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HEADLINES ADDED: March 31, 2008
I-35W Bridge Collapse - Week 33
The National Transportation Safety Board released photographs of the I-35W bridge from 2003 that showed at least two bent gusset plates located in the bridge’s connecting beams. NTSB investigators believe the gusset plates ...... Read More
Public Seminar Schedule for Spring, 2008 - Stevens Construction Institute, Inc.
Public Seminar Schedule.pdf... Read More
National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada adopts Vancouver Regional Construction Association’s best-practices guide
The Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA) best-practices guide for trade contractors has gone national.... Read More
The Lighter Side
Contractor's Definitions: Government Contractor: A gambler who never gets to cut, shuffle or deal the cards. Bid Opening: A poker game in which the losing hand wins Low Bidder: A contractor who wonders what he or she left out of their bid Engineer's Estimate: The cost of construction in Heaven Project Manager: The conductor of an orchestra in which every muscian is in a different union Critical Path Method Scheduling: A managment technique for losing your shirt under perfect control Strike: An effort to increase golden egg production by... Read More
Repose and Limitations Periods
Time deadlines are clearly an important part of construction claims. Additionally, States impose limitations and repose periods on the time frame to bring a legal action. The difference between a repose period and a limitations period is that the repose period begins to run from a specific envent set forth in a statute, such as completion of the work. Furthermore, the statute of limitations can bar a claim even if the repose period has not expired. Likewise the repose period can bar a claim even if the limitations period... Read More
Appeal of Administrative Agency's Decision Affirmed
On January 7, 2008, Michael W. Siri successfully argued on behalf of a firm client – a construction bonding agent – in a case that concerned the issuance and servicing of construction bonds for a Federal project. The Baltimore City Circuit Court upheld the decision of the Maryland Insurance Commissioner that the firm’s client had not acted fraudulently when it obtained or serviced the bonds. Vincent M. Guida wrote the brief and Matt Hjortsberg tried the case before the Office of Administrative Hearings.... Read More
Monday LEEDoff: Nationals Open Gates at America’s First Green Ballpark
Last week, brand-new $611 million Nationals Park, home to the National League East’s Washington Nationals baseball club, officially received a LEED Silver rating from USGBC, becoming the first baseball stadium in the country to earn the designation. Just a scant few days before Major League Baseball’s 2008 Opening Day, the ballpark earned 33 LEED points for a design by HOK Sport that, among other things, respects the park’s location in Southeast adjacent to D.C.’s Anacostia River. So far, so good for the Nats at their new home; Ryan Zimmerman... Read More
Qatar construction group floats on AIM
Qatar construction group Panceltica today becomes the biggest company to list on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) this year.... Read More
Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, 14th Edition with CD
By AIA. Wiley and Sons. Price: $250. Publish Date: 03/2008... Read More
World's tallest tower planned for Saudi Arabia
Plans for a mile-high tower near the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah have been unveiled by the billionaire owner of London's Savoy Hotel.... Read More
Thousands of new homes planned for countryside
Thousands of low-cost homes are being planned for the English countryside, in what would be the biggest rural housebuilding programme in a generation.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 30, 2008
£11.5m Rochdale bus station out to tender
Tenders are due to go out this autumn for a scheme to build a new £11.5m bus station in Rochdale, now that the government has stumped up £10m towards the project.... Read More
Benford's Law
A practical law also called the first digit law, first digit phenomenon, or leading digit phenomenon. Benford's law states that in listings, tables of statistics, etc., the digit 1 tends to occur with probability, much greater than the expected 11.1% (i.e., one digit out of 9). Benford's law can be observed, for instance, by examining tables of logarithms and noting that the first pages are much more worn and smudged than later pages (Newcomb 1881). While Benford's law unquestionably applies to many situations in the real world, a satisfactory... Read More
Construction Estimating Software Study
Go to any national convention and you can't miss seeing dozens of software vendors. It is a big business and there is high value to construction firms. The product has made estimating a less clerical and more automated. Also, it has made estimating more efficient. Due to its power, counting and measuring is less of a task; taking hours instead of days. For those of us who don't looking forward to the job of estimating, computers and software has made it bearable. We feel that most estimating software is... Read More
Local LEED Premium, THE Tunnel to Grand Central, MSG v. Moynihan, & What is Green Architecture?
Columbia’s LEED-ND expansion into Manhattanville challenged via Article 78 proceeding in New York Supreme Court. Madison Square Garden will stay put and renovate, casting Moynihan Station & Farley Post Office redevelopment project in doubt Regional Plan Association pushing for Trans-Hudson Express (”THE”) Tunnel, which will double capacity into Penn Station from New Jersey during rush hour, to extend to Grand Central Station as well Silver Wild Center/Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, first LEED-certified museum in the State of New York, to host climate change conference on July 25... Read More
The Best Industry in the United States
My child is in college. She is starting to ask about industries and careers. Olivia has made me think further about what construction contracting has to offer her. I have concluded it is the best career a young person could choose. You may not believe it, but the facts will show our business is unmatched. It offers participants long term tangible benefits. However, many people will argue that point. Let me show you the many virtues our industry has. You be the judge. The Industry is Not Going Away... Read More
Welcome
Thank you for visiting the Construction Contractor's Digest. We are pleased that you have joined us. This site is for the express purpose of being a resource for construction leaders. We work as management consultants with construction firms. We are Stevens Construction Institute. Presently, we have written over 190 articles ranging in subjects such as managing people & processes to financial management & computers. Enter your key word (use American English) and I am certain we will have some information for you. As you read these articles, please let... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 29, 2008
Internal Control: A Preventive Maintenance Program
You read about this in every newspaper in every town in the entire country: Some bookkeeper, trusted by the owner of a small business, embezzles thousands of dollars. If the theft doesn't put owner out of business, it certainly causes a major headache.... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 28, 2008
Government set cowboy builders in its sights
The government is planning a major crackdown on cowboy builders under proposals revealed by Housing Minister Caroline Flint today.... Read More
DeWalt Blueprint Reading Professional Reference
By Paul Rosenberg. Delmar Publishers. Price: $19.95. Publish Date: 04/2006... Read More
New York Expands Oversight of Tower Cranes
Until further notice, a Buildings Department inspector must be present on a construction site whenever a tower crane is raised or lowered in New York City.... Read More
Make sure everything is in order BEFORE you start the job . . .
Got a phone call recently from a contractor doing a job in the $150K range. Everything is fine, contract signed, and the job is going great. Problem was he asked for his down payment (after the job started) and the owner said, “Well, ummm, the bank hasn’t approved the loan yet.” I told him to shut that job down right away. Or sooner. The longer he works, the more money he has to lose if he isn’t paid. He can explain to the owner the job will start again... Read More
Twenty Large Upcoming Retail and Hotel Construction Projects – March 2008
The accompanying table shows 10 of the largest upcoming retail construction projects in the U.S. and 10 of the largest hotel projects. They are all in the planning stage and are mainly new projects, but may also involve additions and/or alterations. Shopping centers, hotels, office buildings, medical buildings, educational buildings, libraries and museums, sports and entertainment complexes, industrial projects and government buildings will all be covered on a rotating basis.... Read More
Big Box Stores Jump on the Green Bandwagon
Home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s have kicked up their marketing push for energy-efficient and eco-friendly products sold in their stores, the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, New York, reported earlier this week. Due to increased awareness of issues like sustainability and climate change, as well as rising fuel costs, customers have been requesting projects like energy-saving light bulbs, efficient insulation, and energy-saving appliances in record numbers. Natedra Banks, the senior manager of environmental innovation for Home Depot, told the paper that “builders, in general, want to know... Read More
Crane Training Vital for Safety, ASSE Member Says
Coinciding with the recent fatal crane incidents in New York City and Miami, American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) member and certified crane operator trainer Greg Peters noted that to avoid fatalities and injuries involving cranes and derricks, crane operators must receive comprehensive training and should be required to obtain national certification.... Read More
Foundation Engineering, 1st Edition
By Robert Day. McGraw Hill Book Company. Price: $120. Publish Date: 11/2005... Read More
Environmental Engineering Solved Problems, 2nd Edition
By R. Wane Schneiter. Professional Publications. Price: $80. Publish Date: 06/2006... Read More
Buildingtalk busiest ever week with 75,134 visitors
Buildingtalk had its busiest ever week with 75,134 visitors accessing 412,328 pages on the website in the last seven days, giving an annual visitor rate of over 4 million. We also passed another milestone with the 25,000th story being added to the site on Thursday. This happened to be a drywall technology story about [...]... Read More
Streamline Your Website Pages
Squeezing the most efficient performance from your web pages is important. The benefits are universal, whether the site is personal or large and professional.... Read More
Cream of the Cropp
“Your customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing better. Just having satisfied customers isn’t good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create Raving Fans.” — from the book Raving Fans, by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles... Read More
Modular Homes’ LEED-Certified Model Home to Debut in Robbinsville, NJ
Modular Homes, Inc. (“MHI”) is an Edison, New Jersey-based custom modular home builder that will break ground in April on what it hopes will be a LEED-certified model home in Robbinsville, New Jersey. LEED projects in New Jersey have been relatively far and few between (though that seems to be changing), and Modular is currently in the design phase for the project. Modular construction is obviously much more environment-friendly than traditional construction, as individual components are prefabricated off-site, thus reducing construction waste and increasing the use of excess materials.... Read More
Inventory of U.S. Housing at 9.9 Months
The U.S. housing market is well-captured in the three graphs that accompany this report. Success has been achieved in lowering the number of unsold homes. The problem, however, has been with respect to sales, which are down even more. Sales of new single-family homes were -2.8% month to month and -33.9% year over year in the latest month. As a result, the number-of-months inventory (i.e., number of unsold homes divided by the monthly sales rate) has kept on climbing. It now stands at 9.9 months.... Read More
Virtual Construction - Part 1
We are at the age of Virtual Construction. If you are younger, you are not surprised. You suspected that computers were a "solution looking for a problem" for many years. Why shouldn't you have seen and believed this. Computers work at the speed of light. They can process billions of pieces of information and the cost of this is more reasonable than ever. It is interesting to note that Virtual Construction marries one of the oldest businesses with one of the newest business trends. This marriage has the possibility... Read More
Monday LEEDoff: A Peek at Brooklyn’s First Living Wall in Williamsburg
Consulting team Sphere Trending recently posted some photos on its blog of the Oulu Bar & Eco-Lounge in Williamsburg, home of Brooklyn’s first living wall. The wall covers the front façade of the 2500-square-foot building, which is aiming for LEED Gold certification and was designed by architect Evangeline Dennie. Dennie has some amazing installation photos of the vegetal wall in her online portfolio. Having dealt with these kinds of wall installations a little myself, I can tell you they’re not easy to mount or maintain, so my hat goes... Read More
HEADLINES ADDED: March 27, 2008
MTA Selects Tishman Speyer’s LEED Gold Bid for Hudson Yards
On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority chose Tishman Speyer to develop the Hudson Yards site on the far West Side of Manhattan. Tishman’s $1 billion bid for a 99-year ground lease from the MTA was $39 million more than a joint venture proposal from the Durst Organization and Vornado. As you may recall, the MTA opened bidding back in October for the right to build at the 26-acre site, which spans from 30th to 33rd Streets and between 10th Avenue and the Hudson River. Designed by Helmut Jahn, Cooper... Read More
Cool, Calm, Protected
HVAC product warranties bring peace of mind to customers, but must be explained and managed correctly. Contractors, manufacturers, and a waranty provider offer commentary on the benefits and caveats of extended product warranties.... Read More
A different kind of rock garden
The Chicago Tribune recently ran a fun article on using concrete in your garden. It touts decorative concrete for use in large or small garden projects, and talks about concrete’s versatility andlongevity. Have you seen an increase in customer requests for outdoor decorative concrete applications in gardens, outdoor kitchens and the like?... Read More