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Komatsu is combining their autonomous vehicles with drones to become more productive and accurate in their site work.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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Construction input PPIs dive; Census probes where workers went; M&A activity is mixedEditor’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.The producer price index (PPI) for final demand skidded 0.7% in September and 1.1% over 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Wednesday. AGC posted tables and an explanation focusing on construction prices and costs. Final demand includes goods, services and five types of nonresidential buildings that BLS says make up 34% of total construction. The PPI for final demand construction, not seasonally adjusted, was flat in September and rose 1.8% over 12 months. The overall PPI for new nonresidential building construction—a measure of the price that contractors say they would charge to build a fixed set of five categories of buildings—also climbed 1.8% since September 2014. The 12-month increases ranged from 0.2% for healthcare construction to 1.8% for schools, 1.9% for warehouses and industrial buildings, and 2.4% for offices.
October 20, 2015
A women’s center in Florida has decided to take a step towards filling the need of skilled craft professionals. The Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women in Tampa, Florida has created the Women Building Futures program, “a free 10-week training course hosted by the center in Hillsborough County that teaches women the skills to work in construction” and encourages women to “explore higher paying career options in the dynamic construction field.”Florida, like most of the states, has been riding the construction “upswing” since the economy began to rebound from the 2008 recession, and, like the rest of the country, it has suffered from a shortage of construction laborers and craft professionals.
October 19, 2015
To create a sustainable pipeline of craft professionals for the construction industry, 18 states have proclaimed October as Careers in Construction Month. Governors in Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Nebraska, Texas, Indiana, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Georgia and Michigan have all recognized Careers in Construction Month in their states.Started by NCCER's Build Your Future (BYF) initiative in 2005, Careers in Construction Month was originally known as Careers in Construction Week. Due to tremendous response from organizations that recognized and supported Careers in Construction Week, BYF expanded its efforts to spread the word about construction careers by declaring October as Careers in Construction Month.
October 16, 2015
Houston’s Neighborhood Centers operate differently from the way many traditional community service organizations operate. Instead of focusing on the communities’ needs, they build on the assets of the families they serve.
October 15, 2015
Materials suppliers have mixed pattern on pricing; union pay accelerates slightlyEditor’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.Prices for construction materials have shown mixed tendencies lately. On Friday, securities analyst Thompson Research Group (TRG) reported the results of its monthly survey of building products firms. "All attempts for price increases in 2015 [for steel studs] have been lackluster, driven more by the reality of a precipitous drop in global steel prices....CertainTeed squashed the fall [insulation] price increase after announcing a January 2016 increase. [The] 5%-8% mid-year residential roofing price increase got off to a good start but fizzled by September. [As the third quarter of 2015] comes to a close, pricing has remained stable for both" roofing and carpeting. "We don't expect any wallboard pricing gains until next spring....Perversely, the industry could realize greater pricing in 2016 with two price increases if the current trajectory of end-market demand continues."
October 14, 2015
Hi there. The Chamberlin Man here.Chamberlin is proud to have recently been part of the construction team on the Parkland Hospital project in Dallas, Texas – the largest single-phase public healthcare project in the country. Take that in for a second.To get the job done, Joint Venture General Contractors, BARA – made up of Balfour Beatty Construction, Austin Commercial, H.J. Russell & Company and Azteca Enterprises – implemented a “collaborative project delivery” process involving numerous mockups and feedback from hundreds of physicians, clinicians and technicians to solve technical problems and promote workflow. Of course, construction also required an army of subcontractors. As a matter of fact, the building of the $1.27 billion hospital required five million man-hours.Chamberlin's scope of work on this colossal undertaking included $1.25 million of caulking, air barrier, flashing and wall insulation. The scale of even our relatively small piece of the overall project is best illustrated by the massive amount of materials installed.
October 13, 2015
The following article originally appeared in the October newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC for the purpose of providing the latest leading indicators and industry issues to those clients. Reprinted with permission.“It’s lean and mean until 2017” according to Jesse Thompson, Business Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Houston branch. While his comments were directed specifically to the oil and gas industry, in many ways, he could be speaking to the Houston economy. Economists continue to look longer range for a recovery in Houston, as the prospect of oil recovering also extends. Patrick Jankowski, Vice President of Research at the Greater Houston Partnership, recently noted that Houston is still roughly 20,000 jobs below its peak in December 2014, and with more oil and gas layoffs expected in the fourth quarter, is unsure whether a historically strong fourth quarter will be enough to offset the losses.
October 12, 2015
Marek Dallas Division President John Hinson wrote the following President’s Message for AWCI's Construction Dimension magazine. Hinson is the 2015-2016 President of AWCI.I am privileged to attend several regional association events throughout the coming year in my term as president of the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry, and I hope to take an opportunity to hit a few high notes in reflection on the events from time to time in my future messages here.During AWCI Immediate Past President Scott Casabona’s reign, Scott and I attended the South Central Wall, Ceiling & Plaster Association’s convention where SCWCPA President Rick Blackburn of Blackburn Plastering introduced incoming president Todd Hunt of Trinity Drywall & Plastering Systems and his new board of directors.
October 09, 2015
The U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) and the Vermont Department of Labor signed an agreement this summer to protect employees and law-abiding businesses by reducing the practice of worker misclassification in Vermont. The three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) allows the two agencies to share information and work together to conduct investigations and enforce the laws against employers identifying their employees as independent contractors or designating them with other non-employee statuses.Agencies from several other states have signed similar agreements with the U.S. DOL including agencies from Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
October 08, 2015
