Award-winning advice: NARI Contractors of the Year sound off on their supply partnerships and what it takes to get the business of best-in-class remodelers.(ProWatch)

Peter Feinmann has some choice words for building material suppliers still locked into the view that remodeling contractors demand too much from the supply channel. "Who is too demanding?" counters the president of Arlington, Mass.-based remodeling firm Feinmann, Inc. "The clients are, which is why we demand [so much] of our suppliers. If they don't get it, get out of the business."

According to Feinmann, the supply side of the industry needs to overcome a belief that all customers are of a generic commodity ilk. That mentality, he says, is influenced largely by new construction, where houses can be built in the absence of a homeowner who is intricately and intimately invested and involved in the project. Not so with professional remodeling contractors, he says, who must answer to the client on a daily basis and are therefore "looking for products and suppliers that allow us to stand behind what we do."

And what professional remodeling contractors are doing these days is becoming increasingly grand and complex in terms of project size, construction complexity, craftsmanship, and final ticket price. Even as new-home buyers begin to shy away from seven-figure purchases, many existing homeowners are still plowing capital into their investments. "Projected remodeling market size from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2006 is $291.5 billion" says Gwen Biasi, marketing and communications director for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). "It's conservative growth, but growth nonetheless."

To recognize the best-in-class remodelers helping to fuel the industry's success, NARI annually hosts a Contractor of the Year (CotY) awards program, bestowing honors on remodeling firms across 25 award categories. "One of the main purposes of NARI is to elevate the professionalism in our industry" says Amy Brown, director of marketing for Waco, Texas-based remodeling firm DreamMaker Bath and Kitchen and chair of the CotY program for NARI. "The awards recognize that professionalism and the good quality work of our industry, both of which are growing [in tandem] with the awards program every year."

For Feinmann and the two dozen other recipients of the prestigious 2006 CotY designation, the supply side of the industry continues to emerge as a key ally in the successful execution of projects that range from a simple window replacement to a $1 million whole-house remodel. "Obviously, in our business it's all about partnerships with different entities" says Steve Plath, president of Plath & Co. General Contractors, the San Rafael, Calif.-based remodeling firm that took home the 2006 CotY for residential addition above $250,000. "We are dealing with high-end customers, and if we are not getting a high-end product or we've got a supplier that is not supporting their product properly, we are not going to go back to them. A lot of times we need our supplier's help to resolve an issue, even if the customer is in error."

For Plath, who relies on American Canyon, Calif.-based Golden State Lumber for building materials and on a litany of other suppliers for everything from windows, tile, and solid surfacing to electronic chimney smoke deionizers, product price is an issue, but not a decisive one. "Product availability and shortened lead time are more critical" he says. "Under $1 million is a small project for us, so we are also looking for reliability and quality, and the ability of the supplier to stand behind the product"

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