November 2, 2009 by Rob Mathewson
The folks over at SoftwareAdvice.com just released an interesting analysis of the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) on construction employment on a state by state basis. Though the data presented is interesting, I think it creates more questions than it answers. For instance, if you look at the two subsets of data below two questions pop to mind; 1- What has Massachusetts figured out that makes it so much more efficient at turning stimulus dollars into construction jobs? 2- It’s no surprise that California is one of the most expensive places to create construction jobs (or do just about anything, for that matter) but they really stick out when you compare them in size and population density to the second through fifth states in the “Cost per Construction Job” ranking.
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Top Job Generators |
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| State |
Amount Awarded |
Amount Received |
Jobs Created |
Cost per job |
| MA |
$1,500 |
$361 |
5174 |
$69,831 |
| NY |
$2,900 |
$838 |
5108 |
$164,101 |
| TX |
$2,500 |
$1,300 |
4199 |
$325,891 |
| CA |
$3,700 |
$2,200 |
4197 |
$535,171 |
| OH |
$1,500 |
$462 |
3820 |
$120,908 |
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Most Expensive Jobs per Stimulus Dollar |
| State |
Amount Awarded |
Amount Received |
Jobs Created |
Cost per job |
| CA |
$3,700 |
$2,200 |
4197 |
$535,171 |
| CT |
$324 |
$221 |
432 |
$511,053 |
| NH |
$221 |
$128 |
284 |
$448,984 |
| LA |
$723 |
$420 |
1056 |
$397,895 |
| SC |
$810 |
$366 |
941 |
$389,290 |
Tags: construction, road construction, stimulus money, stimulus projects
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September 23, 2009 by Rob Mathewson
From the Software Advice Blog… Bringing Your Punchlist into the 21st century.
I applaud the fresh approach to solving the Punchlist Problem. However, there are certain functions on Chris’ list that will require some heavy lifting to accomplish. Take a look below and then share your hi-tech dream application for construction.
A couple of taps brings up 3-D floor plans; you manipulate the 3-D model with your fingers until you drill down to your exact location in the room; tap the specific problem area, tag it’s location, take a picture and quickly fill out a form describing the problem.
- 3D floorplans are a rarity in jobsite trailers, much less on handhelds. A quick browse through iTunes didn’t turn up any existing applications with this capability.
- location tagging; How? By GPS, grid, room, room type? GPS coverage inside a finished building can be spotty. Are the other locations pre-loaded? If so, by who? If not, you’ll need quite a robust interface to accommodate the various grid/room combinations that can occur on various projects.
- take a picture – yep, we can do that
- quickly fill out a form – lots of work to be done here. Ideally, checkboxes and dropdowns can streamline this function, but some original content generation will be required. A voice recording could make this easier, but you better have a high-quality, noise-reducing microphone.
Tags: construction defects, construction productivity, construction punchlist, construction quality control, construction technology, iPhone, punchlist
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July 13, 2009 by Rob Mathewson
Imagine what it’s like to dig a hole in the sand at the beach. Hand over hand, you dig away and watch as the hole changes constantly with each shift in the sand. Whenever you see anything interesting in the hole (a sea shell, piece of sea glass, etc.) it’s covered over almost as quickly it’s uncovered.
Essentially, this experience provides a summertime analogy for tracking the work on a construction site. No matter what your role on a jobsite, you depend on knowing the condition of your area of interest continuously over the course of the project. The advent of digital photography has made it possible to inexpensively record the physical condition of the project in extreme detail. Unfortunately, recording the digital images are the easy part. After shooting hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of jobsite photos, finding that critical construction image after the fact becomes the ultimate challenge. (Raise your hand if you have a hard drive choked with project photos that are organized by project and date.)
I would like to know what you, as a construction-related professional, do to extract meaningful data from your jobsite photos. Feel free to leave your comments and exchange ideas with your fellow readers.
Tags: commercial construction, construction consultants, construction contractors, construction data, construction defects, construction documentation, construction inspection, construction photography, construction quality, construction quality control, Geedra, general contractor
Posted in Industry | 2 Comments »
June 16, 2009 by Rob Mathewson
Any jobsite is a conglomeration of various interests, each holed up in the silo of their own discipline (e.g. trade specialty, consulting specialty, specialty inspector, etc.) The GC acts as the conduit that ties each silo into the project. Unfortunately, there’s no established protocol for neighboring silos to share information. Except of course, when there’s a problem. Then there’s plenty of conversation, though it could be somewhat contentious.
Think about your relationships with your neighbors at home. There are those that you chat with frequently and those that barely wave. When it comes time for you to take over all of the street parking for your kid’s birthday party, which neighbor is going to be the one who blows up at you and starts yelling across the street?
Keep that scene in mind the next time you’re on site and you come across a new inspector, engineer or low voltage electrician that you have no reason to talk to. Five minutes of “Hi, How d’ya do?” Could pay off for both of you down the road.
Tags: construction communication, construction jobsites, construction sites
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May 26, 2009 by Rob Mathewson
The folks at Compendia focus on a serious situation for the construction industry with this post. Their point is that those companies left standing will have made serious staff reductions and suffered a significant loss of tribal knowledge in the process. Gearing up to (hopefully) meet to coming increase in demand means training new employees and building the company’s knowledge base up from scratch.
While the author certainly makes a valid point, I find it a bit ironic. After all, how much tribal knowledge do construction professionals leave behind willingly with every finished project? Yes, construction projects are temporary affairs. But every completed projects has taught scores of valuable lessons to the project team. Unfortunately, without any systems in place to capture and replicate those lessons, many evaporate forcing others to re-learn the same lessons at some time down the road.
Tags: construction defects, construction outsourcing, construction productivity, Geedra, productivity
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May 11, 2009 by Rob Mathewson
You and your team sharpened your pencils and beat back the most ravenous pack of competitors that you’ve ever seen in your career to win a coveted stimulus project. Congratulations.
Now it’s the morning after and you realize that things will be different with this project. Scrutiny from the government, the media and even the general public will be higher than you’ve ever experienced. Also, the razor thin margins that you have left for yourself mean that you have less wiggle room than ever to get this one right.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What changes did you make in your approach to bidding that led to your winning the contract?
- Have you made appropriate accommodations to your operations practices in anticipation of the increased scrutiny? Timely, complete reports help a lot. Get out there and snap plenty of pictures.
- Have you worked with your suppliers (and your subs with theirs) to improve the accuracy of their delivery schedules? Successful Just-In-Time deliveries can add precious days of cash flow while minimizing costly idle time.
- Pre-Construction Quality meetings with your trades are helpful. In-project Quality meetings are even better. Track exceptions from inception to closure and don’t let schedule pressure affect your expectations for closure. Shortcuts only cost more in the end.
Times have changed. Have you?
Tags: construction defects, construction industry, construction inspection, construction productivity, construction quality, construction quality control, general construction, general contractor, public projects, quality control, risk management, stimulus money, stimulus projects
Posted in Industry | 1 Comment »
April 15, 2009 by Rob Mathewson
From this month’s Construction Executive Magazine (Sorry, no online copy for this article, authored by Chris Mosley at Sherman & Howard LLC)
- Purchase the Right insurance – Review your policy limits to confirm the existence of completed operations coverage. Typical general liability policies limit coverage to $1 million, which is wholly inadequate for construction companies. Also, liability policies limit their coverage for defects claimed during a single policy year ( i.e. you can’t file a claim for work that was done several years ago.) Consider excess insurance including completed operations coverage.
- Procure the appropriate additional insured endorsements from subcontractors – GC’s should required Subcontractors to maintain their own completed operations coverage. Also, GC’s should review each Sub’s additional insured endorsements. If the Sub has not obtained a completed operations additional insured endorsement, the GC is liable for that Sub’s defects.
- Hire a Qualified Insurance Broker – Make sure the broker as claims experience. Also, you should have confidence in your broker’s ability to review your risk exposure and the additional insured endorsements of your subcontractors.
- Engage a Personal Counsel Experienced in Insurance Issues – Doing so increases the probability that insurers will pay claims in full. It’s also best to find your attorney at the same time you are shopping for coverage, rather than doing so after a claim arises when you’re likely to have a few more things on your mind.
Tags: construction attorney, construction claims, construction defects, construction insurance, construction liability, construction quality, construction quality control, construction risk, construction warranty, dispute resolution, insurance, risk management, wrap insurance
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March 27, 2009 by Rob Mathewson
One of the attendees at my social media presentation to the local Associated Builders and Contractors board mentioned that he felt that there were many wasted opportunities to share stories about the great work his crew did. He went on to say that his superintendents problem solving abilities were a real competitive advantage, but he found it difficult to convey that to current and potential customers.
I thought social media would be a great mechanism for sharing such stories. The company benefits in a couple of ways. First, as the gentleman above suspected, these stories make great marketing copy. They create an opportunity for current customers to emotionally invest in the work of their contractor and paint an enticing picture for prospective clients.
However, I think efforts to recognize your crews’ success on the web will pay bigger dividends for the morale of the crews themselves. Think about it. If you see yourself mentioned in the company’s print newsletter, you might take it home to share with your spouse. However, if your mentioned in a blog post, with a link to the recognition page on the company website, then you’re likely to share that with all of your friends and family by email. Chances are that more than a few of those folks are in construction too, which means that your recognition effort can have recruiting benefits too.
See part 2 of this post for a 7-step approach for promoting the work of your crews.
Tags: commercial construction, construction hr, construction human relations, construction industry, construction labor, construction marketing, construction pr, construction Public relations, construction quality, construction superintendent, construction workers, contractors, general construction, general contractor
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