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Ten Years of Knocking: NJ SDA Finally Opens the Door
by Dan Siteman, IMI Director of Industry Development & Technical Services
Since joining the International Masonry Institute (IMI) team in 2016, I have supported the design and construction of masonry – advocating for union labor and best practices from both regional and national perspectives. There have been countless strategies to find the biggest impact for our collective growth as an industry, and every measurable success has come through a collaborative effort with our industry partners at the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) and Masonry Contractors of New Jersey. Most of the wins for masonry have come on a project-to-project basis. This one is different, and it may reshape how masonry is used on school construction in New Jersey.
Over the past decade, IMI has brought many of the same programs it offers architects and engineers, to the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (NJ SDA): seminars and workshops intended to increase our market share; or at least defend what we have. During that time, we would occasionally have a promising conversation that eventually led nowhere, given the risk-averse position NJ SDA has historically taken toward favoring any one construction material. There is now reason to believe we have started down a different path, with different leadership within the SDA and meaningful change on the horizon.
In July 2025, Masonry Contractors of New Jersey Executive Director Carol Ciesielski took a call from NJ SDA Deputy Director Nicole Burnett requesting training for the Authority’s Program Officers, architects, and engineers – roughly 20 attendees, ranging from junior to senior level. The main idea: to build a better understanding of field conditions and expectations for masonry on their projects. They provided an extensive list of topics, from basic masonry tools and materials to cavity wall sequencing and construction, flashing and moisture control, tolerances allowed by the masonry code, and jobsite safety equipment and considerations. Masonry Contractors of New Jersey, BAC and I agreed that we had to be strategic and intentional about how we presented this information to SDA staff.
Working with Masonry Contrctors of New Jersey's leadership and member contractors, we developed several draft programs and settled on an 11-hour curriculum delivered in two sessions (Day 1 on November 12, 2025, and Day 2 on April 22, 2026), combining lectures with complementary hands-on demonstrations and a contractor-driven panel discussion on improving how masonry design and construction are perceived. I delivered the lecture content across both sessions:
Day 1
- Grouting Reinforced Masonry Structures - Lecture
- Grouting & Reinforcing Masonry Training - Demonstration
- PPE Review - Lecture/Demonstration
- Mortar & Grout: Specification, Selection & Quality Assurance - Lecture
- Mortar Proportioning, Mixing, & Workability - Demonstration
Day 2
- Flashing & Moisture Control - Lecture
- Flashing Installation - Demonstration
- Improving the Masonry Experience - Panel Discussion
- Cold Weather Masonry Lecture
This was a collaborative effort in the truest sense, with all hands on deck to make the program a success. International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (IUBAC) Director of Organizing Matthew Stafford and BAC Local 5 Representatives Scott Senese and Mario Cerrito kept things running smoothly on the training floor. BAC Local 5 Training Instructor Ren Engelhardt led the introduction to personal protective equipment and assisted throughout the hands-on demonstrations in the training facility. Masonry Contractors of New Jersey contractor representatives from American Masonry Corp. led by Ron Atzert, and The Baumgardner Group led by Andrew Baumgardner, joined the panel discussion, which I moderated.
The program was well received. NJ SDA intends to keep developing topics of interest for us to consider in future sessions, and both sides agreed this effort should continue as an ongoing partnership to improve relations between our contractors and the Authority.
The most consequential outcome came from an unexpected visitor. NJ SDA Vice President of Program and Construction Operations Ramy Kamel attended the second session by happenstance, and afterward asked IMI to conduct a full review of SDA’s public design and material documents, with the intent of reporting our findings and recommendations to SDA leadership. To support that review, IMI has engaged structural engineer Scott Walkowicz, PE, chair of the TMS 402/602 Masonry Code and Specification Committee and a past president of The Masonry Society. IMI will collaborate with Masonry Contractors of New Jersey and its contractor members for input on local constructability concerns to help shape those recommendations.
What does this mean for Association members? The people who write and administer NJ SDA’s specifications have now seen firsthand how masonry actually goes together, and the documents governing their projects are open to our input. If you have run into recurring trouble on SDA work, such as details that cannot be built as drawn or specifications that conflict with the code, send them to Masonry Contractors of New Jersey so we can compile and include them in our overall review.
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