Highlights
- FCIA at ASTM Symposium
- FCIA 2005 Call for Presentations
- FCIA Presidents Paragraph
Chicago has another Fire - Last year, the 69 W. Washington St. County Building was on TV with flames and smoke billowing out the windows. In early December, the LaSalle Bank High Rise Building in Chicago caught fire, and burned for 5-1/2 hours before being controlled. Effective Compartmentation kept the fire from traveling vertically for a significant amount of time and fire resistance rated construction allowed it to stand. Read FCIA's thoughts about this topic.
FCIA Board Meeting Scheduled - Although it's the holidays, the FCIA Committees and Board of Directors is already planning 2005's FCIA activities. The first Board Meeting of the year takes place in warm, sunny Chicago January 13 & 14, 2005.
FCIA Committees need you - Want to get involved more at FCIA this year? Join a committee. Here's what the committees are doing:
- Accreditation - Working with the marketing committee to promote the "Firestopping Quality Process", Tested and Listed Firestop Systems, Installed by FCIA Member, FM 4991 Approved Contractors, Inspected to ASTM E 2174 (Penetrations) / ASTM E 2393 (Joints), and Maintained by FCIA Member Contractors in coordination with Professional Building Personnel. Aedan Gleeson, Chair - aedan@gpifirestop.com
- Technical - The FCIA MOP is now 5 years old, and is going through a significant rewrite. Email us to volunteer to review chapters, and add content! Mike Dominguez, Chair - Mike@firestopspecialties.com
- Marketing - This committee is very visible at trade shows promoting FCIA Members to Architect, Engineers, Specifiers, Code and Fire Officials nationally. Join this group and work with us at trade shows. Don Murphy, Chair - don@ppmifirestop.com
- Code - The Code Committee has attended both NFPA and ICC Code Hearings, and is active promoting firestopping in codes. Ray Usher, Chair - ray@superl.net
- Standards - The Standards Subcommittee of the Technical Committee (Don Sabrsula - don@firesafehouston.com) finished it's work on Inspection Standard ASTM E 2174 (penetrations) and ASTM E 2393 (joints). Currently, work on a new standard for Firestop Inspector Firm Qualifications is underway. Randy Bosscawen - rbosscawen@multicon.us
- Education - The Education Committee is creating on a generic "Apprentice Training Process" for workers. Bob Patton, Chair - rjpatton@firesafe-systems.com
- Program - The committee chooses the venue and topics for the FCIA Education and Committee Action Conference & Firestop Industry Conference. Bob LeClair, Chair - rleclair@afunderhill.com
- Membership - This new committee is recruiting members to FCIA. Committee Chair to be appointed in January, 2005. Contact Bob LeClair for now
Join a Committee Now - Contractors, Associate Members, Manufacturers are welcome. To sign up, fill out a form and contact the Chair. Here's the form...
FCIA at ASTM Symposium on Firestopping - "Tested and Listed Systems, installed by FCIA Members, FM 4991 Approved Contractors & Inspected to ASTM E 2174, or the "Firestopping Quality Protocol & Process", was well received by the symposium, December 5, 2004 at 11am. Aedan Gleeson, Gleeson Powers, Inc. and Bill McHugh presented a program that instead of focusing on detail, was very global, and focused on the "Firestopping Quality Process". Also presenting at the conference were FCIA Members John Valiulius, HILTI, Inc., Jim Shriver, Thermafiber, LLC, M. Morgan from W.R. Grace & Co. Amal Tamim, Consultant and John Nicholas, Omega Point Laboratories were Co-Chairs. Steve Tyler, Tremco, Inc. was the welcome speaker, along with Ron Burton, BOMA.
FCIA Display Available to FCIA Members - Any FCIA Member can use the FCIA Booth at a local event to promote themselves and FCIA. Reply to this email to get on the schedule for the booth. The trade show display ships in a self contained approx. 70 lb. container. You pay for shipping the booth to the next event, and store it until then.
FCIA Call for FCIA Conference Presentations - FCIA's Program Committee seeks programs for upcoming FCIA Conferences in 2005. The Call for Presentations for FCIA's Education and Committee Action Conference is open from now until January 30, 2005 and the Firestop Industry Conference until May 30, 2005. Presentation submissions are welcome from FCIA Members, Architects, Engineers, Code Officials, Fire Marshals, Building Owners and Managers, Consultants, and others. Email info@fcia.org with the presentation outline or idea for consideration.
FCIA Thanks Firestop Industry Conference Sponsors - FCIA's Firestop Industry Conference was a big success in part due to sponsorships from FCIA Member Manufacturers. FCIA Thanks 3M Fire Protection Products (tabletop and break), Specified Technologies, Inc., (tabletop) HILTI, Inc. (break) and Passive Fire Protection Partners / JM (break) for their sponsorship at the conference. For their participation and efforts, FCIA's Program Committee and Board of Directors placed advertisements for each sponsor on the FCIA Website home page, that links directly to each firm's Firestopping Home Page. Check them out.
Holiday Thoughts - The Holiday Season, with it's reduced (hopefully) activity, provides time to reflect, while planning for the year ahead. In today's busy world where chasing the next project opportunity, problem or situation is the norm, some "downtime" just to think is great. And, regardless of what we're doing that's so important right now, there's nothing more important than what we do for others...our families, friends and even strangers. When we give or do something for others, no matter how small or inexpensive, it makes a difference in someone else's life. A special thanks to those who have helped us in 2004, and we hope we've shared with others, as we've received.
FCIA extends best wishes to all for a great Christmas, Chanukah and Holiday Season
Bill McHugh, FCIA Executive Director ~ 630.690.0682
©Copyright FCIA 12/23/04 - Permission is hereby granted to forward, print, circulate, quote with credit to FCIA.
FCIA is a non profit organization of Firestop Contractors, Contractor Branch Offices, Manufacturers and Associate Members interested in furthering life safety through the Professional Specialty Firestop Contractor Concept.
For more information, contact the
FCIA Office
Bill McHugh, Executive Director
1257 Golf Circle
Wheaton, IL 60187
630.690.0682 Phone
630.690.2871 FAX
Email: info@fcia.org
Website: www.fcia.org