b'Conference was to compare the ways in whichthevarioussegmentsofthe industry,manufacturers,architects andspecifiers,and contractors,share theresponsibilitiesandliabilities for the performance of the built-up roofing system. Speakers on the conference program wereProfessorVarianandMichel Bove,Paris,France;EricAmiguet, Switzerland; J. Marshall Roy, and K. M Pearson, England, Toby Nadel, Architect, New Jersey; George Stephenson, TO BE CONTINUED IN THE JANUARY ISSUE.St.Louis,Mo.,PaulMorris,Kansas City,Mo.andErskineFranklin, Celotex Corp., Tampa, Florida. MRCA membersparticipatingintheconference contributed valuable comments in the mutual exchange between nations. FRENCHSYSTEMOFTHETENYEAR GUARANTEE MICHELBOVE,fromCallendrite S.A., a firmwhich isboth a manufacturer of roofing materials as well as a roof applicator, gave a comprehensive presentation on the French System of the Ten-year guarantee. "WehadinFrance,at onetime," big man called Napolean." Bove said, "a "He left to France a legacy . a Civic Code. And in this Civic Code, he clearly explainsthatthecontractorshadto give a ten-year guarantee for their construction,covering the wallsand the roof.Thisten-yearguaranteeisstill alive,andunder this law,wecannot giveanylessthanaten-year guarantee." J.Marshall Roy fllustrates a problem on the blackboard to the conferees at theThereareseveralconsiderations Aspen, Colorado meetingbeforetheguaranteebecomes recently.effective. First, the materials must be manufacturedinaccordancewith specific requirements as setby an forth ThebeautyoftheRockiestookasamethingmadesyntheticallybyorganization similartotheASTMin "back seat" in the interests of the parti takingveryfinegranulatedfillers,the United States. cipantsattherecentInternationalmixing in the bitumen, with a resultingSecond, specifications, compiled by a Roofing Conference, held last month inproductsimilartothe"naturalgroupofcontractorsandarchitects Aspen, Colordao, located in the middleasphalt."include a list of materials, and state the of theRocky Mountains.These products are used basically toexactapplicationprocedurestobe J. Marshall Roy, England, speakingproduce a "massive" roof, composed ofused.Indesigningastructure,the onbehalf oftheEuropeandelegatestwo coats of the material, each 3/8-incharchitect hasonlytoindicatewhich said, "Wenot here to teach. We arespecification is to be used for the job. arethicktoget arelativelysolidmass. heretolearn,andifyoucangetThistypeof roof ispopular insomeThethirdconsiderationisthe anything from what we say, then it isparts ofBritish empire as well as inInsurance Company to underwrite the useful information."theguarantee. However,beforethey will Switzerland. "We are going to confuseyou,"heMarshallRoyindicatedthattheissuetheguarantee,theymustbe added, "That\'s natural, because believeBritishcontractorsaremovingawayassuredthatthematerialswere me,you confuse us!"fromtheconstructionof thistypeofproperlymanufactured,asspecified, "to begin theconfusion,thatapplicationregulationsare . androof,inasmuchasitrequiresan whatyoucall\'asphalt\',wecallexceedinglystrongstructuretofollowed,andthat the contractor has \'bitumen\'.Whatwecallasphaltisasupportit.Theasphaltitselfisnotpaid his insurance premium (based on a very different material."expensive,butthisisoffsetbythepercentage of the labor costs). Because Roywent ontoexplainthat theirincreased costs in the basic structure oftheInsurerdoesnothaveastaff "asphalt" is a material which is largelythe building.familiar with all facets of construction, composedof solidssuch as limestoneRoystatedthatearlystatisticsa Bureau of Control, with local control siliconescombinedwithonlyaindicate that the massive roof has a life offices, was established to inspect the relatively small amount of bituminousspan approximately three times that ofconstruction jobs and to determine that material.The"natural"asphaltisthebuilt-uproof,but the market forall requirements havebeen met. formedbyseepageintoalimestonethe massive asphalt is falling away as"If he does a good job and has paid faultandthroughtheagesacuret heconstructionindustrymoveshis premiums, the contractor does not results,formulating the product.towards lighter materials.needtobeconcernedwithpossible The British "Masticasphalt"is theThe basic theme of the international(Continued on page 8) 7'