#5: Don’t stay in the shadows

If you own or manage a construction business, you want to get your business out into the community and talked about with word of mouth. This is especially true if you are a brand-new business. The quality of work and management of your team and site is also important because customers will talk about their experiences with their friends, families, and colleagues. Any bad talk or reviews can severely impact your company’s reputation, which could be detrimental in profit and future job opportunities.

#6: Use Your Strengths

Use your business’ strengths to your benefit by taking on jobs that you know are within your team’s skill sets. For example, if your team is specifically amazing on hotel jobs then accept and recruit more hotel jobs. Use your strengths to build up your reputation.

#7: Networking Is Key

Networking and marketing are key components to building your business. Use every strategy that is available to you. Social media is a perfect way to showcase your work and get it out into the community. Add pictures of the jobs you have completed, as well as moments on the job site that would be amusing or interesting to people. Build a website for your company that provides all the necessary information to your clients. With a website and social media, you can generate leads of these platforms along with many more. Getting involved in the community through events and giving back are also ways to get your name out there.

#8: Quality

Make sure your team is producing a product or building that is high quality and at your competitor’s level. If your builds themselves are slacking quality or your team lacks endurance, your rates will go down along with your leads. People are also less likely to refer you to other people if their jobs weren’t done well and equal to if not higher than other construction companies.

#9: Change Here and There

Change is good for your reputation. If you stay the same all the time with no changes, your clients and workers may get bored and move on to something new. Change your practices, pricing, and offers just in the slightest to create new attention. As for your workers, change up little things within the job site and incentives to keep them on their toes.

#10: Customer Service ie. The King

Your customer service, no matter what trade or business you are running, is extremely vital. Customer service is what makes a company great or what makes them bad compared to others. If you are not friendly, easy-going, or have good communication skills then your clients will instantly be turned away from your business and find a contractor elsewhere.

#11: Be Proactive

You can’t expect jobs to fall from thin air. You must be proactive with your advertising and marketing. Without doing this, your leads will decline and eventually you will lose whatever flow of work you had. By being proactive and working for your leads, you can sometimes generate an insane amount of leads and keep your business growing for years down the road.

#12: Be Smart

Always make smart decisions and keep yourself and your employees safe. Whether it’s a decision on the corporate end or on the job site, your decisions affect your entire team. Make sure your choices such as picking which job to take on, new tools, or new technology keep your team efficient and safe.

 These are our top 12 tips and tricks to maintaining and growing in the construction industry. If you keep these in mind and implement some of them in your daily practices your business will be destined for success and growth soon.

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The Rising Labor Shortage

According to The McKinsey Global Institute, the productivity in construction has decreased by more than half since the 1960s. One of the biggest factors playing into this is the shortage of educated and properly trained workers in the construction industry. 

When the recession in 2008, over 600,000 construction workers left their jobs. Construction has created a reputation for itself of being dangerous, difficult and hard work, and dirty. Because of this reputation, more job seeking individuals are turning away the opportunities of construction jobs. Millennials are striving to get a four year college degree and enter the workforce when in reality they don’t always need a college degree. They can get a high paying job in construction and rest assured with job security. 

As of April this year, there are 434,000 vacant jobs in construction that are open for potential candidates. This is threatening the ability for construction teams to build structures at the same rate that the population is growing. Because of this shortage, contractors are having to subcontract other workers in order to get certain aspects of the job completed on time. 

There are many corporations that are working to fill the gap in labor and startup construction again. VC’s put over $3.1 billion into construction technology in hopes that the tech would take the place of physical humans. Most of the money that was put into this plan was for home builders to optimize the overall productivity within project management and communication on the job. As of now, none of these softwares and platforms have filled the gaps in labor as much as developers hoped it would. Now the research is being done to see if using robots in place of the actual software and applications would be the saving grace in the construction industry. 

With this research taking place, there are many questions being asked by developers like what tasks will they be able to accomplish? Can we program the robot to complete basic duties that a physical human could? Are robots really the answer when it comes to filling a gap in labor workers?

Currently, the robotics are created to take the place of subcontractors and their duties on job sites. The use of robotics has been implemented in excavation, drywall installs, painting, roofing, and much more. Many companies are using this in place of existing machinery while other startup companies are using robotics for self-operating machinery, similar to self-driving cars. 

There are three hurdles and issues that have been identified with using robotics:

1. Integrating robotic machinery into an already functioning jobsite
2. Working off of plans and maps that are already in use and adjusting them as the job is completed 
3. Being able to execute a job and complete it at the same standard as a contractor

Risk and Cost

The question that is being asked in regards to this situation is if we didn’t take on robotics in construction before, why would we now? While the use of robotics is thought to be cost-effective and would increase productivity, there are many concerns that are still being discussed. 

The risk and the cost of using robotics on construction sites is a concern among everyone involved. The ability to get data on the costs of materials and overall operations is very hard due to the fact that every jobsite is different. This is the average cost of materials on job sites:

• Painting – 1.0% 
• Roofing – 2.5% 
• Drywall – 2.5% 
• Mixed Metals – 2.5%
• Excavation Support – 4.0%
• Orn Metal – 2.5%
• Earthwork – 3.0%
• Tile – 1.0%
• Carpet – 0.5%j
• Demolition – 4.0%
• Elevator – 5.0%
• Electrical – 5.2%
• Mechanics and Plumbing – 15.0%
• Façade – 22.0%
• Structure – 28.0%

This data is on a scale of 0% to 30% of the overall costs on a construction job site. The maturing of construction robotics is continuing to evolve. Alongside this research and data is more research to show whether or not the use of robotics helps or hurts the overall cost and budget of a construction job site. 

Do you think construction robotics will fill the labor gap? Or do you think they will be a risk to the industry?

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#1: Building A Productive Team

Your team should be your number one priority on your site. If you don’t have a team that are all level headed and on the same page, it can make things very challenging. When building your team, you want to make sure you don’t only have trained and qualified candidates but a group of people who will all work well together. You want the members of your team to communicate with one another and get along. You want to keep the drama and issues between members to a minimum. This can cause unsteady work conditions which can result in injury to team members and mistakes on the job itself.

#2: Manage and Lead Your Team

As a manager, you want to have a relationship with your team where they feel comfortable working around you, but they also know that you’re the boss. If members of your team are uncomfortable or nervous when you are present- that is an accident on the job waiting to happen. You don’t want your team to be completely freaked out if you are around. Your employees must have a relationship with you on a personal level, as well as a professional level. A good manager has practices in which they follow to make sure the site and their team are at their highest production ability. You want to make sure they have some fun and it is a productive, laid-back job site.

#3: Invest Time and Money

Investing time and money is something that is sometimes overlooked in certain trades and on job sites. You want to invest in your team and business to have a functional and successful site and business. Investing in your team is step one. Give your team praise for jobs that were done well, treat them to lunch occasionally, or even come up with weekly incentives or awards such as “Employee of the Week”. Investing time in your team will strengthen the bond overall and provide a more functional and productive site.

Investing in your site itself is also important if your site is out of date with technology. For instance, your team members may lose confidence in your business ability to stay up with the times which could result in losing workers. Also, invest time into making sure your site is organized and clean. If your site has designated tool carts or boxes for all of your materials, workers will feel less cluttered and the workflow will improve. Making sure everything has a place to keep the trash and unnecessary materials to a minimum. This will also help with the overall clutter and organization of the site.

#4: Be Aware of Your Profit

As a construction business, you often get leads for a variety of different jobs. When it comes to deciding which jobs to take on and which ones to pass on, choose wisely. If you choose a job that requires an extreme amount of work, but the profit is low, there is no benefit. Jobs that require an extreme amount of work with minimal profit will just result in worn-out workers and wasting your time as well as your companies. Pay attention to the profit and account for the time you and your team will have to put in. This will not only help save the company money, but it will keep your workers from being unwell and exhausted with no benefit.

These couple tips are just the beginning, go continue with Part 2: Tips to Maintain and Grow in Construction.

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Technology has recently started to evolve more as time goes on. Especially in trades such as business, construction, and medicine, a place has been made for technology to help improve the overall work completed and production rates. Here is a brief list of how technology is being used under the different components of construction to increase the overall management of the job site. 

Increase Productivity with Technology

Overseeing The Job Site 

One key component to any job site is regulation of the jobs that need to be completed, the workers themselves, and the site standards. These are pretty easy duties that a physical human can accomplish throughout their normal job duties as a superintendent. Although there are several different technologies such as computer platforms and apps that have been created already, companies are in the process of creating additional technology to assist in overseeing and regulating a job site in its entirety. 

Collaboration 

Collaboration occurs often on job sites, especially if the sites are new residential and commercial builds. Whether it is with an architect on the job, an interior designer, contractor, or building materials supplier there is a lot of information that is passed between everyone involved. Two platforms by the name of ‘Genie Belt’ and ‘Plan Grid’ were created as a strategy that can be used between individuals who collaborate. You can keep project schedules and items such as blueprints all in one place, making it easy for contractors, designers, architects, and others to get access to the information. 

Design and Engineering

Designing the structure on a new build and determining the different bits and pieces of engineering can get very confusing and overwhelming at times. With applications such as ‘Revizto’, you can input basic information about the job you are working on and it will estimate certain areas of engineering for the project, as well as keep track of progress. This is possible through the use of 3D pictures, drones, and mobile as well as VR. Now, when it comes to architecture there are characteristics that other people on the job sites might not ever need access to, which is why there are apps such as ‘Architizer’, which is specifically designed around the needs of architects. 

Ordering and Receiving Supplies 

Sometimes on job sites you may find yourself needing supplies during a demanding time, which means you can’t wait around for the delivery of your items. There are various apps and software that can be used to track the delivery process of supplies, as well as inventory so you don’t run out of important materials during the wrong times. 

On Site Management will Increase Productivity

Like we mentioned briefly in the beginning, the management of a job site is vital to the production and flow. Keeping track of things such as project completion deadlines, pre work that is to be completed before anything new is started, and management of all employees. Platforms like ‘Alice’ are used for estimating deadlines, job productivity, and much more. A few more apps that can be used for this purpose are ‘BuildSafe’, ‘Zilen’, and ‘Biosite’. 

Research has shown that the use of technology increased the efficiency of a job site in more than just one area. According to the data recorded from PropTech, companies are using technology in these areas of expertise:

• 28.9% of companies are using tech for Workflow Management 
• 10.4% of companies are using tech for Data Analytics 
• 9.9% of companies are using tech for BIM 
• 9.6% of companies are using tech for 3D Modeling 
• 4.8% of companies are using tech for a variety of other things 

The overall use of technology can substantially increase the productivity and overall flow of a job site. As of right now, the use of technology is an optional choice among superintendents and project managers. Do you think that one day technology will be standard in construction?

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The construction industry specifically is one trade that is affected by technology in a good way. The way we plan, build, and implement new projects has advanced by a lot with the use of technology. If you are running a construction company, your main goal is to properly and efficiently complete tasks, are we right? With the use of these 5 Technology Musts, you will be able to manage your construction site with no problems.

#1: Management Software

There are several different software systems out there that can assist in managing construction projects that are connected to your existing accounting system, scheduling, and time tracking. By using a software like this to manage your site, you will find that you feel more organized, productive, and less stressed. Everything is in one place and strategically laid out to enhance your overall productivity.

#2: Wearable Devices

On a construction site, everyone is normally split up and doing their specific job duties. Dependent on the size of the construction site, it can be a chore to gather everyone up for meetings, or even to find one specific person. Wearable devices such as fitness trackers and smartwatches are ideal for being able to easily communicate with members of your team. Fitness trackers are also beneficial when ensuring your employee’s health is up to par.

#3: Two Way Radios

This tech device could be tied in with the wearable devices, although we separate them for one specific reason, the price tag. Smartwatches and fitness trackers can be very expensive and more fragile. On a construction site, nothing is delicate and fragile, which is why two-way radios may be a suitable and cost-effective piece of tech to use on-site to communicate with members of your team.

#4: Augmented Reality

Now, the first thing you’re probably thinking is- what the heck is Augmented Reality? Well, like virtual reality it makes it seem as if you are stepping into a whole new world. VR is completely digital and makes believe where AR is partially real-time. How it works is you take the device and capture a video or picture of say a house that has been framed. You then can see what it would like with walls, windows in certain places, and much more. This is perfect for home and office builds!

#5: Drones

Drones are being used mainly in video and film production, but why not use it to view your project in a complete 360 degrees? If you are working on the construction of a building that towers over you or even on the roof of a single-family home, a drone can assist you in making sure all construction is complete and done properly. This is the least used tech piece out of these 5 options because it is very futuristic and hard to get used to. A lot of construction managers don’t like the idea of trusting a digital video to show the flaws that need to be repaired.

Technology, as we mentioned, is constantly changing and growing. Every year, there are new tech developments and new pieces of technology that are released. As of today, every trade whether its business, construction, medicine, or even art is having technology be implemented in the most unique and surprising ways. Within the next few years who knows what technology will be developed and what tasks that were once completed by hand will be taken over by technology as a whole. At that time, our list of 5 Technology Musts will definitely change!

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The Construction Hourly Wages Increase

According to the Associated General Contractors of America, construction firms have increased their hourly wages in hopes of getting applications from highly skilled and trained workers, as the labor pool continues to decrease. Over the past year, construction wages have increased by 3.2% equaling $30.73 per hour. The private sector isn’t even at this height, with an average of $27.90.

With many workers being under-educated and not trained properly, the AGC has increased their budget for training along with the increased hourly pay. This is looked at as a good thing, because under educated trade workers can result in OSHA violations, unwanted injuries, and jobs that are not done properly. Although, it has a big impact on the cash flow of these companies.

Over 146,700 jobs were added which resulted in job growth just within the nonresidential sector. Residential contractors stayed the same, holding steady 78,000 jobs during this time according to Federal data.

The Tight Labor Market of Construction

This is “one of the tightest labor markets” stated the CEO of AGC Stephen E Sandherr.

This statement was made regarding the scarcity of trained labor in the construction industry. As a result of the increase in wages, the labor market is on a tight leash per se. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed jobs took a sharp decline as construction employment increased by 3.2 percent over the past year. The number of job openings during May has been the highest it’s ever been totaling 360,000- the highest seen in the history of 19 years.

The CEO of AGC, Sandherr, is considering that much of this lack of growth is resulting from the minimal amount of technical training throughout the United States. He called on the federal government in hopes that they would boost funding for these programs amongst the schools.

He stated, “The nation’s education system continues to produce too many overqualified baristas and not enough qualified bricklayers and other craft construction professionals.” As a result of this, citizens are struggling to pay off their student debt working jobs that underpay while the construction industry is lacking labor.

As of 2018, the construction manager’s median income came in at $44.26 with electricians at $25.75, carpenters at $22.51 and the rest of workers ranging around $24.21. These hourly wages are incredible compared to some of the wages that educated college graduates are making these days.

When it comes to a construction executive who is trying to keep their employees around long term, their number one priority is keeping everyone happy (translation: bumping wages). It is extremely time-consuming and expensive to replace a worker who has resigned. Jay Badame, the President of AECOMS Building Construction division, stated “ I can’t afford to lose one person. If I do, history has shown that it costs me $250,000 to replace that person in terms of recruitment and training. I have to make sure my competitors aren’t stealing my people.”

There have been many strategies implemented by companies to keep their employees. Everything from rom profit sharing, training opportunities, tuition reimbursement and assistance, stocks, and investment opportunities. Many companies will offer raises and extra benefits with accomplishments and quotas that are met.

What do You Think of the Construction Hourly Wages Increase?

Our question to you is, do you think the increase in wages will bring in more labor? The construction industry, while it pays very well, is a very high intensity and exhausting job, especially in states with hot climates. Many construction workers endure long, tiring days and often experience a lot of wear and tear on their bodies. The money may be good enough for a little bit, but eventually, workers may become burnt out and unmotivated. As stated by AGC CEO, this is “one of the tightest labor markets” and we will have to wait to see what happens.

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How to Protect Yourself Against Hurricanes

Of course, there is no way of building a home that is completely hurricane-proof, although there are steps that can be taken in order to provide more stability to your home in the event a hurricane strikes. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the State of Florida laid out new mandatory building codes. These codes were made to prevent a home from hail damage and hurricanes. So far, over 12,000 homes have been developed under these mandatory codes. The only downside is that these homes are sold for over 7% more than traditional homes, according to the University of Alabama. These homes are ranked in three categories being bronze, silver, and gold. They are rated based on their durability and rated level of protection.

Home Cost Breakdown

Now, you’re probably wondering, what makes the price skyrocket by 7 percent? Well, the traditional building procedures of a home remain the same, but the uptick in price comes from the add ons. Impact-resistant windows and doors, shutters on the windows, and other precautions added to a home in order to withstand a hurricane’s forceful impact can be costly.

If homeowners are looking to build a traditional family home that’s 1,800 square feet, but with the standard precautions that Florida now mandates as necessary- they are looking at adding more than $5,000 in extra money that must be spent on their home.

One house that sits along the coast of Mexico Beach, Florida has caught the attention of many homeowners, as the home was in the direct path of destruction and remained standing. This home was the residence of Russel King and his nephew.

“ I said from the beginning, we have to have a concrete house, I want to pour concrete walls because I felt like it had a better chance of fighting a storm.” – Russel King

Want to Protect Yourself Against Hurricanes? Follow Russell’s Lead

Russell King’s home was built as a retirement home for himself and his nephew. Their design was completely based on being resistant to hurricanes. The home was 12 feet tall and was anchored into the ground at 28 feet. King specifically wanted to go outside the traditional building plans and spent thousands of dollars to ensure this house wasn’t going anywhere.

You would think that most homes have a concrete foundation. Out of 800,000 homes, only 8 percent of them were shown to have stable foundations that are concrete, according to the U.S Census Department.

Along the way, many upgrades were still made to the home, such as hurricane clips on roofs and much more. He decided all his light fixtures and multiple aesthetic pieces needed to be removed from the home in order to prevent damage if a hurricane struck the home.

The Future of Hurricane Proof Homes

The technology for building these kinds of homes has improved and will continue to do so as time goes on. Although, the high demand for this kind of home building is nonexistent. Many homeowners don’t like the price tag that comes along with a project of this amount of work.

There have been a few homes here and there that have been built to match the latest codes and regulations. Even with the few select homes that have been built, homeowners are still standoffish to the idea.

Is there really a way to build a home that is hurricane-proof and will still be standing after the mass destruction? 

Developers will continue to invest money and experiment with what can be done regarding hurricane proofing homes during the home building process. It is only a matter of following the events of the future that will show if this new method of building withholds true to its expectations. As the innovations in protecting your home against hurricanes progress, we here at Building Empires Media Group will keep an eye on them and report our findings.

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West Fraser Timber Co. made the announcement that they are going to impose a restriction on 314 million board feet of production across the board. This news, in addition to the already extensive list of mill owners throughout Canada who are also cutting back is posing a difficult situation. Put simply, the availability of timber has decreased along with low prices for US home construction.  

Will more mills follow the footsteps of West Fraser Timber Co. and close their doors? 

Following their announcement, Ray Ferris of West Fraser stated. 

 “There is an insufficient timber supply to support the current lumber production capacity of the lumber mills in these locations.” 

As more mills shut down, lumber prices continue to deviate throughout the month of June. 

What does that Mean?

Overall, over a billion board feet have been cut in production out of the western region of Canada in the weeks leading up to now. Temporary and permanent announcements were made by West Fraser for the entirety of Canadian sawmills. The final announcement that the lumber industry had been awaiting was presented late Monday on June 17th.  

Lumber continued it’s forthcoming reaching 4.4% to $409.40 per 1,000 board feet within Chicago’s Mercantile alone. As of Tuesday, there has been a total rise of 34% for the overall month of June (Ryan Dezember and Kirk Malatis, 2019). Within the month of February, a small surge was seen within the industry, beyond this lumber pricing has been extremely low since May of last year.

What was the Cause of this Lumber Decrease?

This decrease in the market was initially caused by a combination of lumber suppliers stocking up during last years historic rise and unstable housing market. 

The U.S Department of Commerce stated that housing plummeted by 0.9% within the month of May. This was the first shock that left everyone aware of the crashing housing market. Due to the countering of mortgage rates because of a decline in confidence; reported by the National Association of Home Builders, rates have fallen well below history. 

British Columbia’s lumber is favored amongst home builders for the sheer reasoning that its easy to work with, maneuver, and it’s durable and is sustainable. West Fraser has produced 89% of the lumber within British Columbia as of 2004, since then they have multiplied their production abilities. 

The chief of operations at West Fraser Timber Co. Ray Ferris stated, “There is insufficient timber supply to support the current lumber production capacity of the lumber mills in these locations”. 

Companies within British Columbia such as West Fraser, Canfor Corporation, and Interfor Corporation have all cut back on their output for the year of 2019. 1.1 Billion board feet will add up as a result of the cutbacks amongst these companies according to editor Shawn Church, for wood products price reporting firm Random Lengths. 

As of this month, these select companies have increased in stock value, Canfor is up by 30% with shares of West Fraser Timber Co. For every $10 that lumber prices take a jump, this adds around $90 million in pretax earnings. That leaves them a 22% gain with a rise of 3.5% (Ryan Dezember, and Kirk Maltais, 2019). As for the U.S shares we have seen 16% and 14% (Ryan Dezember and Kirk Malatis, 2019).  rise in the shares of PotlatchDeltic Corporation as well as Weyerhaeuser Company as of June 2019. 

President Trump tweeted “Very good telephone conversation with the President Xi of China” as a result of the best day since January for U.S crude prices. The two have met with one another back in Japan late June. 

As for the US oil producers, they also saw a surge in their percentages capping at 9.8%, 6.5%, and 4.9% for the companies of Oasis Petroleum Inc, Whiting Petroleum and Continental Resources (Ryan Dezember and Kirk Malatis, 2019).  Unfortunately, natural gas has not seen a bump since President Donald Trump’s tweet although the month of July delivery lost 2.43% ending at around $2.32 per million thermal units which delayed the warm summer weather that was predicted for later in the year, during the month of July. Unfortunately, anyone who counts on air conditioning such as gas producers to generate a demand for gas to run electricity would be left unsatisfied. 

Price Future Groups, Phil Flynn stated “Power generation is coming in well below earlier expectations. If we don’t get a summer, look for a blood bath” 

Reference:

Dezember, Ryan. “Lumber Prices Climb on Cutbacks at Canadian Sawmills.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 18 June 2019, www.wsj.com/articles/lumber-prices-climb-on-cutbacks-at-canadian-saw-mills-11560880511.

Written by Kennedy Schmidt

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