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Construction Management

What Do Building Inspectors Do? 4 Construction Inspector Responsibilities

We all know that buildings and structures are designed to meet certain standards. Whether they’re related to engineering requirements, material placement or building codes, it’s understood that contractors must adhere to strict guidelines when it comes to performing construction duties correctly. While owners and project initiators could simply trust that everything’s being built 100% correctly, the numerous construction disasters that’ve happened over the years prove just how costly – and even deadly – improper construction can be. Sure, there’s pretty much zero risk involved in painting a wall or putting down some new flooring, but projects that involve structural work, utilities, major alterations or public exposure must be monitored closely throughout the process to ensure that all work is being done correctly. That’s where building inspectors come into play. Let’s go through four key construction inspector responsibilities.

Pat Finnegan June 11, 2021

Construction Management

Buying Materials For Contractors Directly? The Pros & Cons To Consider

When hiring a contractor, nearly everyone is looking for the same outcome: a successful completion of the work for the best (lowest) price possible. It’s instinctual for our minds to ponder how we can save money on the total cost of construction through whatever means possible. This commonly manifests itself through choosing the “cheapest” contractor right from the start, but there are many other ways that clients and general contractors alike try to save some cash when it comes to hiring contractors. One of these ways involves purchasing the materials directly, rather than leaving it to the contractor that’s being hired. Why? Markup. When we receive a proposal from a contractor, their price typically includes labor, equipment and material costs – all of which are then marked up higher to include the contractors’ overhead and profit margins. Clients can therefore save money by buying materials for contractors directly; if clients or general contractors buy the materials, the contractor (or subcontractor) won’t be able to charge overhead and profit on top of these material costs. This means the client gets to keep that money in exchange for buying the material themselves. That’s a big win…right? Well, that depends. While there are certainly some benefits to buying materials for contractors ourselves, there are also some potential drawbacks. Let’s go through the pros and cons!

Pat Finnegan June 4, 2021

Career Planning

Do Construction Managers Have To Travel? Let’s Break It Down

Let’s kick this one off with a bit of history. It’s the year 1848. Location? North America. What were folks up to? The Revolutionary War was over, but the Civil War had not yet begun. While I can’t speak for everyone since I wasn’t there, about 300,000 people decided to pack up their belongs, leave the family homestead and head to California, often on perilous journeys. The reason? The Gold Rush. Although gold had been discovered in California by local residents earlier, 1848-1849 is when the rush truly began to occur. Often referred to as ’49ers, people from all over the world began arriving in California – not only from the eastern parts of America, but also from Mexico, Peru, China, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and more. The prospects of wealth and prosperity – even through word of mouth and letters – was sufficient reason to give up everything, leave home and spend time digging or ‘panning’ for gold in the desert. In short, people wanted money and California was the best place to find it. While things in America are a bit more stable now, the idea of traveling to find prosperity is far from over – actually, that goes for any country of origin. While working from home is pushing things in a new direction, the prospect of traveling to find better opportunities is still relatable for millions of people. This group certainly includes people working in the construction industry, but there are many nuances to consider. If you came here after wondering “do construction managers have to travel?”, fear not – I aim to answer this with as much detail as I can.

Pat Finnegan May 21, 2021

Getting OSHA 30 Certified Online - My Experience 360Training Review

Construction Management

Getting OSHA 30 Certified Online: My Experience [OSHACampus Review]

The Occupational Health & Safety Administration – otherwise known as OSHA – is a governmental organization in the U.S. that ensures the overall safety and health of men and women in the workforce. OSHA’s stated mission is to support this workforce through “setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.” (via OSHA.gov). As one can imagine, the amount of industries and occupations that OSHA covers is vast, and there are too many types of working environments in the U.S. to cover all job-specific hazards with one cover-all training program. Thus, there are a huge variety of OSHA certifications out there! Just in the world of construction, there many common OSHA training programs across all sorts of project types. One of the most common OSHA training programs in the field of construction is the OSHA 30-Hour, aka the ‘OSHA 30’. An OSHA 30 completion certificate is obtained after receiving 30 hours of specific construction safety training from a qualified instructor. While this is traditionally done in the classroom, more and more people are getting OSHA 30 “certified” online – I know, because I’ve done it myself! Let’s discuss getting OSHA 30 training online (pros and cons), along with my own personal 360Training review from when I received my OSHA 30 training online.

Pat Finnegan February 3, 2021

Construction Management

11 Ways Clients Screw Up Construction Projects

The construction industry is perpetuated by a truly symbiotic process, in that all parties involved – project initiators, architects, engineers, contractors and more – rely on one another in order to achieve the best results possible. This coordinated effort is absolutely essential; the sum of all these parts equals a successful end product. That said, each one of these parties has the capability of completely ruining a construction project! In this 4-part series, we’re talking about how construction projects get screwed up. This article will be focused on 11 ways Clients & Owners screw up construction projects.

Pat Finnegan May 8, 2020

Construction Management

11 Ways Engineers Screw Up Construction Projects

Pat Finnegan May 7, 2020

Construction Management

11 Ways Architects Screw Up Construction Projects

The construction industry is perpetuated by a truly symbiotic process, in that all parties involved – project initiators, architects, engineers, contractors and more – rely on one another in order to achieve the best results possible. This coordinated effort is absolutely essential; the sum of all these parts equals a successful end product. That said, each one of these parties has the capability of completely ruining a construction project! In this 4-part series, we’re talking about how construction projects get screwed up. So what happens when an Architect makes a mistake? This article will be focused on 11 ways Architects screw up construction projects.

Pat Finnegan May 4, 2020

Construction Management

11 Ways Contractors Screw Up Construction Projects

Pat Finnegan May 2, 2020

Construction Management

Does Weather Affect Construction? 10 Ways Your Project Will Be Impacted

The construction industry is booming. Buildings are becoming more advanced, infrastructure is built bigger and quicker than ever and there are a hosts of specialty contractors ready to do whatever job is thrown their way. By all accounts, it’s a good time to be involved in construction, even for owners. As advanced as we’ve become, though, there’s still a force too strong for any project to truly overcome: the weather. No matter where you are in the world, there will be weather conditions unique to the area that must be adapted to for project success. Does weather affect construction? Let’s go through 10 ways your project could be impacted by Mother Nature.

Pat Finnegan December 18, 2019

Construction Management

Don’t Miss These Construction Management Rules Of Thumb & Hacks!

While no two construction projects are truly the same, they all share many common threads. The construction industry is complex in that many different types of people and processes are required to bring a project to fruition. Within this framework are countless interactions, assumptions and exchanges between people. When all of these humans are working together, the mystery of human nature is bound to rear its’ head. Where there’s human nature, there are patterns that repeat themselves. Luckily, we’ve been able to not only identify these patterns, but come up with catchy sayings to represent them. In this article, we’re talking about 10 construction management rules of thumb and hacks!

Pat Finnegan December 11, 2019

CATEGORY | Construction Process

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What Do Building Inspectors Do? 4 Construction Inspector Responsibilities

Buying Materials For Contractors Directly? The Pros & Cons To Consider

Do Construction Managers Have To Travel? Let’s Break It Down

Getting OSHA 30 Certified Online: My Experience [OSHACampus Review]

11 Ways Clients Screw Up Construction Projects

11 Ways Engineers Screw Up Construction Projects

11 Ways Architects Screw Up Construction Projects

11 Ways Contractors Screw Up Construction Projects

Does Weather Affect Construction? 10 Ways Your Project Will Be Impacted

Don’t Miss These Construction Management Rules Of Thumb & Hacks!

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