I have a few estimates out on pre-1978 houses so it was time to take the class. There were 18 or 19 of us in the class. A few landlords, a plumber, an HVAC guy, and the rest were remodelers (I use that term loosely for some of them). The general attitude of the class was "I can't believe the Gov't is forcing us to take a class and pay money". I can understand that as a viewpoint from someone who does neat work, but I imagine most of these guys are of the "rake the paint chips into the soil instead of actually cleaning" type. The class was priced at $99 through the NJ Department of Community Affairs (they are in charge of HUD and multi-family in NJ).
The instructors: The main instructor was a nice guy who taught carpentry at the local Vo-Tech school. He was quite good at reading directly from the slides in the presentation. Not so good at adding additional information. I don't think he has actually run an RRP job in his life. 3 additional instructors showed up for the hands on portion. The only one that has touched a tool in the past 10 years was a painter. As a whole, there knowledge of the law was limited to what was in the training book.
The instructors were convinced that the HEPA vac filter and bag needed to be thrown out after every job. They got stumped when I asked how you vacuum up after removing the filter and bag and tossing them in the trash. They also seemed upset when I mentioned using a Dust Deputy type tool in line with the vacuum to allow the filter to have more life. The one instructor then decided to explain that Dyson vacuums were not appropriate for RRP cleanup (since that is obviously what I was talking about when I said Dust Deputy.
The course book: Seemed to repeat itself a lot. The 150-200 slides could easily be cut down to 50. I especially liked the 1980s or early 90s videos that were embedded with no context.
The hands on section: I now know how to put on a Tyvek suit and how to make door from plastic...thanks EPA! I also like the truly scientific dust wiping card. I take my swiffer cloth and match it to a picture...that is the DUMBEST concept ever. Not only does it open the door for blatant lying, but that can't be an accurate way to test cleanliness. Also, the color on the cloth that represents the acceptable bottom end of the spectrum is not acceptable to anyone that cares about keeping their clients house clean.
The test: I scored a 96%. I'm pretty sure I forgot to answer one of the questions. I was the first out of the class. That's not to brag that I'm a better student...I'm not. I pretty much ignored most of what the instructors said after a few minutes of the class.
I can say that I was the most informed of everyone in that room thanks to these forums and reading articles in JLC, Remodeling, etc. I actually reread Deans article from January the night before class, but didn't have the nerve to mention placing the dumpster in the containment zone...instructors' brains would have exploded.
I don't understand why the class isn't more like the SAT. Study by yourself, come in on a Saturday, take the test (they can even make it harder if they want), and do a hands on portion. 3-4 hours tops instead of the 9 hours on a Thursday that I had to endure. I guarantee that half of the people in my class will not be following the rules on their next job and "plastic dust protection" will remain outside of their vocabulary. All in all, the class (both participants and material that we covered) made me realize why our industry gets a bad reputation. 90% of the construction industry doesn't give a crap about quality or cleanliness.
The instructors: The main instructor was a nice guy who taught carpentry at the local Vo-Tech school. He was quite good at reading directly from the slides in the presentation. Not so good at adding additional information. I don't think he has actually run an RRP job in his life. 3 additional instructors showed up for the hands on portion. The only one that has touched a tool in the past 10 years was a painter. As a whole, there knowledge of the law was limited to what was in the training book.
The instructors were convinced that the HEPA vac filter and bag needed to be thrown out after every job. They got stumped when I asked how you vacuum up after removing the filter and bag and tossing them in the trash. They also seemed upset when I mentioned using a Dust Deputy type tool in line with the vacuum to allow the filter to have more life. The one instructor then decided to explain that Dyson vacuums were not appropriate for RRP cleanup (since that is obviously what I was talking about when I said Dust Deputy.
The course book: Seemed to repeat itself a lot. The 150-200 slides could easily be cut down to 50. I especially liked the 1980s or early 90s videos that were embedded with no context.
The hands on section: I now know how to put on a Tyvek suit and how to make door from plastic...thanks EPA! I also like the truly scientific dust wiping card. I take my swiffer cloth and match it to a picture...that is the DUMBEST concept ever. Not only does it open the door for blatant lying, but that can't be an accurate way to test cleanliness. Also, the color on the cloth that represents the acceptable bottom end of the spectrum is not acceptable to anyone that cares about keeping their clients house clean.
The test: I scored a 96%. I'm pretty sure I forgot to answer one of the questions. I was the first out of the class. That's not to brag that I'm a better student...I'm not. I pretty much ignored most of what the instructors said after a few minutes of the class.
I can say that I was the most informed of everyone in that room thanks to these forums and reading articles in JLC, Remodeling, etc. I actually reread Deans article from January the night before class, but didn't have the nerve to mention placing the dumpster in the containment zone...instructors' brains would have exploded.
I don't understand why the class isn't more like the SAT. Study by yourself, come in on a Saturday, take the test (they can even make it harder if they want), and do a hands on portion. 3-4 hours tops instead of the 9 hours on a Thursday that I had to endure. I guarantee that half of the people in my class will not be following the rules on their next job and "plastic dust protection" will remain outside of their vocabulary. All in all, the class (both participants and material that we covered) made me realize why our industry gets a bad reputation. 90% of the construction industry doesn't give a crap about quality or cleanliness.
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