VOLUME 9 NUMBER 1
Spring 1998

Certification Requirements and Costs

Why You Should Become a Certified Heater Mason

by Norbert Senf

MHA is proud to announce the rollout of its new Certified Heater Mason Program. It is the result of a significant amount of time, effort, and money by MHA as well as outside consultants.

Why should you become certified? It will:

• Increase your level of knowledge and skills
• Increase your level of professionalism
• Give you a marketing advantage with prospective clients. This will become more so in the future as the masonry heater marketplace becomes increasingly sophisticated. More and more clients are "shopping around" before they make their decision.
• Give you more credibility with building officials, inspectors, and insurance people.
• In future, it may become a credential that will allow you to cross the Canada/US border to work.

You will also support MHA’s efforts on behalf of the whole industry. Your membership and support is very important in assuring that MHA’s continues to have the financial resources and "bodies" to further the cause of masonry heating in North America.

Here's a current example: Minnesota is proposing a strict new residential mechanical code that addresses ventilation, negative pressure, and building air tightness. For wood stoves, it could mean goodies such as requiring a $1200.00 make-up air supply. Fortunately, masonry heaters have been accorded a fairly high negative pressure limit (15 Pa) which might make their acceptance easier. This is partly because, as MHA, we crossed that bridge a number of years ago in Canada with the R-2000 requirements. Research that we did back then was specifically referenced in arguing for better treatment of masonry heaters in the Minnesota code. As you may know, one of the R-2000
requirements is for heater mason certification. Minnesota is considered a bellweather jurisdiction in the U.S., so it may be coming your way soon.

John Gulland is heavily involved in the Minnesota process, and will be giving us an update at this year’s annual meeting at Wildacres. I look forward to seeing you there!