You may already know that automation is shaving months or years off construction projects. As technological innovations improve, the degree of accuracy in various tools allows contracting businesses to consider how they can use automation to get their work done faster. Here are a few reasons automation deserves an important role in your design phase, and how you can best take advantage of it.

Why It’s Time to Automate
Whether you’ve been working in the industry for years or you’re just starting out, there are plenty of reasons to rethink the way you do things. The construction labor shortage exploded by the housing crisis and was made worse by increasing numbers of construction professionals heading into retirement. It’s getting better but it’s still a big problem in a lot of fields. Automation isn’t just gaining popularity–it’s improving in accuracy. This means that you can automate processes that will do the work nearly as well or, in some cases, better than you could do with a skilled worker.

Tips to Incorporate Automation Into Your Workflow
When you aren’t sure what is out there, it’s hard to imagine how automation could possibly make your work faster and more effective. That’s where a little research comes in. You wouldn’t think of hand-writing an invoice that you could easily input into a tool, because this technology has been around for decades. Here’s how you can find ways to make automation a seamless part of your workflow:

1. Identify where your projects are falling behind schedule (or over budget).
2. Research the best solutions to your current issues.
3. Don’t jump at the first option you find, because there may be better ones on the horizon.
4. Take opportunities to test out products before you buy.
5. Read reviews of tools and software systems, to get a sense for their success rates.
6. Test it out on low-impact projects before you automate full-time.
7. Offer employees training in the latest methods.

Give yourself the time to adjust, and you might be surprised how quickly it changes your perspective.

Fields Where Automation Is Taking Off
Even 10 years ago, automation wasn’t a big deal in many areas in construction. With changes happening every year, you’ll find more and more businesses adapting technology to make projects go faster. Automation is currently driving:

• increases in the use and efficacy of modular construction
• availability of self-driving construction equipment
• innovations in drone technology, which allows workers to perform complex tasks from a distance

Right now, a lot of the technology is proprietary. This means that one company’s approach might be completely different from another’s. Within the next few years, you’ll see the best performers rising to the top and spreading to other fields.

Keep Watching for News
Although automation is picking up speed in all kinds of fields, it’s also changing rapidly. This means that if you there aren’t many options in your specialty, or if most of the choices you have are pretty sketchy, just wait six months or a year. You can probably remember a time when drones were terrifying at worst and vaguely helpful at best. They’re now shifting from surveying the scene to interacting with it. Imagine how much better tools and systems will be in five years.

Make Workers a Priority
Although automation is often feared as the killer of jobs, it doesn’t have to be. In a world where there’s years more work available than qualified people to do it, efficiency is king. Automation isn’t going to force or even allow you to get rid of your whole staff in a year. Instead, it will make you and your employees’ jobs easier. That means you can take on more projects and satisfy more clients with reliable deadlines and a shorter turnaround.

Construction automation is becoming an integral part of the industry, and you should consider how it will affect your contracting business. To discover more about the latest tools and technology used by licensed contractors, contact CSLS today!

Sometimes you read about a massive construction project with an estimated budget that just keeps going up. You might wonder how governments, even state or national ones, can keep dedicating billions more. For your business, ensuring that your projects have sufficient funding to keep going is a matter of survival. Here are a few things you can do if you find yourself in a situation where your project is running over budget or lacks enough funding to finish.

Determine Your Obligations
The first thing that you should do is figure out what your obligations are to the project and to the client. This is where an investment into refining contract language that protects you becomes very important. It applies whether you are working directly with the property owner or as a subcontractor. Carefully review the contract that you have signed, and consider hiring a lawyer to help you review it if necessary. This will help you to know what you are required to do, and which actions could possibly put you in trouble.

Look at Additional Funding Options
The most obvious solution is to look for additional funding options. For a reliable property owner with good credit, it may be as simple as applying for additional financing. In some cases, like a lost grant, it may be much more difficult. The right option depends heavily on the type of project and its scope. But if you can find a way forward with this option, you may be able to avoid a lot of stress and conflict in renegotiating or canceling the contract.

Consider Revising the Project
If it’s not possible to get more money, then you may need to renegotiate the contract to limit the scope of the project. Whether or not you can do this depends on the contract and who is responsible for the funding shortfall. For example, if you are working with a client who was only able to secure partial funding for the project, then your personal responsibilities may be lower. On the other hand, if budget overrun came as a result of a fault in your original estimate, you might be on the hook to cover at least part of it. In any case, attempting a reasonable renegotiation of the project may allow both parties to reach a satisfactory conclusion under the new circumstances.

Minimize Additional Investment
The last thing that you want to do is keep investing into a project that is failing fast. How you approach that feeling depends on the contract. If you get to the point where you may need to cut your losses, it’s probably best to consult a lawyer to make sure that this is the wisest course of action. Otherwise, this is an important reason to vet clients and projects for funding or ability to pay. It’s also a vital advantage of regular communication between property owners and contractors, or general contractors and subcontractors. Knowing where you are at on any given day can help you determine where to go next.

Evaluate Solutions for Future Projects
Once you get to the other side of a situation like this, one of the last things that you may want to do is spend a lot of time figuring out how to avoid it. As tempting as it can be to take a break and minimize how much time you have to think about it, it’s better to debrief and make improvements while everything is still fresh. Make notes of miscommunications or errors in calculation that led to the shortfall or overrun. This will help you to implement better practices in the future to cut down on the chances that this will happen again.

Budget overrun in construction is so common it might be part of the job description. But if you want to avoid it cutting into your profits, you’ll work to minimize it in your projects. For more advice on running a successful contracting business, contact CSLS today!

With design-build fast becoming the industry standard, many contracting business owners rejoice. This approach to building puts more decision-making power into your hands, with the ability to influence the design based on your unique skills and experience. The trick is, not every contracting business has a designer. If you don’t, there are several aspects of the design process that you may not know. Here are a few factors to consider and tools you can use to help you determine what you need.

Why Is Design-Build a Popular Approach to Construction?
To know why design-build is taking over the construction industry as the preferred approach for both private and public works projects, you need to understand design-bid-build (DBB). DBB treated the design and construction processes as two completely separate elements of building, with different professionals working to achieve each one. DBB involved a professional, usually an architect, to create a design. Then the property owner would solicit bids from contractors who would build according to the design. Many experts believe this approach is much less efficient and often leads to problems, since the people on the hook for doing the work aren’t involved at all in the design stages.

By comparison, design-build makes the contractors in charge of construction an integral part of the design process. As is often the case, design-build became more popular for private projects well in advance of government projects. But even large organizations are starting to see the benefits of bringing the contractors they intend to hire on board from the beginning. It cuts costs and often takes much less time to completion.

Why Is It Important to Have a Professional Design Construction Projects?
For someone just breaking into construction and hoping to build their own business, the major hitch about design-build is the need to have a qualified professional at the helm. This is partly why DBB worked for as long as it has. The property owner or the organization requiring the project could hire someone with sufficient training and certification, like an architect, designer or engineer, to create a plan that meets building codes and achieves design goals. For the sake of safety and durability, sometimes there is no way around it.

How Can Contracting Businesses Make Design More Efficient?
The thing about design is that while custom is often ideal, it may not always be necessary. Contractors come into a space, take relevant measurements and requirements, and produce a design to fit owner specifications. But this may lead people into reinventing the wheel over and over again. Innovations like generative design seek to improve the design process. Instead of creating something entirely new from scratch every time, people may be able to search through designs that meet certain limits and refine them to suit their needs. This cuts down on time spent constructing the design and helps ensure a better long-term result.

When Should Contracting Businesses Partner with Designers?
If you research established design-build contractors, you’ll usually find that they have a certified interior designer on staff. This person may conduct many of the initial design consultations with property owners and produce a design that the rest of the team can carry out. They may also work with a licensed architect. For many types of building projects, this kind of care is frequently a requirement. For others, like surface-level renovations that do not change the structural layout, it might be more of a good suggestion. In either case, it’s probably wise to network with designers in your area, especially as you get started.

Design-build can be a great way to bring most of your construction project tasks in-house, as long as you can handle the design requirements. To find out more about building your contracting career, contact us at CSLS today!

In order to get your contractor license, you have to prove that you have both skills and experience in the field. Once you get the license, staying relevant becomes your next goal. A lot of people may accidentally work themselves out of a job simply by relying on everything they learned years ago. Systems change, and the best practices to work within them improve as a result. To keep going, you’ll need to improve with them. Here are five things you can do to ensure that your skills remain competitive for your field.

1. Find a Mentor
   In many ways, the construction industry is set up so the people who are just starting out will automatically have lots of opportunities to work with experienced professionals in their field. This doesn’t always mean that you will end up with a mentor that you can call upon for support for the majority of your career, however. Finding a mentor who has the right approach to running a business in your field can be very useful, especially in the first several years. They can help you identify areas that you will need to continue to study, as well as lots of advice for how to keep the business going throughout the years.

2. Take Classes
   Getting your contractor’s license usually takes a fair number of classes and years of working in the field. Once you get that license, it can be tempting to think that you are done with your education for good. However, this might mean that your knowledge stagnates. As new innovations come out, you want to make sure that you have opportunities to know what they are, with a few toward becoming an expert in using them. Taking classes periodically throughout your career, and offering the same for your employees, helps to ensure that everyone’s skills remain fresh and relevant to client needs.

3. Add Another Classification to Your License
   You might decide that you only want to pursue one classification within a specific field. However, this may deny you the opportunity to grow and possibly expand your services and your business over time. Adding to your license gives you a larger repertoire of products and services that you can offer to clients. This can give you better longevity and flexibility to work within a changing industry. Occasionally evaluating your services and deciding if another classification might work well makes sure that you have a steady source of updated skills to offer.

4. Attend Conferences
   One of the best ways to find out what is going on in the industry as a whole, and your field specifically, is to attend construction conferences. You don’t have to attend all of them, and you may not even need to attend them once a year. However, booking time in your schedule and investing the money to attend conferences it is an excellent opportunity to:

• Test out new technologies
• Network
• Learn more about changes in practices for the industry

Many conferences are located in or near California, which means that you may not have to devote as many resources as you expect.

5. Network
   When you find that you tend to work with the same people all the time, and they all do things in a particular way, it may be time to break outside that box. Networking gives you a great chance to get to know industry influencers and find new contacts in your area. You don’t necessarily have to be a great conversationalist or limit your interactions to people who work in your field. Just talking to other construction professionals and even potential clients may help you get a better feel for where your field is headed, with some possible contacts for future work.

Keeping your skills relevant is something that most business owners have to consider throughout their tenure. If you stay on top of it, you will reap the rewards. To discover the benefits of a great career in construction, contact CSLS today!

Recessions happen, and it’s hard to tell when one is going to arrive. Recessions aren’t quite the same as an economic downturn, which occurs at least once every few years in the U.S. Construction can be one of the hardest-hit industries during a recession, although that’s heavily dependent on the region and the severity of the economic problems. Experts tend to watch for certain signs as indicators that a recession is likely, and you should, too. Here are five to keep an eye on, so you have a sense for what may be ahead.

1. Funds Rates Drop
   If you borrow money from a lender, you pay interest. When banks borrow from each other, they also pay interest. The rate they pay is set by the Federal Reserve, and is called the “funds rate.” Higher rates indicate that lending between banks is relatively secure. When the Fed drops these rates, it often comes as a way to persuade banks to keep making these loans to each other. It indicates that financial experts are becoming wary of the health of the finance industry.

2. Treasury Yields Decline
   If you’ve ever bought a bond, you know that this is usually a predictable way to increase your investment. As a general rule, the longer the term of the bond, the better the rate. At certain times, the rate for three-month treasury bonds is higher than the rate for 10-year bonds. Financial experts say that when this happens, it indicates that the long-term investment isn’t as safe as the short-term one. It is often a sign that a recession will come within a year or two.

3. Consumer Confidence Slows Down
   Although much of a recession relates to hard numbers like funds rates or treasury yields, a lot of it sits with what people think about it. Part of the devastation of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 was that so many people took their money and ran. Or, they tried to take their money and were unsuccessful. Consumer confidence may seem like a nonsense indicator, but it tells you what people think and how they may use their money. Confident consumers are more likely to sell a home or buy a new one. They are more likely to invest their money. When people lose that confidence, they keep their money close to hand. They shorten the demand for new housing or other projects important to the construction industry.

4. Employment Changes
   If you’ve paid attention to the news at all, then you probably know that unemployment is around an all-time low for most of the population. This might give you confidence, but it’s important to pay attention to the kinds of jobs that are coming in. Signs of a flagging economy don’t usually begin with massive layoffs. Instead, companies start cutting back hours. They may hire temporary workers instead of regular employees, so that they are not as obligated to provide costly features of employment like benefits. If you notice that the average number of hours is starting to go down, or the type of jobs available changing, this may be an indicator that businesses are getting ready to cut back.

5. New Construction Tapers Off
   The health of the construction industry may not apply to everyone living in the U.S., but it certainly makes a big difference for people working in it. Experts have already noticed that the burst of construction since 2012 is starting to slow down a little in many regions of the country. Although California still has a major shortage of housing and a ton of construction projects for the next several years, this assumes that the market is still strong enough to make it happen. If property prices start to drop, or people begin to worry that they won’t be able to pay for new construction, they’ll be more likely to stick with what they have.

If you have a contracting business for decades, you’ll likely run it through more than one recession. Knowing what to look for helps you prepare for the possibilities. To find ways to make your contracting business the best it can be, visit CSLS today!

Everyone has had that boss who seems to know exactly what they need and gives it to them. Similarly, practically everyone has had a boss whose management approach cut them off at the knees. Running your own business requires developing a leadership style that allows you to get work done without alienating everyone underneath you. Read more about these common leadership styles to see which one fits you the best, and how you can use it.

Collaborative
When you have a collaborative leadership style, you like to get lots of input from the people working under you. You want to work as a team and it shows through your efforts to get employees involved in the decision-making that affects their own tasks. This leadership style can help you maximize the benefits you get from the people you hire. Just make sure that you are getting input from everyone on the team, not just one or two people. Develop a few strategies to refine vague or problematic suggestions, so that collaboration doesn’t slow your workflow.

Easygoing
With an easygoing leadership style, you’re going to let your employees mostly take care of their own jobs. You hired them for their skills and you expect them to use it. If you’re extremely busy with your own tasks, this approach can help you free up time you need to get things done. On the other hand, you’re putting a lot of trust in people who might not work as well in this kind of environment. Periodically check in with your employees to make sure they have everything they need and keep basic tabs on their progress. Consider a different approach with entry-level hires or anyone who needs extra support.

Authoritarian
The opposite of easygoing, an authoritarian leadership leads alone. They make decisions without much consultation from employees and often without considering their needs. Most people probably wouldn’t want to classify themselves in this group. However, as you first start out, you might develop this style by default. When you work for yourself and have no employees, this may be the only style you can choose. It might also make sense if you hire someone with very limited experience. Just make sure you’re giving your employees enough opportunities to learn and grow within the position.

Incentivizing
As an incentivizing leader, you are goal-oriented and you want your employees to reach those goals. To do so, you set benchmarks and provide incentives like prizes or bonuses to people who work within those limits. This can be an effective leadership strategy as it gives employees an extra reason to push through the next obstacle. Mix up the rewards so that everyone feels like their needs or wants get representation. Just keep in mind that people can get stuck when you ratchet up the goals too far or too fast. Make incremental improvements that people can stretch to grasp but still reach.

Leadership by Example
Many people like to build a rapport and respect as a leader by not being much of a leader at all. If you love to get down into the equipment with your employees and work as hard as they do, you can inspire them by your commitment. People who lead by example tend to teach as they go, giving less-experienced workers the benefit of your knowledge. It’s important to make sure that you don’t get too distracted by the job to let others take turns. It can be difficult to let go of some tasks you’ve done 1,000 times. If you remember to give them the opportunity, they’ll reward you by making your job easier.

Becoming a leader isn’t something that happens overnight. You have to evaluate your leadership style and develop ways to motivate your employees to make your business a success. For more information about what you need to start your own contracting business, contact CSLS today!

California’s AB 5 has only been active for less than two months, and the effects are spreading across multiple industries. Although construction has been relying on independent contractors for decades, the long reach of the law may make things more difficult for professionals working in the industry. A lot of people are also fighting to change the law, through amendments or an eventual repeal. Here’s an update on how this legislation is affecting construction, and how that might apply to your contracting business.

Meeting the ABC Test
The construction industry in California used to rely on other requirements to establish whether or not someone could be legally classified as an independent contractor. The ABC test implemented by AB 5 creates a new set of standards. Specifically:

• Independent contractors must have free control over their own businesses, including the work that they might regularly do for another company.
• They must also be established as a contractor or business owner in a formal way.
• They must offer services that are different from that company‘s business model, and be able to sell those services to others.

If you are an independent contractor, it may not be very difficult to meet these requirements. But it depends heavily on the work that you do.

Exceptions for Subcontractors
The use of subcontractors is a major part of the way that AB 5 can affect the construction industry. Subcontracting is a very standard practice, where it would be less common in industries like retail, transportation or hospitality. If you regularly hire subcontractors, you can usually avoid worrying about this law if you make all of your actions related to subcontractors above board. You need to:

• Make the contracts clear
• Put expectations in writing
• Distinguish your services from theirs

There are some fields in construction where this may prove to be a problem. For example, contractors who rely on subcontractors to provide daily services, or who request additional things on top of the work indicated in the contract, may need to separate these things. It’s normal to develop a working relationship that borders on friendship with your regular subcontractors. But you’ll need to make sure that it has a formal basis.

Worker Misclassification as a National Issue
While business owners in a lot of industries are worried about what AB 5 may mean for them, it’s important to keep in mind the spirit of the law as well as the details. The premise is that the state wanted to prevent businesses from treating people like employees without giving them access to benefits and other services like workers compensation or unemployment. This also changes tax liability that makes it harder to fund government systems.

Most independent contractors in construction shouldn’t have a problem proving that they’re not employees. But how it applies to you depends mostly on the way that you run your business. If you hire a lot of subcontractors, you’ll want to make sure that they can meet the subcontractor exception. If you are typically working as a subcontractor, it may be worth investigating how your typical work environment may apply to this law.

The Future of AB 5
It’s hard to tell what will happen with this law in the future. Since it became active in 2020, many lobbying groups in various industries have sought legislative support to amend it or scrap it altogether. At the same time, other states like New Jersey have considered similar legislation to fight worker misclassification. While the broad effects of AB 5 have made some states wary of enacting their own solutions to the problem, there’s also a possibility that it could become federal law, as well. As a contracting business owner, it will be your responsibility to make sure that you continue to meet these requirements in the work you choose to take, as well as what you offer.

Becoming an independent contractor offers you a lot of freedom to create your own career, as long as you can follow the current laws regulating it. To find the perfect career path for you, visit CSLS today!

Gas prices in California range from moderate to terrible. What you pay is so dependent on a variety of factors that it may be difficult to set those expenses from one year to the next. Electric or hybrid cars have been an option for years, but many business owners worry that they won’t have the versatility offered by a gas-powered machine. The industry is changing a lot each year, so it’s important to keep tabs on what’s coming. Here are a few ways you can determine if an electric vehicle would be a good choice for your contracting business.

You Have a Limited Region for Services
Years ago, electric cars had a very limited range. Now, there are several electric vehicles that can last for 200-300 miles between charges. The major difference for planning out the daily use of your contracting business is the access to energy sources. If you find that you regularly need to drive 100 to 200 miles or more to a job site, you would need to locate a nearby charging station or consider a different vehicle.

You Can Install or Find Charging Stations
One of the major concerns about electric vehicles is the ability to charge it. You can’t simply go home and plug it into the wall. This means that you will need to either install a charging station at home or your place of business, or find charging stations in the area. Charging stations are becoming more common. And while the cost to charge may be competitive or even cheaper than what you would pay for gas, you can’t fill up the battery in five minutes. If you have the ability to spend about $1,000 on a charging station, you’re more likely to be able to manage this limitation.

Your Vehicle Limitations Are Lower
A lot of people have preferences for a specific make and model of vehicle that they like. Being committed to buying cars through one or two specific manufacturers may dramatically limit the options you have for electric vehicles. This is changing over time, and what is available now may be a small portion of what will be available five years from now. But if you are less worried about who is making the vehicle that you buy, you’ll have greater choice. This is also true for contractors who don’t necessarily need to work out of their vehicles, using them more for commuting to and from the job site.

You’re Willing to Take a Chance on New Products
The thing about new technology is that it can be relatively unpredictable. The idea of buying an electric vehicle the year that it comes out for the first time takes some courage. You have to be willing to deal with some minor design flaws and other issues that come up before manufacturers have a chance to test out the product on a much larger scale. But if you’re an early adopter of technology in general, this may not be a problem. Getting a head start on new technology may help you save money or make your job easier. If you know that you are often excited about the next big thing, then buying a brand-new model may present a reasonable investment.

Your Vehicle Maintenance Obligations Are Too High
Spending money on vehicle maintenance is part of the job description for a lot of contracting business owners. When it comes to electric vehicles, costs could be lower in most cases. Electric cars do not need things like oil changes, which can add up to hundreds of dollars a year. You may have a harder time finding a mechanic who has lots of experience servicing electric vehicles, but the difference in equipment may also lead to fewer repair needs. If you find that your vehicles are constantly in the shop for one reason or another, buying electric might be a way to circumvent at least some of it.

Buying a new vehicle for your business takes some serious research. If you are a good candidate, electric vehicles could help you cut costs and save your profits. To find out more about building your contracting business career, contact CSLS today!

You’re calling the team around to talk about a particular concern, and you realize that a couple of people are consistently missing. Device use on the construction site can be a practical and timesaving decision, particularly for all the apps designed to improve safety or efficiency. But it’s easy to forget what a distraction smartphones and tablets can be while people are trying to work, as well. Here are several factors to consider as you put together a policy for smartphone use while employees are working.

Identify Existing Problems
Since there is such variety in the day-to-day workings of a contracting business, you’ll want to start by identifying the problems that you have. It’s worth investigating what you might expect if you have a larger workforce or if you start offering different services, but it may make more sense to begin with what you see right now. For example, many people use smartphones to listen to music or podcasts while they’re working. They may also use them to text while operating equipment. Watch the way you and your employees use them throughout the day, so that you can address the most pressing issues first.

Look at Benefits to Workflow
Smartphones create problems, but they also solve them. The worker who is busy on their phone while on a break can also communicate with you or other employees using the same device. Many apps designed to improve your construction workflow are meant to work on smartphones because these tools are fairly ubiquitous. Make a list of every way you use a smartphone during the work day for business-related tasks. You’ll need to make sure that they can still get done if you change how much access your business allows for it.

Consider Future Risks
Ultimately, you’ll need to figure out what are your biggest risks from permitting smartphone use at the jobsite, now and in the future. Employees who are wearing noise-canceling headphones with music playing may not be as aware of their surroundings, or might not be able to hear warnings from others. This is what OSHA claims is one of the biggest safety risks related to smartphone use. But other activities that require smartphones may also be a problem. Devices and apps can cut down on the time you spend working on projects, but they’re only worth it if they can remain a helpful tool and not a dangerous distraction.

Avoid Reactive Decisions
In the wake of a near-miss, it’s tempting to set a strict no-smartphone policy that leaves little room for ambiguity. And for some jobsites, this may simply be a requirement. After all, if you’ve got a team of people running heavy equipment all day long, it would be awful if one of them was regularly looking away from the mark to answer text messages. But it’s important to make your policy decisions from a position of clear-headedness and reason. If you used to have a permissive policy and now you allow nothing at all, you may inadvertently encourage people to try to sneak around you. In short, you’ll need to get your employees’ buy-in for a policy change to work.

Set Realistic Goals
Any hardline policy for employee safety needs to be serious. But it also must be something that you can carry out consistently. For example, if you say that you’ll collect and secure everyone’s smartphones when they arrive and keep them until the end of the work day, you’ll need to be able to enforce that policy every single day. If you decide that you’ll give people access on breaks, you’ll be in charge of getting them back once that break is over. Talk to your workers and get their input about what they need and how you can find a safe compromise. You’ll be much more likely to get their compliance as a result.

Monitoring smartphone use on the jobsite is just one more thing you’ll need to be able to do as an owner of a contracting business. For more tips about developing your contracting career, contact CSLS today!