A Body of Knowledge for Our Profession and Industry

Since 2009, RIA members have heard presentations, read articles, participated in a survey questionnaire, or offered reviewer comments about the Certified Restorer^® Body of Knowledge (CRBoK). Well, the massive undertaking is finally done and here for our use. But to what purpose? What, exactly, does it do for us?

A professional body of knowledge defines what members of a profession should know. If people doing similar work can generally agree about what they must know in order to perform well, then they begin to define the subject matter of a profession. The public will begin to recognize their profession and rely upon them because they possess that special knowledge. Greater authority and responsibility attend members of publicly acknowledged professions. So, capturing the knowledge to build the CRBoK is an essential step in securing greater respect for the restoration industry. As Bob Bonwell cautions and experience confirms, “You cannot outperform your knowledge.” And with better knowledge we see that the ethical imperative to serve the client-customer is more effectively satisfied.

Creating the CRBoK is much more than brainstorming to list all bits of knowledge that various restoration contractors must know. The knowledge must be structured in some logical way. Different people might organize the knowledge differently. But the manner of organization must offer a coherent pattern both horizontally, across the various categories of knowledge in the body, and vertically, in the depth of refinement of each category of the body.

Professionals should not worry much about the specific organization of their body of knowledge, as long as it includes all knowledge needed and none that is extraneous. Where some topic happens to be located in the CRBoK is NOT an indicator of when or how much of that knowledge must be applied on the job. Professionals draw from this or that knowledge at different times and to varying amounts, as the job and their experience guide them. Of course, intricately weaving the threads of knowledge into a tapestry of excellent service requires tapping into professional judgment, which goes beyond what the CRBoK provides. Although it is true that mastering the CRBoK does not guarantee good work, a restorer lacking much of the CRBoK knowledge is practically assured of substandard performance. The CRBoK helps establish minimum acceptable knowledge levels to “raise the bar” for the restoration profession. Restorers need not know every bit of the CRBoK to be effective in their practice: They need know only those elements commonly applied for their job tasks.

A body of knowledge is not a curriculum. Besides determining proper subject matter, which CRBoK provides, curriculum development also organizes and sequences instruction, the extent to which any element of knowledge is taught, and the method of delivery (e.g., online distance or residence, lecture or laboratory, in person or video). How much should be taught of any item? That should be determined by how much practitioners typically know of the subject by common practice or experience versus how much they need to know to perform competently. The level of knowledge that competent professionals should have is keyed into the CRBoK. The font designations of mastery, working knowledge, and familiarity, which are defined in the document, guide members to learn and instructors to teach to the level of knowledge application that satisfactory performance requires. Besides guiding the amount of instruction of any included subject, the CRBoK should help RIA educators eliminate all but deliberately planned redundancy and reduce gaps in essential subject matter coverage. This all makes for increased effectiveness and efficiency in professional restoration education.

Naturally, what the best restorers need to know will continue to evolve. New technologies, materials, procedures, and the market evolve all the time. Change management processes for both less and more urgent circumstances are critical to keep the CRBoK current, accurate, and consensus-based. People who disagree with content of the CRBoK will best compel changes they think needed by working with peers to gain consensus for the modifications. The CRBoK will likely become more than something that only the industry elite who earn Certified Restorer^® status will generally know.

As part of RIA's attempt to reach industry consensus, three organizational reviews from the not-for-profit sector were conducted. This review process included IICRC, IAQA and AIHA. In addition, an organizational review was performed by RSA, the largest commercial training organization.

In all, this represents a tremendous step in “raising the bar” of individual performance, to move disaster restoration and reconstruction contracting further along the path to the widespread public esteem that we all know it deserves.