| Construction: The Lost Decade |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 9/2/2010 2:26:26 PM | Number of Views:169 | Rating:4.4 out of 5 |
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 seasonally adjusted annual value of construction work put in place and guess what, the numbers look more like the turn of the century then they do the year 2010. The drop off has been so severe over the past 3 years we have wiped out 7 years of growth.
Private Residential Construction
It is no big secret that this
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| Increase Profits, Minimize Risk |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 7/29/2010 4:05:30 PM | Number of Views:214 | Rating:4.8 out of 5 |
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 placed upon subcontractors from paid if paid clauses to loose lien rights to un-executed change orders for work already completed, the practical business is more of a gamble than we would like to admit. So how do we take this gamble and make it into a sure bet? One way is to rewrite the rules a
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| Interesting News 7.27.2010 |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 7/28/2010 5:59:00 AM | Number of Views:136 | Rating:5.0 out of 5 |
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 News | bizjournals reported that:UnitedHealth Group Inc. is nearing a $1.5 billion acquisition of Executive Health Resources Inc., according to a report from Bloomberg Businessweek. (UNH)
....Read More By Visiting National Business News - Local Business News | bizjournalsU.S. housing market is more dynamic than firs
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| What Financial Reform Means for Construction |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 7/23/2010 2:08:35 PM | Number of Views:238 | Rating:4.8 out of 5 |
The current Congress has passed the 2,300 page Financial Reform Bill which will have major impacts to the construction industry. After the 2008 elections there were three bills that were the focus of the new government: Healthcare, Global Warming, and Financial overhaul. All three of these have major impacts on the construction industry and with the Global Warming bill effectively dead, it is clear that Financial reform will be the largest single impact to the Construction Industry.
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| The Art of Estimating |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 6/25/2010 3:20:35 PM | Number of Views:407 | Rating:4.8 out of 5 |
Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War in the 6th Century BC. Since that time military experts have considered it a complete view on how to operate a military machine and business scholars have claimed it applies to business dealings as well. I can tell you that there are several parts that directly apply to Estimating in Construction.
Sun Tzu says: "In respect of...method, we have:
Measurement
Estimation of Quantity
Calculation
Balancing of Chances
Victory"He was talking a
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| Be A Master in Construction |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 6/23/2010 6:48:31 PM | Number of Views:230 | Rating:4.3 out of 5 |
Where are the true Masters in Construction? I am not talking about those that have ventured out to get a Masters License in their prospective trade, I mean real masters. American culture and probably world wide to some extent has moved us away from becoming masters at what we do. Marketing pushed to us is stated as "buy this or do this and get an instant result". We start to believe that in a very short period of time or with a simple purchase we can master a sk
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| Where Have the Good Craftsmen Gone? |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 6/4/2010 1:48:33 PM | Number of Views:388 | Rating:4.8 out of 5 |
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 message continues to be the same. Besides each generation believing that they are the best generation, is there any truth to this claim?
I think so. I don't have any raw statistics to give an accurate assessment, but from my own experiences and through the experiences of hundreds of
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| Best Way to Win that Next Project |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 5/25/2010 2:46:16 PM | Number of Views:342 | Rating:4.5 out of 5 |
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? There are three factors that weigh heavier than any other when it comes to winning new work and if you are bidding many different projects (which I would bet you are), you should be looking at which ones fit this criteria first so you can focus your energy. What are the three factors?
Team available for the
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| Is PM software a Waste of Money? |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 5/20/2010 3:35:02 PM | Number of Views:264 | Rating:5.0 out of 5 |
Almost every construction company out there sees the value in Estimating software and utilizes some form of it. I will agree that not every company is utilizing a specifically designed piece of software from one of the major publishers to estimate their work, but if they haven't purchased the latest version of Estimation, they at least have an in-house spreadsheet system. So why don't companies see the same value in PM software? To me it is about seeing a need and progression.
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| Will Anti-Immigration Law Affect You? |
| Posted by:Craig Pierce on 5/18/2010 3:43:31 PM | Number of Views:1529 | Rating:4.7 out of 5 |
Arizona recently took an unprecedented step in passing a law that required the state to action on a federal issue. I am not going to get into the middle of the political ideals at battle here, but I do want to look at the ramifications it could have on the construction industry. People and companies will obviously be directly affected by this legislation. The impacts will come from two fronts: adversion to doing something that is illegal and enforcement of the new law.
Compa
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