PRESIDENT’S REPORT
	January – December 2008 Presented at Annual General Meeting – 20 March 2009

• Representing the industry at some 10 Standards Australia meetings – CMAA is a member on 16 main Standards Australia Committees.
  
  
• Representing the industry to the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) on the Technical Committee and associated working groups, especially in the area of building envelope performance and energy provisions.
  
  
• Building Products Innovation Council (BPIC)
  • CMAA is a founding member of BPIC and is represented on the BPIC Board.
  • Early in 2008 BPIC embarked on an ambitious scheme to establish a uniform methodology for tracking the life cycle of various building products, including concrete masonry products. The project, known as the BPIC ICIP project, is led by BPIC in partnership with the Federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. CMAA has a major commitment to the ICIP project and is currently represented on three committees that are pivotal to the completion of this project.
    

Publications Revision of PERMPAVE® Concrete Segmental Permeable Pavement software – V 1.4. Revision of MA51 Reinforced Concrete Cantilever Retaining Walls – Design and Construction Guide.

Revised MA51 in New Electronic Format

• Conducted a national seminar series on Water Sensitive Urban Design focusing on Permeable Concrete Pavement Systems.
  
  
• Participated and presented expert papers at an international workshop and two national conferences.
  
  
• Regular liaison with TAFE and national universities.
  
  
• Formalised a partnership with QUT and support of Professor M Dhanasekar. Development and delivery of Masonry Design Course as Year 4 elective and external course for practicing designers and engineers.
  
  
• Provided a national technical service to member companies and customers.
  Maintained the CMAA website – most publications are available in downloadable electronic format.
  
  
• Finalised a report to the CMAA Board on Bonded Segmental Paving.
  
  

Brick and Blocklaying Initiatives CMAA worked closely with the clay industry at the national level to support and endorse the training organisation, Australian Brick and Blocklaying Training Foundation (ABBTF) The CMAA NSW Promotional Committee is organising the 9th Biennial Golden Trowel Award in co-operation with TAFE Bathurst, which will be held in September 2009. Bathurst TAFE won the 2007 event and was one of 15 teams from across Australia competing for the prestigious Golden Trowel Award – there were 9 teams from NSW and one each from ACT, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. This biennial two-day national blocklaying competition encourages excellence among apprentices while recognizing the valuable skills of young people in a skill-shortage trade.

2007 Winners (L to R): Peter Moore (teacher), Nigel Croke, Dale Rogers

The activities of the CMAA are geared towards benchmarking a generic approach to principally regulatory, technical and educational issues. In the medium to long term, these activities strengthen the technical and image base of the industry as a whole in a global effort to maintain, support and increase the use of concrete masonry products.
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The CMAA achieves its objectives well with limited resources, staffed by a small professional team:

• Alan Pearson, Executive Director
• Tiere Morgan, Administration Manager
• Kylie Fallow, Administration Officer
• Rod Johnston, Consultant
• Brian Shackel, Consultant
• Bob Lenstra, Consultant

Their professionalism, focus and passion continue to produce results that support and enhance the industry.


Looking Ahead

The concrete masonry industry is currently under considerable pressure from alternative products, particularly in the walling segment, and this is seen more clearly in those States where building activity is subdued. The continued viability of our industry is dependent on the innovation of its participants and the ability of the industry to educate and provide appropriate tools for architects and engineers to design using masonry.

The CMAA is currently funding two crucial projects that will be completed in the latter half of 2009:

• Design software for concrete masonry walling.
  
  
• Complete revision of MA55 Design and Construction of Concrete Masonry Buildings

These projects and others are essential to ensure that our relevance as a viable design alternative are stabilised and developed.

Whilst the support of the Sponsoring and General Members, and their staff, is acknowledged and essential to the success of the CMAA, if the industry is to progress and stay relevant then the level of this support may well need to be encouraged and developed.

Brad Newell
General Manager, Masonry East - Boral Masonry
President - Concrete Masonry Association of Australia


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