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Life of An Estimator, Tougher than You Think Source: Blogs
For those of us in the construction industry we know the Estimators that are more cynical than the average Joe. They appear to be more prevalent than the fun loving young estima...

What Financial Reform Means for Construction Source: Blogs
...mall mountain town. Most of the banks looked at the demographics in a 5 mile radius from the site location and said the project was not viable, however those that lived in the community understood th...

So What Does the Project Manager Do Anyway? Source: Blogs
...ry expensive monkey. Most of them are only a few hundred dollars. Why did that one cost so much?’ The shopkeeper answered, 'Ah, that's a Construction Monkey. He can drive trucks, set forms, erect ste...

Is PM software a Waste of Money? Source: Blogs
... software question. Most companies out there utilize Microsoft Word and Excel to build the necessary documentation to manage a project. Project management does not require a vast amount of mathemati...

Need a Safety Program? Try a Culture First. Source: Blogs
As one of the most dangerous industries on the planet, construction focuses significantly on safety. Our industry is focused on the health and safety of our tradesmen and for go...

Why BIM? Source: Blogs
So why would anyone BIM, or Building Information Modeling? Unless you are doing a power plant or some very specialized industrial job, our guys in the field can work things out,...

How to Improve Construction Productivity Source: Blogs
pro·duc·tiv·i·ty (prō'dŭk-tĭv'ĭ-tē, prŏd'ək-) n. The rate at which goods or services are produced especially output per unit cost of labor. Or if you prefer how much does it c...

Risk Mangement, What is Your Role? Source: Blogs
In construction, talk to anyone about the single greatest challenge in surviving in the industry and it is risk. "Based on the risk, add more profit to it." "I am not goi...

Three Most Important Things to Being A Contractor Source: Blogs
In retail and real estate there goes a saying that the three most important things are location, location, and location. In construction there is a similar truth that the three ...

Subcontractor: Projecting 2010 Part 3 Source: Blogs
In Part 1 and Part 2, we looked at projecting the flow work and the backlog, now to get a total picture of 2010, we need to look at work we don't have yet, our pipeline. The pip...

Construction Customer Service Source: Blogs
...through their eyes. Most of the clients know very little about construction, design, codes, means and methods and the like. Take something from your life that you may not know very well like the com...

Keys to being a Great Estimator Source: Blogs
So what does it take to be a good estimator? Being great with numbers? Having a desire to color on drawings all day? There are a few key traits I have found in my career that ...

Sustainable Yes! LEED be Careful Source: Blogs
When LEED was introduced it became a revolution in the construction industry changing the way Owners, Designers, and Builders approached jobs. The major objective was to create ...

Will Hiring A Safety Manager Matter? Source: Blogs
...wer is much longer. Most subcontractors (by quantity) don't have a safety program let alone a safety culture, so there are other steps that could be taken prior to hiring a Safety Manager, yet a Safe...

The Art of Estimating Source: Blogs
...at you can exploit? Most contractors that I know occasionally skip this step. They are asked to bid a project and the question is do I have the time? This is the wrong question, it should really be...

What Makes a Specialty Contractor so Special? Source: Blogs
In construction there are the general trades and then the infamous specialty subcontractors. Ever think what is so special about the specialty trades? The construction industry...

Can Contractors Change? Source: Blogs
...w leaps and bounds. Most of their big competitors had to modify the way they did business to the Walmart model just to stay alive. Walmart's model is much more than buying cheaper they cut every cos...

Want to Win Better Projects? Source: Blogs
...to City x, y, or z. Most of these comments and business direction are said out of necessity. Everyone's market has shrunk (some more than others) and everyone is trying to survive by expanding their...

What Does Earth Day Mean for Construction? Source: Blogs
Yesterday was Earth Day, a yearly mark that is growing in significance around the world. It is a time for us to understand the issues about our impact on the environment. I am ...

How to Create More Construction Jobs Source: Blogs
The biggest single thing on the minds of the American public is jobs. With unemployment over 10% and the possibility of that rising to 12% this year, it is a very real concern. ...

News U Can Use: Feb.3.2010 Source: Blogs
In a new weekly installment, we will be scanning the news sources to find the most interesting news items for contractors and summarize what it means to them. For our Februrary ...

Best and Final Offer, Are They Ethical? Source: Blogs
If you have been involved in bidding work you have probably at one point in time been apart of the Best and Final Offer (BAFO) routine. In private work it is typically called "s...

Boating from an Owner's Perspective Source: Blogs
...he little dinghy. Most of us are aware of the stereotype that most Owners, General Contractors, and the general public have about contractors. That the only way we can make money is via change ord...

A Tale of Two Boats Source: Blogs
By now most of us have seen the change order and contract boat image that has been circulating around the internet over the past several years. The big boat is rightly called th...

Subcontractor Projecting 2010: Part 2 Source: Blogs
In Part 1, we talked about how to start coming up with a realistic look at 2010 by looking at your continual or flow work. In this part, let's take a look at the next part of th...

Where is 2010 going? Source: Blogs
Well 2010 is finally here. It couldn't come quick enough with the difficulty and challenges we all had to deal with in 2009, it feels good to have a "fresh" start on a new year....

Contract Sales: How to Understand Your Performance Source: Blogs
Last week we bid a few jobs. This week we bid a few jobs. Next week we will bid a few jobs. I am sure we all know which ones we won and which ones are lost, but do we really k...

Tracking Productivity is the Key to Productivity Source: Blogs
...sychological Reason Most people that end up in construction related fields are competitive people. They were athletes in competitive leagues at the high school or even college levels. They typicall...

What Can the Rig Disaster Teach a Subcontractor? Source: Blogs
...who is on the jury. Most of your clients will not sign contracts that open them up to indirect damages, you should not either. Be careful, one incident can ruin a business that has taken a lifetime ...

Is ObamaCare Good for Subcontractors? Source: Blogs
Even though the health debate is not yet over and the full scope of health care reform is not known (or even if there will be reform), I think it is important to look at how it c...

Will Distributors Have A Place in Tomorrow's World Source: Blogs
As subcontractors we buy the vast majority of our material through Distributors. The system was established well before my time and benefited almost everyone along the supply ch...

This Bonus Sucks! Source: Blogs
Bonus programs can really suck. Whether you want to call them bonus or incentive programs almost every company has them, but if they are not administered properly they can reall...

Analytics, the Best Way to Improve Your Business Source: Blogs
Analytics is simply the science of analysis. In construction, and probably more specific in the subcontractor community analysis of data is few and far between, even though our ...

Increase Profits, Minimize Risk Source: Blogs
What is the best way for a contractor to improve their profits? Minimize risk. Let's face it, contracting is another form of gambling. When we look at all of the stipulations ...

Where Have the Good Craftsmen Gone? Source: Blogs
One of the largest complaints I hear is "the quality of the workforce is not what it used to be". Whether I am talking to union or non-union, family owned or large business, the...

What Does Your 2010 Look Like? Source: Advertisements
What does your 2010 look like? This was a very typical question at the end of 2009 that sent most managers in a company scrambling to work on a spreadsheet to develop the busine...

FREE Tickets to the Electric West Show in Vegas! Source: Advertisements
Dear Construction Monkey Users, The Construction Monkey team would like to invite you to Register for the Exhibit Hall FREE (a $55 value) at the Electric Wes...

Differences Between Accounts Source: Help System
In utilizing Construction Monkey there are two specific types of accounts: A user account, which is a unique account for each user. A company account which is a unique accoun...

Basic Site Navigation Source: Help System
...on/link. EXPAND - Most services will have additional options or sub-services. To see these options you can just click on the button located within the main button. This button will expand all of...

What are we really selling? Source: Blogs
As subcontractors, especially during tough economic times, sales is a tougher and tougher battle. In the US there are approximately 800,000 specialty subcontractors, which means...

So What is BIM? Source: Blogs
Building Information Modeling (or BIM) is all the rage in today's commercial and industrial construction markets. I am unaware of many large General Contractors that haven't inv...

We are selling Trust, That's It! Source: Blogs
In the previous part to this series, I made the claim that customers look towards the subcontractors to find the best "expert" in the field (or group of them) and then select fro...

Subcontractor Projecting 2010: Part 1 Source: Blogs
As 2009 closes, most of us are in the process of deciding what we think about 2010. If you have done your job right you already have this answer and if you have been lucky 2010 ...

Subcontractor: Projecting 2010 Part 4 Source: Blogs
Well, we are almost done. We have now compiled all of our revenue and gross margin amounts for our 2010 year. You should have a spreadsheet that has totals that mirrors the fol...

Cap and Trade, What to Expect Source: Blogs
With Copenhagen behind us and health care on the ropes, will Cap and Trade be on the block? The US House of Representatives have passed a bill, but the Senate has not taken it u...

Is the Economy Affecting Your Ethics? Source: Blogs
Contracting is a tough business. Our industry has a reputation among the community of having little or no ethics. That reputation is earned due to our poor communication, but d...

MEP Coordination: why it’s expensive to be cheap Source: Blogs
...ing steel and slabs. Most have never worked in the trades nor have construction knowledge other than Auto CAD. Each trade will draft up their perspective discipline that will be installed into the cei...

Revit: No Place for Amateurs Source: Blogs
Revit: No Place for Amateurs Let us look at the typical building information modeling services firm and how things are done. Typically, a CAD manager is hired to create all of...

MEP Coordination: It’s Expensive to be Cheap Source: Blogs
...ing steel and slabs. Most have never worked in the trades nor have construction knowledge other than Auto CAD. Each trade will draft up their perspective discipline that will be installed into the cei...

Construction News U Can Use 2.10.2010 Source: Blogs
... break neck speeds. Most of us understand that this is a no brainer article, but it reinforces where human convenience may lead the construction industry. To handle the amount of data that is moving...

Treat Construction as a Science Source: Blogs
Construction is a massive industry and has promoted innovations in tools, equipment, products, and of course the structures that are built. With all of that said it is not hard ...

Bid Work? Risk Taker, Price Taker! Source: Blogs
... for businesses. Most of the sales consultants you could bring into your business would state that you need to dictate the price to your customers and tell them that it is well worth it. I don't ...

What Value Do You Add? Source: Blogs
In any economy and in any service industry, there is a very fair question: "What Value Do You Add?". This question goes for companies and employees and in this economy it become...

Is there More Work with ObamaCare? Source: Blogs
Three months ago, I took a stab at what I thought ObamaCare meant to Subcontractors. In reviewing that after passage, I still agree with my thoughts in that article. I did not ...

Construction: The Lost Decade Source: Blogs
Yesterday the Department of Commerce came out with the July 2010 construction numbers and the current state of affairs is not very attractive. The numbers represent the seasonal...

Best Way to Win that Next Project Source: Blogs
It appears as if the market is recovering (at least there are more projects out there to be bidding on), so how can you win that work to turn it from an opportunity to revenue? ...

Interesting News 7.27.2010 Source: Blogs
Some of the news over the past few days that we found interesting:Report: UnitedHealth nears $1.5B acquisitionOn Tuesday, July 27, 2010 National Business News - Local Business Ne...

Construction Production, What to Track Source: Blogs
In my last blog, I discussed the need to track productivity to increase the performance of the company which now comes up with the natural question: What do we track? It is actu...

How well do you know your pipeline? Source: Advertisements
How well do you know your pipeline?? Subcontracting, like most businesses, requires a continual and focused approach towards sales. In today's world, simply bidding a p...

Project Experience Wins New Work Source: Advertisements
How important is it to track and know your past project experience? Many projects are awarded based upon your knowledge of the type of project you are bidding on. You...

Get Pipeline Today Source: Advertisements
Subcontracting, like most businesses, requires a continual and focused approach towards sales. In today's world, simply bidding a project is not nearly enough. You must focus y...

Why Do I Need The Project Experience Service? Source: Advertisements
Do you ever need to find your company's similar project experience for a project you are proposing on? For most of us this is a manual event that takes hours of cutting and past...

Can The Monkey Help You? Source: Advertisements
Construction Monkey is an innovative tool that will be able to assist you in your daily work life. Whether you are a Project Manager, Superintendent, Field Installer, or the Own...

Bid Calendar Source: Advertisements
...ids on a Calendar Most of us have utilized Excel, Word, Access, or even raw paper or whiteboard to track our bids. These manual methods provide for several issues including not being able to view ...