Fifteen builders are on the list. It is still open.
The 2026 Ben Franklin Award has gone to fifteen builders, framers, lumber people and designers who decided the code minimum was not good enough. Who they are, what they did, and how the sixteenth gets on.
In 1735 Benjamin Franklin wrote about the fires that kept burning down Philadelphia and 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. That is why our builder recognition program carries his name.
Fifteen so far this year
Every 2026 award was earned on a real job and presented in person. Nobody paid for one, and nobody can. The list so far includes Jonathan Wurster of TR Wurster Construction, Wayne and Adam Withers of NorCal Lumber, Loren Konz of West Coast Framing, Hank Wright of Hank Wright Properties, Matt Williams of Williams Construction & Design, Van Heflin of Heflin Construction Corp, Miguel Iriarte of Iriarte Architecture, Derek Davies of Warren Development, Frank Carroll, Jeff Lutz of Lutz & Associates Consulting, Ken York, Tom Devlin, Shane Broughton of Colt Builders and Tyler Pase of Goodhand Builders. The photos of each presentation are on the award page.
What they did
The award asks for three simple things, and every recipient is doing them on the jobs they are building now, not talking about them. They frame with fire-treated lumber that arrives from the mill stamped. They roll mold protection along the bottom of every plate before the walls go up. And they do it with the crew they already have, because we supply the product and show the framer how to use it. No new sub, no added days.
“Nothing about it changed our schedule. My crews frame the same way they always have.”
What comes with it
A crystal award and a certificate, presented in person. The builder's name on fireproshop.com and in everything we send to the trade after them. And the right to put the Ben Franklin Award on proposals, job signs and the 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.
How the sixteenth gets on
One project is all it takes to be considered. Steve Conboy is asking for fifteen minutes on the phone with you and whoever runs your framing. He will walk through the three things above and tell you whether they fit the way you build. If they do not, he will say so. Start here, or read the open letter to builders first.
