He says CUFCA also works with all provincial building of-
ficial associations and participates in their annual general
meetings and educational sessions to increase knowledge
of SPF for their inspectors.
Cole says the association operates a consumer com-
plaint resolution process for any end users of members’
products. “If there is any concern that a job is defective, we
will be involved in the inspection and remediation process.
CUFCA also has an independent warranty program at no
cost to our contractors.”
He says, as is the case with many trades, the greatest
challenge is ensuring staff are well trained. It is a struggle,
he says, for contractors to invest in developing their employ-
ees. Once trained, many will take their newfound skills and
seek higher pay elsewhere.
“There is little loyalty these days and yes, we know this
is a two-way street, but the fallout is that many contractors
simply cannot afford to continue to fund training programs
for their staff only to have them leave.”
CUFCA offers skills training specific to the industry and
is currently working to develop innovative lower cost deliv-
ery systems.
CUFCA is an ISO-17024 accredited certification organiza-
tion for installers.The certification process includes a written
exam component to validate a candidate's knowledge and
a practicum spray out evaluation to confirm skills and abili-
ties.”CUFCA started to offer an optional training program in
response to, what we felt, was a clear lack of training being
offered by manufacturers of spray foam systems.”
Since 1926, Graco Inc. has been a leading provider of
premium pumps and spray equipment for fluid handling
in the construction, manufacturing, processing and
maintenance industries. Headquartered in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, Graco works closely with distributors around
the world to offer innovative products that set the
quality standard for spray finishing, paint circulation,
lubrication, sealant and adhesives dispensing, process
application, and contractor power equipment. These
best-in-class products are manufactured in the U.S. and
China and supplied through our distribution centers in
Minnesota, Belgium, Japan, Korea, China and Australia.
What sets us apart from our competitors is our history,
a focus on highly-engineered, quality products, industry-
leading innovation and the solid partnerships we form
with customers and suppliers around the world.
Phone: 800-328-0211
www.graco.com/Reactor The association operates a fully equipped training centre
in Mississauga, with both 2lb closed cell and .5 lb open cell
SPF products. “It is still a challenge to take a student who
may have had no prior experience and teach them to be-
come proficient in only four days. Our training program used
to be two weeks and was quite expensive but due to man-
ufacturers with other QAP programs wishing to offer half
day courses we were forced to change our program.”
This is one of the reasons members are encouraged to
implement an apprenticeship style training program within
their own workplaces.
Cole says the industry as a whole suffers when its mem-
bers do not take field quality assurance seriously. The in-
creasing failures, he says, will ultimately negatively impact
the larger market. “Thankfully CUFCA members are commit-
ted to the ideals of a higher quality spray foam industry.”
Other issues facing members include the influx of new
and inexperienced installers that have entered the market-
place. “Spray foam is growing from a niche business to be-
coming more mainstream. This rapid growth does result in
some difficulty for the industry to keep up with demand.”
He says an increase in competition and the variety of
skills needed and available is also a challenge. “The con-
struction industry, with its “low-bid” system of contractor
and sub-contractor selection really is problematic,” Cole
said. “How can good quality flow from a system that is set
up to pay the least for any trade?”
He says the quality control issue is so great that it has
spawned an entire industry of third party inspection
providers working for architects to ensure that systems in-
stalled meet the codes.
CUFCA also provides these services to its members and
their clients. As an impartial third party to both the manu-
facturer and the contractor, he says CUFCA will ensure that
the SPF work installed meets the standards and codes. “We
have very good templates for specification writers that can
be taken from our website in order to ensure they have a
sound starting point when contracting for spray foam.”
Cole says CUFCA also works to build the spray foam in-
dustry as a whole, offering impartial education to building
officials, architects and other design professionals to pro-
vide a greater knowledge of the various spray foam prod-
ucts and their applicable standards and installation process.
“Products all have strengths and weaknesses and there is a
great deal of confusion in the market that needs to be clar-
ified.” He says a good relationship with building departments
across Canada ensures CUFCA can answer questions or
concerns quickly and correctly with no commercial interest
resulting from working for any one manufacturer. “We are
passionate about the products and see tremendous poten-
tial in achieving energy saving targets and carbon reduction
targets when installing such a superior air sealing and ther-
mal insulating product.”
He says the association is always working on ways to
continue to build a stronger community within the SPF mar-
ket in Canada and has made progress.
The association also continues to make progress in sup-
porting its members.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Continued on page 51
50 – September 2016 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report
Genyk Polyurethanes:
An emerging force in the
Canadian spray foam market
Canadian Design and Construction Report special feature
Genyk Polyurethanes is making its mark on the Canadian spray
foam market. Established in 2012, Genyk started in flexible
polyurethanes and two years ago introduced its Canadian Con-
struction Materials Centre (CCMC) approved medium density
spray foam. Today, Genyk has a complete product line ranging
from light density spray foams to higher density roofing materials.
The premier product in the Genyk line is Boreal Lavender, a
CCMC approved, ecologically responsible medium density foam.
Mark Furoy, president of Furoy’s Insulation, a 20-year veteran
of the spray foam industry, endorses Genyk as a contractor
friendly product. “My sprayers love the ease of application, my
customers love the pleasant aroma during the spray process, and
I love the yield.”
Genyk’s “sprayability” is no accident. The driving force behind
Genyk is Yves Rondeau, a chemist and 25-year veteran of the
spray polyurethane foam industry. Together, Rondeau and his lab
partner David Lievin have 40 years of experience with
polyurethanes. In the field, Genyk is represented by Mike Richmond from On-
tario, a building science specialist with 35 years of experience in
the spray polyurethane industry.
Genyk’s rise in the spray foam community has been rapid. The
company’s short history has been marked by product consis-
tency and material innovation.
In the immediate future, Genyk will be announcing its new
Type Two, medium density ‘Nature.’ On the horizon – watch for
Genyk’s new HFO-blown medium density foam.
“If the company’s performance is repeated, the spray foam in-
dustry will be well served by these new products,” says Rich-
mond. For more information about Genyk, visit www.genyk.com.
Continued from page 50
CUFCA recently released a new daily worksheet
online web form system. “A requirement of SPF in-
stallers in Canada is to complete a daily work record.
This is a requirement of the standard for 2lb closed
cell SPF and will also be a requirement for the .5 lb
open cell SPF standard that is due to be published
next month.”
The interactive form can be accessed from any
web enabled device. To achieve this, CUFCA lever-
aged its own installers’ database with external re-
sources such as the national weather bureau in order
to populate required data automatically where possi-
ble. “It has become a real timesaver for our members
and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
We will continue to investigate and leverage technol-
ogy where we can.”
“Spray foam is a wonderful product that can greatly
increase energy efficiency in the construction market.
As a site manufactured product it requires handling
by trained and experienced installers. Certification of
installers is a key component to ensuring you get qual-
ity workmanship at all times.”
For more information about CUFCA,
visit www.cufca.ca.
The Canadian Design and Construction Report — September 2016 – 51