The 2010 Spring Session of the North Carolina Builder Institute will be held March 2-4 at the McKimmon Center at N.C. State University in Raleigh. The NCBI offers professional courses for builders, remodelers, associates and superientendants working on a designation or just wanting to expand their knowledge base. Courses have been carefully selected to meet the current needs and trends of the home building industry. February 26 is the pre-registration deadline. Registrations after this date must be made on-site.

Click here for more information and registration form.

Business Management Track

BM102—Risk Management for Residential General Contractors—This course will provide a risk management approach to the most common property and liability exposures facing the residential general contractor. A broad review of the major coverages builders must have to protect their businesses will be covered. Those coverages include: general liability, workers compensation, builders risk, and auto. Other items discussed will be include: contractor tools, office contents, and bonds. This will be a practical approach on how to assess these risks and how to insure them or pass them along to others.
Instructor: John Miller 
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 2—8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

BM201—Basic Business Planning—Just as you wouldn’t start driving without directions or a roadmap to your destination, a business plan is critical to reaching your business goals. Learn how to create a business plan around which you can organize your priorities to ensure that you reach your goals.
Instructor: Erik Anderson 
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 4—1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

BM203—Borrowing Bucks for Builders—This course highlights acquisition, development, construction (ADC) and permanent lending. Participants will receive valuable information with respect to working with banks, laws governing construction financing, current lending practices, the ins and outs of obtaining construction loans and alternative financing. In addition, there will be an in depth look at permanent financing, as well as acquisition and development financing.
Instructor: Jim Bowman 
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 4—8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

BM303—Managing by the Numbers—When it comes to the bottom line, the numbers tell everything. Participants should come to this class with their company financials ready to discuss and learn from each other. Key financial ratios and benchmarks will be addressed and the number one question everyone wants to know, “how much can I make?”
Instructor: Greg Isenhour 
Designations: AMA, AMB
March 2—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon

BM305—Picking Up the Pieces—Through recessions, downturns, or just plain hard times, business owners find themselves trying to figure out how to get out of bad times, or how to turn things around. This course will examine some of the common pitfalls of the construction business and the different management techniques to turn a company around. Every company goes through cycles where the skills learned in this course can be used as effective management tools.
Instructor: Greg Isenhour 
Designations: AMA, AMB
March 2—1 p.m. to 4:30 pm.

Building Technology Track

BT101—The ABCs of Building Quality Concrete Floors & Driveways—During this course, you will discuss how to build quality concrete slabs and driveways, including repair methodologies. As this is one of the most costly problems experienced in residential construction, this is a great opportunity to learn about the details.
Instructor: Roberto Nunez
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 2—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon

BT102—Basic Engineering Design—You will have the opportunity to identify basic engineering principles and practices incorporated in residential dwelling design and construction. This course offers students a working knowledge of engineering methodology involved in the performance of structural components of residential construction. Students will gain an understanding of engineered design relative to code compliance.
Instructor: TBD 
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 4—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon

Customer Service Track

CS101—Planning for Outstanding Service—Your reputation, trends, leadership, staffing, establishing processes, and service goals.
Instructor: Wallace West 
Designations: AB, AA, ARS
March 3—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon

CS202—Building Quality In: A Foundation for Quality Builders & Remodelers—Topics include quality gurus, quality foundation, zero defects, reducing variation, cost of quality and designing quality in.
Instructor: Wallace West
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 3—1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

CS203—Warranty: Keys to Warranty Service—Topcis include warranty laws: implied/express/limited/assignability, builder vs. owner obligations, insured warranty and warranty service. Instructor: Wallace West
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 3—1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Diversification

DV303—Commercial Construction—Diversifying into different related businesses can sometimes be of benefit to the residential home builder. Commercial construction could be a good diversity match for the contractor ready to take their company to the next level. This course will examine how a residential builder might incorporate commercial construction into their existing business. Organization of the company, skills needed, subcontractor base, pricing and marketing of the business are just a few of the details that will be discussed.
Instructor: Greg Isenhour 
Designations: AMA, AMB
March 3—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon

Leadership Track

LD305—Ordinary People, Everyday Leaders—All of us are leaders every day. In our construction businesses we are faced with leading people where they sometimes want to go, but most of the time, where they want to go but don’t know it yet. This course will focus on practical applications of sharing your vision with trade contractors, employees, and a host of others, and getting them to follow your lead.
Instructor: Greg Isenhour 
Designations: AMA, AMB
March 4—8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

LD306—Dealing with City Hall—This course studies the structure of local government and includes such items as which officials are elected and which are appointed, tips on getting to know your officials and the best way to reach them with industry news. In addition, we will discuss the impact of residential development on our communities and how to tell fact from fiction.
Instructor: Buddy Hughes 
Designations: AMA, AMB
March 3—1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Marketing Track

MK101—Developing a Marketing Plan—We’ve all heard the saying that if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably not going to get there. As a part of your Business Plan, the Marketing Plan helps map the way to success. Participants will learn the essential components (the four P’s) of a Marketing Plan and how to make it a living document.
Instructor: Steve Monroe 
Designations: AB, AA, ARS
March 2—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon

MK201—Making the Sale—Salesmanship has changed dramatically over the past decade. The old sales tricks don’t work anymore. Today’s buyers are more informed and better educated than ever before. This seminar will explore issues important to today’s home buyers and give participants solid ground for making the sale.
Instructor: Steve Monroe 
Designations: AB, AA, ARS
March 2—1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Project Management Track

PM101—Managing Time: Your Key to Success—A course designed to discuss various time management tools and how their use can affect profitability and productivity for you and your company. Group discussions will help you learn what tools other people or companies use and the results they have achieved. Basic project scheduling will also be discussed briefly, time permitting.
Instructor: Erik Anderson 
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 3—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon

PM102—Take-off to Higher Profits—This course will focus on the “nitty-gritty” techniques for accurate and efficient quantity material and labor take-offs.
Instructor: Tim Fitzgerald 
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 4—8:30 a.m. to noon

PM103—Quality Control Techniques—This course will examine quality control techniques including TQC and other means of partnering with trade contractors to implement a zero-defect construction process.
Instructor: Buddy Hughes 
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 3—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon

PM105—Safety Pays: A Practical Approach to Safety on Your Job Site—Not all companies are alike, and not all safety programs work for everyone. Customization is key, and customization is exactly what you’ll get by attending! This class is packed with practical safety tips that put money in your pocket and protect employees on the job site. Topics range from creating a safety program that complies with OSHA standards to understanding your safety program’s impact on insurance premiums. Remember, job site safety is the responsibility of all owners, employees and subcontractors on today’s construction sites.
Instructor: Sean Purcell
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 3—1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

PM201—Completing Your Project on Time—An in-depth look at the basics of project scheduling and how to create a schedule by hand. We will also take a brief look at MS Project and discuss how its use can save time and money as compared to conventional methods of scheduling.
Instructor: Erik Anderson
Designations: AA, AB, ARS
March 3—1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

PM202—What Does It Really Cost?—This course will look at different types of estimating and producing systematic, consistent estimates for higher profitability.
Instructor: Tim Fitzgerald 
Designations: AB, AA, ARS
March 4—1 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.