ConstructConnect Blog

Today, September 3, is National Skyscraper Day, chosen in honor of John H. Sullivan's birthday, the architect who coined the phrase “form (ever) follows function” and is considered the “father of skyscrapers.”

The ability to obtain surety bonding is a necessity in the commercial construction industry. Public entities typically require bid bonds along with performance and payment bonds for their projects.

Here’s the scenario, you’ve spent the past two weeks studying the plans and specifications for a commercial construction project. You’ve attended the mandatory pre-bid conference, done all your takeoffs, gotten all your subcontractor and supplier pricing lined up and you’ve checked and double-checked your figures and finally, you seal everything up to be submitted.

As a building product manufacturer (BPM) trying to get specified by architects may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. The key is to focus less on selling your products and focus more on building relationships with architects and specifiers. Position your company as a leading expert on the types of products you deliver and provide them with all the information they need when researching and selecting products to specify on their product.

Construction project managers are responsible for overseeing and supervising construction projects from start to finish. They are tasked with making sure projects are delivered on time and within budget. Job duties differ from company to company, but construction project managers are typically responsible for overseeing the budget, working with owners, architects, and engineers, hiring subcontractors, scheduling and planning work, and ensuring materials and equipment are delivered to the project site on time.

Productivity is simply the measurement of the effectiveness of effort. The rate of productivity is measured as total output per unit of input. In construction, an example of output would be something like the square footage of flooring installed or cubic yards of earth excavated with the input typically being measured in man-hours.

For commercial contractors, both GCs and subs, a successful project is one completed on time and within budget. The client is happy with the finished product and the contractor walks away with a tidy profit. Everybody wins. When a project fails, it’s typically due to conflicts and issues that cause cost overruns and delays in the schedule.

As construction projects become more complex, effective collaboration is increasingly becoming a key factor in completing projects on time and within budget while delivering a quality product to the client. Good collaboration leads to many benefits like innovation, time and cost-saving, added value for the client, reduced errors, and unnecessary rework.

For many, the summer months mean vacations at the beach, lounging by the pool, and spending more time outside in the sun. For construction workers, summer means working long hours in the hot sun. All that time in the sun can lead to an increased risk of sunburn, sun poisoning, and skin cancer.

Conflicts on the construction site are a common occurrence. Disputes and disagreements are going to arise when you have multiple parties such as general contractors, owners, architects, subcontractors working together to complete a project. These stakeholders have different opinions and interpretations on how things are supposed to be done. Those differing opinions often lead to conflicts.