More than 300 restoration professionals came together at Melbourne’s Pullman in the Park this June for the fifth annual RIA Inc. Restoration Conference & Trade Show, hosted by the Restoration Industry Association (RIA). 

This year’s theme was “Learn today, lead tomorrow”, which gave attendees a chance to share their experiences and learn from each other about what can be a complex and challenging industry. 

Events began on Wednesday afternoon with the RIA annual AGM and a vendor sponsored networking event. OnThursday, the conference proper kicked-off with a session from Marcus Taylor, head of advocacy and industry communication at RIA. Taylor led a session about how to advocate for a better industry. He said education was a big focus for the conference and the association more broadly.

“We’ve been talking to a lot of agencies and insurers about restoration and the value proposition of restoration, particularly in a market where environmental sustainability is becoming reportable,” Taylor said.

“The industry has this big opportunity to take a step forward and lead, but we’ve found the base understanding of what restoration is and what it can do is quite low.”

Educating government agencies and insurers about the value the restoration industry provides in terms of health and safety, customer care, sustainability and cost efficiency was essential, as was the need to build trust by advocating for higher quality standards across the industry, Taylor said

“If you increase standards, you’re increasing the overall quality of the industry and the reputation of the industry.”

Other sessions focussed on learning about specific areas of restoration, including waterproofing, carpentry, roof inspections, global trends, concrete testing and drying, moisture monitoring and carpet cleaning. Overseas guests included Chuck Violand, who spoke about attracting and retaining the best staff, and Dr Ralph Moon, who led sessions with a focus on communication — specifically in writing professional reports and technical competence.

Dr Moon said attending the conference helped him learn about common ground between practices in Australia and the USA, particularly when it came to moisture intrusion. 

“We have a lot to share, especially with the building structure and the building envelope, and understanding more about our responsibilities of reporting and investigating to defend our work,” Dr Moon said.

His sessions highlighted the importance the restoration industry plays in assessing legal issues around water damage and insurance claims. Having conducted investigations across two decades of claims work, Dr Moon said he understood the importance of establishing trust in the restoration industry.

“When you’re giving expert witness testimony in court, the nature of our work is to separate what’s real from what’s not. And you hope you can do it in a persuasive manner.” 

Of course, the conference was not just about learning, but also leading. One important development from the AGM was the appointment of Brodie West as the new president of RIA Inc, who made history as the first woman to take on the role.

West said she was less focused on breaking the glass ceiling and more interested in what she can do for association members.

“We’re a not-for-profit association, we’re here for the members,” West said. 

“So what that means is we have to listen to the members and try to make sure that we’re doing what is right by them.”

West said the association would be continuing with advocacy and education efforts, as well as working to learn more about member needs. She encouraged members to complete the member survey, which would help the association understand how they could best help the industry progress, whether through relevant discounts for businesses or building the industry’s profile.

“As Marcus said, it’s really jarring to realise how many people still don’t know what restoration is,” she said. 

The survey, the first of its kind for the Australian building and contents damage restoration industry, was designed to serve two purposes. The first was to identify possible issues and areas of advocacy, while the second was to provide industry insights and benchmarking to help commercial decision making by RIA members. The anonymous survey will be open until 31 July 2024, with a final high-level report released to the public and a detailed version available to RIA members in August.

West said the survey was necessary because there is very little consolidated industry data of the Australian and New Zealand markets, compared to the significant amount of information available on the restoration industries in the US and Canada.

“When we go out to communicate to people about the benefits of restoration, we’re finding they often want to see data. That’s another area where the survey will help, because we will be able to go to Insurance Council Australia or government and regulatory bodies, and give them the data that backs up what we’re saying.”

The next phase would be educating the wider community and consumers about restoration, how it can help people and why it was important to get restoration professionals in as quickly as possible after an incident.

As always, the conference not only provided technical sessions, business panels and leadership seminars, but also networking events and an exhibition trade show, where vendors were able to showcase the latest in restoration technology and equipment.

Trade show exhibitors included — in alphabetical order — Actichem, Agile Equipment, BULCS Holdings, Bunnings Trade, Carpet Cleaners Warehouse, Climate Rental Solutions, Coach8, Corestone Training, Encircle, Equipmed, Eurofins, IICRC, Indoor Environmental Consulting & Labs, Industrial Software Group, Keystone Environmental, Mycotec Pty Ltd, Restoration Industry Consultants, Restoration Innovations, Restore Solutions, SAN AIR, TAXIBOX, TESA Directive, The S.E.A Group, Thorair, Tramex (Cornell Group P/L), Violand Management Associates and XPOWER Australia.

One of the standout events this year was the Women’s Breakfast, held on the morning of the second day. Following on from a successful launch last year, the 2024 breakfast saw speakers including West and international guest Katie Smith, former president of the RIA in America, talk about their experiences working in what is still a predominantly male industry.

RIA treasurer Tash Easterby, who took over the running of Network Restorers from her father, said events such as the breakfast — and the conference more broadly — were important sources of contacts, information and inspiration.

“It’s nice to be part of helping ladies empower ourselves as we come into what is typically a male dominated industry,” Easterby said.

“Running a business is daunting but, as a young woman, it is an extra challenge because there aren’t many of us. So meeting all these ladies who are also doing what we’re doing is working wonders. With Brodie now being the president, this is all shining a light on all the ladies coming through and showing other women that it’s happening.”

After an afternoon of vendor breakout sessions – including talks on commercial desiccants, specialist remediation equipment and moisture meters – the conference concluded with a prize draw for two tickets to next year’s conference, followed by a gala three-course dinner in the Ballroom.

INCLEAN attended the RIA Australasia Inc Conference and Trade Show as a guest of RIA Australasia Inc