2019 Metal Construction Hall of Fame
Charles “Chuck” Praeger
For more than four decades, Charles “Chuck” Praeger, former vice president at Cleveland-based Thomas Associates Inc. and assistant general manager at the Metal Building Manufacturer Association (MBMA), led numerous efforts to advance the use of metal building systems. Through his work on MBMA’s manufacturer accreditation program, Associate Member Program and in numerous committees and related efforts, Praeger expanded the association’s membership and influence with construction project stakeholders. Building code officials, organizations that affect material specification including USGBC, architects, contractors, insurers, building owners and developers became more informed about metal building systems and their benefits as a result of Praeger’s work.
Having started in the metal construction industry in 1967 at Armco Building Systems, a division of Armco Steel Corp. in Houston, Praeger’s deep knowledge of, and network in, the metal construction industry were big advantages when it came to facilitating MBMA members, often competitors, to work together on common interests.
“MBMA’s board of directors looked to me to take a leadership role in initiating efforts to expand the reach of the industry and help make metal buildings the primary product for one- and two-story construction,” Praeger says. “This effort became reality with the transformation to the International Accreditation Service (IAS) 472 Accreditation Program, Associate Member Program, and committees for energy, sustainability, marketing communications, statistics, safety and fire protection.”
Metal Building System Accreditation
In his role at MBMA, Praeger was an adept facilitator. For instance, when he started at MBMA in 1995, after changing positions from Armco Building Systems to Thomas Associates and MBMA, Praeger helped the association change its certification program for members. When he started, he helped coordinate the association’s metal building system manufacturer certification program, which was managed by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Extensive building code changes in the late-1990s caused MBMA to reevaluate its program for more thorough compliance.
Praeger, alongside MBMA’s accreditation committee, researched how the association could most effectively reshape the program in light of the code changes, and presented options to MBMA’s board. Importantly, MBMA’s accreditation program is one of the fundamental ways the association gives quality assurance to construction project stakeholders and increases the likelihood metal building systems will be chosen for projects. In the end, the AC472 Accreditation Program, administered by IAS, was established.
“I was fortunate to get in on the ground floor of that transition and helped to make it happen,” Praeger says.
Indeed, acceptance of metal building systems was not always a given. During his 47-year career, Praeger saw the use of metal building systems grow from a small market share to widespread use. During the 1970s and 1980s, metal building system manufacturers faced many challenges in gaining acceptance and confidence among stakeholders for their products.
“In those early days of the industry, we were working with all the code bodies and municipal authorities to get them to accept metal buildings as an alternative for one- and two-story nonresidential construction on every building we sold,” Praeger says. “Since metal buildings were so new, we had to submit full engineering calculations, drawings and details. We had to fight it out with every code official. Today, metal buildings are widely accepted and the design calculations, details and construction drawings have been normalized.”
This is an extraordinarily innovative industry with great people who have tremendous expertise. It has been an honor to have a life-long career in its continuing successful development.
Charles “Chuck” Praeger, MBMA
Associate Member Program
In addition to promoting acceptance of metal building systems as an efficient and cost-effective construction method, via AC472 and other efforts, Praeger worked with Bob Ammerman, chairman of MBMA’s board at the time, to expand MBMA’s membership beyond metal building system manufacturers. In 1996, the MBMA started an Associate Member Program to welcome metal building product suppliers and related service providers to join the organization and contribute to its efforts.
Praeger says the goal of the program was to serve the industry’s ancillary manufacturers and suppliers, educate them, get in front of industry issues, and generate a team spirit between manufacturers and suppliers. New MBMA by-laws and an Associate Member Advisory Council were initiated to support the program.
“[Ammerman] and I called on all the suppliers to join the association, and then expanded their exposure to the membership through meetings and their joining various committee activities,” Praeger says. “We also created an award program based upon participation. This has been successful. Today, manufacturers and supplies work together on common industry goals.”
W. Lee Shoemaker, Ph.D., PE, director of research and engineering at MBMA, worked with Praeger on many of the association’s initiatives. He says while Ammerman came up with the idea for the Associate Member Program, it was a combination of Chuck Stockinger’s leadership as general manager at MBMA and Praeger’s attention to detail that cultivated the idea into a cultural shift in the association.
“[Praeger] knew the industry and how to work with its people,” Shoemaker says. “MBMA members were only metal building systems manufacturers for 40 years before this, so it was quite a transition to incorporate suppliers to the industry. [Praeger] helped make this a smooth transition, and the inclusion of suppliers helped make MBMA stronger. Associate members play an integral part in MBMA’s industry initiatives and special projects, especially with regard to issues that involve the entire building system such as energy efficiency and fire resistance.”
Committee Work
Praeger helped facilitate existing MBMA committees including the technical committee, fire protection committee and statistics committee. He also started new committees and revived defunct ones. Praeger oversaw the initiation of the energy, education, sustainability and construction committees. He restarted the marketing communications and safety committees.
In particular, the sustainability committee retained a consulting firm to complete a life cycle assessment study for metal building systems, and help MBMA members address construction variables raised by the USGBC and other organizations intent on reducing environmental impacts of construction.
“We did a tremendous amount of research, we worked with a lot of outside organizations, we began doing educational programs with our members to get them thinking about sustainability,” Praeger says.
Another person who worked with Praeger on MBMA’s committees was John Underwood, senior vice president at Columbus, Neb.-based Behlen Building Systems. Overall, Underwood says, “[Praeger] will be remembered for his long and effective service to our industry, helping to guide the many association activities leading to the current prominence of our systems method of construction.”
Likewise, Praeger, who retired in 2014, says, “This is an extraordinarily innovative industry with great people who have tremendous expertise. It has been an honor to have a life-long career in its continuing successful development. It has also been a significant pleasure to work with each MBMA’s chairman and their executive committee for over 19 years.”
