On the heels of another successful Leadership Summit and Industry Expo, RIA has been working on several fronts to strengthen the association and promote its members to a wide variety of industry stakeholders.

 

RIA staff and volunteers have attended numerous industry events this spring including: DKI Insights (Orlando, FL), Code Blue’s Innovation Summit 2013 (Tampa, FL), PLRB (Boston, MA), the International Disaster Conference (New Orleans, LA), Gathering of Eagles (Snowbird, UT) and the Combined Claims Conference (Long Beach, CA). These events gave RIA the opportunity to meet with members from across the country, recruit new member firms, promote RIA members to a variety of constituents and network with industry leaders.

 

RIA continues to raise money for the Restoration Industry Legal Fund (RILF). Sunbelt Rentals contributed $50,000 to the fund and challenged all of the exhibitors at the RIA Leadership Summit and Industry Expo to do the same. The fund will be used to address a number of issues that impact RIA members and the entire industry. 

 

RIA continues to press its case in Federal District Court against ThermaPure and has amended the complaint to include David Hedman, who is named as the owner of several of the patents in question.  RIA is soliciting donations from members and non-members to fund this effort and will make all prior art and case history available to RIA members for their use should the need arise. More information on the RILF can be found on the RIA website at www.restorationindustry.org.

 

RIA takes the protection of its trademarks very seriously and will pursue the unauthorized use by individuals and organizations. Recently, RIA has fought an attempt in Australia to invalidate its trademarked logo and the acronym “RIA.”  (Several years ago, the organization successfully fought the use of its magazine trademark, Cleaning & Restoration, by a publisher in Australia.) The association fully expects that the overwhelming evidence in RIA’s favor will result in having the case dismissed. At that point, RIA will then consider any possible punitive action. Only RIA members are allowed to use the RIA logo on their marketing materials, emails, ads and vehicles. Any unauthorized use should be reported to RIA at membership@restorationindustry.org. 

 

Approximately 30 people attended the Property Industry Conference on March 17th. The topic was contents restoration and a panel of restoration professionals provided different viewpoints on everything from managing stakeholder expectations and developing industry standards, to determining when items should be cleaned or replaced. The next conference will be held in Jacksonville, FL, on November 18, 2013. Watch www.propertyindustryconference.org for details.

 

The fire damage standard to determine whether or not a structure has been impacted by a fire should be going out for public comment later on this year. RIA is about to begin work on its second component standard, which addresses the remediation of structures following a fire, as well as a third standard on contents restoration. Anyone who is interested in serving on either of these standard development committees should contact Patti Harman, RIA’s director of standards and communications, at pharman@restorationindustry.org. 

 

RIA’s CR Curriculum Redevelopment Committee continues updating and revamping the curriculum for pre-requisite education for those seeking the Certified Restorer® certification. The curriculum will undergo an industry peer review this spring. Certification applications from individuals working towards their Certified Restorer, Water Loss SpecialistTM and Certified Mold ProfessionalTM certifications will be accepted through fall 2013 and all phases of the certification process must be completed by Feb. 14, 2013. In mid-2013, a new RIA Committee will be formed to begin the process of restructuring RIA’s certification program. Contact RIA’s Certification and Training department at certification@restorationindustry.org for additional deadlines and details or visit the RIA website and click on the “Certification” tab.

 

For more information on RIA and its programs, phone (800) 272-7012 or visit www.restorationindustry.org.