Construction Informer

Just Build It Right: In Biskra, Algeria, the housing and town planning minister is cracking down on what he calls “urban anarchy” in building. Armed with additional funds the organizations that police compliance with building codes are imposing sanctions on builders who violate the “rules of urbanism and construction.” While a lot of the rest of the world reels under the current economic storm it seems Algeria is on a growth path. According to the International Monetary Fund the country is expected to post 4.9 percent growth in 2008 and 4.5 percent in 2009.

South Korean Builders On Growth Path: South Korean builders are building more and more of the Middle East. With overall construction orders up a record 45.4 percent year-on-year the boom is being enjoyed by medium and large firms alike. South Korean builders are also increasingly grabbing contracts throughout Asia with a 56 percent gain in that sector. In one interesting collaboration a consortium of South Korean construction companies won a $6.3 billion refinery project in Kuwait. The country’s builders are also handling desalinization and gas facility projects.

Concrete Figures Prominently In Africa: Tanzania is undertaking the construction of the single largest cement plant in the east African region. Expecting demand in that area to grow at twice the rate of projected economic growth of 5 to 6 percent, Kenya’s Athi River Mining (ARM) company will build the plant with a capacity of 4,000 tonnes (4,480 tons) a day. Funding for the project was concluded before the world’s recent economic crisis and it drew from both national and international sources. A spokesman for the project said a reduction in the demand for cement because of the market turmoil is not expected to be significant. ARM is the second largest cement maker in Africa.

Marketing With Topical Messages: A new initiative in New York is offering to answer a lot of questions about green building. This is unique because it isn’t a government effort but rather a grass roots business effort. Named The Hamptons Green Alliance the site is claimed to be the first ever consortium formed by local building companies that is committed to green initiatives in building. Designed with consumers in mind the site features articles on the diverse topics of alternative energy, insulation, smart home electronics, HVAC and natural landscaping.

This is an interesting concept since it brings builder and trades together in a single marketing effort that directly targets topical information that is very much on people’s minds these days. It could be as construction businesses continue to find value in more transparent business relationships with each other, more of these efforts will surface. From the perspective of someone who wants to have a home built there is a certain comfort in knowing all the players who will be doing the job are working as a team, and something like this illustrates that to a certain degree.

Tax Break Gets Extended: There is of course a whole lot more in the “bailout” bill than most people probably realize. Some of it makes sense. For example, anytime the government gives people a tax break to do smart things I tend to gauge that as making sense. One of the things in the bill that got included was the cancellation of the expiring energy efficiency tax break for commercial buildings as reported on in this post. Figuring out to about $1.80 per square foot, the deduction could be just the ticket to get some owners to consider moving forward with their plans.

Do You R&D? In construction it may be overlooked but there are efforts that those in the AEC fields do regularly that might qualify as research and development. New processes, and new designs and improvements on existing processes and designs could all qualify for the now-extended R&D tax credit. Even testing and investing in research and development could not only be beneficial from an operational point of view, but also from a tax point of view. With this credit being extended until the end of 2009 there may be enough time to continue with, or start new efforts in this area that could be brought to fruition before the expiration date.

Training New Talent: San Diego recently opened a charter public school that uses hands-on as a way to teach not only the typical high school curriculum but also skills in AEC. Students actually assembled portions of their classroom and discovered why math and scientific principles are important. Construction, engineering, architecture and interior design are the core of this learning experience. Early on in the curriculum the students created blue prints of the classroom complete with the necessary measurements, electrical fixtures, and openings. As one proponent says: “Some kids can’t just sit and listen to a teacher… At this school they’re applying what they’re learning immediately…”

All Things Grand Under One Big Green Roof: The California Academy of Sciences reopened its doors this past weekend at a new facility that houses a four-story rainforest, planetarium and natural history museum under one huge living roof. The roof incorporates a solar power grid along its edges referred to as a solar “halo” by the supplier’s press release. SunPower Corp. says the halo incorporates 60,000 solar cells encased in 720 custom-built glass panels. The system is expected to generate 10 percent of the building’s power. SunPower claims its photovoltaics generate 50 percent more power than traditional technology and that they are two or three times more efficient than thin films.

Stimulate the Economy and Your Business: The 2008 Economic Stimulus Act gives you the chance to expense some major purchases instead of having to depreciate them. Whether you are considering revamping your company’s software packages, buying new hardware, or buying new equipment there is opportunity for all who have the cash to spend. Construction Partner, a maker of integrated accounting software for construction, teamed up with Thomas York, LLP, a California-based CPA firm that specializes in construction, to highlight in a report some of the tax incentives available this year. Let’s see now…I’ll take one of those, and one of those…

Where Have All The Warranties Gone: On some construction jobs, like single-family that aren’t in a development, warranty information might be collected and stuffed into a kitchen cabinet drawer. The homeowner then does with it what they want. On bigger jobs, both residential and commercial, the process is often more formal with the contractor collecting all the paper and then fitting it into a binder of sorts, keeping one copy and giving another to the homeowner. But, keeping track of all that paper and filing it and maintaining it is not anyone’s favorite task, and invariable things are removed for warranty reasons and never returned…well, you know the score. Now Canadian company, Conasys is offering an online service that takes all that paperwork, makes it into PDFs, puts it into its online database and creates a point of access that builders can use to allow their customers to log into their warranty information right from the builder’s web site.

View Of The Web: In a lot of ways the Web has enriched our lives fantastically. Researching topics and products for example has never been easier and when it comes time to buy, more and more people are deciding to leave the car in the garage. The graphical aspects of the Web  have really taken off as bandwidth has been managed better and better and file formats have  adjusted to bandwidth limitations. So now, where you used to have graphics, or clip art serving the function of breaking up the text on a page, or dressing up your banner, you now have photos.

But there is a cliche developing when it comes to everybody’s banner. You all see them countless times a day. There they are, looking wise, confident, knowledgeable, self-assured, and friendly. They are, for lack of a better term, website mannequins and they come in all ages, shapes, styles and colors ready to convey the message you want. But this is getting annoying. Many of these friendly faces are showing up on multiple sites. Worse, they show up on multiple sites that aren’t even in the same type of business. These slick, confident, stand-ins for real people aren’t fooling anyone anymore since everybody is sticking them up on their pages. People really don’t think for a moment that any of these faces actually work at your enterprise. Do they?

I think the Web could use a good dose of realism, starting with real people.

With the government finally coming clean about the real issues at Fannie and Freddie and now putting the two mortgage behemoths that control half the mortgage debt in the country under its wing maybe it is time once again to marvel at how crafty politicians have become.

Perhaps just a few months ago when a spokesperson suggested “it probably wouldn’t be necessary, but it wanted the ability just in case,” the uttering was more of an effort to prepare everyone rather than any kind of statement of fact. Some may be wondering how long the executive branch of government will be misleading the country “for its own good.”

One lingering question left to be answered is how far will it go to delay the inevitable. The housing crisis has to play out, and unfortunately everybody needs to feel the pain before it can get better. Then too, how many times can a country publicly manipulate the economy before large numbers of people begin wondering just how much of an illusion they’ve bought into. In the meantime could it be we have moved one step closer to government ownership of the population’s homes?

It might be time to sharpen those pencils as there could be a surge in government-funded home maintenance and remodeling.