**Exhibit 31.1**

# CEO CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OFTHE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002 

I, Robert E. Mellor, certify that: 

-   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Building Materials Holding Corporation (Registrant);    

- 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; 

- 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; 

- The Registrant’s    other certifying officers 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 we 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; |
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| (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 such evaluation; and |
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| (c)   | disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the Registrant’s internal          control over financial reporting that occurred during the Registrant’s most          recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to          materially affect, the Registrant’s internal control over financial          reporting. |
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- The Registrant’s    other certifying officers 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: 

| (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 |
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| (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. |
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| Date:  November 3, 2004 | /s/ Robert E. Mellor                Robert E. MellorChairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer(Principal Executive Officer) |
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