Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute Annual Report

2018 has already been a busy year for the Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute (RMMI) as we strive to meet our goals of providing meaningful and accessible education as well as promoting quality masonry. Through three strategic planning sessions in 2017 the Board of Directors determined that there were two needs in the masonry industry that RMMI should focus on for 2018. One was the need for quality education and the other was the promotion of not just masonry, but
quality masonry.

To address the need for education the RMMI Education Committee revamped the Certification Program Requirements to include more training as well as continuing education. The committee also identified CORE classes that should be required for any Certified Contractor and have identified topics and trainings that are of interest to both upper and middle management, as well as field laborers. In the past year alone RMMI has provided 34 classes and trained over 384 attendees.

The other need the Board of Director’s wanted to address is the Masonry Industry’s need for promotion of quality workmanship and proper materials. To address this RMMI has been working with RDH to create the Colorado Masonry Design Guide to be published this Spring. This guide will be a resource for both architects and contractors and will be a guide for best practices. The Colorado Masonry Systems Guide is comprised of eight chapters that will cover masonry systems, building enclosures, special design considerations, quality control and assurance, anchored masonry veneer systems, single-wythe CMU systems, thermal performance, and energy
cod compliance.

In addition to the Certification Program and Colorado Masonry Design Guide RMMI has brought back the Master Works in Masonry Awards! The Master Works in Masonry Awards identify and promote the best in masonry design and construction in the Rocky Mountain Region. Anyone from the design/build team may enter a project in the competition. First, second and third place awards will be given in six categories including Historic Preservation, Commercial, Multi-Family/Residential, Educational, Government, and Non-Building (pavers, landscaping, and soundwalls). Submissions can be entered using our submission form at www.rmmi.org on the Master Works in Masonry page under our events tab.

While 2018 has already been a productive year and we are always looking ahead to the needs of the industry. The next step going into 2019 will be to further the promotion of quality masonry through industry studies and provide needed education through a few training videos. Until next year!

– Kim Wyatt, RMMI Director of Membership and Education