I recently attended a breakfast educational meeting. It involved a panel discussion on construction. The panel members were an architect, contractor, subcontractor and an attorney. It focused on project delivery methods and some of the problems associated with the various types. The one common thread, for all of the problems discussed, was the lack of [...]
I recently overheard a contractor bragging to others on how they could have a cost advantage over their competition. This caught my attention. So I listened. It seems in their bidding practices they priced materials/equipment items that were not approved in the specifications. They would not request these items to be approved in the bidding [...]
There are several levels of market pricing in the construction industry today. These markets generally are the open competitive bid, invited competitive bid, competitive negotiated, sole source negotiated and specialty bid market. These markets may involve firm price or cost reimbursable terms. The least expensive market for owners today is in the open competitive bid [...]
Six joint venture teams recently bid on a $500+ million government project. There were over 10 amendments during the bid period. Each bid set cost over $4,000 and the amendments were extra! They won’t hear any results for a minimum of 4 months. Also the project is unfunded. This means that it can’t be built [...]
I was recently reading forecast on what was expected for 2012 in the various construction markets. Some are expecting contract values to slightly increase from 2011 levels. Some see no increase. My thoughts are that there will be a decrease from 2011 to 2012. It may be a bit simplistic but 2012 may well be [...]
A special greeting at Thanksgiving time to express to you our sincere appreciation for your confidence and loyalty. Best Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving! Don L. Short, Justin Short, & Mark Mentele
I was working on a project recently. When doing the review there was a note that was on the civil drawings – about work that the electrical contractor was supposed to perform. There was no symbol on the civil drawing just a note and there was no reference to the work on the electrical drawings. [...]
Today is Veterans Day – so don’t forget to thank those who have served. Whether they served 50 years ago or are serving now, whether they are man or woman, whether you agree with the reasoning of the politicians or not! So say thanks, but a vet a cup of coffee, or pay for their [...]
Recently we have been asked by contractors and subcontractors to help them budget projects. This is nothing new. What is new is that these budgets were being prepared about one month prior to bids being taken by each of the projects construction managers. I do not know if this is promoted by the Owners/Developers or [...]
The California Bullet Train project costs are rising from $43 billion to over $98 billion. And, it’s all because of a decision to stretch out the construction period! The California High Speed Rail Authority is changing the schedule from a 2020 completion to 2033. But guess what! That’s not the news you will hear here [...]
