the last turnover of our board, a handoff kit is being developed so that such issues as taxation, articles, and banking do not get missed out on in the future.
The PGAA Golf Tournament post-mortem was held and it was resolved that we will lean more on the Event-Brite online registration service for 2018. Trying to minimize costs and waiting to get a GST number had a detrimental effect on golfers this year. Sponsorship was up nicely, but participation was down.
Ontario Glass and Metal Association
Douglas Harold Hotham: It is with regret that we inform members of the passing of Doug Hotham on Oct. 18 at the age of 90. Doug was a well-known and respected member of our glass community in Ontario for decades and was the proud recipient of the OGMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. He will certainly be missed.
CLA update: The Ontario legislature is scheduled to vote on the new Bill 142 – Construction Lien Amendment Act, 2017, throughout the fall. The Standing Committee will be holding public hearings during November. The OGMA will be submitting its concerns on issues it finds objectionable in the draft legislation, as have been noted in past issues of Glass Canada and Fulton’s You Bet Your Glass column.
Fall seminar: We held a very informative session on Nov. 16 with two timely topics being discussed. Michael Mesure, founder of the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada, and Steve Morren of Walker Glass presented a captivating overview on bird-friendly glazing. Jennifer Threndyle from Workplace Safety and Prevention Services brought us up to speed on the impending next hurdles coming on board at the end of 2017 for compliance to the Access for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
AODA’s next hurdle: In case you missed it, companies had until the end of 2016 to put accessibility policies and procedures in place for the communication of all of your information and your employment practices. By the end of this month, your company has new hurdles for compliance, depending on the size of your company. To find out your legal obligations, go to ontario.ca/page/accessibility-laws, then contact WSPS to help you put it in place.
OGMA/WSPS safety plan: For the past four years, the OGMA has worked with WSPS to create a health and safety plan designed specifically for glass shops and glazing contractors. WSPS is offering its plan to OGMA members for about half what it usually charges for similar plans, and the companies who have signed on so far have had nothing but great reviews.
Print this page
Leave a Reply