NAHB has many members only savings opportunities available. Below is a list of some of the current deals offered to you by NAHB and the SHBA. For more info, click the links below or call Membership Director Bill Taylor for more info. 509-532-4990.
| |||||||
| |||||||
 |
|||||||
One of the many benefits you receive from your dues is membership in the National Association of Home Builders, the team watching out for you in the often hostile corridors of the Nation’s Capitol. Last week, the NAHB scored another victory in its fight for affordable housing and common sense code requirements.
Last week, International Code Conference (ICC) members debated whether to mandate fire sprinklers in all new single-family homes. Despite efforts by Fire Marshalls and sprinkler manufacturers to “pack” the room on the final vote, the fire sprinkler amendment failed. NAHB led the national campaign to defeat this proposal. BIAW President Daimon Doyle and BIAW/State Building Code Council member Pat McBride were instrumental in assisting in this effort and convinced the Washington Association of Building Officials to oppose the fire sprinkler amendment.
NAHB members emphasized again that the Association does not oppose fire sprinklers, and recognizes their life saving potential. The Association has asked the ICC to convene an ad hoc committee to develop lower cost alternatives to current sprinkler systems (currently estimated to cost $10-15,000 per home) that address industry concerns about sprinkler reliability, installation requirements, maintenance, inspection procedures, and long-term functionality.
“When our members talk to their local building officials, it becomes very clear that there are still too many unanswered questions on metering, plumbing, backflow – many, many issues. Building officials understand why we need to hold off on fire sprinkler mandates,” said NAHB Construction, Codes & Standards Committee chair Eric S. Borsting.
Joel White
SHBA Executive Officer
There are many benefits of membership in the SHBA but one stands out because it actually pays members back in cold hard cash. The Return on Industrial Insurance (R.O.I.I) program provides members with a refund on the worker's compensation premiums they pay to the Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I).
Over half of the Association's members participate in the ROII program which has provided a refund to participating companies averaging approximately 25% per year over the past 25 years (participants in the ROII Select program have received on average a 69.5% return). As those of you who pay L&I premiums know, this can be a sizeable amount of money. To provide some perspective, last year the 550 SHBA companies enrolled in the program shared in a record $2.6 million return. That is an average return of nearly $5,000 per member!
As if this were not enough, enrolled companies also receive support from the professionals who administer the program at the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). Enrolled participants receive free in house claims assistance from a personalized claims manager (averaging over ten years of experience) to help limit your companies claims exposure by getting your employees back to work in a timely manner. They also provide free safety training and consultations to make sure you are providing a safe working environment for your employees.
When you consider that SHBA dues are under $500, you might wonder why not all of our members are enrolled in the ROII program. One reason is that not all of our members are eligible for the program. State law limits eligibility for participation in the program to businesses in a “construction related” field. While this is a broad definition that encompasses the majority of our membership, there are some office and non-trade businesses that do not qualify.
The second reason is that the qualified non-participating member is not aware of the program or believes it is too good to be true. Both situations are unfortunate as their potential refunds are retained by L&I if they do not enroll. We do not want our member's money going to support a bloated government agency!
As we are entering this year's primary enrollment period, we are working to make these companies aware of this tremendous benefit which is open only to members of the Association . For those who are aware of the program but are skeptical about our claims, I would be more than happy to show you photos of members receiving their checks or put you in touch with a participating company.
It is important for both prospective and current participants to understand that the deadline for application and re-enrollment is April 30 th . Annual re-enrollment is required so please turn in your applications as soon as possible.
If you would like more information on the ROII program or would like to determine if you are eligible to participate, please call the SHBA Membership Department at 532-4990. With your involvement, they can show you how much you would have received during the past three years had you been enrolled in the program.
Finally, I hope that you would share the information on this program with your peers in the building industry. Our program is already the largest Retro program in the state and adding more participants makes it even stronger. This will also help us to grow our Association and help us to reach our membership goal of 1,200 members by the end of 2007.
Recent Comments