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Whether its material price escalations, changes in laws that affect how your project is run, or methods that improve project implementation, we share our insights to help you ask the right questions when starting your next project.
Are we in a recession, or aren't we? Will prices come down or continue to rise? Will the materials for my project show up on time or not? How will all of this affect the schedule and budget for my project? Market uncertainty is set to continue for the foreseeable future. With all that project owners cannot control, there remain variables that they can. Here are three examples of new best practices to combat labor, cost, and schedule uncertainties:
The recent influx of projects in Texas markets makes trade contractors increasingly selective about their work. To help your projects stand out to qualified contractors and hedge labor market shortages, consider...
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Labor uncertainty is only one of the challenges facing the construction industry today. Cost uncertainty is set to continue for the foreseeable future. Here are actions to consider...
As a project owner, it is essential to look beyond time impacts during the construction phase and explore potential inefficiencies in the entire project life cycle. A few examples of this include...
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As you have likely noticed, supply chains continue to experience dramatic impacts from the coronavirus pandemic...
City permitting woes continue to affect all aspects of construction. Commercial permits for new construction...
Supply chain impact is a new reality that every Owner, Design Team, and Contractor must evaluate on their projects...
Material procurement issues continue to impact construction projects, causing delays and frustration abroad...
With rapid advancements in unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), operating a drone has never been cheaper or easier...
Technological innovation drives progress in the construction industry. A prime example is the software Bluebeam Revu which, when utilized properly, provides the potential to improve upon the traditional constructability review process...
Having a plan to address limited material availability, cost escalation, and labor shortages is the key to a project’s success in this current market...
To address material unavailability and unpredictable price escalation, many design teams and contractors are suggesting Owners be open to alternative products or manufacturers...
Just in time deliveries, a principle of lean construction, have become increasingly difficult due to ongoing supply chain disruptions...
Did you know that eight in every 1,000 tempered glass panels can spontaneously break due to defects created during manufacturing or installation?
Have you read conflicting reports on material prices lately?
The construction industry continues to experience significant supply chain interruptions and factory shutdowns due to the pandemic and the winter storms...
Pent up demand for new construction and a shortage of materials has caused a steady rise in market prices. As trade contractors secure more work, they no longer need to discount their fees...
The short supply and rising cost of steel, including rebar, will have considerable impacts on projects through the rest of 2021. We have identified several strategies below to alleviate possible schedule and budget impacts...
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s commercial construction index, the short supply of building products and materials, like steel, lumber, and piping have had considerable cost impacts on projects...
Planning to hire a third-party testing agent for your next project? Before doing so, take time to evaluate how the testing scope aligns with the contractor’s scope and the project schedule...
A contractor’s good safety record has numerous benefits for a project. Generally, Owners ask for the OSHA recordable incident rate (RIR) and experience modification rate (EMR), but what do these numbers mean?... .
Market conditions continue to be favorable for bidding “shovel ready” projects. As expected, we have seen a huge influx of trade contractors bidding on projects to build their backlog for 2021 and beyond. ...
The shutdowns of overseas factories due to the pandemic leave a lot of uncertainty regarding the timeline for receiving custom finish materials like tile...
With more trade contractors actively bidding on projects during the economic slowdown, it can be harder to distinguish the best firms....
Outsourcing structural steel shop drawings to foreign countries is a common practice, but detailing is taking longer because of the pandemic...
Material and equipment manufactured internationally are delayed due to plant closures. Specifically, televisions, fire alarm system components, and HVAC equipment have been impacted...
There is an old saying in the construction business, “It will never be cheaper to build than it is today.” We believe this is especially true in the current economic situation...
Many project teams are keeping projects moving forward while maintaining social distance by shifting to virtual technologies at every phase of a project. Following are some of the ways you can maintain momentum so projects finish on time....
We recommend Owners not delay projects and push through the preconstruction phase now so projects are “shovel ready.” We predict projects designed and poised to begin procurement will benefit from favorable market conditions in the near future. ...
You may have heard a lot about 5G, the new cellular network that is 10 times faster than 4G. If you are interested in enabling your facilities to provide 5G technology...
Despite the national economic and political uncertainty, Texas' construction market remains one of the strongest in the country...
Tariffs, trade deals, Brexit, and pending elections are causing material price fluctuations which will affect projects...
In October 2019, the City of Houston amended its stormwater drainage criteria as a result of a U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) analysis...
The key to successfully using architectural concrete on a project is to manage the team's expectations regarding the finished product...
The success of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for renovation projects hinges on accurately reflecting the projects' existing conditions in the design documents...
U.s. Pharmacopeial (USP) 800 "Hazardous Drugs - Handling in Healthcare Settings" provides standards for safe handling of hazardous drugs to minimize the risk of exposure to healthcare personnel, patients, and the environment...
The utilization of chilled beams in place of traditional variable air volume (VAV) for heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning in higher education and healthcare facilities has become increasingly popular in recent years...
As of August 2019, raw material prices and lead times for imported materials are back to pre-tariff levels...
As of November 2018, our estimating department planned on typical four to five percent material price escalation...
Over the last few years, manufacturers of adhered roofing systems have experienced a surge in warranty issues associated with moisture in the concrete decks under their roof systems...
Although the construction industry has been experiencing labor shortages for at least five years, an unskilled craft workforce has been a problem in the making for more than 30 years...