Key Accomplishments

Membership dues to the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA) is the largest source of funding that we have. Its importance cannot be understated... it is a vital part of the association which enables us to continue to fight for our industry on behalf of all mason contractors. Our involvement on all fronts from regulatory reform to continuing education and training help to ensure the survivability & viability of our industry for generations to come. These are just some of the key accomplishments supported by 2008-2009 membership dues:

The MCAA continues to Chair the Subcommittee for ASTM's Silica Group. As many of you know, a big issue concerning our industry right now is the effects of silica exposure on the jobsite and how that will be mandated. OSHA has been working to develop a regulation that could have treated all job-sites as hazardous material zones (MCAA was contacted by national OSHA in January of 2009 regarding their intention to get a silica standard passed this year if possible, but certainly no later than 2010) where silica is present thus costing contractors thousands of dollars for the new regulatory compliance. For the first time ever, the MCAA has successfully passed a consensus Silica Standard through ASTM that OSHA followed closely. It's believed that OSHA will utilize this standard for the new Silica regulation. This is a BIG win for us as the standard was written by contractors and will help keep excess regulation to a minimum.

OSHA recently passed a regulation requiring mason contractors to wear protective cover (gloves) and for contractors to provide their workers with them (under the PPE rule) when handling wet Portland cement in order to limit exposure to hexavalent chromium. Several of our member companies have been cited already. The MCAA has taken a supportive role to help the safety directors of these member companies dispute the citations. The MCAA will be requesting a waiver for masons with quality control issues and lack of evidence that mortar on masons hand as our primary arguments. We are confident a waiver can be implemented relatively soon.

With key contributions from the MCAA, the website MasonrySysyems.org went online this past January. This tool was developed to educate and illustrate to the design community the benefits of total masonry construction. It has become the on-line reference guide for everything and anything masonry.

The MCAA helped support the "Going Green Initiative" developed by the US Green Building Council for Colorado. The idea of "going green" as a building concept is one the MCAA endorses. Masonry has a clear advantage over competing systems with regard to lifecycle costs and proximity to job-site points which comprise points for green projects. Educating not only designers but mason contractors on the green attributes of masonry will be a primary concern of ours.

A collaborative effort between the National Concrete and Masonry Association (NCMA) and MCAA to earn back market share by encouraging federal, state and local municipalities to mandate the use of masonry in new construction. The work has already begun as small groups are heading out across the United States to promote the use of masonry to their communities, village boards, cities and towns. As the momentum builds, we should be able to see markets that had once been lost start to rebuild again through our team efforts.

This past year the MCAA successfully partnered up with the Ohio Masonry Association (OMA) and the Indiana Concrete and Masonry Association (ICMA) to better serve the needs and help address the concerns of our members in those states. By continuing to establishing these relationships with state & local groups throughout the country, we're able strengthen our association and provide unified support to our members at every level.

Available April 2009, our members can now enjoy up to 26% off select FedEx shipping services. This is a value added benefit that puts money right back in your pocket especially if your company currently utilizes FedEx express or ground shipment services. You can enroll your company and receive this benefit directly through the MCAA website.

The MCAA launched the Virtual University featuring self-paced online courses that can be accessed twenty-four hours a day on the MCAA website. Over 100 courses are online; all are eligible for Certification credit.

The Masonry Career Center was created for the MCAA website. The career center gives employers the ability to target their advertising to recruit just the candidates they're looking for and spend less time doing it.

We thank you for your support!

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