August, 2015

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Smart Maintenance Diagnostics

Construction Business Owner

For owners and operators, machine maintenance is a necessary evil. While daily inspections may take time out of each day, it is better to find issues early than let them grow into bigger problems down the road. However, there are several simple tips that can be used to shorten the time and effort spent maintaining your machine.

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August 2015 newsletter

FDR Safety

Stats show importance of employee safety on- and off-the-job. FDRsafety named one of the top 3 safety consulting firms in the U.S. FDRsafety names three regional business managers. Join Our Mailing List. Stats show importance of employee safety on- and off-the-job. By Fred Rine. CEO, FDRsafety. By Fred Rine. The latest edition of the annual Injury Facts book published by the National Safety Council is out, and while company CEOs and safety directors might not take the time to read all 210 pages,

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Court Blows Away Permits for Wind Turbine Eagle Kills

Green Building Law Update

On August 11, a federal court set aside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule allowing 30 year permits to “take” bald and golden eagles. In an industry born from tax credits and government energy policies an interruption of one of those key policies can bring wind turbine construction to a halt. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which was enacted in 1940, imposes criminal and civil penalties against “whoever” shall “take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or bart

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Experience vs. Credentials: Does Your Commercial Construction Contractor Make the Grade?

HardHatChat

A culture that values safety training of its own accord, not just as a minimum requirement to be met, is an important credential in any construction firm. With back-to-school season here, it’s exciting to think about students heading off to pursue a degree or certificate in a construction field. Anyone who does so is probably making a smart move – according to a recent study , construction is the industry with the second largest talent shortage in the U.S., and the Bureau of Labor Statistics sho

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Optimize Operational Processes With an Industry-Specific ERP

As the use of Enterprise Resource Planning systems in the construction industry is critical to optimizing operations, it's critical that decision makers conduct a thorough software evaluation to find the one that best aligns to their needs.

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Aloha Ken Wagner

Cassell Construction Estimating

The Cassell Team is sad to announce the retirement of our Senior P6 Consultant, Ken Wagner. He has been our Senior Oracle Primavera Technical Consultant and Oracle certified Enterprise Portfolio Implementation Specialist for the implementation of P6 Project Management, Ken has over thirty plus years of executive level experience in program and project management, working in state and federal government, defense and commercial industries.

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What It Takes To Be Successful

Construction Business Owner

Construction companies with staying power are the ones that focus daily on a strong work ethic, quality work, and excellent customer service. One such company is RKS Plumbing and Mechanical Inc., a contractor headquartered in Arizona. The company recently celebrated 25 years of business in the construction industry. Owner and President Bob Sornsin and Executive Vice President Joe Stachel spoke with CBO about what it takes to not only stay in business, but also see continued growth in the constr

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In the weeds: OSHA answers very specific questions

FDR Safety

While OSHA standards are extensive, many companies still find they are not always sure how to apply them to everyday work situations. One solution: Ask OSHA for clarification. In response to inquiries, OSHA has from time to time provided written interpretations of how its standards apply to specific work situations and archived them on its website. It is clear from scanning the list of interpretations that lockout/tagout is a subject that raises many questions for companies.

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Court Blows Away Permits for Wind Turbine Eagle Kills

Green Building Law Update

On August 11, a federal court set aside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule allowing 30 year permits to “take” bald and golden eagles. In an industry born from tax credits and government energy policies an interruption of one of those key policies can bring wind turbine construction to a halt. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which was enacted in 1940, imposes criminal and civil penalties against “whoever” shall “take, possess, sell, purchase, barter, o

Permits 120
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Utility Fleet Technicians Earn More than Municipal Techs: Utilimarc

Construction Equipment

Utilimarc analyzed data from 60 of its utility and municipal fleet benchmarking clients. The research found that wage distribution in 2014 among fleet technicians is more spread out in the municipal industry, but there was a higher wage range for technicians in the utility industry. According to the report, the largest percentage of municipal fleet technicians saw themselves earning either $20-$25 an hour or $32.50-$35 an hour.

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The Ultimate Procurement Software Buyer’s Guide

Choosing the right procurement software is a crucial step in ensuring third-party risk management, process governance, and bidding efficiency. With so many procurement solutions to choose from, it can be overwhelming without a frame of reference and a solid starting point. This free buyer’s guide will cover: Benefits of Procurement Software –– Why do you need it?

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Marketing and business development: How much are we worth?

Construction Marketing Ideas

How do you put “value” on building the base for longer-range marketing strategies. in our case, while the decision to build a business in Chicago seemingly evolved quite quickly, it had roots in initiatives almost a decade ago. One of the most challenging and perplexing problems for an architectural, engineering or construction business is putting return-on-investment value for marketing and business development activities.

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How To Justify Hiring New Marketing Staff

Help Everybody Everyday

One of the questions I always hear is: “How many marketers should my firm have?” That’s a very good question. And there are different rules of thumb used to answer that (like one marketer for every 20 people). I’m not sure if any of them are valid. I think the real question is, “How do I justify hiring new marketing staff?”. So, today I’m going to show you exactly how to justify hiring new marketing staff in a manner that would be difficult to argue against.

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The Next Great Extinction

Construction Business Owner

Whether it is the destruction of the bees, the ozone or the arctic shelf, people of the world are constantly being reminded that their time on the planet may be finite. Geologically speaking, a short time might be several thousand years, giving everyone just a little more time to soak up some sun. The construction industry may see its own series of extinctions much sooner, though.

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Social Media in Construction – Useful Content or Needless Distraction? Some Useful Blogs.

Construction Dive

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase social media? Probably most of us think Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging and other means of conveying news and opinions. We older folks, used to putting in long hours in the field or construction trailer, tend to write off social media, particularly in this form, as needless distraction from the important work at hand.

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Stop Making These Mistakes and Start Scaling Your Specialty Contractor Business

Anything that is built on a poor foundation will soon crumble from the ground up. This is literally the case in the construction stage of projects and it applies just the same during the pre-construction stage. This free eBook is your ultimate guide to scaling your business with customizable software as early as during the bidding stage.

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Unique Bad Bookkeeper Traits Kill Contractor Profits

Contractor Bookkeeping

Bad Bookkeepers Have 38 Traits In Common. It is important to understand the difference between Professional Boo k keepers, Regular Bookkeepers and Bad Bookkeepers. Professional Bookkeepers invested the minimum of 10,000 hours that it takes to master the profession. And they continue to learn, and educate themselves with formal and informal class room training, seminars, webinars and related tools.

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OHS Explains Fire Safety Tips for Welders

Construction Equipment

Occupational Health & Safety walks through the biggest risks welders faces while working and actions they can take to prevent them. Property Damage: In order to avoid proprety damage welders must watch out for loose objects. Welders should always do a spot check for combustible objects. Also, evaluate whether or not the surroundings are also combustible.

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Can you really believe the science behind “scientific marketing”

Construction Marketing Ideas

Can you believe the marketing science stories you read? Maybe not. Most cannot be replicated. I have a tab on this blog for “marketing science” The concept: Scientifically validated insights should provide solid insights into which marketing models will work best, and which will not. Presumably, if we follow the science, rather than our hide-bound traditional practices or just fly by the seat of our pants, we should achieve much better results.

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Sparkie, Bricky, Drippy, Chippy and all fluent in BIMmy!

DebunkTheBIM

I have a lot of respect for the trade-workers within the AEC industry. Regardless of whether they are one-man-bands or work for large corporations, they are the ones at the coalfaces of projects, make things happen where the rubber hits the road. Even though it is ‘well known’ in western societies that their rates are unreasonably high and workmanship mostly shoddy (heard a ‘plumber nightmare story’ recently?

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The Specialty Contractor's Guide to Job Cost Accounting

Supply chain challenges and rising material costs are forcing specialty contractors to pay more for what they need to complete each job. Following a simple set of principles, this easy-to-follow guide can help you manage job costs, ease the pains of accounting, and run a more profitable businesses. If you are a Specialty Contractor or Self-performing GC, you do not want to miss out on this essential guide!

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The Checklist You Need To Run a Successful Business

Construction Business Owner

Most construction business owners have the same goal. They all want to grow, earn high profit margins, retain great customers, be organized and in control, have a responsible management team, own income-producing investments and, after all that, have the time to enjoy the benefits of their hard work. Unfortunately, most know the results they want but they won’t make the tough decisions necessary to achieve their goals.

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Can Owners Redefine “Interference” in the Contract?

Construction Dive

By Bruce Jervis Active interference by a project owner is a well-recognized exception to the enforceability of no-damage-for-delay clauses. The definition of active interference, however, varies. In Pennsylvania, for instance, it includes an affirmative act not reasonably anticipated under the contract, as well as the failure to act as required for the work to proceed.

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Hitachi high-reach shows its Pedigree [with video]

Digger Blog

The UK’s first Hitachi ZX350LC-5 high-reach demolition excavator has shown it’s got the right stuff pulling down an office block at a Wolverhampton brewery. The UK’s first Hitachi ZX350LC-5 high-reach demolition excavator has shown it’s got the right stuff pulling down an office block at a Wolverhampton brewery.

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Utilimarc Compares Municipal & Utility Technician Wages

Construction Equipment

Utilimarc analyzed data from 60 of its utility and municipal fleet benchmarking clients. The research found that wage distribution in 2014 among fleet technicians is more spread out in the municipal industry, but a wage range for technicians in the utility industry. According to the report, the largest percentage of municipal fleet technicians saw themselves earning either $20-$25 an hour or $32.50-$35 an hour.

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Report: Optimism for Construction Growth in the Next Year Remains High

Research reveals 96% of respondents are very or fairly optimistic about their organization’s growth prospects for the next year. The InEight Global Capital Projects Outlook also finds over half see digital technology as the greatest growth opportunity. But these are only some of the findings. Don't be kept in the dark when it comes to the future. Read the report today!

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Construction Marketing Ideas - Untitled Article

Construction Marketing Ideas

The Ride has raised more than $8.5 for cancer research — an impressive community-focused initiative that transcends commercial competitors. We’re going into the home stretch in fund-raising for , a 108-km. cycling event supporting cancer research at The Ottawa Hospital. This event, which traces its roots to the visit by two Ottawa-area construction and development industry leaders to Toronto for a similar event about eight years ago, shows how bridges can be crossed and good things

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Contractors Who Feed Workers Make Lot More Money

Contractor Bookkeeping

One Tiny Bit Of Knowledge High Profit Contractors. Use To Get Well Over 100% Return On Investment. They Provide Snacks And Beverages for their field workers and office staff. What you say? It costs money! How is spending money going to make me money? Perhaps you think I am crazy! Read though and pay special heed to the three Profit Enhancement Strategies near the end.

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Making the Move

Construction Business Owner

Most construction business owners have the same goal. They all want to grow, earn high profit margins, retain great customers, be organized and in control, have a responsible management team, own income-producing investments and, after all that, have the time to enjoy the benefits of their hard work. Unfortunately, most know the results they want but they won’t make the tough decisions necessary to achieve their goals.

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AGC IT Conference Provides Technology Benefits on Multiple Fronts

Construction Dive

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) recently held its annual IT conference in Chicago on July 30 and 31, and from it we learned about quite a few useful products and developments. Based on the excellent report coverage by construction technology expert Rob Mckinney and Sean Spicer, Digital Marketing Director for Notevault, here’s an overview of the topics covered, ranging from 3D printing and drones, to BIM, virtual reality and apps for smartphones and tablets.

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Discover 7 Ways to Cut Construction Inefficiencies

Construction sites are often just-barely-controlled chaos. Without clear coordination, you risk everything from clashes to delays, cancellations, and missed deadlines. Get the free eBook & learn how to solve the biggest challenges in construction!

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Tony Piazza and Eric Green: Ask The Experts Any Mediation Question!

Best Practices Construction Law

When it comes to identifying the best mediators in the country, Tony Piazza and Eric Green are at the top of the list. And, on October 8, 2015, they will be sharing the stage in Austin, Texas for the Construction ADR Summit (pdf) sponsored by the American Bar Association’s Forum on Construction Law. The program. When a construction dispute involves new technologies that can only be understood by expert testimony, complex scheduling issues involving multiple trades, or large “bet the company

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International Truck to Offer Over-the-Air Programming

Construction Equipment

International Truck will offer over-the-air (OTA) reprogramming of engine control modules (ECM) for International trucks powered by its N9, N10 and N13 proprietary engines. The company completed initial testing in its International Truck test fleets and will finalize testing in customer fleets this fall. The official launch of two-way connected vehicle technology in new International models will come early next year.

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20 content marketing tips — are you using these ideas?

Construction Marketing Ideas

This article has 20 content marketing tips. will get your mind thinking, and realizing some potentially new ways to enhance your content marketing effectiveness. I’ve just started reading through the 20 tips, but the first one really stands out as an easy-to-understand idea. 1) Look for Blog Topics Right in Your Email Inbox. You likely get a hefty stream of questions, comments, and inquiries about your business every day and, chances are, some of them keep popping up again and again.

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