As a contractor, you know that prices for materials fluctuate regularly. Most of the time, you can anticipate what’s likely to happen and plan ahead. At other times, you get hit with a surprise new tariff that dramatically increases costs. When you’re bidding on projects that won’t be completed for a year or two (or … Read more
Several states, California included, have shut down what they call “non-essential services” until they can get better control over the rising cases of COVID-19. Although construction is currently proceeding mostly as usual, this may not be the case next week. Dealing with a state-level or city-level shutdown presents a number of possible complications for your … Read more
If COVID-19 has shown anything, it’s that the U.S. is quite unprepared to deal with a large number of sick people. Other countries have dealt with it by addressing faults in their infrastructure, like an insufficient number of hospital beds. And while the healthcare industry is in more need than ever now, these kinds of … Read more
When you make arrangements to work on a large-scale construction project, you’ll probably work with a lot of invested parties. The property owner, the client, the city or state in some cases. You may be the general contractor, or you might be subcontracting under another professional. But what about the community? Construction projects that are … Read more
Cold and flu season comes for several months out of every year. Once in a while, you’ll see something bigger that feels out of control. Novel coronavirus, currently known as “COVID-19,” has many symptoms similar to the flu and is spread in a similar fashion. But since there’s no vaccine for it yet, there’s a … Read more
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, … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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, … Read more
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 … Read more