WDMA Opens Up

A Quest for Excellence
Recent Accomplishments Affirms Industry Leadership

by Joel Hoiland

It’s not enough to be the leading organization of some of the most well-known names in the door, window and skylight industry. We have to continue to provide value to our members in every facet of operating and manufacturing, so they can in turn excel at what they do. Being a leader means reinventing the way we position ourselves and we will continue to pursue new endeavors and initiatives to capitalize on our strengths and establish the Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA) as the recognizable industry steward we have become. 

Collaboration on Industry Standards
WDMA I.S.1A, Industry Standard for Architectural Wood Flush Doors, has been recognized by ANSI as an American National Standard. Work also continues on revisions for the next edition of ANSI/WDMA I.S.6A, Industry Standard for Architec-tural Stile and Rail Doors. The revisions being processed will bring I.S.6A into alignment with I.S.1A.

Additionally, draft number 13 of the North American Fenestration Standard (NAFS), 101/I.S. 2/A440 Specifications for Windows, Doors and Unit Skylights is currently under WDMA association ballot. A copy of this latest draft and the official WDMA ballot form is available on the WDMA website. Significant revisions to Draft 13 include: 
• Tubular Daylighting Devices (TDD)—adds this product type with appropriate performance criteria;
• Reduces the number of performance classes from five to four; 
• Reduces the number of product classes to four, eliminating the Class C and Class HC for all product types and introduces a new Class CW based on the former Class C Gateway Test Sizes, and including an L/175 deflection limit requirement. 
• Includes an optional alternative minimum test size which allows for a product to enter performance class R by testing a specimen of an alternative minimum test size, smaller than the gateway test size, provided the minimum Performance Grade is correspondingly increased. This option will be applicable to Class R products only. 

We’ve winded up a whirlwind of a year. We’re coming off our most successful conference ever, where notable industry speakers and outside consultants and participants gave members information they need to grow successfully in the future (see article, page 50). It was a new format, combining our former technical conference with business meetings, and the results were extraordinary.

Fall Meeting Yields Results
Following is a short summary of the technical actions taken during our conference that will influence the coming year:
• The Technical Process Committee approved a four-phase PVC lineal validation program for the WDMA Hallmark Certification Program, for the parts used in products meeting 101/I.S.2/A440-05. Implementation of Phase I of this program will begin in 2007;
• The board approved expansion of the WDMA Hallmark Certification Program for products meeting the HUD Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standard requirements, published in the Federal Register. This allows Hallmark products to be certified for use in mobile home and manufactured housing projects, where compliance to the HUD requirements is mandatory; and
• The board approved revisions to the WDMA Technical Handbook. The handbook is the main document controlling the organization’s technical processes. The approved revisions keep the document up to date, and now include provisions for environmental stewardship within WDMA standards.

We’re taking steps to secure our future and build an organization that best represents our members and all they have to offer to builders, designers, architects and specifiers. Some of the other plans on tap for 2007: the launching of a new website; a renewed focus on education and independent research; developing a brand strategy with logo re-design; and further enhancing the power of the Hallmark Certification Program with the goal to certify some of the new products and processes that continue to emerge. We’ll present a new strategic plan at our annual meeting in February in Hawaii, with many of these goals slated to be underway or complete in 2007. 

Joel Hoiland is the president of the Window and Door Manufacturers Association based in Des Plaines, Ill. He may be reached at jhoiland@wdma.com

DWM
© Copyright 2006 Key Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
No reproduction of any type without expressed written permission.