Builder’s group outlines plans

As the president of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, I am pleased to launch this new column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal Real Estate section.

The association plans to give readers insightful information about the many aspects of the homebuilding and homebuying process. We're in a unique position to deliver that information. For more than 60 years, we've played a major role as an advocate for the American dream of homeownership in metropolitan Las Vegas.

Also, the homebuilding industry is a major force in the local economy. Every new home constructed leads to 3.19 permanent jobs in Nevada.

SNHBA is an award-winning affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders, based in Washington, D.C. We are actively involved with several issues, ranging from cost control to environmental protection that impact the homebuilding industry, homebuyers and homeowners. That involvement includes lobbying and advocating on the local, state, regional and federal levels. We have a long history of working toward responsible and reasonable solutions that benefit the industry, our buyers and the community.

Working in cooperation with other organizations and governmental entities, we've tackled important issues of mutual concern such as fair taxation, funding for public infrastructure, transportation and schools; environmental mitigation requirements, including the multispecies habitat conservation plan and the storm water management plan; impact fees and governmental enterprise funds.

In particular, we've partnered with other trade groups to work on solutions for issues ranging from dust control, mechanics lien law, right-to-repair in construction dispute cases, revisions and modernizations of industry codes and standards and developing education programs to benefit our members.

The association is proud to have a long list of accomplishments over the past 60 years.

We joined with the Southern Nevada Water Authority to create the Water Smart Home program, which promotes water efficiency by requiring homes built through the program to include water-smart landscaping and water-efficient appliances. It is the largest water-efficiency type program in the country with more than 9,000 local homes built to the program requirements since 2004.

With industry partners, we established the Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership and the Trade Contractor Quality Assurance programs, both of which raised the bar on homebuilding in our community and serve as models for programs in other communities.

The association is the largest, oldest trade organization representing the residential construction industry in Nevada. Our members hail from all professions in the industry, from builders, Realtors and mortgage lenders to marketing consultants, trade contractors and government representatives. They are involved in more than 90 percent of local residential construction.

Our motto is "Those who belong ... care!" Our members are focused on the association's mission, which is to:

* Promote community attitudes that will ensure the viability and success of the homebuilding industry.

* Combine individual talents and resources to provide leadership addressing challenges affecting our industry.

* And implement programs to advance membership, education and involvement in our association.

There's much more about who we are and what we do on our website, www.snhba.com. I look forward to writing much more about what we're doing to enhance homebuyers' experiences and answer your questions about the homebuilding and homebuying process.

Please direct your questions to SNHBA Public Affairs Director Monica Caruso at monica@snhba.com. We will try to answer as many as we can, given space and time limitations and constraints.

— Frank Wyatt is the 2016 president of Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. He is also Pinnacle Homes president. Wyatt has been in the Las Vegas homebuilding industry since the 1980s.