Exhibit 31.1

                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER


I, William W. Collins, certify that:


      1.     I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Building
             Materials Corporation of America;

      2.     Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
             untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material
             fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
             circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading
             with respect to the period covered by this quarterly report;

      3.     Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
             financial information included in this quarterly report, fairly
             present in all material respects the financial condition, results
             of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
             periods presented in this quarterly report;

      4.     The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
             establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
             defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e)and 15d-15(e)) for the
             registrant and have:

             a)     designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                    such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                    our supervision to ensure that material information relating
                    to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
                    is made known to us by others within those entities,
                    particularly during the period in which this quarterly
                    report is being prepared;

             b)     evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                    controls and procedures and presented in this quarterly
                    report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
                    disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
                    period covered by this report based on our evaluation; and

             c)     disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                    internal control over financial reporting that occurred
                    during the registrant's most recent quarterly period that
                    has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
                    materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
                    financial reporting; and

      5.     The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
             based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
             financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
             committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons performing
             the equivalent function):

             a)     all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                    design or operation of internal control over financial
                    reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
                    the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and
                    report financial information; and

             b)     any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                    or other employees who have a significant role in the
                    registrant's internal control over financial reporting.


Date: May 18, 2004

/s/ William W. Collins
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Name:  William W. Collins
Title: Chief Executive Officer and President