Construction TimesThe

February 2012

A publication of Northland Area Builders Association

NABA Board of Directors

Past President:Russ Smith, Russ Smith Construction715-462-4170

President:Ed Peterson, Peterson Construction715-866-7127

President Elect:Joe Gendrich, Culligan of Ashland715-682-6585

Secretary:Rick Harder, Northern Paradise Homes715-635-2299

Treasurer:Jim Perlick, Jim Perlick Construction715-635-7575

Directors:Jason Olsen, Peoples Bank715-634-2674

Kevin Miller, Northland Recreational Homes715-634-6366

Todd Knutson, Johnson Bank715-634-2611

Jeremy Lindgren, Arrow Building Center-Spooner715-635-2199

Open seat

WBA State DirectorsJack Sjostrom, Sjostrom Construction715-634-4427

Charlie Johansen, Johansen Electric715-634-3761

Open seat

NAHB National DirectorsJack Sjostrom, Sjostrom Construction715-634-4427

Open Alternate Seat

NABA StaffJennifer Johnson, Executive Officer

29148 Mail Road • Danbury, WI 54830

Phone: 715-259-3486 • Fax: 888-825-8073

Email: naba@centurytel.net

www.northlandareabuilders.com

Code of Ethics

Members of the Builders Association subscribe to the followingCode of Ethics:

n Subscribe to the By-laws of the State and NationalAssociations.

n Meet or exceed all State required insurance regulations.n Maintain a good credit rating in high standards.n Respond to consumer complaints, and act on these

complaints in a timely manner.n Continue to improve their skills and knowledge through

educational resources made available at a local, state andnational level.

n Employ other association members to assure the highstandards set by its members are maintained.

n Conduct themselves in a professional manner to maintainthe standards of the association.

n Comply, both in spirit and letter, with rules and regulationsprescribed by law and government agencies for healthsafety, and progress of the community

n Have a commitment to excellence.

MissionThe NABA, chartered in 1989, is a non-profit trade organizationcomprised of building and construction industry professionals inAshland, Bayfield, Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn Counties inNorthwestern Wisconsin. Promoting professional growth to itsmembers, the Association provides the resources to stay abreast ofour ever changing industry. Every member of the NABA is also amember of the Wisconsin Builders Association (WBA) and theNational Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

To maintain the highest professional standards, our membershipadheres to a Code of Ethics, monitors legislative issues, andpromotes affordable quality housing.

Need Help?Northland Area Builders Association 715-259-3486

www.northlandareabuilders.comNational Association of Home Builders 800-368-5242

www.nahb.orgWisconsin Builders Association 608-242-5151

www.wisbuild.orgWisconsin Department of Commerce 608-266-3151

www.commerce.state.wi.us/SB/

Become a fan of Northland Area Builders Association to receive industry news,updates and network with others in the industry.

Association NewsThis time of year is usually just a blur for me. After the Family IceFishing Event comes the various Contractor Appreciation Daysfollowed by a round of radio and newspaper interviews and thenthe big Home Expo. My days are long but can I share a secret? Ilove every minute of it! I enjoy each and every opportunity I get toshare with the entire northwoods the talents and skills that NABA

members possess. That is why I feel so passionately about the Home Expo and the opportunity it providesto showcase our members and really the entire home building industry to home and cabin owners. For the2012 Home Expo, we’ve doubled the amount of advertising and have enlisted the experts at WJMC-FM andits sister stations. If you were listening to WJMC last week, you might have heard me. WJMC on-air talentwill be onsite at the Home Expo on Saturday doing a live remote. We’ve also expanded the Home Expoposter to include logos of our major sponsors and vendors. Over 100 posters will hit the area in March.We’ve added a kid area that I’ve dubbed Monster Machines that will give families attending the Home Expoan opportunity to see up close the heavy duty machines that helped build their homes. And if that wasn’tenough, our new partnership with the Wild Rivers Habitat for Humanity has allowed us to have a FreeElectronic and Appliance Recycling Day on Saturday, March 24th. Arrow Building Center in Spooner hasdonated the use of their forklifts and I promised Jeremy and Mike I won’t be driving one of them! Everyonewho brings in an item to be recycled will receive an entry into a drawing for a $100 gift card. We’ll also bedrawing one lucky winner for our 2011 John Deere Riding Lawn Tractor on Sunday, March 25th. Whew...Ihope you consider participating in the Home Expo this year - I’d love to show you off. Speaking of peoplethat I adore, I have to say a great big THANK YOU for Joe and Julie Gendrich of Culligan of Ashland. Becauseof their leadership and the countless volunteers’ hard work,dedication and boundless energy, the 2nd Annual NABA Family IceFishing Event was a big success. Despite the frigid temperatures(minus 20 degrees that morning), we had 100 fishermen & womenalong with quite a few kids who all went home with some greatprizes. Marie Brown was the lucky ticket holder for the ToyotaTruck courtesy Ashland Honda Toyota but she didn’t pick the correctenvelope to take home the truck. Marie did go home with a greatgrand prize from the Lumberjack Steakhouse and Gus’s Resort.Joe’s already picked the date for next year (January 19th) andeveryone cross your fingers for a little bit warmer weather!

Date Event Location TimeMar 6 NABA Networking Night Spooner 5:00 pm

Mar 21 NABA Board Meeting Hayward 5:00 pm

Mar 24 & 25 NABA Home Expo 2012 Antholz Gym, SpoonerMiddle School

Apr 2 NABA Networking Night Hayward 5:00 pm

Apr 18 NABA Board Meeting Hayward 5:00 pm

May 1 NABA Networking Night Spooner 5:00 pm

May 16 NABA Board Meeting Hayward 5:00 pm

Late May NABA Golf FUNdraiser tbd tbd

Jennifer Johnson, Executive Officer

HeyCulligan Man!

Whether it is building a dream home orsprucing up a current one, the Northland AreaBuilders Association Home Expo 2012 hassomething for everyone. Intended to match quality vendors withinterested home and cabin owners lookingenhance their home environments, the 3rdAnnual NABA Home Expo is scheduled to takeplace on March 24 and 25th at the AntholzGym in the Spooner Middle School in Spooner.  In 2011, a vendor reported selling a housefrom a contact he made at the Home Expo andmany more reported having received solidleads as a result of having a booth at the 2011NABA Home Expo!  Of the nearly 600 peoplewho stopped by the 2011 NABA Home Expo,30% reported that they will   remodel, makeenergy efficient changes or build a home in2011.  And that of those looking for a specificproduct at the 2011 NABA Home Expo blinds,gutters, windows, heating, roofing, appliances,concrete, painting, kitchen, patio, septic, andlandscaping were the most sought after!Landscaping continues to be the most

requested item year after year whether it issmall projects or entire backyards. New this year are added sponsoropportunities to further get your businessnoticed, a kid's Monster Machines area as wellas discounts for early registrations, nonprofitorganizations and multiple booth spaces.Booth space is limited to one vendor companyper booth(s) only.     The NABA ScholarshipRaffle Giveaway will take place on Sunday,March 25th - a John Deere Riding x300 RidingLawn Tractor will be awarded to one luckyraffle ticket holder. Northland Area Builders Association ispleased to announce a free recycling day at the2012 Home Expo. Through its new partnershipwith Habitat for Humanity, on March 24th

attendees of the 2012 NABA Home Expo willbe able to recycle used electronics andappliances for free and receive an entry to wina $100 gift card. Some items may require aminimal fee to be recycled. Wild RiversHabitat for Humanity, Washburn CountyHabitat for Humanity, Vintage Tech Recyclers

HOME ExpoNORTHLAND AREA BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

MARCH 24 & 25 • ANTHOLZ GYM • SPOONER

Inc and Arrow Building Center-Spooner aresponsoring the recycling day. Wild Rivers Habitat for Humanity, locatedin St. Croix Falls, is an affiliate of Habitat forHumanity International. WRHFH serves Polkand Burnett counties. In 2011 it completed its21st and 22nd homes since its inception in 1997.Habitat raises funds and donated buildingmaterials, organizes volunteers, selects afamily, and builds a home. Habitat doesn’t giveanything away. The familiy is required to helpbuild the home, and they buy it from Habitatwith a no-interest mortgage when it iscomplete.  Habitat is also now repairing andrenovating homes. For more information, call715-483-2700 or visitwww.wildrivershabitat.org. Based in Romeoville, IL, Vintage TechRecyclers, Inc. is an R2/ISO 14001 and WBENCcertified company.  Their main focus is to keepelectronics out of landfills andhelping  companies recover some of theirelectronic assets in large quantities. Theyresponsibly recycle equipment that cannot bereused. For more information about

responsible electronic recycling, visit VintageTech’s web site atwww.Vintagetechrecyclers.com. The Home Expo is approaching 50% of theestimated available booth space being filled -if you have not reserved your booth space,please do so as soon as possible. As a specialoffer, we will honor the early bird rate if youreserve your space before 2/15/12 as well asinclude your business logo and name on HomeExpo posters at no charge. If you know of others who may beinterested in being a part of the 2012 NABAHome Expo in Spooner, please forward a copyof the Exhibitor Packet.  They can alsodownload a copy of the packet atwww.northlandareabuilders.com by clickingon the Home Expo logo on the right-hand side.

Dues payments to Northland Area Builders Associationare not deductible as charitable contributions for federalincome tax purposes. However, dues payments may bedeductible as ordinary and necessary business expense,subject to exclusion for lobbying activity. Because aportion of your dues is used for lobbying by NAHB ($30)and WBA ($46.90), 16.19% of the total dues, or $76.90is not deductible for income tax purposes (2012).

These days every business is looking forways to trim budgets and save money. Tohelp with this, NABA has partnered withthe National Purchasing Partners - HomeBuilders Purchasing Program. Thispartnership will allow even our smallestNABA member companies to takeadvantage of special discounts just for theconstruction industry from VerizonWireless, Staples, and more. To find outmore about the program and how to starttaking advantage of the savings, pleasecontact the NABA office for yourregistration information. There is no costto join for NABA members. Visitwww.northlandareabuilders.com and clickon the HBPP logo to download a flyer &instruction sheet with registration details.

Let your membershipearn you money back

Share your accomplishments, awards, and announcements withfellow members. Send your news tojennifer@northlandareabuilders.com and we will be glad toinclude it in the newsletter.

John Deere Tractor Raffle Please continue to sell the NABA LawnTractor Raffle Tickets that were sent to you -the drawing will take place on March 25, 2012(final day of the NABA Home Expo in Spooner). The NABA Board plans to sell tickets duringthe NABA Home Expo. If you still have unsoldtickets, please let us know whether you planto sell them, purchase them or return to theNABA office before March 1st. Members willreceive an invoice for any unreturned ticketsissued to them at the end of February.Members were all sent 1 book (6 tickets) to sellor purchase. Tickets are $10 each or $50 for abook of 6.

Annual Building & Remodeling Directory The business categories for the website andprinted Membership Directory are beingupdated in order to give home and cabinowners a better idea of the types of servicesyou provide.  Currently, most members are inonly one category.  Please select up to fourcategories to list your business - if you preferto have more than four, there is an additional$50/year per category.  Please return the formemailed to you this week with your selectionsmarked no later than 2/15.

DVD Contractor Education Series The NABA in collaboration with the CVHBA,HNBA, and the SCVHBA (all four neighboringlocal associations covering Northwestern WI)have created a series of 4 DVD’s to provide

Dwelling Contractor Qualifier continuingeducation approved by the state and a single12 credit Initial Training Dwelling ContractorDVD approved by the state. DVD’s will beavailable for distribution in March and werecreated in response to the requests of so manycontractors in our area. Organized, createdand produced by the four local Associations,the DVD’s are the result of a successfulcollaboration. Proceeds from the sale of theDVD’s will remain local benefiting the four localassociations. DVD’s will be available to bothmembers and non-members. If you wish topurchase a DVD, please contact the NABAoffice for an order form.

Monkeys in the OfficeSome of you may have noticed multiple emailsthis past week from the NABA office. Weapologize and ask that members bear with usas we make the switch from using Centurylinkfor our member communications to MailChimp to improve the quality and delivery ofour emails. Mail Chimp is an excellent tool andis already providing the NABA office with datato evaluate the success of our emails as wellas provide tools to track open rates and clickthroughs. We’ve also added an additionalemail address to reach the NABA office. We’vetied it to the Mail Chimp service, so don’t besurprised to see emails from either account.We’re keeping the naba@centurytel.netaddress for now.

Membership Notes

Established in 2009, the Spirit of the Association awardhonors a general member who has made a greatcommitment and impact by having a positive influenceon the Association through membership recruitment,promoting the Association’s activities and mission, oroften working behind the scenes to ensure thateverything runs smoothly. This year, we werefortunate to honor two very special members. Bothhave gone out of their way to put the needs of theAssociation first even during adverse times. The NABA2012 Spirit of the Association was awarded to CulliganWater Conditioning of Rice Lake’s Kelly Licht andPeterson Construction’s Ed Peterson.

Presented yearly to an Associate Member, theAssociation of the Year award honors that group ofmembers who are vitally important to thehomebuilding industry since they are the ones whosupply the builders with products and services to buildthe homes. This award was given to an individual whoconsistently contributes to the Association and theircommunity by going above and beyond. It was anhonor to present the 2011 Associate of the Year awardto Joe Gendrich, Culligan Water Conditioning ofAshland.

The final award of 2011 was a prestigious awardrecognizing a builder member. Builder members arethe heart of the home building industry. This awardwas given to an individual who consistently contributesto the Association and his community in many ways.He has been very involved in NABA and its mission. Hegives back to our youth as they enter the buildingtrades and supports quality industry education,answers the call when community members are facedwith danger and makes a pretty fun addition to a golfteam. Congratulations Jerry Okonek, OK Constructionon being this year’s NABA Builder of the Year.

Kelly Licht (above) & Ed Peterson (below)

Joe Gendrich (above) & Jerry Okonek (below)

The Weekly Job Report is distributed to NABA membersevery Monday. Each report contains a summary ofbidding opportunities throughout the NABA region withlinks to detailed reports containing information onreceiving plan documents on the Members Only side ofthe Association’s website.

Members were emailed their user names andpasswords for logging into the NABA website. Contactthe NABA office for assistance or to retrieve yourinformation. If your membership lapses, your log ininformation is deactivated.

Zeroing in on yet another deficiency of a faulty appraisalprocess that is hurting home values, hampering a housingrecovery and often killing sales of homes coming in belowthe contract sales price, the Government AccountabilityOffice (GAO) earlier this month reported that the AppraisalSubcommittee, which oversees the appraiser regulatoryprograms established by the states, needs to improve itsmonitoring procedures. "These findings underscore the need to establish aneffective oversight system to ensure that appraisalsaccurately reflect true market values and don't harmaspiring home buyers or builders," said NAHB Chairman BobNielsen. A recent NAHB survey shows that one out of threebuilders has lost signed sales contracts because of flawedappraisals, and a fall survey conducted by the NationalAssociation of Realtors found 18% of Realtors reporting arecent contract cancellation or delay as a result of a lowappraisal. Numerous flaws in the appraisal system have beencausing inaccurate home valuations, during both times ofhousing market weakness and strength.NAHB has been actively seeking improvements in appraisereducation and training, particularly for appraisals of newhomes, as well as more rigorous oversight so appraisalguidelines are enforced and errors can be corrected as theyoccur. The GAO report found that the AppraisalSubcommittee's "enforcement tools and procedures forreporting compliance levels have been limited."The GAO cited "several weaknesses" that have potentiallylimited the subcommittee's ability to monitor stateappraiser regulatory agencies, the federal financialinstitution regulators and the Appraisal Foundation, which

is a private, non-profit corporation that sets criteria forappraisals and appraisers. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Appraisal Subcommitteewas granted the authority to establish a national hotline toreceive complaints over noncompliance with appraisalindependence standards and grievances from appraisers,individuals or other entities over attempts to improperlyinfluence appraisers or the appraisal process. The hotline currently does not exist, and the GAO reportsays that its creation could strain the AppraisalSubcommittee's resources. Observing that "the critical role of real estate appraisalsin mortgage underwriting underscores the importance ofeffective regulation of the appraisal industry," the GAOstudy calls on the Appraisal Subcommittee to strengthenits oversight by developing specific policies and proceduresfor monitoring the appraisal requirements of the federalfinancial institutions regulators. How homes are valued can have a dramatic effect onhome owners' mortgages, foreclosure rates, the health ofbanks and, ultimately, the condition of the U.S. financialsystem, said Nielsen. "The current system is not working," he said. "We mustresolve a flawed appraisal process that produces inaccurateassessment of home values, because this fosters priceinstability, puts more families in danger of default orforeclosure, and undermines the housing and economicrecovery. “It's time that regulators, appraisers, lenders and all ofthe stakeholders in this debate come together and agreeon major reforms in appraisal practices and oversight toensure that homes are appraised at their fair market rate."

Industry News

Appraisal Process Needs Better Monitoring, GAO Study FindsSteve Linville, National Association of Home Builders

¨ Coleman, Coleman Evcon, and Red T gas furnaces formanufactured homes are again recalled by YorkInternational, February 3, 2011, (CPSC)¨ Philip Borchardt, Wausau, has been appointed by

Governor Walker to membership on the UniformDwelling Code Council, representing inspectors innortheast Wisconsin¨Proposed changes to SPS 341, Boiler and Pressure

Vessel Code, have been sent to the state legislaturefor committee review. See draft code language, PDFfile. See transmittal documents, PDF file, includinghearing comments. See all the SPS 341 codedevelopment project documents.¨ Information concerning changes to plan review

requirements for fire protection systems¨There will be a public hearing on repealing

credentialing rules related to thermal insulators onMonday, February 13, 2012, at 10 a.m. at 1400 EastWashington Ave. in Madison, Wisconsin. See codedevelopment project documents.

Fines for using Unlicensed and/or Unregistered Subs A rule change effective December 1, 2010 willauthorize the Wisconsin Department of Commerce (DOC)to impose forfeitures on those who do not comply withcertain licensing, certification and registrationrequirements, or those who hire persons or entities whohave not registered or do not have required credentials. In 2009, DOC started to require various tradesinvolved in building or modifying structures to registeras a building contractor. However, those that hold certaincredentials, such as contractors who have a dwelling

contractor certification, are exempt from this registrationrequirement. This new rule will allow DOC to imposeforfeitures on those who do not have their registration,or certain other credentials, such as a dwelling contractorcertification. In addition, forfeitures may be imposed onan entity or individual who contracts with another entityor individual who fails to comply with licensing,certification or registration requirements. Thus, a generalcontractor who has its dwelling contractor certificationmay be subject to a penalty if the general contractorcontracts with a subcontractor who does not have itscertification or registration. WBA objected to this rule, arguing among otherthings that the forfeiture amounts were excessive. In finalversion of the rule sent to the legislature, the forfeitureamounts were significantly reduced. Under the revisedrule, the forfeitures for failing to comply with thelicensing/ certification/ registration requirements, or forcontracting with an entity that does not meet theserequirements, are as follows: first offense, $250; secondoffense, $500; and third offense, $1000. In addition to authorizing the imposition offorfeitures, as a result of a statutory change, this rule alsoexpands the trades subject to registration to includethose that construct, install or alter mechanicalequipment and devices such as boilers, gas systems,piping and mechanical systems serving a building orstructure. The requirement was also expanded to includethose involved in the construction, installation oralteration of permanent devices or structures regulatedunder the amusement or sanitation code.

WI Safety and Professional Services UpdatesProduct Recalls, Code Council Appointment, and Code Changes