Construction Trends
Stiffer Fines Announced for Employers of Illegal Immigrants The federal government is on the move again to crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens, and it is raising civil penalties for employers that violate immigration law. On Feb. 22, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced that stiffer fines amounting […]
Get Back to Where You Once Belonged
If I were asked to number the instances in which I was “fervently requested” by a potential customer to include an item in my proposal that was outside my normal scope of work, I think they would be too numerous to recall. And judging from the comments I’ve heard from many of my colleagues, I’d […]
Insurance, Acoustics, & AWCI Publications
We are policy holder of insurance for exterior insulation and finish work through the AWCI Insurance Company, Ltd., and I have a question about the exclusion for wood framing. The insurance Web site has the following statement under exclusions: “EIFS applications over wood-framed and/or wood substrate habitational structures.” We are currently bidding on two hotels […]
Complex Jobs with Tight Schedules—That’s What They Want
For a man to achieve ownership of his own company, especially in this industry, it usually means the man is driven by ambition. Not Dan Hanson, president of Sundermeyer, Ltd. in Bridgeton, a suburb of St. Louis, Mo. In fact, the opportunity to have his own company was more or less thrust upon him. He […]
The Devil Is In the Details
On paper, the construction process is quite straightforward: Someone, usually the owner, desires a building; someone, normally the architect, designs it; and you, the contractor, build it. Once the owner has made up his mind about what he wants, things boil down to one thing, and one thing only: communication. The owner shares […]
To Beep or Not to Beep
This writing is a heartfelt testament to a dramatic conversion I underwent a number of years ago. Its purpose is to coax the foot-dragging, nay-saying bean-counters in our industry from the security blanket of their Stone Age takeoff methods, and help to convince them of the technological advantages available to them in the digital era. […]
Construction Trends
More Small Businesses to Seek Additional Credit in 2008, Says Latest Study More small businesses will seek to increase their loan levels or lines of credit during 2008 according to the latest nationwide Small Business Research Board study released Jan. 16, 2008. Of the more than 450 owners and managers participating in the SBRB […]
Expansion and Control Joints
Don Allen from the Steel Framing Alliance came up with this month’s question, which deals with the definitions of expansion joints and control joints. Another part of the question concerned the bridging of a control joint in a building with a drywall soffit. The crux of the problem seems to be that the contractor does […]
Duguid Takes a Gamble
For many people, visiting a casino is one way to celebrate an important event. For the William A. Duguid Company, located in Mt. Prospect, Ill., the important event was its completion of the Isle of Capri Casino in Waterloo, Iowa. This difficult job, successfully completed despite numerous challenges, is but one reason to celebrate the […]