SPFA Course 101 and 101 BE | Ask Mason Knowles - SPF Consultant | Spray Foam Technical Questions and Answers | SprayFoam Magazine Q&A Forums

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mason Posted: Sep 11, 2008 03:12 PM	SPFA Course 101 and 101 BE I will be teaching two courses Oct 31 and Nov 1, 2008 in Ashville North Carolina, SPFA course 101, Fundamentals of SPF and 101 BE Fundamental of SPF used in the Building Envelope. Both of these courses are required to be fully accredited by SPFA. Plus I will be providing helpful handouts, tips and techniques along with the courses. For example, daily job log, inspection form, quality control check list and more. And you can get answers to your building envelope questions from the horses mouth (so to speak) We picked Ashville, NC because is very centrally located within easy driving distance from Raleigh, Charlotte, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta and other cities, Plus Ashville is a beautiful town with a lot of history. More information is available on ads at sprayfoammagazine.com
Doug Commette Posted: Sep 30, 2008 08:02 PM	SprayFoamMagazine.com is sponsoring the Mason Knowles Training Schools coming up in Asheville, NC at the end of this month. As part of our sponsorship any SPF contractors that attend will receive a $200 credit on a banner ads, or a Featured Conractor Listing on this webiste. Some limitations apply.
Chris Cole Posted: Oct 14, 2008 08:05 PM	Mason, How often are these courses offered? Just say I miss this one, when can I catch the next one. And how long will it take to complete all of them? Thanks in advance!
mason Posted: Oct 15, 2008 10:42 AM	The next time and place these courses are being offered is at the annual sprayfoam conference Jan 11-14 in Austin, Texas. Most of the SPFA Accreditation courses are offered at the annual conference. So far, I have presented 3 different courses at 6 different locations. I would like to present 101 and 101 BE at least 4-6 times a year in various locations across the country. Exact dates and locations have yet to be determined. If you have enough folks that want to take the courses in your area, (typically 20 to 30 persons minimum) we can schedule something specific to your needs. Let me know or contact Margo Commette for more details.
Chris Cole Posted: Oct 15, 2008 07:30 PM	Mason I understand the SPFA offers these courses on CD. I would like to go to the courses you teach but the finances are just not there yet, with airfare and hotel and all. Can I go the CD route and still benefit?
SprayFoamSupply.com Posted: Oct 15, 2008 08:11 PM	If Mason is willing to return, we will be offering the courses again in NH in the early spring! We are also going to try and have a day to do something more hands on, maybe teaching how to do adheasion tests, density, etc. Mason, weren't you working on an advanced BE? George
Posted: Oct 16, 2008 06:22 AM	..at the risk of... when looking at the proposed path to accreditation for the building envelope contractor i notice a few courses that im not aware are available,,say like the building science,,,and then there is reference to equip and materials courses,,,are these the old "foam mechanic" course???... i have been frustrated with the spfa,,this has been the condition of the insulation contractor accreditation for some time(read:years)...references to a path that cant be completed,,while we continue to go out and spend our $$ on hurricane effects on foam roofs...we got the message the last few hurricanes,,the stuff works well.. can we maybe concentrate our efforts on completeing the path to the path so we can tout our accreditation as the spf roofers do??? just another manic thursday... 'dude ps: yes i am a member,,and i encourage you all to join as well...we need to support our proffessional organizations to maintain our professionalism in the buisness community...
mason Posted: Oct 16, 2008 07:41 AM	Foamdude, Course 101 BE has a two to three hour chapter on building science, plus we have Q & A during the course to assist. While not a comprehensive building science course, 101 BE provides the basic building blocks for an applicator to know the interactions of heat, air and moisture within the building and how the proper use of SPF can address those factors. Yes, the equipment and materials courses are offered by the supplier and the old "foam mechanic" course offered by Gusmer is an example of an equipment and materials course. Right now there are a 6-8 suppliers who have had their foam mechanic courses evaluated and approved by SPFA. Any SPFA supplier or consultant company can offer this course. They just need to contact SPFA and follow the procedures for evaluation and approval of their courses. An advanced BE course is still in the works. With the hiring of Rick Duncan at SPFA, I expect the course will be completed within a reasonable amount of time.
mason Posted: Oct 16, 2008 07:47 AM	Eloc, The courses are not available on CD (except the 101 R course and I think that one is out of date). However, you can challenge the course. Contact SPFA and they will send a manual that you study. Then contact them when you think you can pass the test. Arrange to have someone proctor the test for you. (example a library or community college). SPFA sends the test to the proctor, they watch you take the test and send it to SPFA to grade. If you are short on time and need accreditation and feel that you know enough to pass the test without instruction, this is a way to go. However, as you can imagine, you do miss the interaction with an experienced instructor that can more fully explore SPF applications and answer questions on the spot. For example, more than 90% of the topics on this forum are discussed when I teach courses 101 and 101 BE.
Chris Cole Posted: Oct 16, 2008 10:37 PM	Thanks for everyones input. Mason, I guess I misinterpretted SPFA's website where they quoted the price of each course on CD. I will be looking for dates of future courses. Cant wait!

Author

Comments

mason

Posted: Sep 11, 2008 03:12 PM

SPFA Course 101 and 101 BE

I will be teaching two courses Oct 31 and Nov 1, 2008 in Ashville North Carolina, SPFA course 101, Fundamentals of SPF and 101 BE Fundamental of SPF used in the Building Envelope. Both of these courses are required to be fully accredited by SPFA. Plus I will be providing helpful handouts, tips and techniques along with the courses. For example, daily job log, inspection form, quality control check list and more. And you can get answers to your building envelope questions from the horses mouth (so to speak)

We picked Ashville, NC because is very centrally located within easy driving distance from Raleigh, Charlotte, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta and other cities, Plus Ashville is a beautiful town with a lot of history.

More information is available on ads at sprayfoammagazine.com

Doug Commette

Posted: Sep 30, 2008 08:02 PM

SprayFoamMagazine.com is sponsoring the Mason Knowles Training Schools coming up in Asheville, NC at the end of this month.

As part of our sponsorship any SPF contractors that attend will receive a $200 credit on a banner ads, or a Featured Conractor Listing on this webiste.

Some limitations apply.

Chris Cole

Posted: Oct 14, 2008 08:05 PM

Mason, How often are these courses offered? Just say I miss this one, when can I catch the next one. And how long will it take to complete all of them? Thanks in advance!

mason

Posted: Oct 15, 2008 10:42 AM

The next time and place these courses are being offered is at the annual sprayfoam conference Jan 11-14 in Austin, Texas. Most of the SPFA Accreditation courses are offered at the annual conference.

So far, I have presented 3 different courses at 6 different locations. I would like to present 101 and 101 BE at least 4-6 times a year in various locations across the country. Exact dates and locations have yet to be determined.

If you have enough folks that want to take the courses in your area, (typically 20 to 30 persons minimum) we can schedule something specific to your needs.

Let me know or contact Margo Commette for more details.

Chris Cole

Posted: Oct 15, 2008 07:30 PM

Mason I understand the SPFA offers these courses on CD. I would like to go to the courses you teach but the finances are just not there yet, with airfare and hotel and all. Can I go the CD route and still benefit?

SprayFoamSupply.com

Posted: Oct 15, 2008 08:11 PM

If Mason is willing to return, we will be offering the courses again in NH in the early spring! We are also going to try and have a day to do something more hands on, maybe teaching how to do adheasion tests, density, etc. Mason, weren't you working on an advanced BE?

George

Posted: Oct 16, 2008 06:22 AM

..at the risk of...
when looking at the proposed path to accreditation for the building envelope contractor i notice a few courses that im not aware are available,,say like the building science,,,and then there is reference to equip and materials courses,,,are these the old "foam mechanic" course???...
i have been frustrated with the spfa,,this has been the condition of the insulation contractor accreditation for some time(read:years)...references to a path that cant be completed,,while we continue to go out and spend our $$ on hurricane effects on foam roofs...we got the message the last few hurricanes,,the stuff works well..
can we maybe concentrate our efforts on completeing the path to the path so we can tout our accreditation as the spf roofers do???

just another manic thursday...
'dude

ps: yes i am a member,,and i encourage you all to join as well...we need to support our proffessional organizations to maintain our professionalism in the buisness community...

mason

Posted: Oct 16, 2008 07:41 AM

Foamdude,

Course 101 BE has a two to three hour chapter on building science, plus we have Q & A during the course to assist. While not a comprehensive building science course, 101 BE provides the basic building blocks for an applicator to know the interactions of heat, air and moisture within the building and how the proper use of SPF can address those factors.

Yes, the equipment and materials courses are offered by the supplier and the old "foam mechanic" course offered by Gusmer is an example of an equipment and materials course. Right now there are a 6-8 suppliers who have had their foam mechanic courses evaluated and approved by SPFA. Any SPFA supplier or consultant company can offer this course. They just need to contact SPFA and follow the procedures for evaluation and approval of their courses.

An advanced BE course is still in the works. With the hiring of Rick Duncan at SPFA, I expect the course will be completed within a reasonable amount of time.

mason

Posted: Oct 16, 2008 07:47 AM

Eloc,

The courses are not available on CD (except the 101 R course and I think that one is out of date). However, you can challenge the course. Contact SPFA and they will send a manual that you study. Then contact them when you think you can pass the test. Arrange to have someone proctor the test for you. (example a library or community college). SPFA sends the test to the proctor, they watch you take the test and send it to SPFA to grade.

If you are short on time and need accreditation and feel that you know enough to pass the test without instruction, this is a way to go.

However, as you can imagine, you do miss the interaction with an experienced instructor that can more fully explore SPF applications and answer questions on the spot.

For example, more than 90% of the topics on this forum are discussed when I teach courses 101 and 101 BE.

Chris Cole

Posted: Oct 16, 2008 10:37 PM

Thanks for everyones input. Mason, I guess I misinterpretted SPFA's website where they quoted the price of each course on CD. I will be looking for dates of future courses. Cant wait!

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