This year has seen violent weather affecting much of our country and directly affecting some of our members. As was reported in our last issue, past president David Carlysle, P.E. lives in the center of the tornado ravaged area of Alabama. Our prayers and best wishes go out to all affected by the wrath of Mother Nature. As building inspection engineers, we help people to understand building vulnerabilities and solve many building problems, but major floods, hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes can destroy the best of building designs and wreck havoc on lives. Severe weather protection has been an area of regular interest by NABIE members and I am sure this past year will strengthen our resolve to be even better prepared to serve our clients to protect the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
At this year’s conference we received strong interest by members to assist with updating and improving the NABIE Standards of Practice. The consensus has been to replace our limited prescriptive standard with a performance standard that applies to all types of buildings and building uses. Under leadership of Russell Strahan, PE your standards committee consists of Gary Caruso, PE, Martin Capages Jr. PhD, PE, SECB; Michael Grabman, PE; Robert Roop, PE; and John C. Cronin, Jr., PE, CBIE, SECB. This is a diverse group which has been working diligently holding weekly meetings. As some of you know, Russell has had experience on standards writing committees and it shows. I have been very impressed by the high level of discussion during the committee meetings and active critiques in between meetings. I expect that at our mid-year board meeting your Board will see a draft for review and by next year’s annual meeting the new SOP will be ready for final reviews and approval.
Bill Coulbourne and John Cronin have been actively planning next year’s annual meeting which will take place in San Antonio TX at the Emily Morgan Hotel, across the street from the Alamo. This year’s conference should prove to be as enjoyable a destination location as our conferences have been informative. We are also hoping to get more participation by building inspection engineers in the western part of our country.
By the time you read this newsletter, I will have made a presentation at the annual NSPE meeting to their Board of Directors. My pitch has three themes: 1. Increase awareness of NABIE’s role as ambassadors for NSPE; 2. Request greater visibility for NABIE on NSPE web site & through PEPP; and 3. Request a survey of NSPE members about their building inspection work.
Alan Mooney, PE, our founding president had penned a fine article that was in the last NABIE Examiner. It should still be available on our web site, if you did not get to read it. As I requested of our NSPE leadership during our last annual meeting, I am seeking greater visibility for NABE by NSPE to help us grow. I am convinced that many engineers perform at least some aspect of building inspection engineering and for that reason I would like to see a survey of all NSPE members to identify the extent to which NSPE members perform some or all building inspection engineering functions and to be sure all NSPE members are aware of NABIE.
I hope you have updated your contact information at www.nabie.org. More of our communication will be via electronic means so this is very important. Also, have you reached out to your officers to assist with their area of focus? See our last newsletter for more information about each officer’s area of focus. Our newsletter includes the e-mail address for all officers. Bill Coulbourne, P.E., VP, is overseeing a strategic planning process and is focusing on membership growth. Mark Soderlund, P.E., Treasurer, is focusing on membership services. And, Mark Waldman, Secretary, is focusing on technology and the development of tools that will help us strengthen NABIE’s mission and support our members. Please let them know of your ideas and offer whatever assistance you can.
Thank you.
By Peter A. Schkeeper, PE
