As someone who embraces technological advances, I felt genuinely excited by an invitation last year to submit a construction bid proposal over the Internet. The client, a blue-chip firm for which we had previously worked, told us the deal during a conference call with three other invited bidders. We were to participate in a new process called "auction bidding." We listened carefully to the rules. "Although each bidding contractor's identity remains guarded, the low bid is immediately posted on the auction site...for all invited contractors to view," the rules stated. "Contractors are allowed to underbid...by any dollar value and in
Not willing to sit for a professional-level exam? Then imagine yourself as an accomplished professional who's successfully completed hundreds of construction projects and who's now being called as an expert witness. Imagine, too, that the judge discounts your testimony because he recognizes the architect and the engineer as the only "professionals" who testified. That unfortunate experience happened to Walter Nashert, founder of Nashert Constructors Inc., Oklahoma City. How did he respond? By laying the groundwork for the courts to recognize constructors as members of a profession. Nashert recruited the support of colleagues on the construction education committee of the Associated
Not willing to sit for a professional-level exam? Then imagine yourself as an accomplished professional who's successfully completed hundreds of construction projects and who's now being called as an expert witness. Imagine, too, that the judge discounts your testimony because he recognizes the architect and the engineer as the only "professionals" who testified. That unfortunate experience happened to Walter Nashert, founder of Nashert Constructors Inc., Oklahoma City. How did he respond? By laying the groundwork for the courts to recognize constructors as members of a profession. Nashert recruited the support of colleagues on the construction education committee of the Associated
In Georgia, where I oversee the majority of the state's major construction projects, general contractors are not performing their duty to provide quality construction. My agency, the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission, sells approximately $500 million in general obligation bonds annually, primarily for new construction. This year, our governor recommends doubling that sum. But even as a fairly large player, my agency struggles to ensure quality construction. DEFECTS. Almost every project that we build has construction defects. Some are fairly major, such as in a multistory building where a contractor failed to install 98% of the brick ties needed
Several days ago I was working late on a proposal. Stuck with writing a section on how a prospective client could benefit from using Web-based technologies, I decided to take a break to grab a hamburger across the street. Although it had been a long time since I had eaten at a McDonald's, the company had been on my mind ever since I had read Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Several sections of the book, but mostly the discussion of the McDonald's empire, had made me think about my own industry—environmental management—and its identity and perception problems. These problems
Until an accident two months ago, 21-year-old Renato Soriano worked on building sites in Manila. He fell from just a few meters, but hit some cement blocks as he landed. In the hospital, he lost an arm and a foot to amputations. Although an invalid now and unable to work, he will not receive a single peso in compensation. Injury and death from construction accidents are so common in Manila that many building sites there are described as "war zones." Similar situations exist in many other developing countries. Worldwide, construction accidents claim an estimated 55,000 lives annually. Most happen in
How will the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history ultimately affect the construction industry? The answer depends on the effects of four key "macrowave" shocks. The first is "Guns for Butter." In the war on terrorism, government will dramatically shift expenditures from "butter"—education, infrastructure and health care. Architectural, engineering and construction firms with clientele weighted to aerospace and defense companies will prosper, as will firms with contracts to build military facilities. But other firms that rely on contracts for "butter" will face reduced demand. The second is capital flight. Risk-averse business executives will divert productive capital for new plant and
When I began working at a construction company in China about 12 years ago, I was surprised to see that many of my colleagues still used abacuses. For the next few years, I could hear the joyful sounds of abacuses coming from their offices. Now, in the U.S., I see a similar situation: today's cutting-edge software applications becoming tomorrow's abacuses. Two years ago in the U.S., I began having discussions with some professors in construction programs at major universities who were teaching courses in computers and information technology (IT). They were teaching everything from how to use spreadsheets for solving
If politicians really want to solve California's current energy crisis, they must undo the artificial shortage created by unions and project labor agreements. More than 10 years ago, many nonunion and some union contractors began complaining about a new tactic that forced power producers to use only union contractors. At that time, Thomas R. Adams, an attorney in San Mateo, Calif., and Thomas J. Hunter, business manager of District Council 51 of the plumbers' and pipefitters' union, pioneered the use of environmental protests against projects as a way to bargain for union-only project labor agreements on them. Previously, PLAs had
Justin D. Bolduc isn't "A-list" material at most ENR Top 400 construction firms. Why? Because most of their recruiters won't hire from two-year schools. But they really should take a look at him and my other students. A panel of constructors watched last month as Bolduc, a 22-year-old construction management major at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, played the role of president of a fictitious company. Pretending to respond to a request for proposals for CM services on a mixed-use project, he seemed as comfortable as a seasoned veteran. And as he and fellow student team members flawlessly handled
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