Framer Viewpoint

"Work safely. Go home Safely." An expanded version of NFC’s FrameSAFE Safety Manual template was rolled out  this spring and is taking hold in the marketplace.

  • A quarter of a million people left the housing construction industry from 2002-2012, and many of them have found employment elsewhere.
  • Framers are feeling the effects of this exodus more acutely than most, prompting them to look for creative ways to do more with fewer people.
  • CMs can play a pivotal role in switching framers from sticks to components by offering installation training and expertise to new framing employees.
  • CMs engaged in NFC membership de-velopment efforts will find their work rewarded with better organized, safer, more effective and more reliable framing crews.
  • Framers engaged in NFC will learn component installation best practices from other framers, with the goal of creating more efficient, safe and profitable framing outcomes.
  • By actively growing awareness of and membership in NFC, CMs will expand their framing community connections and naturally expand market share and revenue growth. 
  • Manufacturing rough openings in a plant improves site placement accuracy efficiency dues to consistent framing every time. 
  • Componentized wall sections also significantly reduce jobsite waste and allow for the use of alternative header approaches and materials.
  • Having the ability to deliver components just in time to urban jobsites alleviates the need for hard-to-find storage and staging areas.
  • Effective employee training on jobsite safety requires an approach that combines good information with consistent messages and continuous delivery.
  • The NFC’s Site-Specific Fall Protection Plan is being added to the already robust FrameSAFE program.
  • Safety is everyone’s responsibility. Effective training is the best way employers can “help their employees help themselves” to work safely on the jobsite.
  • Today’s complex truss designs can present significant installation challenges to framers if there isn’t good communication between the framer and the manufacturer.
  • From storage and lifting pick points to critical bearing conditions, safe handling and installation practices need to be effectively communicated to installers.
  • During the design phase, manufacturers can help ensure smooth installation by considering the framing challenges a complex design may create and facilitate cross communication between parties.
  • There are many published installation guides available for product-specific applications, but few account for framing tolerances when dissimilar materials are integrated into the overall building and the expectations for overall performance.
  • NFC’s Standards Development Sub-committee will begin outlining framing practices performed everyday where tolerances and known good performance have not been detailed in depth.
  • The subcommittee will take a “through the eyes of a framer” point of view and provide step-by-step implementation guidelines and options.
  • You must have continuous training in order to have a training system work.
  • In addition to FrameSAFE and Toolbox Talks, NFC will release FrameSAFE Safety Posters in early 2015.
  • FrameSAFE is more than just a safety manual; we’ve created it to be a training tool that workers and employers can use to find everything they need in one product.
  • When there’s no effective tie-off point for a building, framers have to use a job-specific best practices approach.
  • Both Hull and Shifflett agree it is in the best interest of component manufacturers to work with framers to create best practice approaches to fall protection.
  • The long-term goal is to host an online database that GCs and framing teams can visit to know who in their industry participates, trains and follows the same safety guidelines.
  • Inadequate communication can fragment the various trades working on a project and lead to costly mistakes and frustrating delays.
  • GCs are looking to turnkey framing as a way to minimize that fragmentation and reduce waste and the potential for mistakes.
  • The efficiencies of the turnkey approach with componentized framing make it the best solution going forward.