b'insurance,neglectedatanowner\'speril.Onecarelessorignorant workmancannullifythemostpainstakingeffortsofthedesignteam. Roofers\'guarantees and manufacturers\'bonds lull many ownersintoafalse senseofsecurity;butbecauseofthed ificulyofprovinglegal ftresponsibility,theyareoflimitedvalue.Rigorousinspectionisthe strongestlineofdefenseagainstpoorworkmanship. Theobvious basic purpose of inspection is to secure the construction ofagoodroof.Inspectionalsohasasecondarypurpose:toeliminate poorworkmanshipasafactorintheanalysisofanypossiblesubsequent roofproblems.Thustheroofershouldwelcomeinspectionasapossible meansofescapinginvolvementinpossiblefuturelitigation.Theroofer shouldnot,however,mistakenlyassumethatinspectionrelieveshimof contractualresponsibilitytofollowtheplansandspecifications. Theprecedingtwoparagraphswerecopiedalmostintheirentirety fromAROOFINGMANUALwrittenfortheAmericanInstituteofArchitects somefifteenyearsago.Theyare,however,justasapplicabletoday. Ourexperiencewithroofinspectionhasrangedfromsomevery knowledgeableinspectorsto inspectors whoknownothingatallaboutthe stateoftheart,andwhorelyonathermometerandbook,togeneral contractors 1representativeswhowantabovealltogetthebuilding"in thedry".W2havenoticedthatonprojectscallingforsingle-ply systems,eventheknowledgeablebuilt-upinspectorshaveatendencyto ;:;tandback. Theroofingsystemisthemostproblempronebuildingsub-system manufacturedonthejob site.Themostintricateworkonaweldedsteel- -trussoracomplexset ofelevatorcontrolsis donein afabricatingshop orfactory.But theroof systemis custombuilt in thefield.Regardless ofthequality ofthecomponentmaterials,theroof\'sintegrity depends ongoodfieldworkmanship.Goodfieldworkmanshipdependsonfirm, knowledgeablesupervision.We,asroofingcontractors,arethemost qualifiedinspectors andstandto gainthe mostfromaproperlyinstalled roof,throughrepeatbusinessandfewercallbacks. Americahasbecomealandplaguedbyproductsthat"don\'tlast"or "don\'twork".Roofingproblemshavemultipliedwiththeincreasing ccHnplexityofthevarioussystems.We,asanindustry,haveagreat need forthatillusivecharacteristic,"Quality". [Editor\'sNote:TheabovearticlewascontributedbyMRCADirectorJohn Drew,MasonCity,Iowa.] 1982HANDBOOKONSINGLE-PLYROOFINGSYSTEMS Allassociationmemberswillfindenclosedacopyofthe1982 HandbookonSingle-Ply RoofingSystems published earlier this yearby RSI Magazine.TheHandbookincludes areprint of ourRecommendedPerformance Criteria forPVCSystemsas wellasinformation from NRCAandthe National BureauofStandards .AlsoincludedisanarticlebyDr.ReneDupuiswho hasbeen working on single-ply systems with our T&R Committee since early 1977. WehopeyoufindtheHandbooktobeuseful.It is ourunderstanding thatRSIhasdistributedcopiesoftheHandbooktoagreatnumberof architectsanddesign/specificationwriters.Ifyouneedadditional copies,pleasecontactRSIMagazinedirectly.'