Larry King and Katt Williams: Now It’s Your Turn Executive Summary. Reflecting on your career and your life is always fun and interesting. Try this with yourself or with a friend. Larry King’s questions. My social media feed recently brought me to an interview by Larry King of Katt Williams. […]
Measured Mile: It’s Not Just for Contractors
Measured Mile: It’s Not Just for Contractors Executive Summary. The measured mile is a common term used in claims by Contractors. It is the term used to describe the production rate that forms a basis of financial reimbursement. Owners would be well-suited to collect production rates during the work too. […]
Partner, But Not Necessarily Via Partnering
Partner, But Not Necessarily Via Partnering Executive Summary. Partnering was created decades ago to bring the Contractor and Owner together in a semi-formal setting to align goals. Partnering session(s) can be effective, but so can a beer and a burger. Roots of partnering. The Construction Industry Institute defines the purpose […]
Stroke: You’re Having One Right Now
Stroke: You’re Having One Right Now Executive Summary. A stroke is when blood flow to the brain stops. A quick response (on the radio I hear that one hour is the maximum time you have to get to a hospital) is critical in reducing brain injury and other complications. How […]
Contractor Estimating: Drop the Curtain
Contractor Estimating: Drop the Curtain Executive Summary. Lots of times we hear from Engineers that Contractors have fat and contingencies in their estimates. On a low bid wins scenario, that’s just not the case. Look behind the curtain here at some real numbers. What job are we talking about here? […]
New Civil Grads: Three Roads, Choose One!
New Civil Grads: Three Roads, Choose One! Executive Summary. A recent discussion with a soon-to-be civil engineering graduate spurred this article on what your options are heading towards “the real world.” Here’s your three options in my mind. What’s a civil engineer? Simply put, civil engineers improve the quality of […]
Construction in Thailand: 1st and 3rd World Combined
Construction in Thailand: 1st and 3rd World Combined Executive Summary. A quick visit to Thailand revealed some interesting construction and engineering – a mixture of 1st and 3rd world construction! The trip. Thailand is in southeast Asia. That’s southwest of Japan and south of China. Both Laos and Vietnam border […]
Your Last Choice: The Total Cost Claim Approach
Your Last Choice: The Total Cost Claim Approach Executive Summary. In a claim situation, when choosing a method of claim recovery, the total cost claim method is usually the weakest choice. A recent court case put another nail in that coffin. ASCE recently caught my eye. I am a member […]
What is Extended Performance?
What is Extended Performance? Executive Summary. Generally speaking, the cost associated with time loss on a contract are called extended performance costs. Here’s a brief talk on extended performance. What is extended performance? Let’s break down theterm. Extended refers to the duration of the contract having gone longer than was […]
Mindset Differences – Major Leaguers v. Minor Leaguers
Mindset Differences – Major Leaguers v. Minor Leaguers Executive Summary. There’s a different mindset between major league contractors and minor league contractors. Here’s three ways they differ. Graduating to the big leagues. You’re in the elite group when you score an A+ on all of the bonding 3 C’s: character, […]
An Offering of a Contractor’s Standard of Care
An Offering of a Contractor’s Standard of Care Executive Summary. Many are familiar with a design professional’s standard of care (SOC). Why don’t contractors have a standard of care? This is the start. Research by the author – nothing. Go to Google, go to agc.org, go to abc.org, go to […]
Business In Hawaii Is The Same, But Totally Different
Business In Hawaii Is The Same, But Totally Different Executive Summary. Business in Hawaii is just like in other states, but yet so different. Read on for your guide to doing business in Hawaii. Kamaaina status. Kamaaina (pronounced “kaa-ma-eye-na”) is a Hawaiian word used to describe someone originally from Hawaii, […]
Trench Talk: Clem Conceicao, Crane Operator
Trench Talk: Clem Conceicao, Crane Operator Executive Summary. Listen to my discussion with Mr. Clem Conceicao, long time operator of friction cranes, tower cranes, and squirt booms in Hawaii. Running a crane, or any piece of equipment. Being an operator of any piece of equipment carries an obligation of safety […]
How to Start a Professional Construction Company
How to Start a Professional Construction Company Executive Summary. If you’ve ever wanted to start your own construction company, here’s the process. What do you want to do? First thing to do is figure out what you want to do. Heavy/civil, window installation, frame houses, industrial coatings – what? This […]
What’s the Difference Between Unit Price and Lump Sum Bids?
What’s the Difference Between Unit Price and Lump Sum Bids? Executive Summary. Prices in construction bids are usually received in one of two ways: unit prices or lump sum. Here we discuss differences and pros and cons of collecting construction bids via these two methods. Two ways. Pricing for construction […]
Bonds and Bonding Capacity 101
Bonds and Bonding Capacity 101 Executive Summary. If you’ve ever wondered how bonding capacity is earned and calculated, it may be a bit fuzzier than you think. But it does rely on numbers. Read on for the basics. What is bonding? You’ve heard people say “The job is bonded.” or […]
Construction is Broken – Give me the Onsite EOR
Construction is Broken – Give me the Onsite EOR Executive Summary. Contractors are told to build projects in record time without having complete information. It’s not fair to the Engineer, the Contractor, the Owner, or the Taxpayer. There’s an easy fix which will get the project most of the way […]
The Importance of As-Builts
The Importance of As-Builts Executive Summary. As-builts are critical to future projects and can save Owners thousands or millions of dollars. As-builts can also save lives. Do them and do them contemporaneously (which means as you go, not after the fact). What are as-builts? As-builts are drawing set(s), either paper […]
Cake Batter and Concrete Mix Design: Same Thing!
Executive Summary Knowing how to read a concrete mix design is helpful for the project management team: from project manager to foreman. Here are some basics. What is concrete? Concrete is arguably the most common construction material used on the globe. It is a mixture of cement, aggregate, and water. […]
Ways that Engineers Manage Failure: Deflection
Executive Summary In construction, or after the fact in the permanent structure, engineers are predicting structural behavior and trying to either control a failure or minimize it. Herein are ways engineers engineer failure in both instances – via deflection. Goal of the Engineer It is the goal of an engineer […]
Don’t Be Afraid of a Little Manual Work: It’s Ok
Executive Summary In a world now so heavily reliant upon computers, many construction professionals try to automate the entire process, of whatever they may be working on. Some things will still have to be manual, and that’s ok. The Problem The problem here is that I watch many people in […]
Engine Failure Makes Engineers Great: Redundancy
Executive Summary On February 20, 2021 a Boeing 777 airplane lost an engine during flight over Colorado. The engine failure was catastrophic and could have resulted in hundreds of deaths. The plane landed safely back in Denver. This failure highlights the greatness of engineers. Here’s a link to the story […]
Foundations: Shallow vs Deep – What’s the Difference?
Executive Summary Our nation’s infrastructure bears on many types of foundations. Generally speaking, they can be classified into two different types: shallow or deep foundations. What’s a foundation? Loads on structures are created by all sorts of sources. Just the pure weight of the structure, or people walking in or […]
Pipe Goes Bang!
Executive Summary Any noise beyond liquid simply flowing in a pipe is likely not a good thing. Two potentially dangerous noises in pipes/pumping systems are water hammer and cavitation. What Noises are “bad” Noises? Whether it’s water in your own pipes at home, or you’re in a pump station with, […]
Optimizing the Contractor’s Professional Engineer
Executive summary. Do you often need a professional engineer to facilitate the construction at your projects? Here’s how to pick your engineer and to guarantee the quickest turnaround of the product you need. Needing a professional engineer. You have traffic control, concrete formwork, deep excavations, shored trenches, worker tie-offs, or […]
Laos: Infrastructure / Means & Methods
Executive Summary. You’re probably reading this from America or Canada. Ever wonder what the infrastructure and construction means and methods are like in a smaller less developed country like Laos? [For those who haven’t tapped into Google yet to find out where Laos is, it’s a landlocked country adjacent to […]
Cracks in Construction
Executive Summary Cracks in construction provide information to a superintendent. We identify what you’re seeing and what it could mean in specific scenarios. Where are Cracks Seen? Cracks are seen in naturally occurring materials and construction materials used in the building process. These can occur in Timber Concrete Soil What […]
Unit Conversion
Executive Summary Converting from one unit of measure to another is critical for any position of management in a construction company. Using the internet is one way of doing it but knowing the simple process of fraction multiplication and the value of the number “1” gets it done too. Unit […]