OPCMIA General President Announces Retirement, General Secretary-Treasurer Elected Successor
Daniel E. Stepano, general president of OPCMIA since April 2016, announced his intention to retire in January 2023. The OPCMIA General Executive Board unanimously elected General Secretary-Treasurer Kevin D. Sexton as his replacement. Stepano joined OPCMIA in 1980 as a plasterer in Local 31 in Pittsburgh. While working in the trade he […]
ClarkDietrich Completes Purchase of Structa Wire Corp
ClarkDietrich, a manufacturer of cold-formed steel framing products, interior and exterior finishing products and accessories in North America, has completed its acquisition of Structa Wire Corp, a manufacturer of high-performance welded wire products for the lath and plaster industry. The acquisition caps a longstanding partnership that began in 2012 when the two […]
Architecture Firm Billings Grow at a Slower Pace
While architecture firm billings grew for the 18th consecutive month in July, the pace of growth continued to slow. The Architecture Billings Index score of 51.0 for the month is the lowest since January, and marks the fourth straight month with a lower score than the previous month. With a variety of economic storm […]
Contractor Confidence Rebounds; Construction Backlog Indicator Flat in August
Associated Builders and Contractors reported Sept. 13 that its Construction Backlog Indicator remained unchanged at 8.7 months in August, according to an ABC member survey conducted Aug. 22 to Sept. 7. The reading is a full month higher than in August 2021. Backlog is down from the levels of the second quarter […]
Construction Input Costs Decrease 1.1% amid Falling Fuel Prices
The price of materials and services used in nonresidential construction declined by 1.1% from July to August as a steep drop in fuel prices masked increases in the cost of other construction inputs, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released Sept. 14. Association officials cautioned that […]
Dodge Construction Network Forecasts Steady Growth in Q4 2022
A national forecast projected a steady environment despite higher interest rates, rising prices and shortages of key labor. The Outlook event hosted by Dodge Construction Network, Chief Economist Richard Branch, gave insight into the current and future trends in construction. Home affordability is at its worst in over 10 years with prices […]
Remote Control, Part 2
And when I wanna go home, I’m goin’ mobile… —from “Goin’ Mobile” by Pete Townsend Last time around, we took on the topic of working remotely as this practice has gained much appeal among estimators and project managers over the past couple of years. Brought on by the advent of the pandemic, many […]
Prepare for the Next Downturn
The U.S. economy “has been running hot—very hot,” the consulting firm McKinsey & Company says. Even though GDP contracted 1.6% in the first quarter of 2022 and 0.6% in the second quarter, corporate profits increased 6.1% in the second quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, an agency of the Department of Commerce, says. […]
Horizontal Membrane Protection
Membrane protection in the context of fire resistance indicates a component in either a fire-resistive assembly or a specialized system providing the fire resistance. This definition is a prime example of how advances in testing plus the accumulation of data have transformed the actual practice of horizontal membrane protection. In the past there were […]