Setting Up New Hires for Success

By Lauren White, RCS Reporter.

The Training for Roof Application Careers program from NRCA helps new roofers gain skills and conversational competence to assist them on the rooftop. 

Because of the labor shortage in the roofing industry, people are getting hired even if they don’t have a lot of experience.  They are put on a roof and expected to learn by watching others instead of getting properly trained. The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) has made it a priority to help educate workers in the roofing industry.  They encourage training employees away from the roof, avoiding the “sink or swim” approach.  

NRCA created TRAC, Training for Roof Application Careers, to give new workers the information and skills they need to be successful on the roof, and to help with worker retention.  “This is a web-based, self-paced learning module, which someone who knows zero about roofing, can come inside a roofing company and over time...they can learn about the basics of the roofing industry,” explains Jared Ribble, the Director of Qualified Trainer and ProCertification programs for NRCA.

TRAC has both English and Spanish content, providing “new and inexperienced field workers with information and skills to help them become quality roof system installers who thrive in their careers,” Jared Ribble shared.  Currently, there are two different training packages available, Thermoplastic Roof Membrane Installation and Asphalt Shingle Installation. NRCA continues to build this program and will eventually include each roof system as part of TRAC.  A TRAC package for foremen will be released in 2020.

Both packages include a component called “Essentials: Onboarding for Roof System Installers.”  The course includes 15 modules with information on safety, rooftop access, roof tear-off, and more.  By completing this section of the course, and the exam at the end, new roofing workers are provided with important information that all field employees should know.  

The thermoplastic roof membrane installation package has hands-on activities and 15 hours of online content.  The second component of this package is the low-slope core, which consists of four courses and one exam.  Participants learn about the concepts of low-slope roofing and installation, including low-slope deck preparation, vapor retarder and insulation installation, and flashing concepts for low-slope roofing.  Thermoplastic roof membrane installation is the final component, which covers an overview of single-ply membrane as well as its installation, and information on thermoplastic seaming and flashings. With four courses, hands-on activities, and an exam, roof system installers and potential installers will learn about working on a crew for thermoplastic roof system installation.  

The other package, asphalt shingle installation, has over 10 hours of online content and hands-on activities.  Besides “Essentials,” the remaining components of this package includes steep-slope core and asphalt shingle installation.  The three courses of steep-slope core cover concepts regarding steep-slope decks and underlayment, in addition to flashing concepts.  There is an exam at the end, and upon completion, participants are prepared to learn about installing steep-slope roof systems. The asphalt shingle installation component has two courses, multiple hands-on activities, and concludes with an exam.  The focus of this course is asphalt shingle installation and flashings, providing roof system installers with necessary information to be successful working on an asphalt shingle roof system installation crew.

Brad Sutter, Executive Vice President of Sutter Roofing, states, “We understand that proper onboarding of employees is a very important factor to their early success and also their long-term potential to stay with our company.”  Sutter Roofing, based in Orlando, Florida, is involved with the training NRCA provides. Training employees away from the jobsite is a different approach than most companies take, but Brad has been happy to be involved in the process.  “Because it was developed by NRCA, we know that the roofing specific terms and the safety described are accurate and geared to our industry, which is a big plus,” Brad shares.

Another goal of TRAC is to provide new and inexperienced roofers with “conversational competence.”  This means, “A foreman can say, ‘Hey go get those fasteners for me. Go get this installation,’ and the worker actually knows and has some idea how to because he’s conversationally competent up on the roof,” Jared Ribble shares.  Being conversationally competent means roofers understand helpful terminology, roofing concepts, what duties and responsibilities are expected of them, and hands-on skills they’ll develop over time. 

TRAC serves as an onboarding tool for roofing basics.  Jared explains, “This would never turn someone into a skilled roofer.  That takes years, and that takes a lot of prep.” Through this program, new hires learn necessary information such as, the difference between steep-slope and low-slope roofing, and how to properly insulate a roof, all while gaining hands-on experience and techniques.  TRAC sets new hires up for success by giving them the necessary terminology and skills that will benefit them on the rooftop.

For information about NRCA and its services and offerings, visit www.nrca.net.