My boss at my first engineering job told me that a PE license and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee.
Now that’s one heck of a saying, and at 22 years old, I didn’t really get it. I eventually put two and two together and realized that since a cup of coffee […]
While we may not often talk about them, we all remember the dark ages. These are the years where work in the architecture, engineering, and construction field fell to levels not seen for, at a minimum, decades. I was not one of the lucky who lived in a castle with a moat, so I was […]
Everybody loves to get hung up in contract language. On construction projects, contractors, owners, and subs will fire contract language back and forth like missiles in what gets to be an arms race of legalities that negatively affects projects by creating panic and anxiety. When lawyers get involved, the language starts to get twisted and manipulated […]
I’ve spent the past four years starting a construction company through the public bidding process. While I have arguably been successful in doing this, it has not come without plenty of headache, heartache, and just plain unimaginable stress.
I’ve probably bid at least 100 public RFPs, but I’ve only been awarded less than 10. I’ve dealt […]
I will often get asked, “What is Constructonomics?”.
Actually, that’s a lie. I very rarely, if ever, get asked that question. I’m not sure why I lied about that, but most likely because that’s how a post like this would typically start.
Nevertheless, I do think about the question a lot […]
Have you ever heard of George Cloutier? Me neither, until I ran across an article on the New York Times website today where an interview was published with the author of, “Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing” and the founder of American Management Services. After reading the article, I wanted to ask Mr. […]
This has been one heckuva (helluva) weather year on the east coast. I’m sitting here while a three and half foot drift of snow is piled against my front door while snow continues to fall on a town where yearly records have already been shattered (I think I read that somewhere). We’ve had a very […]
There are a few interesting additions to the projects up for bid list this week and some older projects that look fantastic. There are some great looking $1-$2 million jobs. Keep in mind that I am offering free pre-construction services in exchange for involvement in the management of the project. Hopefully we can partner up […]
Since Emotional Intelligence has hit the mainstream sometime back in the mid-nineties, most of us have at least seen an Oprah episode about what Emotional Intelligence is how it can be applied to the workplace. I’ve found that some (mostly women) look at EI as a very crucial aspect of interpersonal relations that apply inside […]
As with everyone else over the last eight months, I was closely following the federal government’s attempts at bolstering the construction and real estate industries, and I have read many enlightening commentaries both for and against stimulus.
As can be expected, Realtor associations as well as construction industry associations were quite pleased with the affects […]
I’ve always thought there were similarities between the film making process and the construction process. In movie making you have the script (plans), the set (jobsite) and of course the final product (building). Similar to construction, the more time spent on the script, the smoother and quicker the implementation of the script takes place. And […]
In the economic climate that we find ourselves at the moment, it seems that the only projects out there are public jobs where bids are solicited and any warm-blooded creature with a pulse and a remote ability to read plans can submit a price on the job. The municipalities are required by law to accept […]
Below is a list of projects that are bidding between 2/3/10 and 3/10/10 on which I am looking to partner. I will be providing free pre-construction services and administering as much of the bid as you would like in exchange for providing the required bonding capacity to do the job. I will also work as […]
I’ve always been rather suspicious of rankings that were put out by magazines like Fortune or the Princeton Review for companies or schools or whatever, however they always make for some interesting reading and in the very least some lively conversations. Fortune magazine came out with their 100 Best Companies to Work For today […]
While economic reports have been lackluster at best, I have a funny feeling that we may be on a rocket ship out of the recession that has made the lives of many tremendously difficult. Part of the reason for the sudden burst of optimism is that there just simply is no other way to go. Something […]
