PDCA STANDING COMMITTEES
Many Hands, Light Work
How much do you know about PDCA’s standing committees?
By Matt Bisbee, PDCA The Pile Driving Contractors Association exists to
promote and support the driven pile industry. PDCA
standing committees are the pile driving rigs behind
many of the accomplishments that the association produces
year-over-year. At the direction of the Board of Directors, the
PDCA standing committees carry out the detailed work behind
larger organization initiatives.
PDCA standing committee participation is open and available
to all PDCA members in good standing. There is no election or
other lengthy process required to get involved. Contact the PDCA
office by phone or email and indicate which committee you are
interested in serving. Our staff will connect you directly with the
committee chair. PDCA standing committee chairs seek volunteer
members who will commit to periodic meetings, generally conducted
via web conference, to address the committee considerations.
More on that later in this article.
The impact that PDCA standing committees have on the
pile driving industry shouldn't be overlooked. Take the PDCA
Technical Committee, for example. This group has spent many
hours over the past years working to develop a set of revisions
to the International Building Code (IBC) as it relates to driven
pile-based deep foundations. While the process has been slow to
finalize, the IBC in late 2019 issued a formal adoption of the majority
of revisions the PDCA Technical Committee proposed. You can
read a complete, three-part series on newly adopted IBC guidelines
in 2020 issues of PileDriver magazine.
While each committee addresses different matters facing
the organization, there are similarities in their proceedings.
Paramount is the notion that PDCA standing committees carry
out initiatives determined by the Board of Directors. The board
meets regularly to represent the membership on issues such as
professional development, publication content and safety matters,
to name a few. Since many board considerations require
deep dives in specific areas, standing committees are activated
to provide the necessary scrutiny. Each committee has a chair
who is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Board
of Directors. There is also a board liaison, who serves as the
direct link between the two bodies. A PDCA staff member is also
assigned to participate with each committee to provide support
to the chair by way of meeting communications, material coordination,
record keeping and other miscellaneous assistance to
ensure a cohesive and organized discussion.
Volodymyr Melnyk / 123rf
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