DIY – IS NOT FOR ROOF MANAGEMENT

SCENARIO: You have a roof leak. Tenants are complaining, liabilities are increasing and assets are being damaged. You have to respond…and you need to do it now. What should you do, send a maintenance technician to repair the problem or call a qualified roofing contractor? How you choose to respond to this situation is vital. Sure, you could send up a maintenance technician or facilities engineer. Do they know what to look for? Are they equipped to solve the problem? Can they determine whether they should use SBS or APP modified materials or whether the material is PVC or TPO? ALMOST UNANIMOUSLY THE ANSWER IS NO.

While many materials look and feel the same, they are not compatible. Apply an APP to an SBS membrane and may cause warranty voids. Repair a PVC membrane with TPO and you’ll think it sticks…for about a day or two. Then it will come apart and you are back to square one.

Perhaps the maintenance technician sees a hole in the metal and of course caulks it. They think they’ve found the point of water intrusion, not knowing they sealed a weep hole and now you have a condensation issue. Now a nuance problem is a costly emergency.

With this information in mind, you need a professional roofing contractor that has the highest standard of safety, quality, service, integrity and approved by the roofing material’s manufacturer.  Resist the urge to send up a maintenance person and try to do it yourself. There are specific repair processes and materials used that will ultimately determine whether the repair will last for a few weeks, or serve as a core component of the roofing system throughout the duration of its service life.

In fact, when RAMCON does warranty repairs, the repairs are also included under your manufacturer’s warranty throughout its term. Repairs completed by unauthorized persons who are not certified by the manufacturer will not be warrantied, and could put your warranty in jeopardy (read your warranty carefully). The manufacturer keeps detailed data of all roof repairs completed on your facility and it’s obvious whether or not repairs were completed to their specifications. Avoid the ‘leak – fix – repeat’ cycle and let RAMCON do a comprehensive evaluation at no expense to you.

Comprehensive Roof Evaluation Will:

• Detect developing issues, why they are occurring, and how to eliminate them. How much to budget over the next year for remedial and emergency repairs? 
• Budgeting projects for future roof replacements and/or retrofits.
• Recommend cost saving measures that increase the return on investment you’ve made on your roof.

Moving forward is simple. Give RAMCON a call. We have dedicated customer service representatives and experienced survey teams whose entire mission is to evaluate your roof’s performance and conditions. We’ll visit the facility, complete a comprehensive evaluation and provide you with a detailed roof analysis at no cost.

Our roof evaluation team exists solely to provide you with the resources you need to make the best decisions possible regarding your roof.  We even warranty every repair we complete, so you will be set through the entire summer. Let us do the legwork, and you can reap the benefits of lower lifetime service cost and effective budgeting.

Budgeting For Roof Expenses in 2015

Building owners and managers, commonly include the cost for roof replacement, and roof retrofit (re-cover major repair/restoration) as capital expenditures. While yearly preventive maintenance and minor repairs are typically expensed during the course of the business year.

Planning for large expenditures are critical elements of the long-term, successful management and operation of most large businesses. Accurately identifying required large expenditures in advance allows top management to factor them into the overall business plan during the planning period.

Budgeting for the next business year is paramount. It is also crucial to identify the expenditure amount with a high level of accuracy. Moderately over-budgeting the cost of a project is generally accepted (even sometimes valued) by top management, if the project comes in under budget.

  

Alternatively, with the high cost of roofing materials, under-budgeting project costs especially after approval can result in serious repercussions upon the project initiator. When talking to building owners/ mangers about projects that have come in over budget, it is usually the result of an ill-equipped contractor. They either ignore building codes, neglect insurance requirements, poorly evaluated the existing conditions and/or implemented inadequate design.

During our decades of roofing experience, the most common mistakes made in identifying roof
replacement costs include:

Misidentifying the existing roof system/building components and the condition/function of each.

• What is the existing roof assembly make-up? How are the components attached to themselves and the deck?
• What is the condition of and thermal resistance (R-Value) of the insulation components? 
• Can this roof be effectively recovered with another roof system? What type of roof deck exists and what is its condition?
• Does the deck provide structural slope or is slope/drainage presently provided/enhanced by tapered insulation?

Not accounting for non-related roof work.

• Are there obsolete roof fixtures/equipment that would best be removed and deck openings closed?
• Is there roof equipment that need to be raised or remounted on new supports  to allow effective flashing height and/or methods to meet Florida’s new code requirements?
• Are there older pieces of roof-mounted equipment that needs replacement?

Contractors who do not comply with various building codes.

• Building codes are “the law of the land” and an owner risks incurring penalties for non-compliance.
• Many building insurance policies have specific rigid requirements owners must follow to avoid cancellation or at a minimum, higher premiums.

  

 

YEAR END ROUND UP

In looking back at 2014 and the many accomplishments RAMCON has achieved, our thoughts first turn gratefully to those who have made our progress possible. You are the reason for our continued success and the drive that keeps us moving forward.  As we race into 2015, we want to thank you for everything you have done to make our progress and success possible. With a strong and motivated team working together, we can make our goals happen. We have not made it to our place in this industry by happenstance or accident. Our success is a direct result of hard work and the trust each of you have placed in RAMCON.

 

PROJECTS
Last year, we installed approximately 3.4 million square feet of practically every type of roofing system imaginable and our never-ending commitment to quality remains strong. Our crews installed over 400,000 watts of photovoltaic solar systems on multiple facilities, completed numerous high profile projects, including the new Amazon facilities, Top Golf, Bass Pro Shops, hospitals, and military bases. We also worked with hundreds of contractors, thousands of building owners, state, federal and local government agencies.

 

  
SERVICE

As with previous years, our Roof Maintenance Department has continued to excel. In 2014, we identified and solved over 14,360 roof leaks. Improved quality and response through efficiencies while decreasing the cost to our clients approximately 6%. On average, our clients received service in less than 12 hours and 97.6% of leaks solved on the first visit. Our clients continue to take advantage of our new roof management application MyRAMCON with over 8,400 logins.

 

PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
RAMCON continues to expand its dynamic workforce to provide you with the best service in the industry. On each project, you receive dedicated project managers to oversee every aspect from design to final inspection. The implementation of highly trained quality control teams ensures that when we complete a project, your facility’s roof system is design to defend you against the elements and last decades. Our Risk Management teams have continued to set the industry safety standard with an above average EMR of 0.69.

 

OUR PEOPLE
In 2014, we also increased the amount of owners and managers who protect and maximize their roofing investment under our Roof Shield Preventative Maintenance Programs. The program now protects over 5.2 million square feet of occupied facilities. Enhanced training programs ensures we have the best workforce possible with the implementation of the Career Advancement Program (CAP). CAP is an intensive six-month course designed to immerse our technicians into every facets of a project from design, installation, repair, to project management.

 

This is just a snap shot of the achievements at RAMCON. We are always interested in hearing your suggestions and input on how we can further meet the range of your roofing needs, as our entire focus is on you. Once again, thank you for the trust you place in RAMCON ROOFING and have a prosperous 2015.

LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Wallace T. Carter Jr.

Employees tend to perform better when they have the autonomy to innovate without fear of rejection. The last thing anyone wants to hear is, “… that is a good idea but we don’t do it that way here and you should know that since you work here.”                        

 

Conversely, complete autonomy creates fragmented direction with individuals striking out on new initiatives pulling the company’s resources in unprofitable directions.  The Harvard Business Review article “Get more Actionable Ideas from Your Employees”, suggest fostering innovation through pro-actively directing and limiting the search for ideas.  This simple approach allows the employee to focus their energy on areas that need improvement.

 

For example, risk management and safety is a top priority at RAMCON. This area is NOT the place to reduce steps or cut corners to improve the bottom line. Focused parameters insure employees our working on the areas that need improvement.

 

Innovations starts with having the best talent coupled with the right leadership.   Meet one of RAMCON’s newest team member Wallace T. Carter Jr. He began working with RAMCON in October of 2014 as a Service Account Manager. Mr. Carter is a Florida native graduating from Land O’ Lakes High School and attended Pasco-Hernando Community College. By the age of twenty-one Carter was running crews as a foreman/supervisor. As a Reroof Manager, he was responsible for over 110 employees installing approximately 3,500 roofs a year.

 

Carter comes to RAMCON with twenty-four years of Commercial and Residential roofing experience. He chose to work at RAMCON because of its positive reputation and industry experience. He attribute his success in the industry from putting the client first by meeting there budgeting requirements and keeping them informed on services performed throughout the project. 

 

In his off time, he enjoys fishing, boating, scuba diving, motorcycles and most importantly spending time with family.