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Do the people who labor to build homes have needed skills and safe working environments?
Homebuilders pride themselves on the skill of their staff - the men and women who actually build America's homes. From the lone craftsperson who builds one house a year to the teams of workers who put whole subdivisions in place, all of these hard-working people deserve a decent and safe workplace. The fatality rate for construction workers in all building sectors is three times the average of other industries.
PATH is helping find cost-effective and straightforward ways to reduce on site dangers for the homebuilding labor force. PATH's vision includes a goal for decreasing the number of residential construction work illnesses and injuries by at least 20% in the next decade. In combination with PATH partners and the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), PATH hopes to develop sound practices for improving the working conditions and skill levels of builders nationwide.
PATH Tools
Implementing a Quality Assurance System: A Trade Contractor Case Study November 2001
The aim of the project was to field test with the building trades the quality systems used by manufacturing industries. The result is an important new quality system that can help builders and framers satisfy homebuyer quality demands while increasing profits. The system represents a significant milestone in integrating quality management where it is most needed--the trade contractors that build the nation's homes.
Labor Shortages and Productivity in the Home Building Industry: Background Paper and Results from the 1998 Building Industry Technology Roundtable
Explores the connection between labor shortages and stagnating productivity in the home building industry.
Manufactured Home Installation Training Manual
Describes the issues to consider while installing a HUD-Code home.
Model Guidelines for Design, Fabrication, and Installation of Engineered Panelized Walls January 2002
This guide serves as a resource document for the housing and building component industries and as a comprehensive guideline for design, fabrication, and installation of panelized wall construction. More importantly, it provides a starting point for development of an industry standard which, through a reference in future building codes, could advance panelized wall construction as a safe and affordable housing technology.
Prescriptive Method for Connecting Cold-Formed Steel Framing to Insulating Concrete Form Walls in Residential Construction February 2003
This document was developed as a guideline for the connection of cold-formed steel (CFS) frame assemblies and structures to insulating concrete form (ICF) exterior walls in the construction of single-family homes.
Prescriptive Method for Insulating Concrete Forms in Residential Construction May 1998
Builders, code officials, design professionals, and others will find Prescriptive Method a helpful guide to using this new material for residential construction. Based on thorough testing and research, the prescriptive method section of the report outlines minimum requirements for ICF systems including wall thickness, termite protection, reinforcement, lintel span, and connection requirements.
Protocol for Assessment of Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) Technology
ICF's are forms for poured concrete walls that stay in place as a permanent part of the wall assembly.
Quality Assurance System for Wood Framing Contractors December 2000
This document is geared toward the framing activities of home building. It identifies a framework that a contractor can use to develop a quality management program that delivers maximum value.
Technology Stories
Success stories gathered by PATH to demonstrate the use of new housing technologies.
Content updated on 10/29/2004