SAW THE LIGHT

Shedding light on HAVAN, CEO Ron Rapp shares his personal insight on how you can find the resources to build your home right, the first time! You’ll also meet our co-hosts Mike and Jenn!

Listen to “Saw the Light: Homeowner, Building, and Renovation Resources” on Spreaker.

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Ron is currently the CEO of HAVAN. As V.P. Construction, Morningstar Homes for 15 years, Ron oversaw the planning, design, delivery, and customer service for over 2000 homes. His experience also encompasses low and high rise multi-residential, seniors housing and long-term care facilities, subsidized housing, and industrial and commercial projects, complemented with a broad range of exposure to, and or a direct hand in land acquisition, planning, and development, product design and site planning, sales and marketing, construction, and after-sales service.

Listen and like for your chance to win a gas BBQ compliments of our Podcast Partner FortisBC.

Jen:

Welcome to Measure Twice, Cut Once the podcast from HAVAN, the Homebuilders Association Vancouver.

Mike:

From code to closets,

Jen:

safety to skylights.

Mike:

We’ll take you behind the walls and all things, home building and renovation,

Jen:

And give you the ins and outs from the experts on what you should know.

Mike:

in plain language.

Jen:

about home building design and renovation.

Mike:

Welcome to our inaugural episode of Measure Twice, Cut Once brought to you by FortisBC, where we’ll be joined by HAVAN CEO, Ron Rapp, to learn more about who we are and what we do. I’m, Mike Freedman,

Jen:

And I’m Jennifer Lee. Now that you’re here, why not hit subscribe? And you’ll never miss an episode.

Mike:

And don’t forget to share with your family, friends or anyone else, you know, who might be thinking of a project in their home now or in the future.

Jen:

So, Mike, I’m super excited. This is our first one.

Mike:

It’s really exciting to be here. And what a great opportunity is for us to share some knowledge with people, but also talk to some of the top people that we work with in our day to day lives and bring them onboard to share some great knowledge with you.

Jen:

And our knowledge about home building. So maybe you’re thinking about renovating or building your home now or in the future. And we want you to be able to make the right decision.

Mike:

There are some fundamental things that are very important, no matter what you’re doing, and it’s knowing the right things to do. And sometimes it’s knowing what not to do. And there’s two ways you can learn. You can learn by listening to experts. You can learn by making mistakes. One’s really, really expensive. And the other leads to great, great results.

Jen:

Yeah, and that’s why we have teamed up with, HAVAN for this podcast. Hey, we’re members and they are filled with knowledgeable members in all aspects of the construction industry. And we’re going to be able to talk to some of those people. I’m really excited about this whole podcast thing that we’re doing here in HAVAN. And you have experience in many industries in the sound industry in radio. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? I want to get to know Mike a little bit more.

Mike:

Okay, well listen. I came to HAVAN just under three years ago with zero industry knowledge and the building industry was very young. I did work in radio. Then I moved to Vancouver and realized that the real estate market in Vancouver is a little different than Detroit and the ability to own a home, all that other stuff. So I gravitated into other stuff and I was extremely lucky. I’ve worked for some of the top speaker companies and audio brands in the world. Most recently, I was one of the founding fathers of a company called Sonos. And I spent about a decade building the brand of Sonos in Canada, as well as working for other brands like Beats and some really high end equipment. I really wanted to do something different because I think there’s a gap between the consumer experience in what I do, the builder experience in what I do, in the manufacturers end. And, and my goal is to sort of help fix some of the issues that my industry has created. That’s what brought me to HAVAN because I wanted to work with some of the top people in our industry and help them. But you know what enough about me? Let’s talk about you. You too have a background in broadcasting, although yours is more recent than mine. And you also actually do have a background in this business cause you grew up in this business. Why don’t you tell me a little about what you’ve done more recently?

Jen:

Yeah. Well, it’s funny because my dad has a construction business and it’s been around for over 22 years and I did everything in the office for them. And I remember being like, I do not want to be in construction at all. And so I went into broadcasting. And I ended up being a radio DJ. I got to live all across BC. And then I came back to Vancouver and I became the traffic helicopter reporter for a local station here. And while I was doing that, I was like, I need another job. So I went to go work for the family company and I started thinking, what are skills that I can do? That’s going to be helpful. So I got into marketing and kind of did our Instagram and everything that way and realized that I really do love construction. And I love the idea of the business and helping homeowners find that perfect fit with the contractor.

Mike:

I think that’s really great where we can both leverage our different ends of the experiences. And you have experience on the inside and I’ve experienced on the outside. Cause I was part of a home renovation when we gutted my house. So I think both of us having experienced what you, our listeners are either experiencing now or contemplating. There’s no way that the knowledge we have should be kept inside. It should be shared with everybody.

Jen:

Awesome. Well, I’m really excited for this. And of course, bringing it back to HAVAN, which is the Homebuilders Association. There’s a lot of great members like us. I’m just saying. But not only that, there’s a lot of knowledge there and we are going to talk to our first guests. Can you explain a little bit about him?

Mike:

Our first guest is a really cool guy. He’s the CEO of HAVAN. His name is Ron Rapp and he has an extensive 40 year industry knowledge. He has been doing this forever. He’s done it all over Canada. And one of the things we love about dealing with Ron is not only a great advocate for doing it right, but also he’s one of those people who is not only accrued a lot of knowledge, but really believes it’s important to share that knowledge. And it’s exciting to have him on because he is going to give us a very high level, 20,000 foot perspective of the industry.

Jen:

Ya, he’s going to give us us all the secrets.

Mike:

Welcome to Measure Twice, Cut Once Ron, how are you doing?

Ron:

Very well. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Mike:

Great. Thank you for being here. And before we get going with the more technical part of things, could you tell us a little bit more about your journey in the construction business and how you came to be a part of HAVAN?

Ron:

I’ve been in the construction industry for the better part of 40 years, which started in Calgary back to Toronto for quite some time and worked in the development and building industry there, and then came to BC to become vice president of construction for Morningstar Homes, which was the position I held until about a year ago when I joined, HAVAN as the CEO.

Jen:

We’re lucky to be members Mike and I of HAVAN, but for people that don’t know what it is, what is HAVAN? Can you give us a little synopsis?

Ron:

HAVAN is the Homebuilders Association Vancouver, we are over 1,100 members strong. We are recognized as leaders in the home building industry. We have been around since 1974. Our members are builders, developers, renovators, designers, suppliers, subtrades and industry professionals. We are a not for profit association, and we’re proudly affiliated with both the provincial CHBA-BC and national CHBA offices. We fundamentally operate on three pillars of offering education, advocacy, and networking opportunities for members.

Mike:

I think anyone who’s building a home or renovating a home, there’s so many different things to figure out. First Ron, from your perspective, I mean, you you’ve done so many different things in this industry. Is there something that somebody who’s approaching a project for the first time who’s not in this industry that you would wish they knew before they started their project?

Ron:

From a consumer standpoint, it’s quite an emotional thing that is usually accompanying the idea of building or even renovating a home. Home has got very strong connotation in terms of emotional connections with family and so on and so forth. So in many cases, people have a vision, but they don’t really know what they want. And they also have perhaps some difficulty understanding or coming to grips with, you know, what kind of budget they should be looking at as well. I think the first thing that they should do is look for a qualified professional, either a designer or a builder or a renovator and certainly accessing our contact directory, which lists everybody in a matter of categories, would give them a good leg up in terms of how to find qualified professional that is worked within our framework.

Jen:

And when you’re interviewing someone in the construction industry, whether it be a sub trade or contractor, what do you think is the number one question you should be asking in the interview process?

Ron:

How comfortable are you with what it is I’m looking for? You need to know that the people you’re dealing with are on the same page as you. And so making sure that they understand what you’re looking for and can find the means by which to deliver that, would be a key question.

Mike:

Ron, the science of building and the science of the construction industry and technology. Could you allude on that for our listeners? Are we talking about specific products, procedures, technologies, what is changing in the building industry and amongst those changes, what are some of the most important ones that any consumer should be aware of before they start a project like this?

Ron:

I started in this industry 40 years ago, and the order of magnitude of changes that have come forward, both technologically and from a building science standpoint have been, you know, monumental. So the house that was being built back in the late seventies, early eighties, can’t hold a candle to today’s new high performance houses. In fact, the candle is in a high performance house heating it. And, whereas, you know, energy dollars on an older home, are just flying out the window kind of deal. So it’s a combination of many different things, not the least of which is techniques, it is technology; lighter, stronger, better components that we can put together in the way of engineered wood, have mechanical systems that are smaller, more efficient and more effective. We have insulation products that are less bulky, even though they are delivering a higher levels of insulation and heat and cold resistance. We have everything from, paints to flooring to tile, work to you, name it, plumbing, fixtures, and whatnot that are state of the art.

Jen:

And that leads you to the next thing is the fact that, of course, we’re doing this Podcast called Measure Twice, Cut Once which is a way to help out homeowners. What kind of value do you think a podcast like this adds?

Ron:

Well, it’s connecting homeowners with builders and builder knowledge. Love the title of, you know, Measure Twice, Cut Once. It is the whole idea of dealing with people who have the, the knowledge and the background experience who embrace that concept because that’ll make things a lot easier. When building and renovating it’s really important to get it right the first time to make sure that you stay on budget. And on time while meeting, permitting and code requirements.

Mike:

Ron, you’ve talked a lot about building. Can you talk to us a little bit more about the design?

Ron:

Most of us approach home building from the point of view of design, looking at pictures is very important as design impacts our movement, our liveability, and dream that most people want to try and and realize. However, design goes hand in hand with building, so understanding why a builder chooses to approach a wall assembly a certain way or while he’s looking at different choices, techniques and materials, and, provides you with feedback or some kind of opportunity to determine what the impact is going to be on your budget, then offer choice.

Mike:

Are there any other resources you can recommend for a consumer who’s just starting the process or midway through the process? What are the assets that we have available for them to help them with their own journey?

Ron:

Well, we would normally wind up at a number of consumer related home shows and stuff like this, which COVID has obviously put into a different light. We were participants in the Vancouver Home Shows, presented at the renovation show at VanDusen Gardens. We would offer a Parade of Homes each summer where people could actually walk through and see firsthand what the builder and designers work looks like. Now that’s all changed. And it’s one of the reasons why we’re undertaking this podcast, as an example, trying to help the consumer to some expert knowledge that they can access through our members offering the opportunity for our Contact Directory which is a comprehensive summary of all of our members, what they do and where they’re located. Where the principals are, the contact information, and also online.

Jen:

And thank you so much, Ron. That was really great. You gave us a lot of insight into how HAVAN is helping the consumers because as we move forward, of course, through this new world that we’re going through too, it’s really important. Like we said, to stay in touch and stay connected. And you know, we want to help consumers know where to start when building or renovating their home.

Mike:

Thank you so much, Ron.

Ron:

My pleasure.

Jen:

This has been Measure Twice, Cut Once the podcast from HAVAN, the Homebuilders Association Vancouver, thanks for joining us today

Mike:

For notes and links to everything mentioned on today’s episode, go to havan.ca/measuretwicecutonce

Jen:

Follow us and review us to help empower homeowners like yourself to make the right decision the first time. And automatically by doing so, you’ll be entered to win a gas, barbecue courtesy of our friends at FortisBC.

Mike:

Oh, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, slow down. This isn’t just a gas, barbecue from our friends at FortisBC. This is a precision cooking machine. The Napoleon prestige P 500 stainless steel, natural gas, barbecue. You can cook some great things on it. And if you know, barbecues, you know, this brand is an amazing brand and an awesome prize that I wish I could win as well. Until next time, this is Mike Freedman.

Jen:

I’ll brush up on my knowledge of barbecues, I’m Jennifer Lee, reminding you to Measure Twice,

Mike:

And cut once.