Donato Pompo Honored with Construction Specifier Magazine Article of the Year Award

San Diego, CA – October 4, 2012 – Donato V. Pompo, CTC, CMR, CSI, CDT, MBA of Ceramic Tile and Stone Consultants, Inc. (CTaSC) was honored with The Construction Specifier Magazine Article of the Year Award by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). CSI is a prominent architectural association for architects that prepare construction specifications.  The award was presented to Mr. Pompo at CSI’s Annual Meeting held in conjunction with CONSTRUCT 2012 in Phoenix on September 14, 2012.

The article that earned Mr. Pompo the distinguished recognition from CSI is entitled “Good Specs Mean Good Tile and Stone Installations” and appeared in the magazine’s December 2011 issue (http://www.kenilworth.com/publications/cs/de/201112/files/30.html). CSI’s Editorial Advisory Board stated that they selected Pompo’s article based on its relevance to the industry as a whole, readability, impact, and alignment with CSI’s mission and technical standards and formats.

“Like Pompo’s previous pieces for the magazine, it exemplifies what makes an article successful—the writing is in-depth but accessible, and thought-provoking but based on objective fact,” said Erik Missio, editor of The Construction Specifier. “Pompo draws on his own experiences in the tile industry to present clear, concise, and correct information for architects, specifiers, and engineers within a CSI context. His article is the very spirit of the tagline that appears on The Construction Specifier covers—a solution for the construction industry.”   Pompo has a new article just released in The Construction Specifier’s October 2012 issue titled “Avoiding the Fall: Specifying Ceramic, Glass Tile, Stone, and Terrazzo for  Slip Resistance” (http://www.kenilworth.com/publications/cs/de/201210/files/60.html).

Mr. Pompo is a frequent contributing author to many of the construction, tile and stone trade publications.  He has been a Certified Construction Documents Technologist (CDT) through CSI since 2000 and has produced hundreds of tile and stone installation specifications.  His more than 30 years experience in the tile and stone industries, combined with his dedication, commitment, and a desire to improve the industry as a whole through training and the sharing of information is key in motivating Pompo to publish many articles and offering training services.  It is also what led him to establish the University of Ceramic Tile and Stone (UofCTS) in 2002.

“I realized the importance of training early on in my various roles in the ceramic tile and stone industry. I realized that there weren’t enough opportunities for those who specify, sell or install tile and stone to learn the critical requirements and standards needed to ensure successful installations.  When e-learning technology became available it made it possible to educate installers, salespeople and architects in the most cost-efficient and convenient way, so that’s why I established the University of Ceramic Tile and Stone (www.UofCTS.org),” Pompo said.  “Most people have access to a computer and an internet connection today.  So now industry standards, product knowledge and uses, and installation application information is conveniently available online,” he continued.  “And the beauty of online learning is that you can do it without having to miss work or incur any travel expenses, and you can go at your own pace and convenience.”

The core business, CTaSC, is what supplies Pompo with ideas for stories that turn into magazine articles. CTaSC specializes in forensic investigations, quality control, tile and stone installation specifications, testing, and expert witness testimony. Pompo is frequently called on to conduct forensic investigations throughout North America and this enables him to see first-hand the kinds of problems that are occurring on many different types of jobs. Installations run the gamut from exterior veneers, to swimming pools, hotel lobbies, showers, malls, airports, and the list goes on.  CTaSC also provides various quality control services such as writing installation specifications and quality control plans, and having CTaSC inspectors, who are seasoned tile installers, perform on-site quality control inspections.

By keeping a record of the issues he comes across in the field, and translating them into informative articles and online courses, Pompo hopes to get the word out to the construction industry members about  how such problems can be avoided through education.

For further information about the UofCTS training services please visit www.CTaSC.com or call 886.669.1550.