Leaders of 20 industry associations have formed a partnership to promote resiliency, safety, and performance standards in building. The Alliance for a Resilient Tomorrow will focus on climate change, infrastructure, designing for disasters, and mitigation. “A history of events have already occurred in this country—hurricanes, tornadoes, and mudslides—and we now have a game…(Read More)
Construction company contractors and their suppliers are the latest target of purchase order scams. Specifically, con artists are directing their efforts towards universities. “Using email as the primary method of communication, or in some cases a phone, the scammers will attempt to get a quote for products from a given vendor. Once the quote is…(Read More)
The pace of home construction jumped to its highest level since last November. The news comes as a surprise to analysts. Bloomberg.com reports that housing starts climbed 13.2 percent to a 1.07 million annualized rate following March’s 947,000 pace, the Commerce Department said. The increase in housing starts was dominated…(Read More)
I guess you could call me a sports fan. I don’t consider myself a fanatic, but I watch my fair share of football and basketball games. Whenever I attend a game in person I always notice how many fans in my section are obsessed with officiating. It seems that all the bad calls go…(Read More)
New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge served as the as the backdrop for President Obama this week, as he renewed calls for improved infrastructure across the country. Obama says quality infrastructure will bring quality jobs to the construction sector. The 60-year-old Tappan Zee Bridge is one of the largest rebuilding projects in the…(Read More)
Can construction companies and other organizations include positive attitude in job descriptions and policies? “The National Labor Relations Board says that workplace policies requiring employees to behave in a ‘positive and professional manner’ actually violate federal law,” writes Ray Hennessy, editorial director at Entrepreneur.com. “One employer, a non-union hospital, set up a workplace…(Read More)
Robotic termites are making news. The phrase may not be familiar to many, but Harvard researchers and others entrenched in the future of building and urban landscapes are turning to a practice dubbed “swarm construction systems.” It’s an exercise that has robots working together to build structures. The practice was highlighted on a CNBC…(Read More)
Graphene and a self-healing concrete are among the six construction materials that will likely transform the future of building. Dina Spector, a reporter at Business Insider takes a look at the brighter, lighter, and more energy efficient materials that have the attention of engineers and researchers. http://www.businessinsider.com/futuristic-construction-materials…(Read More)
Is your organization up to speed on behavioral interviews? Construction companies and other employers don’t want rehearsed examples from candidates about their past work successes and challenges. Instead, decision makers want talent to explain how they might behave in a specific situation. As Steve Squier, strategic director at Seven Step RPO writes, behavioral interviews…(Read More)
The construction and building trades were once the kings of apprenticeships, but those days are long gone. Manufacturing and other sectors are working to create innovative programs, especially for those who don’t plan to attend college full-time. These new initiatives are attractive to young adults who get paid on-the-job training, and…(Read More)
