Volume 35, Number 9, September 2000

SafetySavvy

BOMA and IWCA Debate Window Cleaning Standards

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) has approved a preliminary proposal to create a national safety standard for window cleaning operations. The proposal, drafted by the International Window Cleaners Association (IWCA), should decrease the number of hazards caused in the United States by window cleaning under the wrong conditions or in an unsafe environment. The final draft of the proposal, IWCA I-14, is due out this month, when the two groups will again negotiate the matter.

However, Richard D. Baier, president of BOMA, doubts the two will have a problem agreeing. “I am confident that the final details, which the I-14 committee will complete for its next meeting in mid-September 2000, will take into account the interests of the nation’s buildings’ owners and managers,” Baier said.

Just weeks after Hurricane Floyd barreled up the East Coast, the Norfolk, Va.-area Parade of Homes featured a house capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds of 100 to 110 miles per hour. According to Craig Horton, associate vice president for risk mitigation for USAA Insurance, the house’s windows and doors will withstand 100-mph winds with little damage, although they are not debris-resistant. Anderson provided the insulating windows, while the glass inserts in the entry door were manufactured by Benchmark.

The 3,600 square-foot, first-of-its-kind house sold on the first day for its asking price of $330,000.

USG