Archives: News Items

MCAA/MSCA Release Fleet Safety Training Video for Mechanical Service and Construction Supervisors

MCAA/MSCA recently released its new supervisor safety training video, Fleet Safety for Mechanical Service and Construction Supervisors. Fleet safety is getting a lot of attention because motor vehicle fatalities, which are the leading cause of deaths in America, continue to increase each year. Most vehicle accidents are caused by unsafe driving behavior, substance abuse, insufficient driver training, or inadequate vehicle condition/maintenance.

This new video will help your supervisors understand:

  • How to properly screen their drivers
  • The components of effective driver training
  • How to monitor driver behavior and
  • How to ensure proper inspection and maintenance of the company’s fleet

Download or play the video

Want More Safety Resources?

MCAA has you covered, with a full range of resources to help you protect your workers from injury and comply with applicable safety regulations. Here’s where to find them:

On our Direct Links to MCAA & MSCA Safety Resources page, where they’re listed by category with links.

Go there now

In the Resource Center, where you can use the blue Refine Your Search bar to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for.

Visit the Resource Center

Have questions or need personal assistance?

Contact MCAA’s Pete Chaney.

MCAA Change Order Publication Receives SMACNA Endorsement

The 2018 of edition of MCAA’s highly regarded construction management publication, Change Orders, Productivity, Overtime—A Primer for the Construction Industry, has received the Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association’s (SMACNA) full endorsement.

SMACNA has endorsed the contents of the publication as being applicable to the sheet metal trades, which sustain impacts to the same level, and of the same types, as the mechanical piping and plumbing trades.

Updated in 2018, this publication has become a standard in the construction industry and is widely relied upon by mechanical and other specialty contractors, attorneys in construction practices, and consultants.

The 2018 Edition of MCAA’s Change Orders, Productivity, Overtime features new material that clarifies the process of selecting labor inefficiency factors. A new chapter devoted to the subject of concurrent delay has also been added. This resource is a must-have for mechanical and other specialty contractors, attorneys in construction practices, and consultants.

New material within the chapter on How to Use the MCAA Labor Factors clarifies the process of selecting inefficiency intensity factors. This information will prove useful for those using the MCAA Factors to prepare loss of labor productivity equitable adjustment requests.

In the concurrent delay chapter, authors Doug Patin, Esquire and Paul Stynchcomb, CCM, PSP, CFCC, explain how you can avoid being cited for potentially costly concurrent delays to a project. The chapter also provides information to assist contractors in defining and identifying concurrent delay in a project schedule.

This latest chapter, like the others in the publication, was peer reviewed by a panel of MCAA contractors. Peer reviewers for the new chapter were: Robert Beck, President of John W. Danforth Company in Tonawanda, NY; Steve Dawson, President of Harrell-Fish, Inc. in Bloomington, IN; Brian Helm, President of The Helm Group in Freeport, IL; and Adam Snavely, President and CEO of The Poole & Kent Corporation in Baltimore, MD.

Download or Purchase Your Copy

Money for Nothing – Learn How to Create Your Company’s Story at MSCA18

Humans are programmed to respond to images, stories, and the rhythm and rhyme of music.  We are stirred by our favorite songs, movies, and books.  Historically, large consumer brands like Coca-Cola, Ford, and Chevy have used music and stories to great effect in establishing a premium market position.  Brands like Facebook, Snapchat, Amazon, and eBay use online storytelling with pictures and customer reviews to build extraordinary value for their shareholders.  How can a commercial service contractor take advantage of these human tendencies to similarly build the value of their service brand?

CEO of Service Trade and the author of The Digital Wrap, Billy Marshall, will join us in Huntington Beach this year at the MSCA18 education conference and share his wisdom on the importance of building valuable customer relationships through online engagement. Pull your customers into an online experience that will transform your service brand by becoming a great digital storyteller and watch how it can earn you more pay for less work.

Find the Latest from Sloan Valve Company, T-Drill Industries, Inc. and More in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show

MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show connects our contractor members with the members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

Participating companies highlight and link to new products, product lines, services, solutions or web pages of particular interest. Here are just a few of the recent additions:

Sloan Valve Company Pressure Assisted Toilets MCAA Virtual Trade ShowSloan Valve Company
Sloan® Pressure-assisted Toilets – Pressure-assisted flushing gives you the performance you expect even when your light commercial applications require lower flush volumes.

Learn More


T-Drill T-65T-Drill Industries, Inc.
The T-65’s ability to form code-approved outlets in stainless steel and copper while remaining portable for ease-of-use; makes it very popular along with its labor and material savings of up to 92%!

Learn More

Need Something Different?

No worries! There are many more smart solutions for you to explore in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show!

Visit the Virtual Trade Show

Speaking of Smart Solutions

Visit the Smart Solutions Case Studies area of our website to see how other mechanical contractors found their win-win with cost-saving and productivity-enhancing applications from members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

This section of our website also features tips and ideas on other ways you and your company can save money and enhance your productivity.

VISIT SMART SOLUTIONS

MCERF Continues to Receive Generous Support From Contractors, Affiliates, and M/S Members

The Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF) receives generous and heartfelt support from the spectrum of members and member types of the MCAA. Three recent contributions perfectly exemplify this wide-ranging support:

Arden Building Companies Logo
Arden Building Companies, LLC, Pawtucket, RI contributed $5,000, bringing their total to $10,000 and is following through on plans to become active contributor.

MCA Cleveland Logo
MCA of Cleveland, Inc., Cleveland, OH contributed $6,000 on their latest 5-year $30,000 pledge; their total to date is $136,000. Interestingly, the MCA of Cleveland is using two different funds to source its contribution, the Mechanical Contracting Industry Fund of Cleveland ($5,000) and the Cleveland Plumbing Industry Promotion & Education Fund ($1,000), so that many more people to thank!

Anvil International Logo
Anvil International, Exeter, NH contributed their fifth $10,000 installment on a 10-year $100,000 pledge. Since 1990, their total contributed to date is $1,163,240.

MCERF President, Mark Rogers in thanking these latest contributors noted that while they represent the different sectors of our great industry, “…they are exactly alike in their recognition and appreciation of the value that MCERF provides directly back into the industry and that to get that value into the future, we all need to support our Foundation!”

There are many other MCAA members who have contributed to MCERF not only this year, but for many years…even decades! Over the coming weeks we will be giving them the attribution and public thanks they deserve as well. When you read these announcements, please let these incredibly involved and caring companies, associations, and individuals…these who support your industry’s non-profit education and research foundation so generously and consistently…know that you, in turn, support them for what they do!

MCERF is MCAA’s 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable entity. The Foundation supports a broad range of industry education and research efforts designed to improve the education, placement, and retention of human resources for the industry and the identification and implementation of cutting edge research to improve the business practices of mechanical contracting industry. Contributions to MCERF are tax-deductible under IRS guidelines.

Need to Keep Your Workers Safe from Asbestos Hazards? This Video Can Help!

MCAA’s Asbestos Awareness for the Mechanical Trades Safety Training Video teaches your workers to protect themselves from the hazards involved in working around microscopic asbestos fibers.

Your workers will learn:

  • What asbestos is
  • Where asbestos can be found on the jobsite
  • What the health hazards of asbestos exposure are
  • How to identify potential asbestos hazards
  • How to protect themselves from asbestos hazards

Download or play the video in English

Download or play the video in Spanish

There’s More…

Accompanying materials are also available to assist you in highlighting key training points, documenting worker training and confirming that workers understand the training concepts:

Highlight key training points

Download the Pocket Guide

Document worker training

Download the Documentation Sheet

Confirm that workers understand the training concepts

Download the Test

Download the Test Answer Key

Want More Safety Resources?

MCAA has you covered, with a full range of resources to help you protect your workers from injury and comply with applicable safety regulations. Here’s where to find them:

On our Direct Links to MCAA & MSCA Safety Resources page, where they’re listed by category with links.

Go there now

In the Resource Center, where you can use the blue Refine Your Search bar to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for.

Visit the Resource Center

Have questions or need personal assistance?

Contact MCAA’s Pete Chaney.

2018 MCAA Internship Grants Leap Ahead of Last Year

Data provided by the Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation for January 1 to mid-July of 2018 versus the same period last year show significant increases in interns hired and MCAA members hiring interns; a 13% increase in interns hired by 18% more contractors.

Since its 2015 “Year of the Intern”, MCAA members have come to view hiring interns as opportunities to identify and evaluate potential full-time hires for their organizations. Especially when they get paid $1,000 per intern (maximum of 2) for doing so! MCAA members are increasingly realizing the value proposition of having talented, young interns work at their companies.  In the period mentioned in 2017, 184 interns were hired by 116 MCAA member companies; in the same period in 2018, 208 interns were hired by 137 member firms.

Building a structured internship program provides the opportunity for member firms to recruit talented students and provides a flexible, cost-effective labor force without a long-term commitment. MCAA believes that students who work for one of its members will enhance their education, their professional experience, and their interest in the mechanical contracting industry. Therefore, MCAA, through its Mechanical Contracting & Research Foundation (MCERF) offers internship grants to current members who hire undergraduates as interns.

Apply for a Grant

Grant Description

The amount of the 2018 Internship Grant is $1,000 per intern hired by an MCAA member firm, up to 2 interns. Grants are paid in the form a check from the Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF) to the member company. The grant check will be sent upon the acceptance of the company’s 2018 Student Internship Application.

Eligibility

An eligible MCAA member is one whose membership is currently in good standing with the MCAA. MCAA members include its mechanical contractor and mechanical service members, plumbing members and its Manufacturer/Supplier Council members.

Interns must be students in good standing at an accredited college or university.  Though MCAA encourages its members to give priority to students from its 50+ student chapters, this is not a requirement for a grant.

Contact Dennis Langley for more information.

Find the Latest from DEWALT Industrial Tool Company, Kahua and More in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show

MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show connects our contractor members with the members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

Participating companies highlight and link to new products, product lines, services, solutions or web pages of particular interest. Here are just a few of the recent additions:
DEWALT Industrial Tool Company MCAA Virtual Trade Show
DEWALT Industrial Tool Company
DEWALT announces new Stud Finders, adding to its electronic tool offerings. The two new Stud Finders feature Center Find Technology and constant calibration, each of which helps to streamline and simplify use.

Learn More


Kahua Virtual Trade ShowKahua
Easy to implement, easy to use, easy to customize. Get up and running quickly to accelerate value. Use Subcontractor Project Management out of the box or tailor it to your unique workflows. Shop the kStore for additional apps for your specialty.

Learn More

Need Something Else?

Find many more smart solutions in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show!

Visit the Virtual Trade Show

Speaking of Smart Solutions

Visit the Smart Solutions Case Studies area of our website to learn how other mechanical contractors found their win-win with cost-saving and productivity-enhancing applications from members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

This section of our website also includes tips and ideas to help your company save money and enhance your productivity. Don’t miss it!

VISIT SMART SOLUTIONS

Find Your Next New Hire at the GreatFutures Job Fair

Registration for MCAA’s 2018 GreatFutures Forum is now open for MCAA Student Chapters!  This year’s conference will be held in Anaheim, CA at the Anaheim Marriott from Thursday, September 27 – Saturday, September 29.

This year’s GreatFutures Forum will feature MCAA’s 2nd Annual Job Fair on Friday, September 28 from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. MCAA Members wishing to participate in the Job Fair can register here.

Enjoy a morning of networking with our industry’s future workforce and exploring your fulltime employment, co-op and internship opportunities with these talented and motivated students.

As a bonus every intern and full-time hire at the forum will be eligible for a $1,000 MCERF grant. There will be no limit per company.

For additional information on what MCAA’s student chapter members will experience at the GreatFutures Forum, please visit our event website.

Need a Company-Specific Hearing Conservation Program? Start with this Model Program!

Your company must establish a hearing conservation program to help prevent occupational noise-related hearing loss when mechanical construction, service, and/or fabrication shop workers can be exposed to noise levels that are at or above established permissible exposure levels. MCAA’s Model Hearing Conservation Program can be quickly and easily tailored to create a company-specific hearing conservation program.

If you have any questions about this publication, or about other occupational safety and health issues, please contact Pete Chaney.

Our Tool and Equipment Rental Guide is Now an Enhanced Web Portal!

MCAA members can now access our Tool and Equipment Rental Guide via an enhanced web portal. There you can refine your search to find what you need quickly. A list of all rates is also included. Regardless of how you view them, search results can be downloaded as either a .pdf or .csv file.

Create a Vision of Greatness at MSCA18 – with a side of corned beef!

Have you ever eaten a corned beef sandwich from Zingerman’s Restaurant in Ann Arbor, MI? If not, you have missed out on one of life’s greatest experiences. But there is a lot more than just bread and meat behind that sandwich.

Zingerman’s founder, Paul Saginaw believes that he has been successful in spite of the fact that he has limited natural talent and abilities because he has always thought that the only real limits are those of vision. At the October MSCA18 Education Conference in Huntington Beach, CA, Paul will share his inspirational and “visioning” approach to business that has lead to Zingerman’s success.

Zingerman’s started in 1982 as 1300 square feet of combined restaurant and specialty food retail space, run by Paul, his co-founder and two employees. The Zingerman’s Community of Businesses now has 22 partners, employs over 750 people and generates over $65 million in annual sales from ten separate businesses. Inc. Magazine called Zingerman’s “the coolest small company in America.” During his conference presentation, Paul will explain why Great Service, Open Book Management, and Visioning have created a culture of engagement and appreciation from the front line to the organization’s governing body with behind-the-scenes “secrets” that are invaluable in building a special, sustainable business of any kind. Whether you’re running a law office, a library, a restaurant, a record label, a software firm, or a mechanical service company, Zingerman’s approach is sure to help your business thrive.

The MSCA18 Education Conference will be held October 21 – 24, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa, Huntington Beach, CA.

Save the Dates for MCAA’s 16th Annual Safety Directors’ Conference – January 22-24, 2019

Be sure to save the dates for MCAA’s 16th annual Safety Directors’ Conference, which will be presented January 22-24, 2019 in Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), Florida. Witness Mercedes Ramirez Johnson describe surviving the tragic 1995 commercial airline crash that killed 160 people, including her parents, and how complacency with the airliner’s safety functions led to the crash. Some of the other featured conference speakers include immediate past Assistant Secretary of Labor (OSHA) Dr. David Michaels, communications/training guru Anthony Huey, and United Association Health, Safety and  Environmental Administrator Cheryl Ambrose.  Watch for information about registration on MCAA’s website and Safety-Talk communications network. Registration opens October 1, 2018.

MCAA and the UA Partner on Women Build Nations Conference Event

MCAA and the UA will cosponsor a dinner cruise for UA and MCAA representatives attending the 2018 Women Build Nations Conference. Women in the Mechanical Industry Initiative Steering Committee members will represent us at the event, which takes place October 12-14, 2018 in Seattle, WA. The conference offers opportunities for women in the trades and industry stakeholders to network and share challenges and experiences.

Simplify Your Safety Training with these Toolbox Talks!

MCAA’s Toolbox Safety Talks for Construction Contractors – Volume VI simplifies worker safety training with 52 talks, enough for a full year of weekly worker safety training.

Topics covered include:

• Silica
• Confined spaces
• Lesser known potential health and physical hazards, including Zika virus, marijuana, suicide, skin cancer and prescription opioid abuse
• Potentially hazardous substances/energy sources like asbestos, ammonia, sulfuric acid, LP gas and laser tools
• Potentially hazardous equipment such as cranes and derricks, disposal chutes, hoists and motor vehicles
• Protective equipment/emergency planning
• Occupational injuries and illnesses (recordkeeping)

Instructions and a worker safety training documentation sheet are included to further simplify the process.

Download

Want even more safety resources?

MCAA has you covered, with a full range of resources to help you protect your workers from injury and comply with applicable safety regulations. Here’s where to find them:

On our Direct Links to MCAA & MSCA Safety Resources page, where they’re listed by category with links.

Go there now

In the Resource Center, where you can use the blue Refine Your Search bar to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for.

Visit the Resource Center

Have questions or need personal assistance?

Contact MCAA’s Pete Chaney.

Explore the Latest from CNA, Ferguson and More in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show

MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show connects our contractor members with the members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

Participating companies highlight and link to new products, product lines, services, solutions or web pages of particular interest. Here are just a few of the recent additions:
CNA MCAA Virtual Trade Show
CNA
Mechanical contractors take on risk with each project, when was the last time you reviewed your insurance needs?

Learn More


Ferguson Virtual Trade ShowFerguson
Ferguson is dedicated to helping you keep your complicated jobs on schedule by providing custom solutions. We also offer on-site inventory management and local branch customized support.

Learn More

Need Something Else?

Find many more smart solutions in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show!

Visit the Virtual Trade Show

Speaking of Smart Solutions

Visit the Smart Solutions Case Studies area of our website to learn how other mechanical contractors found their win-win with cost-saving and productivity-enhancing applications from members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.

This section of our website also includes tips and ideas to help your company save money and enhance your productivity. Don’t miss it!

VISIT SMART SOLUTIONS

Ferris Student Marjorie Banda Receives MSCA Scholarship

Marjorie Banda, a freshman in Ferris State University’s HVACR program, was the recipient of this year’s MSCA Scholarship in recognition of her scholastic achievement. In a thank you letter to MSCA Executive Director Barbara Dolim, Marjorie said, “I am truly grateful for the financial support that I have received from you as an organization. It will definitely make a big difference and leave a mark that will be with me as long as I live. I am motivated to work even harder in school and obtain my HVACR Bachelor’s Degree.”

Marjorie is involved in several student organizations, including the Greater Michigan MSCA Student Chapter, which presented the scholarship.

In the conclusion to her letter, Marjorie noted that, “Supporting females like myself in STEM programs instills confidence in women that indeed the industry does believe that women do have the potential to contribute to the industry.”

MSCA provides scholarship money annually to the MSCA Chapter of Ferris State University to be awarded to a student (or students) in the university’s HVACR program, as selected by department faculty, based on scholastic achievement and other criteria. MSCA representatives serve on the department’s advisory board and chapter members are invited to attend the annual MSCA conference where they have an opportunity to meet with MSCA members from around the country.

MCAA Members Set Torrid Pace for Hiring Interns…Have You Hired Yours Yet?

Since its original “Year of the Intern” in 2015, MCAA members have come to view hiring interns as opportunities to identify and evaluate potential full-time hires for their organizations. Especially when they get paid for doing it!

Building a structured internship program provides the opportunity for member firms to recruit talented students and provides a flexible, cost-effective labor force without a long-term commitment.

MCAA believes that students who work for one of its members will enhance their education, their professional experience, and their interest in the mechanical contracting industry. Therefore, MCAA, through its Foundation, is offering grants to current members who hire undergraduates as interns.

Apply for a Grant

Grant Description

The amount of the 2018 Internship Grant is $1,000 per intern hired by an MCAA member firm, up to 2 interns. Grants are paid in the form a check from the Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF) to the member company. The grant check will be sent upon the acceptance of the company’s 2018 Student Internship Application.

Eligibility

An eligible MCAA member is one whose membership is currently in good standing with the MCAA. MCAA members include its mechanical contractor and mechanical service members, plumbing members and its Manufacturer/Supplier Council members.

Interns must be students in good standing at an accredited college or university.  Though MCAA encourages its members to give priority to students from its 50+ student chapters, this is not a requirement for a grant.

Contact Dennis Langley for more information.

Is Your Business Designed to Survive the 21st Century? Prepare Now at MSCA18

Most companies are simply not designed to survive. They become successful on the basis of one big idea or breakthrough product. The companies that will thrive in the near future are the ones not only embracing change but breaking the rules. Companies built to survive are a result of deliberate business design decisions smart leaders are making today.  At this year’s MSCA education conference, Mike Walsh, CEO of Tomorrow, will provide thought-provoking advice on business transformation and business survival.  Walsh will outline the mega-trends shaping the future of business and consumer behavior, and the lessons learned on leveraging disruptive innovation, adopting a data-driven mindset and leading change through digital transformation. Walsh will provide additional take home value by providing “Mind Grenades” – thought-provoking questions and “next action” ideas and concrete suggestions specific for the HVACR industry.

Register by July 21, 2018 and you will enjoy Early Bird member savings!