Construction Equipment Owner

As a member of the construction industry, you’re called on to perform jobs of all sizes, restore historic buildings, help give school children a place to learn and sick people a place to regain their health. But did you ever think you’d be called upon to remove a hex placed on the New York Yankees by some Red Sox-rooting, construction worker wise guy?!?! I had a great chuckle when I read an article in the New York Times that detailed two construction workers jackhammering through two and a half feet of concrete in order to excavate a David Ortizjersey a Red Sox fanatic buried in a recently poured slab as a means of placing a hex on the new Yanakee Stadium. Baseball fans, I just don’t get you … 

But here’s my question — Should the construction worker who buried that jersey, which resulted in who knows how much rework, get fired? Let me know what you think!

As part of a CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2008 recap, the last issue of the Show Vantage featured some of the highlights from the industry’s largest trade show. What was missing from this recap was the JCB Dancing Diggers that many thought to be the most entertaining and show stopping performance from the entire five-day event.

I must say, one of they shows they put on made me stop and watch for a couple of minutes. So, I found video footage an attendee had taken on YouTube and wanted to share it with our audience. For those of you that may have missed this performance, I hope you enjoy this video.

There are also several more videos from CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2008 on YouTube. Simly search “conexpo” for a listing.

Here’s a scary tale I hope readers don’t have to face this year. I learned about it through a phone call from the contractor, who really couldn’t believe the decision his customer had made.

A contractor bidding a 2-inch overlay job on a parking lot showed up to present his bid and make his pitch — normally a straightforward situation given the contractor had been maintaining the parking lot since 1996. But this year when he showed up to present his bid to the board he was confronted with three additional bids. “Normally there is only one, and often not even that,” he told me.

Okay, maybe that’s to be expected in this economy. What happened next was not only unexpected, it was ridiculous. Bids were presented and they were $300,000; $310,000; $325,000…and $125,000.

Guess which bid got the job.

“I tried to tell the board, the people who had been doing business with me since 1996, that no contractor could do that job at the required specs for $125,000,” he told me. “I even worked through the math on how to calculate mix tonnage and multiplied it by my current cost for hot mix just to show them.”

What his math showed is the winning contractor can’t even come close to buying enough mix to complete the job for $125,000. But the board couldn’t see past the low-ball number.

“They’re going to end up with an awful lot of change orders to get the price up where it needs to be, or they’re going to get an inferior job with maybe an inch of hot mix instead of the two inches they specified,” he says. “It was a bad decision on their part but they just couldn’t see past that figure.”

While the contractor isn’t happy with the outcome, he didn’t want the job at that price. Instead, he’s a month out on work that will be profitable for his company, and he’s waiting on decisions on dozens of bids he has outstanding.

“People seem to be taking a little longer to award jobs, and maybe that has something to do with the weather,” he says. “But we figure we’re going to get our share once they start making decisions and it won’t be long before we’re two to three months out like we normally are.”

Over the last several months I’ve seen an increasing interest in concrete polishing throughout the industry. Contractors have been processing and polishing concrete for many years, but with polishing’s low-maintenance and “green” benefits, its popularity has exploded. Many of the contractors I spoke to or have written about lately are involved in concrete polishing and want to learn more, like Beyond Concrete and CSolutions/Middle Georgia Concrete Constructors, or are looking to get into this growing niche. One helpful resource I recently learned about is the Concrete Processing Technical Institute, an educational resource that offers training and accreditation in concrete polishing. Other polishing training resources include Bob Harris’s Decorative Concrete Institute and the manufacturers who sell grinding and polishing equipment. You can also learn more about concrete polishing in this overview of concrete processing or this story about concrete and LEED certification.

Today’s Chicago Tribune ran an article on concrete driveways. With Spring approaching (or already present in most parts of the U.S.), many homeowners will be looking for contractors to do various jobs around their homes like driveways, grilling patios and walkways. A little research and smart marketing can help concrete contractors grab some extra dollars on these types of projects. Got a homeowner who wants an estimate on replacing a concrete driveway? Give them a three-tier estimate — the plain concrete, colored concrete with a stamped border, and a fully stamped drive and stained concrete. You’ll be giving homeowners options they might not know about or know they wanted. A homeowner might not be able to afford a fully stamped and stained driveway, but a stamped pattern at the end of the driveway or a stamped border around the edge will give them some decorative flair and you some extra dollars.

A news story came across the wire this morning that I found very interesting and wanted to share with the readers of this blog.

General contractor, R.W. Allen, headquartered in Augusta, Georgia took advantage of its recent project - the construction of a high school - to showcase opportunities graduating high schoolers have available to them in the construction industry.

16 high-school students toured the jobsite of the new school to get a better understanding of what is involved in commercial construction and find out the possibilities of joining the R.W. Allen workforce as the company plans on hiring two interns and training them as project managers this summer.

The partnership formed between R.W. Allen and the Columbia County school system is one that could become extremely valuable to the general construction firm. With time being the major investment, R.W. Allen has created inroads to the majority of its future employee pool. It also allows the company to take a proactive approach to hiring as it is prospecting and recruiting the most skilled potential employees as opposed to accepting the candidates that approach the company.

I would encourage any contractor large or small to explore what options are available to you to get in front of the local students. Even if it is a one-day job fair or a larger venture, the more information and insight you can provide students before they graduate, the more you will grow your potential pool of future employers.

Opening Day (a day definitely deserving of capital letters, at least around my house) on the North Side of Chicago saw the Cubs dedicate a statue of Hall of Fame first baseman/shortstop Ernie Banks.

Nice.

And the engraving on the base trumpeted Ernie’s oft-spoken joyous phrase, “Lets play two.”

Uh-oh.

Thousands of fans, to say nothing of all Chicago news outlets, caught it, and it was picked up by national sports stations on TV and radio. Funny, I suppose, but it sure made the Cubs and anyone involved look silly and took a little something away from the overall ceremony. Too bad, especially considering the apostrophe was added the next day in less than 30 minutes.

It sure doesn’t take much to take the greatness out of a great job.

As expected construction spending fell in February marking the fifth consecutive month of lowered spending. The silver lining to this cloud was that it only fell by 0.3% as opposed to the expected 1% some experts were predicting.

The unfortunate news for the non-residential construction community is that spending continued to fall for this segment and the area that had been carrying the entire industry on its shoulders seems to be stumbling a bit now. Yet, public construction saw a rise in spending which is good news as this area is predicted to remain strong throughout the year.

Aside from the fact that it finally stops snowing in Chicago, I can always tell when it’s Spring someplace because I start receiving calls from contractors confronting, or at least concerned about, fly-by-night operations. Typically the calls are from contractors with an emphasis in residential sealcoating or paving and they’re stumped on how to compete with these guys.

Well, because “there’s a sucker born every minute” you’re not going to make these guys go away…but that doesn’t mean you can’t beat them.

Many contractors don’t like to hear it, but it is each contractor’s own responsibility to protect his business and his market from the sealcoating or paving charlatans that give the industry a bad name. Appearing and acting professional is a big part of it, but there’s more to defending your turf than that.

You also need to help your customers avoid getting ripped off, so check out “How To Find a Contractor You’ll Love” in the April issue of Money which offers some great “red light, green light” insights into how to evaluate a contractor for any type of job. And don’t be afraid to refer your customers to the site or provide them with the similar information. You’ll be helping your customer, your industry, and yourself.

I recently received a press release announcing an agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) to develop and promote environmental management tools to help ready mixed concrete plants comply with their Clean Water Act obligations. This is one of many positive steps the concrete industry has been taking in the green direction. In addition, the NRMCA has a webpage that brings together all its “green industry” resources, and recently made available a CD-ROM containing reports and articles about sustainability and concrete. The “Research in Support of Sustainable Development.”CD is available through the NRMCA’s research and education arm by contacting Jennifer LeFevre at 240-485-1151 or at jlefevre@rmc-foundation.org.