The first week of March, the Hoover Treated Wood Products Architectural and Codes team packed their bags and headed to Loveland, Colorado for the 39th annual Educational Institute hosted by the Colorado Chapter International Code Council. Hoover has a longstanding relationship with the Colorado code community and has been present – either attending or speaking – at this event for more than 10 years.
“The Colorado community is very active in the code development process,” said Chris Athari, Director of Architectural Solutions, Hoover Treated Wood Products. “The people in attendance really want to embrace learning opportunities – it’s a great event.”
The conference included 65 full-day classes in 13 different course paths, with top instructors from across the United States. This year, Hoover instructors, Chris Athari and Jim Gogolski hosted a full-day session to 30 professionals focused on three primary topics:
- Fire-rated construction basics – What to look for in proper installations of wood framing in floors, walls and roofs as well as common code violations.
- Fire-retardant-treated wood (FRTW) applications – Defines what FRTW is per the model codes, and identifying code-compliant applications in building construction, including when building in the wildland-urban interface.
- FRTW testing standard development – How testing standards for FRTW are developed and accepted, including how to read and understand code evaluation reports and acceptance criteria.
Attendees were particularly interested in exploring in-depth conversations about the inspection process. Hoover presented examples of failed installations with learnings on how to combat common mistakes. Learnings included proper installation processes and material handling, storage solutions, how to inspect FRTW at job sites and how to identify code compliant FRTW.
“This class is a free resource provided by Hoover that ensures people have the tools to create safe buildings to live and work,” said Jim Gogolski, Architectural/Code Technical Representative, Hoover Treated Wood Products. “Hoover is at the head of the class when it comes to understanding and influencing code. It’s important we share our knowledge and teach those who oversee the construction of our buildings. We will all be safer because of it.”
Learnings from this event go beyond Colorado. Regional Code officials from Wyoming, Texas, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Missouri and even Maryland were also present. With so much location diversity, Hoover had the opportunity to educate urban and rural regions on how to properly use FRTW.
“These events are a great way to give back to our communities and we can’t wait to be back again in 2025 to do it again,” said Chris Athari, Director of Architectural Solutions, Hoover Treated Wood Products.
To learn more about FRTW and other events Hoover will be present at, visit frtw.com or contact Hoover’s free FRTW product support service at 1-800-TECWOOD or tecwood@frtw.com.
+++
ABOUT CHRISTOPHER ATHARI
Christopher is a chemist with more than 30 years of experience in the building products industry. He has significant experience formulating coatings for wood products and in research and development of gypsum innovations. Currently, he provides FRTW design consultation to architects, engineers and regulators, is an active participant in the standards and alternative code criteria development processes, and is a member of ASTM and ICC. He is proud alum of West Virginia University where he earned his degree in chemistry.
ABOUT JIM GOGOLSKI
Jim is a wood technologist with more than 45 years of experience. He has held positions with APA – The Engineered Wood Association, a wood preservative supplier, and the Southern Forest Products Association. Currently he provides FRTW design consultation to architects, engineers and regulators, is a member of ICC and NFPA, and is an active member of a number of fire committees. He earned a BS in Wood Products Technology from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Xavier University.
