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I was in one of my client’s offices the other day when a set of bid documents arrived. It was a large project and there were two sets of documents. It reminded me of the first time we sent bid documents to Saudi Arabia loaded on a 747. We required a front-end loader to get a set off of the plane, and it took large trucks to handle the drawings for the contractors who were bidding the project.A couple of years later, we sent the drawings by satellite and the team downloaded and printed them in-country. That was 40 years ago and in most places in this country, we still print and deliver bid sets to offices of our clients. Some of us still like to lay the sheets out on a 6 foot or 8 foot long table so that we can browse through them and make our red marks prior to preparing our bids.Welcome to the 21st century where technology is being embraced and, on some projects, that technology is required to comply with the complexity of the project as well as the LEAN requirements of the owner and contractor.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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An article by Richard Heap in Correctional News last week discusses ways that the application of the LEAN process to prison construction can save time and money. He makes his point by saying:“Architects and construction managers that apply lean thinking to a corrections project for the first time often come away stunned. Projects that typically require 15 months finish in 11 or 12 months and sometimes even faster.”That saves time and money in the process.I have been asked several times to define LEAN principles and I like Richard’s definition in the article:“The first lean principle is to eliminate waste – not reduce waste but eliminate it
August 14, 2012
Carrie Stallwitz of Witz!PR, one of our colleagues, passed this list of “100 words that kill your proposals” to me after a discussion about proposals and copywriting. I thought that every firm in the industry could use this advice. The list was compiled by Bob Lohfeld, the CEO and general manager of the Lohfeld Consulting Group Inc, and was originally published in Washington Technology. Lohfeld Consulting Group helps companies respond to all kinds of RFPs (Request For Proposal) and technical bids. Lohfeld says that the list is comprised of words and phrases that bore, anger and potentially negatively impact your evaluations on major projects.They are words and phrases that you will recognize since many of us have used them our bids and pre-qual packages. Some of us have done it for so long that they just roll onto the screen when we are in the middle of a long technical proposal.
August 09, 2012
There’s a major shift in the way the federal government is enforcing labor laws. The United States Department of Labor isn’t just making sure general contractors follow the law, but those companies have now been put on notice that they’ll be held accountable for the actions of the subcontractors as well.The Labor Department has announced a settlement with Lettire Construction Corporation and its President and Chief Executive Officer, New York contractor Nicholas Lettire, who are going to have to pay out about $960,000 in back wages and benefits for workers employed by subcontractors. A lengthy investigation showed that many of those workers were not being paid prevailing wages, overtime they should have received, or benefits.In a press release from the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, deputy administrator Nancy J. Leppink said:“The settlement makes absolutely clear that responsibility for complying with the federal prevailing wage laws rests with Lettire Construction and Nicholas Lettire,
August 06, 2012
Both sides of the opening line of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities can easily be applied to the construction industry of today.It is the worst of times: With unemployment in the country still over 8% and in construction over 13%, it can easily be tagged as the worst of times. Not so bad as a few years ago when the unemployment in the industry was close to 20%, but still tough. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release the new employment numbers this Friday, and we at Construction Citizen predict that the numbers will remain anemic even in what should be the height of the construction season of 2012.Now the other view.It is the best of times: With employment in the country close to 92% and in construction close to 87%,
August 02, 2012
There is a myth in our culture that all high school graduates must attend college. This is a topic that gets introduced to them in middle school and then pounded into them once they reach high school. This is a problem that needs to be addressed. Schools are not talking to students about the other options that are out there, and this leaves them in the dark over other respectable vocational or employment opportunities. As a society, it is our responsibility along with the schools’ educators to recognize our children's strong and weak points and steer them in the direction that best suits their abilities.Our world would not be a better place if all of us were to become white collar professionals.
August 01, 2012
An update of the 2010 report on wage theft in the 50 states was released by the Progressive States Network is entitled Where Theft is Legal: Mapping Wage Theft Laws in the 50 States. It was written by Tim Judson and Cristina Francisco-McGuire under the Progressive States Network with funding from the Ford Foundation and the Public Welfare Foundation.Building on a series of previous studies that highlighted the current state of wage theft and misclassification throughout the United States, the report asserts that those studies show “states’ wage theft laws are grossly inadequate, contributing to a rising trend in workplace violations that affects millions of people throughout the country.”The report points out that the enforcement mechanisms, even in states where there are laws, are also inadequate to the scope of the problem and that layoffs in response to economic pressures have crippled the needed enforcement.
July 31, 2012
A specialty contractor has come to the rescue of a homeowner in McAllen, Texas who had been cheated by the first contractor she had hired to repair her damaged shingle roof. Yvonne Vacca had originally hired Ponce General Contractors to repair damage caused by hail last March. The company cashed her check but did not return to complete the repairs to her home.Hannah Linn of Action 4 News / KGBT Television serving the Rio Grande Valley reported this story yesterday about one of the “good guys” – a contracting company who heard about Mrs. Vacca’s plight and decided to repair her roof for free.
July 26, 2012
The decline of the way Americans value skilled labor, which we've chronicled extensively on Construction Citizen, can be seen in different ways all around us.Louis Uchitelle makes the point brilliantly in a New York Times article in which he describes how hardware stores are having to find ways to cater to people who don't know how to “do it themselves”, so to speak. Even signs adorning the walls and aisles at a Home Depot serve as instructions for simple things like how to fix a faucet or replace light bulbs.A question often asked by citizens and politicians alike: “Why don't we make anything in America anymore?”Uchitelle argues that the decline in American craftsmanship runs parallel to that of our manufacturing sector. He points out that in the 1950s, manufacturing accounted for 28 percent of GDP (gross domestic product). That has now fallen to 12 percent.
July 25, 2012
My audiences have heard me say many times that they are in for an interesting life. I have told them that they will likely live to be 120 or older and that their work lives will be really interesting – not ending anywhere near the current 65 years of age. The experts have said that my son who is in his 20s will have 5-7 careers and that will be the norm. I have had 5 careers, so I might be a pioneer on this trail. No question about me living to 120 at this point, but there are changes on the horizon that might possibly extend even my life.According to Dick Pelletier at the Positive Futurist.com in his recent entry, Nanorobots: radical science in clinical trials by the 2020s; expert says, the nanorobots, (also called nanobots), are already designed and created and will likely be in clinical trials at the major healthcare institutions in the early 20s.
July 23, 2012
