The Importance of Trade Groups

By:  Barry Herbert

All of us have extremely busy schedules.  Quite often any type of meeting, whether it’s an office meeting with co-workers or a venue miles away, is viewed as an enormous time waster.  Unfortunately, many of them are.  Trade groups or associations are often thought of in these terms.  But if you have never been active in an association related to your field, you are probably missing out on information that may not only be important, but possibly critical to your survival as a company. 

Those of you who are in a Home Building related field are blessed with numerous organizations that represent our industry. A few of the Residential Construction related trade groups representing contractors are:





NAHB – National Association of Home Builders

NAHB is known as “the voice of America’s housing industry.” It is a trade association whose primary goal is to help promote the policies that make housing a national priority.  At any given time, NAHB is working on more than 100 different issues relating to home building and the housing industry.

About one-third of NAHB’s members are home builders and/or remodelers. The others are associates working in closely related specialties such as sales and marketing, housing finance, and manufacturing and supplying building materials.  www.nahb.org


HBAG -Home Builders Association of Georgia






Builders and contractors automatically become members of Home Builders Association of Georgia and the National Association of Home Builders when they join their local HBA.
The most important benefit of membership is the Association’s involvement in the government and regulatory arenas. Its members are represented at the local, state and national levels.  Members are continually kept up to date regarding laws and regulations impacting the Home Building industry. www.hbag.org


Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association

The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association is the fifth largest local homebuilders association in the country. Builder members range from large companies to individual contractors and include developers, custom and speculative builders, multifamily builders, manufactured housing companies, residential remodelers and general contractors.

Membership in the association is not limited to builders; members represent an array of housing-related businesses and industries including t
www.atlantahomebuilders.com


NARI – National Association of the Remodeling Industry

NARI has 58 chapters nationwide and its core purpose is to advance and promote the remodeling industry’s professionalism, product and vital public purpose.  NARI members are held to a Code of Ethics that are intended to provide uniform standards and maintain the public’s trust in the remodeling industry. www.nari.org


Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

ABC is the leading voice promoting free enterprise within the construction industry. ABC promotes and defends the merit shop philosophy. This philosophy encourages open competition and a free-enterprise approach to construction based solely on merit, regardless of labor affiliation.  www.abc.org


AIA - American Institute of Architects

With nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA has been the leading professional membership association for licensed architects, emerging professionals, and allied partners since 1857.  www.aia.org


NSPE - National Society of Professional Engineers

NSPE, in partnership with the State Societies, is the organization of licensed Professional Engineers (PEs) and Engineer Interns (EIs). Through education, licensure advocacy, leadership training, multi-disciplinary networking, and outreach, NSPE enhances the image of its members and their ability to ethically and professionally practice engineering.  www.nspe.org

This is only a partial list of all associations related by residential construction. The description of each of those listed was wording obtained, at least in part, from the various associations’ websites.

Customized Information
Herbert Construction Company has for many years belonged to the Concrete Foundation Association of North America (CFA).  We send at least one person to virtually every meeting and several individuals attend many of them.  At last summer’s annual meeting, seminars were held concerning sexual harassment, the Affordable Care Act, crane safety, fall protection, marketing, a full day on the construction of concrete homes and several other topics.

Seminars at many of these meetings deal directly with problems you now have or are going to have. It’s important to attend as many of these seminars as possible.  The one you miss could contain the information required to keep you from a huge OSHA fine or even keep you out of court.  

Participation is Key
Get involved.  Most associations are constantly looking for more board members and/or committee members. The more you become involved the more you will benefit.  Most active association members will tell you that it has never cost them a penny to belong to the organization and attend the meetings, meaning they garner enough valuable information to easily pay for their dues and the trip.

At trade association meetings you can easily save more money and time from one simple idea or tip, than the time and money it took to attend.  But the trick in really gathering the most information for your time spent, is to attend the meetings and become actively involved in the networking that goes on at these meetings. 

Get to know your peers.  Go out to dinner with a few of them after the meetings or, go to the bar with them, even if you don’t drink, and ask questions and offer thoughts of your own.  At most of the association functions there are numerous people there who are not in competition with you, and will readily share their ideas or how they handled a particular problem.  Believe it or not, they have experienced many of the same problems you have. Join the associations, attend the meetings and start reaping the benefits.

rade contractors, building materials manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, lending institutions,  real estate companies, utilities,  surveyors,  title companies,  attorneys,  accountants,  engineers,  architects,  designers,  and more.

Herbert Construction Enters Two Local Projects into a National Basement Competition

Every year, the Concrete Foundations Association of North America (CFA) holds a Project of the Year contest.  Herbert Construction has won an award in this contest for the past three years.  We entered the 2014 contest with two exciting projects: a home in Paulding County built by Windsong Properties, LLC, and another in John’s Creek built by David Weekley Homes’ Custom Classics Division.  

Brian Hester is building this home located in Seven Hills for Windsong Properties, LLC. The basement is entered in the “Single Family, less than 2,000 sq. ft.” category of the national competition.

Keith Anderson of Custom Classics, a division of David Weekley Homes is building this home in River Club.  We entered this basement project for the “Single Family, 2,000-5,000 sq. ft.” category.

Experienced Builder/Superintendent Available

One of the best things about our business is the relationships we develop with our clients.  One of those long time friends of our company – an experienced builder/superintendent – is looking for their next new challenge.

If you or someone you know is looking to add a successful builder to your company, please call Doug directly at
678-859-2304.

Message From Doug...

A Time for Change

A realtor didn’t like doing the normal tasks involved with being a realtor.  He didn’t like meeting with homeowners to “sell” them on letting him list their house for them.  He didn’t like spending his weekends holding open houses. He didn’t like fielding calls in the evenings from people interested in getting information about the homes he was listing.  He liked being a realtor; he just didn’t like all of the typical tasks that came with being a realtor. 

At this point you might suggest that he had better find a different profession.  However, he decided to change his business to accommodate his desires-instead of being a slave to it.  He redesigned his business and became known as an expert at finding houses for investors who wanted rental homes for their portfolios.  The investors only wanted to communicate with him during normal business hours.  His weekends were free because he no longer had to hold open houses.  He created a niche for himself and was no longer the same as every other realtor in his area.   He completely changed his business to fit his own requirements. 

Now, you may be saying to yourself, “That’s a nice story, but I can’t change my business like he did.  My business is different.”  You know, I bet there were a lot of realtors out there that would have said the same thing about their business until they heard this guy’s story.

Let me ask you: Do you want to change the way you are doing things?

The New Year is a good time to think about what changes you need to make in your life.  It is a time for reflection upon the previous year.  It is a time for resolutions, for new beginnings.  A time for change.
Ask yourself questions about the previous year.  Did it go as you had planned?  Did you accomplish what you set out to do?  Are you in the position that you envisioned a year ago?  Answer these questions honestly.  After all, you don’t have to reveal the answers to anyone but yourself.  The answers to these questions give you instructions for what to plan for this New Year. 

If something worked really well, then you know you need to continue that – and guard against it getting dropped by the wayside.  The things that didn’t work so well for you in 2013 show you where you need to make changes.

What are you doing in your life and in your business that causes you stress, anxiety, or even mild annoyance?  What tasks do you do that you really don’t want to do?  Where are you wasting your time?  Are you spending too much time on email and social media?  Are you doing work that someone else within your company should be doing?

I have a 4-Step System for attacking these problems, which I’ll share in next month’s Newsletter. 

The New Year is the perfect time to make positive changes in your daily habits and patterns.  Once you begin to make these changes, you will see your world change as well.  You will reap the benefits of these changes.  You will be more productive, you’ll accomplish more, and you’ll be happier with your surroundings.  However, if you change nothing, nothing will change.

Happy New Year!

Recent Referrals

It’s a New Year, time for change and anticipation of good things to come. After a wonderful holiday season, we are back and ready to be busier than ever! We want to take this opportunity to offer special thanks to our great customers and friends who have recently referred our company:

Ben Geer, Geer Building Company – Homebuilder  GeerBuildingCompany.com

Brody Dernehl, The Dernehl Company – Homebuilder  DernehlCompany.com

Brad Bedingfield, Sealing Agents – Waterproofing Company  SealingAgents.com

CFA Project of the Year Award Winner – Kyle Henry

By:  Christine Barrett

This beautiful Marietta home built by Kyle Henry sits on a
national award-winning basement foundation.

The Concrete Foundations Association of North America (CFA) holds an annual Project of the Year contest for its members.  The best concrete contractors from across North America submit entries of their most challenging foundation projects.

The entries are displayed at the World of Concrete show in Las Vegas, which is one of the largest annual trade shows in the country.  The entries are viewed and voted on by some of the nearly 50,000 attendees that come from around the world. 

In 2013 we submitted an entry for a foundation we constructed in East Cobb County for our longtime client, Kyle Henry of Kyle V. Henry, Inc.

Doug Herbert presents the
Project of the Year Award to Kyle Henry.

We are very happy to announce that our project was chosen as the Project of the Year winner in its category!  This is the third straight year we have won a Project of the Year award from the CFA. 

Kyle Henry’s complex foundation in Marietta is certainly a worthy winner.  The custom home is nearly 7,000 square feet, and took Kyle a full year to construct.

We recently met with Kyle and the homeowners, Jerry and Celeste, to see this beautiful home, which was being readied for move-in.  With its breathtaking views, high ceilings, and detailed craftsmanship, this home is truly an example of custom homebuilding at its finest.  At that meeting, we presented Kyle with an award as a way of expressing our thanks for involving us in such a prestigious project.

Of course, with every masterpiece comes challenges, and this home was no exception.  “After I bought the lot, I wondered if I had made a mistake,” said Jerry, the homeowner.  A very steep grade combined with poor soil conditions meant that extraordinary measures would have to be taken.  “We visited the lot and I thought to myself, ‘I’m not so sure about this’,” said Celeste.

The house foundation had complex
18’-0” tall walls.

“I knew that I needed Herbert Construction’s experience and expertise with this one,” said Kyle.  “I sent the plans over to Doug (Herbert) and after reviewing it, he said ‘here’s what we’re going to do’, and that’s exactly what we did.”  By involving Herbert Construction Co. early on in the planning process, Kyle was able to get our input on positioning the house on the lot, determining wall heights, and establishing finish grades.

The house was a courtyard design, which meant the driveway and turnaround was across the entire front of the house.  “To manage the rainfall, Doug suggested we raise the top of the basement wall up to the subfloor level across the front of the home,” explained Kyle.  This allowed Kyle to direct the water away from the home and across the driveway.

Because of the incredibly steep grades and poor soil, the project started off with 50 augered concrete piers varying in depth from 5 to 12 feet.  Then, helical piers were needed to transfer the load of the house away from an existing modular block retaining wall at the rear of the site. The engineer, Jim Ringo of Georgia Geotechnical, specified five different footing sizes, each heavily reinforced with rebar.

Kyle Henry’s ingenious design utilized the foundation
subwalls to form the private spa and pool.

Our layout crew worked closely with Kyle and his excellent grading contractor, Donald Davis.  One of our robotic total station layout instruments was on the job most of the time during the footing and wall construction.  The foundation had 99 points, or 99 different corners of the house that had to be laid out.

There were 21 different wall heights ranging from 4’-0” to 18’-0”.  The design included a tight-radius curved concrete wall section.  A sauna on the Terrace Level and the Master Bath on the Main Level were built into this unique, rounded area.
Kyle’s experience as a custom home builder surfaced early on in the construction when he suggested an addition to the original house design.  Because of the steep grade, the house required a subwall for the home and another subwall for the upper terrace foundation.  Kyle suggested that a pool and spa be constructed on the Terrace Level between these two subwalls, utilizing the subwalls for the pool construction. 

The pool – complete with a continuous flow system for swimming in place – and waterfall give the back of the house a whole new feel.  Located adjacent to private seating areas with fireplace, arched openings, and beautiful reclaimed wood walls, the ambiance created by this pool is unmistakable.

To add some more fun to the award, we made
Kyle his very own “Championship” belt.

Kyle has been a longtime client of Herbert Construction Co., and uses us for every foundation he builds.  “This was a really unique and complicated foundation, and I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else with it.  I know from how many basements that they’ve done for me that Herbert Construction has the experience and the systems in place to make it where I can focus my attention on all the other things I have to do,” said Kyle.

Team Member Spotlight – David Summey

David Summey, our indispensable
General Superintendent.

As Herbert Construction Company’s General Superintendent, David Summey is oftentimes the most visible face of the company.  David truly is on the front line, speaking with builders and visiting jobsites daily.  “I really enjoy working with our customers.  I would never be able to sit in an office all day, so my job is perfect for me,” says David.

David is instrumental in every aspect of a project. From visiting the site, working with engineers and excavators, and providing information to our estimating and CAD departments, David knows every job inside and out.  “What I enjoy most is knowing all the details of the job,” said David. 

Having a single point of contact while your foundation is being built is one of the unique benefits of working with Herbert Construction Company. Our clients don’t have to meet with the footing crew to explain what they want, and then do it all over again when the wall crew arrives.  David not only watches over the construction so the builder doesn’t have to, he will also call in for inspections whenever possible. 

David’s 24+ years of concrete experience make him extremely valuable to us and our clients.  “I’ve been in construction most of my life,” says David. “I worked on the redi-mix production side for 10 years, but the last 14 here at Herbert Construction actually watching homes be built have been the most rewarding.” 

“2014 is going to be a good year.  Things are steadily getting better in residential construction, and it feels great to be really busy once again,” adds David. 

David is very much a family man, “I’ve been married to my beautiful wife Kay for almost 24 years now,” he says.   Between the two of them they have 5 children and 13 grandchildren, all of whom keep them very busy.  When not working, David loves to fish.  His favorite is salt flats fishing in the Gulf, and he’s hoping to take some time off this Spring to indulge in this favorite pastime.