Welcome

San Juan Builders Association represents contractors and other building industry members on the three major islands of San Juan County, Washington: Lopez Island, Orcas Island, and San Juan

MISSION STATEMENT

The San Juan Builders Association (SJBA) operates without profit as a trade association affiliated with the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), representing and uniting its members from all aspects of the building industry.  It does this by:

• Associating builders within San Juan County for the purpose of mutual advantage and cooperation.
• Being a pro-active participant in the legislative and regulatory process of San Juan County in order to advance the common purposes of its members.
• Providing a balance between responsible growth and environmental issues in order to promote a positive vision and economic future for San Juan County.
• Providing industry information and education to the SJBA membership and the public.
• Enhancing ethical and professional standards that promote a positive image of our membership and industry.

Terry Gillespie, SJBA President

It's the weekend and you have a whole list of household chores to do. Oh, we know you'd rather be golfing or playing tennis or watching TV, but keeping your home in good shape is important. Your home may be the biggest investment you will ever make. Taking good care of it with regular maintenance is necessary to maintain its value and ensure it will provide a comfortable, safe shelter for you and your ramily for a long time.

Here is a home maintenance quiz that will test your maintenance knowledge. While this quiz does not address every home maintenance project, it does provide helpful tips and reminders for chores you may have overlooked. Terry's monthly column ... (Twenty nine questions.)

John Evans, Executive Director

Executive Director for the past two years, John represents SJBA at numerous community and local government meetings, sorting through the issues, and advising the SJBA board of upcoming issues that may effect the building industry and on which SJBA may want to take a position. A former county commissioner, John has the political savvy to recognize unnecessary government regulation and has been consistent in working for a reasonable, common sense approach to some of the issues facing our community . Learn more about John's recent activities.

Involvement in Local Issues

SJBA is involved in a number of local issues that relate to the building industry in San Juan County. President, Terry Gillespie, and Executive Director, John Evans, as well as other members, represent the Association and the interests of the industry and the community at Council meetings, Growth and Planning meetings, Stormwater compliance workshops, Critical Areas, and more. The board has been working to focus efforts to the most effect. More on the issues we follow...

Time to obtain a building permit in San Juan County

For years the planning and permit department of San Juan County (now CDPD) has been under staffed and for that and other reasons has had a difficult time processing building applications in a timely manner. An internal survey of our members found many single family residence permits were taking anywhere from 10 to 20 or more weeks to be issued. SJBA held a series of internal workshops aimed at identifying specific strategies to inform the public and to communicate to the County the seriousness of the problem, the detrimental impact on construction businesses, their working family employees, and home owners who experience rising costs as month after month they wait for a building permit. San Juan Builder Executive Director, John Evans, took a survey of permit process times in surrounding counties and the results were quite telling. Read more

Storm water

Erosion and Sediment Control Training

The San Juan Marine Resources Committee is using an Ecology grant to subsidize Skagit Valley College in offering local, low cost CESCL training.  The course usually costs $400 to $500 and requires an overnight stay on the mainland.  Skagit Valley College is offering 18 hours of training for $100 on April 24 – 26 so it’s a real bargain.  The course content is described below:

The course satisfies the Washington State DOE Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead (CESCL) training course requirement.  Participants will learn how to identify erosion and pollution control problems at construction sites, as well as the best course of action to avoid or minimize them.  They will assemble erosion and pollution control plans and explore best management practices, including proper design, installation and maintenance.  Included is a fieldtrip to observe examples of erosion and sediment control management practices.

This course is designed to certify participants to comply with DOE’s requirement for preparing a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and also do the fieldwork that is required.  The compliance is triggered by a construction site over 1 acre.  If a site is over 5 acres more requirements and compliance is needed.

See our April 2009 Newsletter for more details.

More Stormwater

As of October, 2007, contractors are required to include a SWPPP (Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan) with each building application. The regulations are still unclear so there has been some initial confusion, There have been and will be educational opportunities for contractors to understand the regulations. Learn more

SJBA has been involved in some of the preliminary work on Storm waterwith the county and other interested parties and has held a position that we first identify and define any actual runoff problems here in San Juan County before creating another layer of complicated and expensive regulations. Read more