The original mission and purpose for CFA was to provide advocacy for contractor organizations at a national level, giving voice to smaller companies that could not achieve a platform of influence. As an industry trade organization, a primary benefit of becoming a member is participating in this advocacy work, or helping to ensure CFA is working on your behalf. Whether as a singular entity or a collection of distinct organizations, the prospect of effecting change, establishing standards, promoting awareness, and endorsing safe and intelligent practices is exceedingly challenging. Therefore, we stand in the face of that challenge and continually work toward the improved conditions, regulations and prescriptive requirements that impact your business.
CFA staff members and key contributing persons from CFA member companies continue to serve as active members of committees for the American Concrete Institute (ACI), www.concrete.org. Primary efforts to establish, maintain and innovate ways to improve the market are found throughout these committees with representation of industry best practices that become standards and guides. ACI 332, Residential Concrete, has been the primary area for such advocacy over the last three decades. Instrumental in the original residential concrete code document (ACI 332-04), CFA has continued to participate in the advancement and evolution of this standard, along with its teaching guide, ACI 332R. ACI C-655 became a certification committee for Residential Foundation Technician Certification, initially a program established under the CFA for individuals and is now fully managed by ACI while served mostly by CFA Staff and members. ACI 380, Plain Structural Concrete, has been reformed from a 1970s committee establishing standards for the performance of concrete within the pre-crack limits and now seeks to establish recommendations for incorporation of enhanced behavior for concrete due to the evolved mixes, admixtures and alternative reinforcement products available to the market.
CFA staff has participated in meetings and advocacy for the Advisory Council for Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH). This council, established by OSHA as a way of investigating issues that may lead to or change regulations related to construction safety practices or health concerns, has been instrumental in the efforts to increase safety regulations for issues such as fall protection and crane operator certification. CFA has helped to defend and shape these regulations as well as stepping into the application gap by researching and advising on the best practices to balance worker safety and company risk. Through these efforts, the industry has become more knowledgeable and safer while participating companies have become market leaders for adapting to the standards. CFA continues to teach, train, organize certifications and weigh in on development issues, advising the industry of pending regulatory action and providing statistics to support or refute proposed development.
In 2023, CFA joined in to support the American Concrete Pumping Association (ACPA) who launched a safety campaign to bring heightened awareness of ASME B30.27, Material Placement Systems—which when followed, elevates safety on concrete pump job sites. To be effective, the B30.27 standard requires accountability and cooperation among all trades on a concrete pumping site. ACPA saw an industry need for a one-stop resource to help both pumpers and contractors understand their responsibilities prescribed by the standard. When trades partner for safety, with each doing their part to prevent accidents, we can better protect every person on a job site from injuries and fatalities.
The CFA has a memorandum of understanding for a cooperative partnership with NEx, one of the latest organizational structures formed through the American Concrete Institute. NEx envisions a future where everyone has the knowledge needed to use nonmetallic building materials effectively to meet the demands of a changing world. As a standalone subsidiary of the American Concrete Institute with its own Board of Directors, Steering Committee and committees, NEx leverages the resources and relationships of ACI to further its mission.
CFA staff maintains rigorous attention to the volume of articles published annually in relation to the cast-in-place concrete industry within a variety of publications and publicly available technical documents. Concrete Facts is the flagship publication for the industry, receiving regular posts for news items, technical and business content and identifying the strategic advancements of the market and the Association. Partners with such industry magazines as Concrete Contractor and Concrete Construction magazines, CFA ensures that the voice of the cast-in-place concrete contractor is heard. Through a robust array of social media outlets, CFA curates the attractiveness of the industry and an awareness of the accomplishments and strategies employed by companies throughout North America known as #cfaconcretepros.
CFA Staff are part of the founding and contributing members for the Alliance for Concrete Codes and Standards (ACCS). This important industry alliance brings together the major associations and related interests with focus on concrete to share the responsibility for oversight and development of major industry codes and standards. Through the efforts of ACCS, CFA is held as part of a strategic collaborative alliance that shapes and defends the state of the most important industry building codes and standards from such organizations as ACI, ICC, ANSI, ASHRAE and ASCE as well as a variety of other major industry bodies.
CFA is a member of the North American Concrete Alliance (NACA). Formed in 2004, NACA is a coalition of the major concrete and cement-related associations dedicated to addressing industry-wide priorities in the areas of research, safety, education and government affairs. Cement and concrete product manufacturing directly or indirectly employs nearly half a million people, and our collective industries contribute approximately $70 billion to the U.S. economy.