Joe Byrne - 100 Years of Excellence in Florida - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Joe Byrne of FRSA. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast. 

Speaker 1:
Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a long term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Hello and welcome to Roofing Road Trips from RoofersCoffeeShop. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and I am actually on a road trip. I am in Chicago right now, but I'm going to virtually head on over to Florida to visit with Joe Byrne of BRI Roof Consulting. And why? Because we are coming up on the 100 year anniversary for the FRSA, Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Association Convention, which is actually happening next week. And I was able to get Joe on the line to visit a little bit about that so we would have this ready to share during the convention. So Joe, welcome to our show.

Joe Byrne:
Well, thank you Heidi, for inviting me. I appreciate it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, I'm really excited because, and I probably have said this on past podcasts, so sorry everybody, if you're hearing it again. But one of my very first shows in the roofing industry was the Florida Roofing Show in 1994. And I just love you guys. I love Lisa Pate. I love everything that the association does and your presidency has been pretty, I mean, what a great year to be president.

Joe Byrne:
I'll tell you what, it's really an honor to be the 100th president of this association. I've been involved with the FRSA since the eighties. And yeah, it's a long time and I'm an old guy, so it doesn't matter.

Joe Byrne:
But what a great organization at FRSA is, and I've learned a lot over the years through my peers and it's one of those things that I really get a lot out of. I think I get more out of it than I put back in sometimes, but there's not a day that went by in all my years with the FRSA that I didn't learn something or meet a new friend or a contractor. And it seems like the last 100 years, I think we've done that in that whole period of time. Back in 1922, when they started this thing, believe it or not they were trying to show their professionalism and their honesty, integrity and all that kind of stuff. And so 100 years later here we are, and we're doing the same thing. The problems they had back then are the same problem as, believe it or not, we have today, we're still fighting insurance, a labor problem, material shortage. I mean, we went through that in the eighties, the seventies it's a continual thing. Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I always say it just cycles. It seems to cycle and we just keep coming back to it.

Joe Byrne:
Yeah. I mean roofing like a lot of industries, it's like a roller-coaster. We have the high points and the low points and we just keep holding on, we know it's going to get better and hopefully it gets better.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, no, it will. It always does. We've watched that Joe, I'm with you. I've seen it also. I want to get more into the FRSA and all that, but you know what we did miss and I want to make sure we get this, is I would love for you to introduce yourself and your company so that everybody knows about your roofing company.

Joe Byrne:
Okay. Well, my name is Joe Byrne and I am the owner of BRI Roof Consulting my roofing career star back in 1969. And I went to work for my cousin. He asked me if I would want to do roofing. I was heading into the trucking industry, but he said a thing that made me want to go to roofing. He said, it'll keep you physically fit. You surf and everything. And so this is like working on your tan on the roof and you're getting paid for it. And I thought, what novel concept.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it.

Joe Byrne:
So, from my humble roots in 1969 to today, it was a continuing journey and path that I just love. And I met my beautiful wife. I actually was working for her parents. And my future mother-in-law told me hands off my daughters. Well, as you know Heidi, I didn't listen to her.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Thank goodness.

Joe Byrne:
40 years later, we're still together.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Aw. I love that.

Joe Byrne:
But my roofing company evolved into roof consulting for a good reason. I got tired of the labor problems we were having. And I was finding myself, spending more time helping my fellow roofers that would get into a jam. And as you know the construction industry with the building divisions and all the codes and everything, they needed a little help. So they would call me up and I would always tell them, "I'll help you if I can. And don't lie to me." I'm like your lawyer, don't lie to me because I can't help you if you lie. But if you do a good job or if you do a bad job and there's a gray area we can work on. That's what it's all about.

Joe Byrne:
So spending more and more time helping my fellow roofers out, and then it parlayed into just doing full-time roofing consulting.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. Consulting.

Joe Byrne:
But, I got to tell you, one of my mentors into consulting business is Tom Ganz TGI Inspections. Tom's a great guy. When he sold his roofing company, I asked him, "What are you going to do?" And he said, "I'm going to be a consultant." I said, "Yeah, consultants don't have the best reputation, but you'll be the good one." And he is, and still is the best out there. So props the to Tom.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it. I love it. And you followed in his footsteps. And that we need more of that type of professionalism where you really have the knowledge of the years that you've been involved and you're being able to share. That's what roofing respect is all about.

Joe Byrne:
And the knowledge and the experience. Because anybody can take this test and pass it, although you can't roof the way we're tested. But you get to understand that, but it's the experience behind those consultants and they actually worked on the roof, they installed the systems, they know what to look for and what to expect. And I think that's one of the things that I have to offer my clients, whether it be the roofing contractor or the homeowner, the condo, or the HOA, because I don't have a vested interest in selling them anything other than making sure they get a good contractor, a good set of specifications and job's done per the building code. And I want that referral. I don't really advertise.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's awesome. I love it. Well, okay. With that in mind, I know that we already kind of touched on FRSA started in 1922. And by the same thing, by contractors who wanted to continue to improve the professionalism of the industry. FRSA is well known across the country as being one of the first ones and the leaders really in licensing and just the association that has been put together to really help the contractors and make sure that it's helping the consumers. Maybe talk a little bit about that focus of the history of FRSA, but also kind of how that licensing and professionalism focus has been so much a part of it.

Joe Byrne:
Well 100 years ago or so they came up with a motto, Price it, do it right. And that has a lot to do with the integrity part we'd already talked about it. It wasn't until, I think, the latter part of the sixties, early seventies, that they started getting into licensing. And that set us apart from the rest of the country, because in some of the states, they may have required an occupational license or what they call it a business tax now, but they weren't really into licensing. I know myself being originally from Pennsylvania, I was certified through Certainty and Carlisle and a few other manufacturers because we went to their schools and we learned how to do it. And so when coming to Florida, I didn't really realize that you had to have a license, found out very quickly.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Joe Byrne:
But it really does, the licensing sets us apart. It really does because what happens is you're familiar with all the hurricanes we've had over the years. And it's a real eye opener when you start having all these storm chasers coming in from out of state. And when they come in, they don't really know our rules, regulations, or codes, and that's a bit of a problem. And then what happens is you get a lot of weak minded contractors looking at the dollar sign and they can convince them to pull permits for which is a mistake. One of the things that I tell everybody is I will get my executive director to send you a list of all the licensed contractors in your area that you can choose from because we're many, our organization has the best, the brightest and I'm prejudiced.

Heidi Ellsworth:
But true.

Joe Byrne:
But it is true. It is true. And from Hurricane Andrew to Michael, I mean, it's proven time and time again, that not all the codes are followed. Not all the things are installed properly, but when it comes to the FRSA members you'll find out that's where you have very few problems, unless you sustained a direct hit. That's a different story, but the thing with licensing, I can't stress it more, that you really need to be licensed, but I wish that the state of Florida would consider going back to what they used to require for the license, and that's the experience. Because when I was asked what kind of education I had and I told them hard knocks, they all sort of laughed. "You didn't go to college?" "No, I did not. I went right to work."

Joe Byrne:
I learned in my shop class and in tech school, I wanted to work with my hands and that's an option that's coming back, but it was sort of put to the side for a while. And I'm glad to see that we do have some apprenticeship programs that help that and after you get that apprenticeship whether it's through the agency with the FRSA, that you can get licensed next and that's like the next step.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Joe Byrne:
That's really what we're all about. Because the guy coming from Georgia or coming from Montana or whatever, they know the basics that's happening in their home states, they got to get educated in ours.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right. And it's different. I mean, with all the codes, when you think about Dade County and everything that kind of goes out from there, overall Florida building codes. Yeah. It's a different world.

Joe Byrne:
It is. And I've talked to a lot of roofers from like Texas and whatnot and they have a licensing agreement if it's like a commercial building. When it's residential, they don't really have it. And when my son was living in Houston, I was out there and it's my fault because when I go out there, I'm looking at the roofers.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Of course.

Joe Byrne:
Now I see a roof going on I pull over, I get out and start asking them questions and whatnot, and to see what they do versus what we do. And then if I can get them and talk to me, because as soon as they find out you're from Florida, it's like, "Oh, we don't want to talk to this guy." And I find that in a lot of places, but when you start talking to him about it, they're honest enough to tell me what they're doing and why I'll tell them why we do it and why. It's a fair exchange, but licensing is very important.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Very, and just to kind of touch on during the convention the upcoming, we're going to be having actually a Coffee Conversations and we're going to be talking about a lot of the issues that are happening in Florida, including the insurance. There's a lot going on with insurance. Matt and I talked about that on a previous podcast, but what are some of the top things that we should be talking about next week during that convention?

Joe Byrne:
Well, one thing that it really bothers me is the insurance part, because I get calls every day from people, either, "My roof is only 10 years old, it's supposed to last 20 years. My insurance company's coming out to replace it." And I'm like, well, that's maybe what they want, but let me go out there and inspect it. And I can look at it and tell you what it is. Now in a lot of cases, you go out there and the roofs are worn out or they're on that downward trend. And I try to explain to them I understand what the insurance companies are doing. They're just trying to minimize their losses and whatnot. When you go out and you see a perfectly good roof that has a lot of life left in it, I'll write a letter, a condition letter to the insurance company with photographs that show the condition of the roof. And it does have another five or 10 years just to have them write back saying, "Thank you for your inspection, your information, but they're going to have to replace their roof."

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow.

Joe Byrne:
That really bothers me. In fact, some of the insurance companies that I've talked to, they go, "Well, you're in the roofing industry. Why do you care?" And I said, "Well, number one, I'm a consumer and why should I replace a roof that doesn't even be replaced?" Oh, and guess what? Let's bring the environmentalist in here. Where's all that going? It's going to the dump and it doesn't need to. Maybe in 10 more years, it might, but not right now. So you start multiplying all that debris that's going into the landfills that don't need to be, because we can still, if it's a shingle roof, not that I would recommend it, but you can still shingle over top an existing shingle roof. To me, I think that's not a good thing, but people do it and the code allows it. But that's another aspect that they really need to look at.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And we're going to be talking about that next week. We're going to be talking about that during Coffee Conversations, because it is, it's a real issue right now in Florida, but let's talk a little bit about the convention because this is going to be awesome. Tell us what's happening.

Joe Byrne:
Well, let me tell you, we have a full slate of things that are going on and the first day, which is-

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wednesday, July 20th. Yes.

Joe Byrne:
That's our sports day. That's when you're going to have your golf, your fishing, your pistol, your rifle shooting. And it's going to be a lot of fun. I mean, that's our fun day, everybody looks forward to that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And that's actually the 19th Tuesday, just so everybody knows if you're hearing this that's Tuesday, July 19th.

Joe Byrne:
Right. Exactly. Yeah. And we have a lot of CE credit courses for your continuing education. We have some great speakers and we have a lot of good programs that John Hellein put together and we have some great speakers, like Mike Silvers and Manny Iola and they go on and on. And that's a good thing because that way, not only are you going to be catching the convention where you can walk the floor and see all the great things that are being showcased there, then you can go back and you can get a CU credit for your license. So it's good. And we have also have one for the building inspections as well. Because we don't want to count them out. They're they're not the enemy. We got to make them our friend. And I'm a member of the Building Officials Association. And I'm constantly talking to them about roofing and all that kind of stuff. And encourage them to come to the FRSA convention to see what's there and then get your CU credits.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's excellent.

Joe Byrne:
And of course we have our famous beer bust and that's three different times by three different sponsors, which is a really good thing. And all the vendors I'll tell you what, over the years, I've made a lot of friends with the vendors and it's really important. In fact, this year there's one vendor I got to go see right away. And that's the t-shirt vendor. Because I got lot of t-shirts I'm going to get made up. Some may be political. Some may be roofing, but whatever.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know those guys too, the vendors are great. That whole trade show. I mean, you guys have a full, you are full, the RoofersCoffeeShop booth is going to be out in the lobby, which we're really excited about. Because everybody's going to walk by it and we're going to be broadcasting live there. But when you go into that show floor, it is full every year and now Daytona beach, I mean, this is where the first convention was and now it's where the 100th.

Joe Byrne:
Yeah. And I think that is so cool that we're going back to our roots where it all started. And I mean the original hotel is still there. It's a different name. It's called Ocean Place, I believe it is. And in the inside they still have a lot of the architecture from 100 years ago. And I encourage people to go and just take a look at it. Because I'm having the president's breakfast over there with all the past presidents and all award winners, [inaudible 00:17:34], et cetera. And we're going to have a group picture taken in some of that architecture that's on the inside of the building, which I think is really cool.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Oh, that's great.

Joe Byrne:
I mean Daytona beach, who doesn't love Daytona?

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know, I know. I'm really excited to be there. And so on that I was going to ask you, how has the convention changed in 100 years? And so one of the things is the first, I can't believe you can go back to the first hotel 100 years ago and still have that architecture. That's very cool, but this year's going to be in the convention center.

Joe Byrne:
Well, especially with everybody tear down and rebuild, tear down, rebuild, it's so refreshing to see them keep most of the architecture there from 100 years ago. But like I said earlier, the convention, well, I'll tell you about dress. Yeah. That was one thing I looked at when every month Lisa has been running the history of the FRSA and the convention. And the pictures, I love them because they show you the convention, everybody's there with their suit and ties and the ladies with their dresses. And it's also pomp and circumstance. And then fast forward to today the last convention, I don't think I saw too many suit jackets and ties walking around except for me and Matt and a few of the other guys.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Joe Byrne:
Which is a cool thing. It's more laid back and everything, but it was the same thing. It was a gathering of all the manufacturers and the suppliers and the roofers. And they were all trying to do the same thing back then that we're doing today. Although they had it a little bit different because after the war. The war years were tough on them because of the lack of oil, the lack of metal. And so those guys back then had it a lot tougher. You think we have a tough today? I think they had a lot tougher back then. Because the war effort was really siphoning off needed materials. Whereas today not to be political, the way of going the other way is something else. But it's still a problem that we have. And that's what we talk about, whether we're in our committee meetings, which I want to talk about too, and the convention itself. So I'm really looking forward to it. I really feel blessed that I'm the 100 president. And I don't know if you can see it in the background, here's our poster back there.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Oh, I do see it. Yes. That's great. Wow.

Joe Byrne:
It's funny when Maria called me up and she asked me, she said, "I want you to think about your logo and your charity of choice." I said, "Already got it and I'll send it to you." I sent her my hand drawing of the logo back there and my charity of choice, which is Tunnel to Towers, a great organization that helps not only the firefighters and the police, but the military and all their families, whether you're fallen, injured. I mean, it's a great charity. It's one that ever since 9/11, when the Siller families started that for their brother who was killed running to the towers. I mean, in fact, I think it's in, I can't remember the county right now, but they're building a village for people that have the disabilities and whatnot, and it's all mortgage free to all the people and they're educating their kids for free. So Tunnels to Towers is a great, great charity, but Maria was so surprised. She goes, "I can't believe it" [inaudible 00:21:03]. I said, "Yeah."

Heidi Ellsworth:
You were ready.

Joe Byrne:
She called me back and she goes, "It's a little rough logo." And I said, "But you get the gist of it."

Heidi Ellsworth:
Somebody can work on that.

Joe Byrne:
And then the tagline "100 years of the FRSA and American Roofer", I don't think there's anybody better than our American roofers, really. I mean, they're the best.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. I agree. That is-

Joe Byrne:
I talked to people. I was in Europe in the seventies, I went over for a little bit. I was talking to some of the roofers over there and there were experts at nailing on tile and doing thatched and they were build up roofs that didn't leave a lot to the imagination. I kept telling them what us Americans did. They were always impressed. Even though we got modified [inaudible 00:21:48] in the Germans, we perfected it over here.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love it.

Joe Byrne:
Nobody prejudice right there.

Heidi Ellsworth:
[inaudible 00:21:56]

Joe Byrne:
I am very pro-American.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I think it's pride. I think it's pride. That's what it is. We're proud of our industry. Well, okay. Speaking of that, let's talk a little bit, and you were just talking about your committees and what the FRSA does. How and why should contractors become members of FRSA and get involved?

Joe Byrne:
Well, there's a lot of reasons. Insurance is one, because we had the best self insured fund. Debbie runs a tight ship over there. She took over for, his name just went out of my head.

Heidi Ellsworth:
No problem. But we know we got Debbie.

Joe Byrne:
But not only the self-insured fund, but all the committees, because I've been involved with the tile committee, the codes committee, governmental affairs, and throughout the years I've chaired or co-chaired all those. And it's very important because that's our input into our industry, especially the codes committee, because when codes are introduced, whether it's from the general contracting community or the electrical or the plumbing and the roofers we have an outlet that we can funnel those things to. And we have a great leader in Mike Silvers as our professional and he does a very good job of going up there and pushing the agendas as well because we're trying to make it better and that's the thing, I think hurricane Andrew showed us a lot of flaws in the system and everything. And we just try to make it better.

Joe Byrne:
Not that it's going to kill the consumers because that's not what we're trying to do. We're trying to make the product better. So we do have these events but governmental affairs, Chris Robinson, I'll tell you what that guy there. I mean, I think Mike is the Energizer bunny. Well guess what, Chris Robinson is the Energizer bunny too. Because he's constantly working. And boy, he had some big shoes to fill. Because Cam Ventures, who I loved to death. When she retired, he took over and I'll tell you what he has missed a beat.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's great. That's so important.

Joe Byrne:
That's really good. And as far as the tile code committee or the tile committee when that started, I think it was back in '91. I know I attended the first meeting of the tile committee and we were talking about bringing everybody together because it was a centralized thing where people here were doing something different. People here were doing something different and all that kind of stuff.

Joe Byrne:
And so FRSA basically said let's bring everybody together and see if we can get a consensus document that everybody can use, never intending it to be part of the code, which it is now, that was an involvement or evolution thing. But all the manufacturers jumped on board. I mean, we had all the tile manufacturers saying, this is a great idea because we were sort of fragmented. There was a little bit of everything and we were all trying to do the same thing. But boy, from that first meeting, I believe it was in '91 if I'm not mistaken, to today it's a lot different because back then it was mainly a hot mop system mortar set. And there were a few specialty ones, but now it runs gamut.

Joe Byrne:
And then if you want input, get on the committee because every year the president will appoint or re appoint the chairs and the co-chairs. And it's a lot of experience in those rooms, but we always want the input of the contractors and the manufacturer because I'll tell you what they come up with a lot of good ideas, some not too good. We have a tendency to weed everything out and the committees get together and the subcommittees and do what's right for the consumer as well as the roofing community.

Joe Byrne:
And that's a very good reason to get involved because sometimes I'll have a roofer ask me, "Why are we doing that?" And I'll explain to them why we're doing that and say, "Do you have a copy of the FRSA TRI manual?" "What the hell is that?" "Okay, here. I'll get it out of my briefcase and I'll give it to you." And I'll show them the details and this, that, and the other. All of a sudden, they go, "Hmm, that's a good idea." I said, "What you need to do is you need to join our association." And that is where a lot of new members come in from the individuals talking about it. And I talk a lot.

Heidi Ellsworth:
But that's what you need to do. We need to be sharing this information.

Joe Byrne:
Exactly. I mean, I have articles in my briefcase that I give out the people when even condo boards or HOAs and whatnot, and they'll be talking about well, we have a bad problem with [inaudible 00:26:54]. We may have to tear the off, "Oh, no you don't. That's a natural occurrence in some of these tiles." And I give an article, they read it and know why. Or wind uplift. They don't understand it. Well, Mike Silvers can break it down in some of these articles that is easy for the consumer to digest.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's great.

Joe Byrne:
So you give it to them and then it's like, "Oh, so what's this FRSA all about?" "Go to our website."

Heidi Ellsworth:
And you get all the information. Yeah. I love that. The associations are just the heart of our industry and there's nothing more important than being involved. And we love it. We're involved with all of the associations because we believe in that so much. So when everyone's listening to this, it's going to be this week, because we're going to be running this during the FRSA convention. But if you haven't already registered and you're close, you need to come to the show in Daytona Beach at the convention center. And all that information can be found both on the FRSA website, Floridaroof.com and also on RoofersCoffeeShoop on the FRSA directory. So you can find all the information. If you're local, you should be there. Come find it, come join. I have tell you, I've been doing the Florida show almost 30 years and haven't missed very many and it is the best thing. And this year's just going to be awesome, Joe. Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing all this. I'm really excited.

Joe Byrne:
Well, I appreciate it, I appreciate the invite.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. And we're going to see you next week or everybody. So be watching the coffee conversation. Joe's going to be on there.

Joe Byrne:
They can [inaudible 00:28:38].

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yep. We'll be having all kinds of great information coming out from there. So Joe, once again, thank you so much for being on the show and for sharing all this about the 100th anniversary of the FRSA convention really excited and congratulations. You are an amazing 100th president.

Joe Byrne:
Well, thank you. I appreciate that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And thank all of you for listening. I love these podcasts. This is the kind of stuff that really shows you the heartbeat, what's really happening in the roofing industry. And you can hear all of these podcasts on RoofersCoffeShop.com underneath the RLW navigation. You'll find podcasts and Roofing Road Trips or on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe and hit the notifications. So you don't miss a single one and we'll be seeing you soon again on the next Roofing Road Trips.

Speaker 1:
Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips with Heidi from the RoofersCoffeeShop.com.