.jpeg?itok=6uFZXEBH)
Building products volumes rise, results vary for prices; nonresidential starts increaseEditor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.Securities research firm Thompson Research Group on April 12 released its quarterly building products survey of select manufacturers and distributors with more than 300 locations nationwide "on the state of the residential and nonres[identical] construction end markets....A common theme from all contacts was...a tight labor market along the value chain (truck driver shortages to drywall installers)....Overall nonres volumes are projected to be up mid-to-high single digits, depending upon the industry contact. Earlier construction value chain feedback is for 6-8% [increase in] volumes...Other contacts with a wider range of early and later cycle nonres products cite a...4-6% range. Healthcare end market remains strong, and office growth is also driving demand. Not surprisingly, industry contacts confirm that the multifamily end market growth rates are likely to slow in 2016 [to] (small single digits growth).
Reshaping the Construction Industry
.jpeg?itok=4Vi_1nJG)
Kollaer offers the following advice to company owners: “No matter what the conditions, never ask your crews to wear PPE and then put yourself in a hazardous position without doing it yourself.”
April 25, 2016
The following article originally appeared in the April newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.The recent National AGC Annual Convention in San Antonio was both convenient and compelling. It provided an ideal venue for gaining perspective; for learning; for reconnecting with many friends, and this particular year for celebrating the leadership of two fellow Houstonians. Chuck Greco, Chairman of Linbeck, ended his highly productive year as President of National AGC, only the second Houstonian to hold that office. (Warren Bellows did it in 1948.) Then Jerry Nevlud, CEO of Houston AGC, passed the gavel to his successor at the Executive Leadership Council, the national group for Chief Staff Executives. Peer respect for the job each had done was earned and evident.The new streamlined convention format places an emphasis on education and exhibits, as opposed to laborious committee meetings. Because of this, younger people, still fully engaged in their businesses, are there. These ascending leaders add both energy and future focus to topics and discussions.
April 22, 2016
Construction Career Collaborative (C3) and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston hosted a town hall meeting for seven Contractors on April 11, 2016 at the offices of the Houston Chapter of Associated General Contractors to discuss the recent decision by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo for the Archdiocese to support the C3 initiative. Those in attendance included representatives from Arch-Con Construction, Axis Builders, Brookstone, Durotech, Humphries Construction, Paradigm Construction, Westfall Group, and Zenith Construction.The meeting featured opening remarks from Steve Faught, Director of Construction and Preventive Maintenance for the Archdiocese, who described the decision made by Cardinal DiNardo and its desired impact. Faught spoke of up to 10 archdiocesan projects, currently in the planning stages, which he hopes will become C3 projects. He also highlighted his hope that the cost impact of C3 projects for the Archdiocese will be minimal. To support this aspiration, Faught spoke of a large commercial office-building project, which was bid with C3 requirements and without them. Once the bids were totaled, the cost differential for the bids, which specified C3 criteria, was approximately 0.04% (four one hundredths of one percent) more than the bids without C3 requirements.
April 21, 2016
Last week, the Construction Citizen team updated you on the fact that lawsuits about worker misclassification have been ramping up all across the country. The battle is playing out on multiple fronts – particularly in court houses and in the halls of state legislatures. The problem is at crisis levels across many industries, especially construction, and federal regulators have signaled they are getting more serious about reining it in.Put simply, worker misclassification is cheating. It happens when a business pretends its workers are independent contractors when, by law, those people should be paid as employees. There are many legitimate uses of contract labor, however, which is why the IRS has this test to determine who can and cannot be classified that way.
April 20, 2016
44 states, D.C. add jobs in March; Beige Book finds construction stays mostly positiveEditor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.Seasonally adjusted construction employment rose in 44 states and the District of Columbia from March 2015 to March 2016, decrease in five states and was unchanged in Connecticut, an AGC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released on Friday showed. California again added the most jobs (39,600 jobs, 5.6%), followed by Florida (27,500 jobs, 6.5%), New York (17,300 jobs, 4.9%) and Massachusetts (16,000 jobs, 11.9%).
April 19, 2016
In a recent post, I mentioned the major disruptors that are afoot in the architecture, engineering and construction industry. I presented them recently to a subcontractor group and illustrated ways that these disruptors would reshape the AEC business that we have known for our entire careers.One of those disruptors that I mentioned was the 3D printer. The example I used was in China where the contractors printed houses, 10 of them built in 24 hours, as a prototype for potential housing for the thousands of Chinese moving from the countryside into the cities.
April 18, 2016
The job is finished on time and under budget. The punch list was minor. There were no claims and the retention was paid as expected. The contracting team and subs made a decent margin on a project that required some innovative structural systems and finishes. The project was a success for the contractor. Right?The project was finished on time and under budget. The design was groundbreaking and is likely to be an award winner for the global design team, one that had been awarded the design over a myriad of global design stars. The building has been commissioned and the invoices paid. The project was a success for the architects. Right?
April 15, 2016
The gold and silver medalists in Structural Welding spoke with Construction Citizen authors Elizabeth McPherson and Jasmine Swoope about their experiences in the competition.
April 14, 2016
Across the country, there are more and more examples of businesses facing legal consequences because they were misclassifying workers as independent subcontractors when, by law, those people should have been treated as employees and compensated as such.As Construction Citizen has documented over the years, there are many legitimate uses of contract labor. There is also, however a scourge of certain employers abusing the designation to dodge taxes, health benefits and other costs associated with having employees on payroll. Misclassification happens when a business intentionally uses contract labor to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
April 13, 2016
