b'Inside the OIRCAYes, ICI Roofing is a Skilled Trade! By Don Marks, Executive Director, OIRCARaising doghouse and cable trays at the Rogers Communications reroofing project in North York, Ont. Photo courtesy of TSS Building Science Inc. You can read more about this project on page 1 and page 6.W hen the average person thinks abouts roofing, they tend to relate to the roof onreroofing another technological challenge. The roofing solution and installation of their housea roof that typically is steeply sloped and covered with shingles. Ofa complex and premium roofing system, while minimizing disruption to the occu-course, at the OIRCAand our name will tip you offwe are concerned withpants, is indeed the work of a skilled team of professionals. And so, this is reflective the industrial/commercial/institutional (ICI) sector of the roofing industry, not residen- of the life of an OIRCA roofing contractor.tial shingling.Sure, not every project our members get involved with are that complex or inter-While most would consider house shingling to be a rather unskilled type of construc- esting. Yes, we still install roofs on big, wide-open warehouses, which probably appear tion work, that is not necessarily the case. My intent here is not to debate that fact, butto be rather straightforward. Some are, others are not.to relay to the reader that the ICI roofing sector is indeed a skilled trade. Hopefully youMy message in this column is, quite simply, to change the average persons per-had an opportunity to read our presidents message in the winter issue of ORN. In thatception of ICI roofing and the type of work OIRCA members regularly tackle. It is column, Mark Agius discussed a rather unique project his company was involved in whena fascinating industry, an industry that often gets a bad rap because other construc-they partnered with another OIRCA member company to reroof the Rogers Centre intion trades are deemed more glamorous.Toronto. That project was an obvious demonstration of a technically advanced roofingOIRCA is committed to projecting a positive image of ICI roofing. We need solution using highly skilled workers. to do this because we are having trouble attracting people to our trade. A lack of Projects like the Rogers Centre dont come along every day, though. The more typical type of installation our members get involved with can be seen in the cover story of thisskilled roofers is at the top of the list, but our members desperately need estima-issue of ORN, coincidently another Rogers facility reroof. I say typical because on thetors, project managers, supervisors, safety professionalsjust about every category surface, if you were to drive by that building, it would probably appear to be just an aver- of work position, and just about every roofing company in the ICI roofing sector age industrial structure. But that project is far from conventional. has career openings. As the project consultant, roofing contractor and manufacturer communicate in thatTo reiterate Mr. Agius as he capped off his article in the last issue of ORN, the article, the building houses sensitive data equipment for a communications giant. Justtitle to his message should have been Rebranding the Roofing Industry as a Ca-look at the arial views of that roof; it is a labyrinth of rooftop equipment that makesreer Destination.28ONTARIO ROOFING NEWSISSUE 1 2022 THE ONLY SOURCE FOR PROFESSIONAL ICI ROOFING CONTRACTORS IN ONTARIO ORN'