Construction Informer

There is all kinds of advice on how to manage the right way, but every now and then by looking at the topic from another angle we can get a new perspective of the process.

So here my short list of things to do if you want to be continually and wildly unsuccessful at managing any construction project.

• When things don’t fit, ignore the plans. This will ensure that what is supposed to be getting built will not get built and will earn you exceptional notice along with a place in the Dumb Idiot Hall of Fame.
• Act like you know absolutely everything about everything and make sure co-workers and subordinates know that you know, you know. By doing this those incorrect decisions you make about how to do things will be magnified because nobody will question them and will execute them exactly as instructed in all their glorious incorrected-ness. This probably explains how things like windows end up being where doors ought to be.
• Resist the temptation to tell your boss in a timely manner what’s really going on. That way when the owner is on the final walk-through and 45 telephone jacks haven’t been installed yet you can look shocked and say something memorable like, "Geez, those were supposed to have telephone jacks installed! I don’t think they were on the plans."
• Ask the building inspector where in the hell he learned how to build.

Maybe you have some tips that you’d like to share. Comments are always welcome.

Assigning meaning to the various colors of hard hats seems to fall into the realm of necessity. I recently read where some transportation departments assign colors to specific stations on the job. So, a visitor’s would be green and a manager’s would be white, etc. California DOT actually spells it out in their regulations:

• White with the Caltrans logo for most employees, used in most settings;
• Yellow for electrical crews;
• White without the Caltrans logo for people who participate in Adopt-A-Highway;
• Orange for, well, what California refers to as “Special Program People,” who pick up litter, (some suggest that’s probably done so they have a matching hat for their outfits).

There are very large jobs where the colors are also assigned so that different players can be easily identified. For example red hats might be designated for first aid responders.

I don’t know but I’ve never been impressed with the various hard hat knock-offs like the cowboy and NFL ones. OSHA has some requirements for hard hats (American National Standards Institute, Z89.1-1969, Safety Requirements for Industrial Head Protection) that one can only surmise are in effect because they help with safety. One note is that they should be inspected regularly for dents, cracks or deterioration. Some maintain that putting stickers and labels on the hard hats will prevent you from being able to do that. I’ve seen a lot of hard hats with all kinds of stickers on them and I have to admit I don’t think I could have seen a dent or crack in most cases.

There is a program called Helmets to HardHats under the direction of the Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment and Veterans’ Employment (CMRAVE). CMRAVE is funded by Department of Defense dollars to the tune of $5.4 million in 2007. The idea is to help transition military veterans to the needs of the construction sector. The organization doesn’t seem to have a particular color in mind for the hard hats it advances. But the website colors are green and yellow.

Believe it or not the very first hard hat was most likely black. Bullard, a 100-year old manufacturer of personal protective equipment, claims it perfected and popularized the concept of protecting heads from damage while working. In 1915 one of the company owners used a design based on the helmets worn by soldiers in World War 1. It seems miners were interested in these devices. The hats were made by blending together steamed canvas, glue and black paint. A suspension device fit inside the helmet. At least 18 years later the very first U.S. “Hard Hat Area,” was set up during construction of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, according to Bullard.

I’m not sure how much more anybody can stand regarding hard hat colors on a Monday morning but even if it reminds one person to put theirs on then maybe it has some value.

Others Say: Soon we will be having printed hats for rug dealers as-well-as blue hats for swimming pool cleaners. The dealers of bedding and furniture will be sporting brown bamboo hats.

A Site You ‘Wood’ Want To Visit: Wood has long been the material of choice for residential construction and now the Wood Products Council has an initiative underway to support architects, engineers and contractors who want to use wood in non-residential buildings. The program is currently available in California, Georgia and the Carolinas and will be available this spring in Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. There will be free educational events, support hotlines and expert field staff all to supply tech support on such diverse topics as building code issues and cost efficiency.

But for those of you in other places you should know that this council has a very handy website too with a lot of information and links about building with wood. You can get CAD drawings, see impressive wood designs, and use span tables, calculators and design software. There are a number of publications available for download too. If you work with, and like working with wood, this site will capture your interest for at least awhile.

What ‘Would’ You Think If You Were Listed Here: If you are considering moving into a neighborhood and want to find out something about your potential neighbors, well, little brother is watching. You can search the address in a nationwide database called RottenNeighbor and find out ahead of time if the guy next door has barking dogs or offensive habits. There are also posts on some great neighbors too, but generally this site reads like a who’s who of all the neighbors you wouldn’t want to have. I checked out a few and it seems that some of the people who report others may have similar traits.

• One poster wrote: The people who live here is lazy and stupid.
• Various Comments in One Neighborhood: Evil boy; Wow; Loud and Abusive;TV Light;Great Neighbors; Nosey Neighbors.
• In Another Neighborhood: 3 Barking Dogs; OK; Neighborhood gossip.

You can put specific addresses in a search form, or you can browse by city on a satellite map that has little red and yellow houses on it. It’s all interesting for a little while but you have to wonder just how valuable it is. Once all the feuding neighbors turn each other in for all the real, imagined and made-up offensiveness, who’s going to want to move there? I guess they’ll all end up just stuck with themselves.

Take it from the 12th day and sing it down to Day 1.
On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
12 contracts closing
11 subs completing
10 inspectors smiling
9 costs reducing
8 permits permitting
7 loads unloading
6 clients paying
5 complete sets of plans
4 calling bids
3 storage bins
2 leather gloves and
Some gel pads for my bum knees.
OR
alternate ending:
Some clients that I wanna please.