It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to our inaugural edition of the Sheet Metal Journal, Official Journal of Record of SMACNA-BC (BC Sheet Metal Association). In each edition of the magazine, I’ll be reporting relevant trends and issues in the industry and what is being done to address and remedy them. One key issue that the entire Construction Industry is dealing with at present is the lack of skilled manpower available. In BC it seems that the Construction Industry is feast or famine; first you have no work and the pool of workers move away, then you have an abundance of projects with the challenge of getting those workers back. For most of the construction industry this is a daily struggle, which affects the bottom line and creates sleepless nights for contractors.

SMACNA-BC members are experiencing the same labour shortages—but to a lesser extent. However, to address this issue in the sheet metal industry, SMACNA BC and its labour partner, SMWIA Local Union No. 280 (Sheet Metal Workers International Association) have called upon our jointly trusted, Sheet Metal Industry Training Board/Society, to provide more apprentices into the system. In short, the Training Board Trustees responded by removing stumbling blocks, having a “wait list” of applications for apprenticeship, introducing a “pre-apprentice” category and a host of other items. The Sheet Metal Training Centre is currently training double the number of apprentices compared with previous years (officially over 300) and we encourage anyone looking for a viable career in the trade to call Cindy Dimitrijevic at the Sheet Metal Workers Training Centre (604-291-0656), or Jim Paquette at SMWIA Local Union No. 280 (604) 430-3388.

To add to the dilemma, manpower shortages in other Trades is affecting SMACNA-BC Contractors. It’s a well known fact that project “end” dates are never extended—so when other trades don’t perform their scope(s) of work according to the schedules, sheet metal contractors often face compressed schedules and demanding manpower loads. With multiple projects running concurrently, the pressure can really mount up. What are the options? To a General Contractor it’s to direct the Contractor to provide more men, work weekends and overtime and, of course, absorb the extra costs.

As we all know, no matter what size the project is, we’d all prefer to work on projects that run smoothly and efficiently rather than those that don’t. Sheet Metal Contractors tell me the best part about being busy is they’re able to be more selective on the projects they both bid and work on. Deciding factors can include project proximity, which companies are on the project team, safety records, payment history and of course project completion history (whether projects were on time and on budget). When the industry isn’t as busy, this is a privilege many companies must forgo in order to maintain cash flow. Of course, one lesson we learn during lean times is to be selective as to who we give our best price to.

I guess the message to the Developers/Owners is this: for the best value, much care and thought must go into the selection of your “Construction Team”—your pocket book and peace of mind will thank you. One more avenue that you may want to consider is, putting your projects through the Bid Depository. Here you will receive comparable bids that are both competitive and fair. We’ll cover more details on the Bid Depository in a future issue.

In closing, I would like to make the following acknowledgements;

Congratulations are in order to Nicole Maine, daughter of Stewart and Shelly Maine. (Stewart is employed by Apollo Sheet Metal Ltd/Coquitlam, BC) The SMACNA College of Fellows has operated a Scholarship Program for over 20 years and each year three fouryear scholarships are awarded to students who are either SMACNA Contractors or employees of SMACNA Contractors, 48 applications were received and based on her record of accomplishments and academic goals, Nicole has been selected to receive one of the scholarships for the academic year starting in the fall of 2006. One other note of interest, Nicole is the very first Canadian recipient of this prestigious and generous program. The SMACNA-BC Members would like to express how proud they are and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.