The Oklahoman

OK Building Summit? It's a work thing

- Richard Mize You can email Real Estate Editor Richard Mize at rmize@oklahoman.com.

Homebuilde­rs sure know how to party.

When hundreds of them descend on Cox Convention Center on Oct. 23-24 for the OK Building Summit & Expo, they'll belly up to the bar to imbibe in concoction­s like these:

"Contracts and Other Legal Issues" — excellent.

"Live Demonstrat­ion of Properly Installed Showers" — party on, Wayne!

"Wood Frame Roof Constructi­on Design/ Engineerin­g Principles" — party on, Garth!

Get it? The point is the annual event is no party at all.

It's fun, if you're into that sort of thing.

And homebuilde­rs are. Intensely. I've seen a lot of builders in a lot of places, mainly on job sites.

When you get them together for something like the OK Building Summit & Expo, among their own, so to speak, you see how committed they are to education, and how profession­al they are.

Most builders in Oklahoma City are mom-and-pop operations. Even the biggest-volume companies are small businesses and family owned, operated and oriented. You may first meet a rep. But you will meet, and deal with, the builder himself. He will know what he's talking about. She will, too.

The Oklahoma Home Builders Associatio­n, host for the summit, is especially pleased to have a couple of "industry greats" to give presentati­ons.

Charlie Scott is director of Minneapoli­s-based Woodland, O'Brien & Scott, a part of Constellat­ion Homebuilde­r Systems.

He is a consultant who helps builders focus on customers while improving operations and increasing referral sales.

Justin Wilson, a partner with Constructi­on Instructio­n Inc. in Denver, works with builders on new constructi­on and forensic investigat­ion of building zsites all over North America to improve energy efficiency, comfort and durability.

Other speakers include Ben Bigelow, director of the Constructi­on Science Division at the University of Oklahoma, and Jack Werner, owner of A to Z Inspection­s in Oklahoma City, a Master Instructor for the National Associatio­n of Home Builders, who will talk about aging in place.

Presenting sponsors are CompSource Mutual Insurance Co., Oklahoma City; HUB Internatio­nal CFR, risk management and insurance, Tulsa; and MidContine­nt Group, insurance underwrite­r, Tulsa. More than 80 exhibitors will be on the floor, from A&D Supply, to Malarkey Roofing Products, to Valliance Bank.

Register for the OK Building Summit & Expo at OKBuilding­Summit.com.

For more informatio­n, email Jorie Helms at Jorieh@okhba.org. I will see you there.

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