HardHatChat

JANUARY 27, 2011

Franchise restaurants are the rise, like this new Mrs. Fields that Englewood Construction built in Orland Park Mall. As suggested in my 2011 commercial construction trends blog post, there seems to be a rise in new restaurant construction, particularly among franchise restaurants. In fact, Crain’s Chicago Business just reported that Moe’s Southwest Grill has sold restaurant franchise agreements to open 10 new units in the Chicago market.

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Chicago Construction Negotiation Agreement 244

Carol Hagen

JANUARY 25, 2011

To all my avid readers who come here for social media topics, I have decided to separate the construction technology topics and the pure social media tips by starting a new blog. Social + Websites will discuss social media tips, website design and how to engage your prospects and clients using social media in social networks and on your website. You will still get great content every week on technology issues specific to the construction industry on this blog but the social media topics will mos

iPad 120

iPad Visualization Mobility Design 120

Green Building Law Update

JANUARY 28, 2011

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Consulting 189

Construction Law Monitor

JANUARY 24, 2011

Last week, the New Orleans City Council voted to approve the installation of solar panels on a home in the city’s historic French Quarter. This would seem to be no-brainer for the city, which is one of America’s 20 Solar Cities and has pushed solar energy with tax credits and other programs, but it was only allowed after some controversy.

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Commissioning Green America Industrial 64

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Software

Do

JANUARY 24, 2011

skip to main | skip to sidebar. dont think: Do Revit. My journal of work in Revit as part of a 600+ member architecture firm. Monday, January 24, 2011. Vasari Experiment. So, "everyone" (not really sure who everyone is, but I know theyre out there) "says" (at least I think so) that the Massing environment is not useful to them, because they dont do twisty curvy buildings, they only do straight boring buildings.

Revit 64

Revit BIM Housing Philadelphia 64

Revit OpEd

JANUARY 24, 2011

I’ve noticed that Spaces and Ceilings can affect Revit MEP’s ability to display the Space element. I’ve seen it happen and then later correct itself magically. Not likely that it is magical, more like something was adjusted that changes the conditions in the first place. I admit I don’t know yet what that “magic” is. The conditions for this to occur begin with the addition of a new Level to manage plenum areas in the building.

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Revit Deals IDEA Management 56

Construction Law Monitor

JANUARY 24, 2011

Williams v. Athletic’s Field took the Washington mechanic lien world by storm last year, when it declared a mechanic lien invalid even though the claimant used the specific form provided by the statute. We’ve written about this opinion at length on this blog, and noted that the decision is now being reviewed by the Washington Supreme Court.

Lien 56

Lien Washington Claims Housing 56

DebunkTheBIM

JANUARY 28, 2011

What can smart manufacturers/marketers/suppliers of construction products DO to increase their market share and improve how buildings are communicated? Stage ONE : Develop Model based libraries; 1. Chose platforms carefully: the number of platforms you work with, depends on your target market and budget. Don’t get fooled by numbers – important: influence the users have.

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Products Construction Roads Budgeting 48

Construction Dive

JANUARY 27, 2011

super Book Reading Blog. PHP Template Programming. Skip to content. Home About. « If you run the script then you see. sample_section2.php » {if $smarty.section.section_name.first} This is Heading {else} do what. By admin | January 27, 2011 - 8:28 am | Smarty. {if $smarty.section.section_name.first}. This is Heading. {else} do what ever you want {endif} iteration iteration is similar to index but returns the current iteration number.

Security 48

Security Maine Engineering Site 48

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Industrial

Revit OpEd

JANUARY 28, 2011

I read about this video on Erik van Eck's blog the other day. He's Dutch but he writes a number of his posts in English just for me! (not really) I try to read the other posts in Dutch and some words are more memorable than others, but I was only nine when I spoke it. A couple years since.have. past. The video is 14 minutes and 49 seconds (14:49) so you'll need to set aside a little more time than for my normal posts.

Revit 53

Revit Resource 53

CAD Shack

JANUARY 25, 2011

Tuesday, January 25, 2011. Top 10 Reasons You Cant See an Element in Revit. Is the correct Workset being used? Is the view range set correctly to see the particular element? Is the object hosted on an incorrect surface like a floor instead of a ceiling? Is there a filter applied to the view that is causing the element to be hidden? Is the detail level of the view set correctly?

CAD 51

CAD Revit AutoCAD Autodesk 51

DebunkTheBIM

JANUARY 27, 2011

Let me share a secret with you! There is much more modelling going on in the construction space than is given credit for. A lot of this activity is done behind the scenes. Often without building owners knowing about it at all! Junior designers/documenters resolve building problems using digital 3D tools in secret and then output information in dumb-formats without principals knowing.

Modeling 48

Modeling BIM Drawings Documentation 48

Construction Law Monitor

JANUARY 25, 2011

The Washington Supreme Court wrote an opinion interpreting the Washington Arbitration Act last week in Optimer Int’l, Inc. v. RP Bellevue, LLC. In this case, a landlord and tenant submitted themselves to an arbitration proceeding pursuant to their contract, and the loser at arbitration wasn’t satisfied with the award. They sought judicial review of the holding in superior court, and were denied this review at the trial and appellate level because of a clause within the contract’

Washington 48

Washington Contract 48

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Procurement

Revit OpEd

JANUARY 27, 2011

I wrote the following at AUGI the other day: First a silly message from the Management Procedure Item: Review Warnings Steps: Review and FIX them!! Thank you, the mgmt! More seriously, do focus on warnings that: Affect calculations, rooms/areas & wall/boundary errors Duplication (multiple elements in the same place) Affect documentation - Type Marks/Marks/tagging accuracy A team needs to know they exist and why they are there.

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Documentation Management Design 49

Julian Construction

JANUARY 28, 2011

Julian Construction Blog. Shawn Kyles. Partner, Julian Construction. Contact Info. Our Services. Foundation Repair. Foundation Replacement. House Leveling. Earthquake Retrofitting or House Bolting. Social Media Links. Facebook. Twitter. « Julian Construction Helps Homeowners Reduce Energy Costs with Solar Roofing | Main. | Julian Construction Offers Mold Testing and Removal Services » 01/28/2011.

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Los Angeles Foundation Construction Inspections 45

DebunkTheBIM

JANUARY 26, 2011

From all participants working in construction, steel manufacturers have managed to mimic manufacturing processes to highest degree. The idea of aligning CAD with CAM has existed in this field for long time and the most sophisticated modelling related to construction-based shop drawings has been – and is being done by using steel structural software (Tekla, StruCAD); I remember going to sites long ago and observing contractors looking at steel shop drawings to resolve coordination issues irreleva

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BIM Drawings CAD Visualization 48

Construction Law Monitor

JANUARY 25, 2011

The Washington Supreme Court publishes an excellent blog that is frequently updated to provide readers with information about the justices and their cases. While a lot of their docket is review of criminal decisions and sentences, they do of course also review civil matter consequential to the construction industry. We highlighted one example just recently, when the Supreme Court overturned law disallowing contractual parties to waive judicial review of arbitration awards.

Washington 48

Washington Industrial Construction 48

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Contractors

Revit OpEd

JANUARY 25, 2011

Sometimes you just need a way to store/present some information that may/may not be obtained from the model itself. You could create additional parameters (project parameters) and create a schedule to report the information if you assign them to a category you may not be likely to use in your normal scope, something that you won't use and won't likely have a schedule stumble on that same category if there are linked files.

Schedule 49

Schedule Autodesk Modeling Design 49

Constructor Marketing that Works

JANUARY 26, 2011

'Contractor Marketing That Works. HVAC Marketing, Plumbing marketing, Electrical contractor marketing can be tough. Your technical expertise tends to blur the importance of getting and keeping customers to actually PAY for that skill. Thats why weve assembled the best plumbing, electrical and hvac marketing strategies onto one site. Youll find info on Yellow Page ads, Customer Retention Newsletters, HVAC Marketing PowerPacks, Marketing Plans, plus sites for dozens of free contractor marketing re

Contractors 45

Contractors Electrical US Alabama 45

DebunkTheBIM

JANUARY 25, 2011

Easy. Almost anyone that mentions “BIM” and “clash detection” in the same sentence and early in a conversation, is most likely bluffing. Not, that there is anything wrong with the idea of digitally identifying potential clashes between spatial elements; We all can get incited into this, quite unrealistic idea of construction information of unbuilt buildings fed into a machine that analyses data and spits out potential clashes; The fundamental reason that this concept is unrealistic, is the lack

BIM 48

BIM Documentation IDEA Software 48

Green Home Design Architect

JANUARY 26, 2011

We were pleasantly surprised Saturday night at the AIANH Excellence in Architecture Design Award ceremony when our Lakefront Cottage Renovation project won TWO Awards: The Merit Award and the People’s Choice Award in Residential Architecture! Entries were judged on overall design excellence including aesthetics, clarity, creativity, appropriate functionality, sustainability, building performance, and appropriateness with regard to fulfilling the client's program.

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Renovating AIA Rhode Island Architecture 45

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Contractors

Construction Law Monitor

JANUARY 26, 2011

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Building Codes seminar today, sponsored by Lorman Education Services. I learned a lot from the panel of speakers, and enjoyed giving my presentation on the Enforcement of Building Codes and Contractual Consequences of Violations. My slides from the Keynote presentation are available on my SlideShare.com account , and are embedded here: Building Code Enforcement and Contractual Consequences.

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Education Accounting 44

PSMJ Resources

JANUARY 26, 2011

The American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Billings Index showed signs of improvement in December, as more firms reported increasing firm billings than declining for the second month in a row. This marks the first time in three years that this has been the case, which leaves way for cautious optimism going into 2011. The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) serves as the leading economic indicator of construction activity, and reflects the approximate 9-to-12 month lag time between architec

Architecture 43

Architecture Kansas City Residential Commercial 43

DebunkTheBIM

JANUARY 24, 2011

Have you looked at the file I posted yesterday? Most striking features? Navigation? Intaractability? For me? The ‘honesty’ of the information model. What you see is what you get. I mentioned before design consultants regularly and intentionally showing incomplete drawings with a lot of padding (irrelevant information) to keep the mental image of the proposed building as vague as possible for as long as possible.

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Permits Drawings Drafting Liability 48

Construction Cost Estimating

JANUARY 28, 2011

Construction Cost Estimating Blog. adsense analytic. Saturday, January 29, 2011. The arrival of Newforma® Project Center software for AEC industry. The leading software company Newforma® just launches the eight edition of Newforma® Project Center software. This comprehensive, integrated solution will make an evaluation to the world of BIM-based design.

Software 40

Software Software Industrial Estimating 40

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Construction

Construction Law Monitor

JANUARY 27, 2011

A few months ago, we wrote about an appeals decision in Oregon that carved an exception to the economic loss rule in a construction defect case, allowing a plaintiff to sue for negligence when a builder doesn’t comply with building codes. That opinion - Abraham v. T. Henry Construction, Inc. , 230 Or.App. 564 (2009) – has been sent to the Oregon Supreme Court for review, and oral arguments were heard last month.

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Oregon Claims Liability Contract 44

PSMJ Resources

JANUARY 24, 2011

If you’ve recently conducted a Client Satisfaction Survey, you understand knowing what your clients and/or potential clients think of your firm is essential to developing strong relationships, client services strategies, and effective project management and marketing skills. But after they tell you what they think, what’s the next step? After you receive a client satisfaction survey, use a combination of in-person, written, and telephone contact with the client.

Project Management 43

Project Management Resource Risk Management 43

DebunkTheBIM

JANUARY 23, 2011

‘Construction is not retail, the same rules do not apply!’ I said yesterday, risking offending small, mom and pa grocery operations that run like clockwork. No offence was intended. I admit, the problem with my BIM hobby-horse(s) is that, there are so many. Even in this narrow field of construction communication there seem to be at least a dozen subjects that I am fixated on as holding the secret of failure (or possible recovery) of the industry.

BIM 48

BIM Retail Risk Industrial 48