Construction Company Structure

Something to consider if your construction company is an LLC. LLC stands for Limited Liability Corporation. That works both ways. I am not an attorney, but I can tell you what several attorneys that understand construction and many insurance brokers and agents have told me. You have limited liability, yes, but you also have limited coverage. If you are in construction, there is an excellent chance you will end up in a disagreement with a customer at some point in time. Almost all of the contractors that I have... Read More

Major Builders Group Fighting Calif.'s Off-Road Diesel Emissions Standard

AGC of America says the new standards and rules would require California contractors to retrofit, re-power, or replace off-road diesel equipment at a cost expected to reach $13 billion.... Read More

Fundamentals of Engineering Supplied Reference Handbook, 8th Edition

By NCEES. Professional Publications. Price: $19.95. Publish Date: 11/2007... Read More

Green BIM: Successful Sustainble Design with Building Information Modeling

By Eddy Krygiel. Sybex. Price: $49.99. Publish Date: 04/2008... Read More

GDP Revision Improves Construction Outlook

There was good news for the construction outlook in today’s small upward revision of 1st quarter GDP growth from 0.6% to 0.9%. The revision increased construction spending, reversing the false assumption by the Bureau of Economic Analysis that nonresidential construction activity fell in March. The revisions also cut unwanted inventory accumulation, a potential depressant on business investment and cut the trade deficit, a sign that foreign demand for US goods continues to expand. A marginal rise in corporate profits was reported for the 1st quarter, after a big dip... Read More

Elon University joins growing list of "greening" campuses

On May 21, Elon University, located in Elon, North Carolina, broke ground on Lindner Hall, planned to be the "greenest" facility on campus. The 30,000-square-foot building will house administrative offices and various academic departments and include high-tech classrooms, a computer lab, faculty offices and space for student-faculty mentoring. As noted in an Elon University press release, "Environmental sustainability is a key component in both the construction and operation of the building. Seventy-five percent of construction waste will be recycled, much of the building will be made of steel and... Read More

Two Dead in Crane Collapse at NY Condominium Construction Site

The city's newspapers are reporting that a second construction worker died in the incident.... Read More

NYC Adopts Revised Fire Code, Analyzes Child Fire Deaths

"Together, the new Fire and Building Codes will improve safety while also making it easier for construction professionals, designers, property owners, businesses, and others to work here more efficiently and understand their obligations under the law," NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.... Read More

Construction Materials Inflation Continues at Double-Digit Pace

Jim Haughey talks about how Construction materials cost rose 1.2% in April from March with similar increases expected in May and June. And how construction materials costs are expected to increase much faster than overall inflation at least well into next year. The widening inflation gap between construction supplies and the rest of the economy is due to the relatively large share of commodity or lightly processed materials used in construction that are priced in world rather than domestic markets.... Read More

California Housing Markets will be the Last to Recover

Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey says homes are still the least affordable in California. Together with the huge surplus of homes for sale, a sustained pickup in housing market will come much later than in the rest of the country. The recent stabilization of home sales in California was due to bargain hunters investing in foreclosed or about to be foreclosed homes and will disappear when bargains are no longer available.... Read More

Students Protest Lack of LEED in Design for CT Campus Building

There’s a bit of a LEED-driven controversy that’s currently playing out at the Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. Students are alleging that the design by Upper West Side-based Mitchell-Giurgola Architects for a new $40 million, 3-story laboratory building “isn’t green enough.” Last year, architecture professor John Sneider’s Environmental Systems class critiqued the 55,000-square-foot project, with students suggesting a building smaller in scale and the installation of a geothermal system. They contacted university officials last year and say they’ve been given the runaround; the school has spent $3 million on... Read More

Oct 2, 2008 – Lean Works in Construction, Seattle, WA – Sponsor: SMACNA

Start: Oct 2 2008 - 10:00am End: Oct 2 2008 - 10:59am Oct 2, 2008 – Lean Works in Construction, Seattle, WA – Sponsor: SMACNA - Western Washington Chapter – contact Joanne Williams at 206 285-4144. Must be a SMACNA member to attend.... Read More

NY crane collapse update - one confirmed dead

One person is confirmed dead after a crane smashed into a 23-storey apartment building in New York and crashed onto the street below.... Read More

1745 Broadway: Random House Earns Gotham’s Second LEED-EB Rating

Last week, Random House announced that its North American headquarters building at 1745 Broadway has earned New York City’s second LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) certification. To date, only the New York Mercantile Exchange in Battery Park City had formally received the award from USGBC. Random House was able to earn its rating in just nine months; the LEED-EB program requires a building to submit three months of performance data in order to participate and seek the designation. The project team at 1745 Broadway included AKF and LiRo, who both... Read More

GB Building Solutions wins £14m leisure centre building contract

GB Building Solutions has nabbed a £14m contract to build a leisure centre at Botwell Green.... Read More

5 ways to motivate staff

As the economy slows down, and concern over job security grows, employee morale invariably takes a direct hit. So how do you keep productivity high in these difficult times?... Read More

Outlook for non-residential investment continues to deteriorate in 2008

In first-quarter 2008, operating profits of Canadian corporations fell by 1.1% following a slightly smaller 0.9% decline in fourth-quarter 2007. There were three key contributors to this first-quarter weakness:... Read More

State And Local Immigration Laws: The New Challenge For Business

New laws and regulations at every level of government are likely to change the way subcontractors recruit, hire and manage employees. During 2007, more than ....... Read More

Navy Yard’s Perry Building to Feature Renewable Energy Pilot Program

The Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Perry Building will be home to art restoration firm SurroundArt once it opens up this summer. Interiors for the 89,000-square-foot space, which is aiming for a LEED Silver under USGBC’s Core and Shell program, were designed by Steven Kratchman Architect, while the exterior of the building is being executed by Stantec. (Check out our previous posts on the Perry Building for more details on both the project and SurroundArt.) Last week, though, Stantec announced some details on the project’s renewable energy features, which will include... Read More

Liverpool Street update: Network Rail bans work on rail bridge

Network Rail has banned work on a bridge under construction near Liverpool Street Station over concerns with Transport for London's (TfL) management of contractors.... Read More

Introducing Revit Architecture 2009: BIM for Beginners

By Greg Demchak. Sybex. Price: $39.99. Publish Date: 06/2008... Read More

Building Type Basics for Transit Facilities

By Kenneth Griffin. Wiley and Sons. Price: $75. Publish Date: 05/2004... Read More

Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Procedures, 5th Edition

By Harold J. Rosen. Wiley and Sons. Price: $95. Publish Date: 11/2004... Read More

Council seeks newt law change after road budget blowout

Contractor headaches caused by the presence of great-crested newts on sites could soon be eased after one council – which blew nearly 10% of its road scheme budget on a colony of amphibians that failed to materialise – wrote to the government calling for a change in policy.... Read More

New laws to benefit agency workers

Agency workers will enjoy increased employment rights under new legislation put forward by Gordon Brown last week.... Read More

Salmond under fire for threatened Scottish projects

Planned building projects in Scotland, including the new Forth road bridge, could be under threat.... Read More

London's affordable housing targets could be slashed

Affordable housing targets in central London could be watered down under plans proposed by London’s new senior planning advisor Simon Milton.... Read More

An Underground Revolution

The way the construction industry moves the earth is being revolutionized. Companies such as Caterpillar, Trimble, Spectra Lasers, and Cashman Equipment are facilitating the revolution by supplying earthmoving machinery solutions with cutting-edge components that provide greater accuracy, higher productivity, and more profitability.... Read More

Tackling The Terrain For U.S. 35

In West Virginia, numerous excavators, scrapers, dozers, and trucks are transforming the beautiful Putnam County landscape into a new four-lane section of U.S. 35. Crews for Kokosing Construction Co. Inc. are clearing a path for the new route through very steep and rough terrain, moving 7.5 million cubic yards of earth.... Read More

McGee Group: entire workforce hold CSCS card

McGee Group, the demolition and civil engineering contractor, has reported that its entire workforce now holds a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card.... Read More

Construction Contractors - Stay Focused

Alfred E. Neuman used to say, “What, me worry?” Many construction-related business owners are worrying, and we know that. What can you do? Well, there are two things you must do and there can be little doubt about either of them. The first thing you must do is keep focused on sales. That means advertising 24/7/365. None of this “cutting our advertising because money is tight” nonsense. Money is tight because you haven’t been doing a good job of advertising. Recently I spent a day with one of our... Read More

Lean & 5S's in Construction - May 08 #34

Sustaining Lean read more... Read More

Construction firm and four men charged with killing newts

A construction company and four men have been charged for killing protected newts.... Read More

Wembley and T5 named among Britain's best buildings

Two of Britain’s most controversial building projects – Wembley Stadium and Heathrow’s Terminal 5 – have been named among Britain’s best buildings.... Read More

Job Site Signs for Construction Site

During the JLC Live show last week in Long Beach, I had a number of people ask me about the new flip video recording devices that I briefly demonstrated during my classes. These small recording devices are one of the best new tools a contractor can use in advertising. The number of ways this little cameras can be used to gather and convey information to the buying public is almost unmeasurable. Here is a very short clip showing a job sign posted on a new job site right on... Read More

Mid-year update on residential construction: taking a breather

Over the past few months, there has been increasing evidence that Canada’s housing market is taking a breather. First, existing home sales in April were down by 12.2% year over year in April 2008. Second, while still positive, year-over-year increases in both new and existing house prices have slowed since the middle of last year. Third, the number of completed and unoccupied vacant dwellings has trended steadily higher since late in 2006.... Read More

Changes in Canadian Construction Material Costs

The quite-thorough Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) report from Statistics Canada monitors price movements for a vast array of materials and products used in industrial processes. It provides a good means to examine some of the detail behind what is happening with respect to construction costs these days. As of April 2008, the most recent results for the relevant sub-groupings within the IPPI are examined in this story.... Read More

Top 10 Reasons not to increase your marketing budget