The 2026 Ben Franklin Award
An open invitation to build safer homes and be recognized for it. Fifteen builders are on the list. Steve Conboy would like you to be the sixteenth.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Three simple things.
The award goes to builders who decided the minimum was not good enough. Every one of them was chosen because they are doing it on real jobs, not talking about it. Nobody paid for the award, and nobody can.
Frame with fire-treated lumber
It arrives from the mill already treated. Your framers cut it and nail it like any other stick.
Roll mold protection under every plate
Along the bottom of every plate before the walls go up. About an hour on a house, and the only time anyone will ever reach that spot.
Use the crew you already have
We supply the product and show your framer how to use it. No new sub. No added days.
The 2026 recipients. The list is open.
Every award below was earned on a real job. Fifteen so far this year, presented in person, and none of them paid for.
in 2026
-
01Jonathan WursterTR Wurster Construction -
02Wayne WithersNorCal Lumber -
03Adam WithersNorCal Lumber -
04Loren KonzWest Coast Framing -
05Hank WrightHank Wright Properties -
06Matt WilliamsWilliams Construction & Design -
07Van HeflinHeflin Construction Corp -
08Miguel IriarteIriarte Architecture -
09Derek DaviesWarren Development -
10Frank CarrollUS Forester -
11Jeff LutzLutz & Associates Consulting -
12Ken YorkHollywood Classic Wine -
13Tom DevlinForest Products Executive -
14Shane BroughtonColt Builders -
15Tyler PaseGoodhand Builders, Inc
“It's an hour on a house. It's the one thing on the job the buyer will never see, and the one thing I'd never skip.”
“Nothing about it changed our schedule. My crews frame the same way they always have.”
889 Tahoe Blvd., Unit A
Incline Village, NV 89451
909-519-5470 · fireproshop.com
Attention Builder,
In 1735, Benjamin Franklin wrote about the fires that kept burning down Philadelphia, and he gave us a line everybody still repeats: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The next year he started the first volunteer fire company in America. No code told him to. He saw a problem and fixed it.
That is why we named our builder award after him.
I started out framing houses, became a general contractor, and have spent the years since developing products that keep wood framing from burning and from growing mold. Here is what I have learned: the building code is the minimum. It gets you a certificate of occupancy. It does not stop a frame from burning before the drywall goes up, and it does not stop water from sitting under a bottom plate until the homeowner smells it.
The Ben Franklin Award goes to builders who decided the minimum was not good enough. They do three simple things: frame with fire-treated lumber, roll our mold protection along the bottom of every plate before the walls go up, and use the crew they already have.
Every one of these builders was chosen because they are doing it on real jobs, not talking about it. Nobody paid for the award, and nobody can.
Here is what comes with the award. A crystal award and certificate, presented in person. Your name on fireproshop.com and in everything we send to the trade after you. And the right to put the Ben Franklin Award on your proposals, your job signs and your model home. When a buyer is comparing two builders and one of them has been recognized for building a safer, healthier home, that is not a small thing.
Here is what I am asking for. Fifteen minutes on the phone with you and whoever runs your framing. I will walk you through the three things above and find out whether they fit the way you build. If they do, we talk about your next project and the award. If they do not, I will tell you so.
There are fifteen names on that list. I would like yours to be next.
909-519-5470 · sales@fireproshop.com
P.S. The award goes to builders who are doing it, not builders who are thinking about it. One project is all it takes to be considered. Get a quote →