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HEADLINES ADDED: September 28, 2007
Common Labor Index
The Common Labor Index is the labor component of ENR’s Construction Cost Index and tracks the union wage, plus fringe benefits, for laborers.... Read More
Construction Cost Index
HOW ENR BUILDS THE INDEX: 200 hours of common labor at the 20-city average of common labor rates, plus 25 cwt of standard structural steel shapes at the mill price prior to 1996 and the fabricated 20-city price from 1996, plus 1.128 tons of portland cement at the 20-city price, plus 1,088 board-ft of 2 x 4 lumber at the 20-city price.... Read More
Material Price Index
The Materials Cost Index is the materials component of ENR’s building and construction cost indexes. It tracks the weighted price movement of structural steel, portland cement and 2 X 4 lumber.... Read More
Skilled Labor Index
The Skilled Labor Index is the labor component of ENR’s Building Cost Index and tracks union wages, plus fringe benefits, for carpenters, bricklayers and iron workers.... Read More
2006 Jobsite Deaths Rise 3%, but Industry Fatality Rate Drops
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Iraq Bill Includes Billions for Construction, Plus Tax Breaks
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One More Big Deal for URS and Its CEO
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Does General Liability Insurance Provide Defense Against Defective Work?
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Interviewing techniques: tips from the pros: ask the right questions to assess the skills and attitudes of job candidates.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A skillful interview consists of * Preparation. Collect information about the job you're trying to fill; Know what the duties are and what experience, credentials and core competencies are required to fulfill them. Know the type of clients and industries the candidate will be Publication: Journal of Accountancy... Read More
BUILDER Blocks: The Week in Review
Despite the housing slump, consumer satisfaction remains unchanged; Alan Greenspan set to admit he missed foreseeing the risks of subprime mortgages; and default notices continue to plague Beazer Homes.... Read More
Builder Confidence Hits Lowest Level
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index of builder sentiment continues to slide in 2007, tying the all-time low of 20 set in January 1991.... Read More
Construction firms told to halve waste by 2012
The construction industry should halve the annual 30m tonnes of waste it sends to landfill by 2012, with major construction projects like the Thames Gateway leading the way.... Read More
Avoiding Snail Mail- How Not to Screw Up
Pennsylvania Architect Sal Verastro explains why it is important to know more about your client than just the project needs. How Not to Screw Up Forum :: Share a lesson you learned- the hard way. File Download (5:14 min / 5 MB)... Read More
Legal Pitfalls- How Not to Screw Up
Gerry Katz, Construction Contract Attorney, shares lessons about getting it right with contract administration. How Not to Screw Up Forum :: Share a lesson you learned- the hard way. File Download (13:21 min / 12 MB)... Read More
Even without contractually-required change order, contractor recovers additional HVAC costs against owner on summary judgment
The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently upheld a summary judgment decision in favor of Inland Construction Company, a general commercial contractor, for additional HVAC costs on a job where no change order was issued or executed. The Court agreed with the trial judge, Hon. Howard E. Manning, Jr., that despite an e-mail from Inland’s project manager to the defendant/property owner stating that “[t]he cost for these revisions will be resolved between [Inland/plaintiff] and [the architect.] The owner will have no cost associated with this change in the mechanical... Read More
Why don't more people build green?
Several weeks ago one of our readers commented that some in the public and private sector remain skeptical about building green, and asked about their concerns. There are a variety of concerns about building green (more than I can address in a single blog entry), but here are a few of the more common ones:1. Building green is expense. This includes everything from materials and education to regulatory compliance. While these problems do exist to varying degrees, evidence suggests that these capital costs should be offset by significant operating... Read More
Gauging the labor force effects of retiring baby-boomers ...
As aging baby-boomers begin retiring, the effects on the overall economy and on certain occupations and industries will be substantial, creating a need for younger workers to fill the vacated jobs, many of which require relatively high levels of skill.Are you prepared for this skill vacuum? FInd out.read more | digg story... Read More
Ladies, Thinking About an Engineering Career? Here's Some Research
Anay over at Introduction to Womens Studies has done her homework ! I think you'll find the data she's uncovered interesting and helpfulread more | digg story... Read More
Conducting a Marketing Physical to Ensure Brand Health
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(4) Espresso Shots of Business Wisdom
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Financial Incentives Can Create Bad Employee Behavior
SEP 2007 from the Stanford Graduate School of Business | Read the full story» Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer of the Stanford Graduate School of Business warns that using monetary incentives can backfire, especially if they are offered mainly to influence behavior.... Read More
Innovation Farms
"In thinking about large companies, think of them as farms. And what you’re trying to do is grow rows of corn. You don’t want surprises, you want it to work well, you apply incremental innovation to be as productive as you can."... Read More
Friday Fun: Yes, You Should Embrace Video For Marketing
If you’ve ever wondered if your company was “too boring” to pull off any kind of viral video campaign, the examples below may convince you that it’s worth a try. When we approached our client, Kaspersky Lab – a fast-growing Internet Threat Management company (anti-virus, etc.) – about sponsoring a user-generated video contest, we did so with trepidation. First off, “viral” is not something you can guarantee. Campaigns become viral if they are FOUND, EMBRACED by the community, and if they are GOOD; if they are worth passing on. More to the point: even our... Read More
User Community and ROI
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Credit markets: Still Gloomy
Debt markets threaten to undermine the Fed's goal of restoring order.... Read More
Tip 90 – Talk to Your Boss About Your Next Job
Guess what? If you’ve built a strong relationship with your boss, you should be talking to him or her about your next job. It’s stupid to pretend you will be at your current job forever when everybody’s thinking about their next move... To get complete, future tips of the week by e-mail, click here to subscribe. Also, feel free to join the conversation around this tip by posting a comment below.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: September 27, 2007
Construction law firms: How to choose one (CJ Legal 500)
Richard Bailey, associate at law firm Fenwick Elliott, talks you through the key questions a construction company should ask when choosing a law firm.... Read More
Construction law firms: Tier 5 of the Legalease Construction Legal 500
Tier 5 construction law firms, together with accompanying details and analysis, from Contract Journal and the Legalease Legal 500.... Read More
Construction law firms: Tier 4 of the Legalease Construction Legal 500
Tier 4 construction law firms, together with accompanying details and analysis, from Contract Journal and the Legalease Legal 500.... Read More
Construction law firms: Tier 3 of the Legalease Construction Legal 500
Tier 3 construction law firms, together with accompanying details and analysis, from Contract Journal and the Legalease Legal 500.... Read More
Construction law firms: Tiers 1-2 of the Legalease Construction Legal 500
Tier 1 and 2 construction law firms, together with accompanying details and analysis, from Contract Journal and the Legalease Legal 500.... Read More
Electricians head for row over de-skilling plans
New SMA grade would allow less qualified workers to perform more basic jobs.... Read More
CSI Construction Minute- May 28, 2007
A twelve minute late bid costs a contractor $1 million. CSI NewsBrief :: Construction News Delivered to Your Inbox File Download (1:13 min / 1 MB)... Read More
Quit Being a Salesperson
We all know that to achieve success in the sales profession, reps need to listen to the customer. But salespeople often hear so many different things that they tend to feel the need to provide solutions for all of their clients problems. When this happens, sales professionals overwhelm the customer, causing them to become confused, and, ultimately, losing any sale.... Read More
Rebuilding Buyers' Trust
The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) today announced a new Code of Trust, a set of ethical practices for its members.... Read More
Is this better than BIM; or, is it BIM Redux?
Newly noted on April 18,2007 at Innovations Report is an article entitled "Software invention could save construction industry a fortune" in which it is noted that researchers at the University of Teesside are spearheading a revolution which could save the construction industry millions. The effort involves developing their own software tools which harness the power of computer games technology to give planners and builders the ability to rehearse different phases of a major construction project over and over again on a PC screen before building work begins. This can... Read More
Let's Not Forget Low-Tech in a High Tech World
The Special Projects Office of the United Nations (UN), Fergus Gleeson, has reported in the Irish Engineers Journal, vol. 58:01 January/February 2004, that for countries whose infrastructure has been damaged by war, "labour-based technology is appropriate." The concept finds expression in Afghanistan under the National Emergency Employment Programme. Through this program, construction technologies are "those founded on indigenous knowledge, skills and materials, thereby allowing a maximum of the project fund to be retained within the project area." This policy of labour based appropriate technology (LBAT) is coupled with "social... Read More
Workplace Accidents and the Additional Insured Clause
Owners and contractors depend on being protected for subcontractor employees' workplace accidents by requiring that subcontractors include the owner and contractor as additional insureds on their commercial general liability (cgl) policies. When a subcontractor's employee is injured on the job site and sues the owner and contractor for negligence (since worker's compensation laws normally prevent the employee from suing the subcontractor, its employer), the owner and contractor assume they can tender the defense of the lawsuit to the subcontractor's insurer since the owner and contractor are, after all, additional... Read More
Its All About the Talent
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