Thank you for visiting the Construction Contractor's Digest. We are pleased that you have joined us. This site is for the express purpose of being a resource for construction leaders. We work as management consultants with construction firms. We are Stevens Construction Institute.

Presently, we have written over 190 articles ranging in subjects such as managing people & processes to financial management & computers. Enter your key word (use American English) and I am certain we will have some information for you. As you read these articles, please let us know your thoughts. This adds to the quality of our digest. I am the author of an "old world book" McGraw Hill's Managing A Construction Firm On Just 24 Hours A Day by Matt Stevens. It's 406 pages describe issues, trends and "work smart" processes / tactics for construction contracting. We include over 100 illustrations with 130 Best Practices.

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Look for our new book, "The New Business Model of Construction Contracting" in 2007..

Matt Stevens is a management consultant who works only with construction contractors. He has performed training and business consultation for the contracting community since 1994. Matt can be reached at mstevens@stevensci.com.">mstevens@stevensci.com.

The Industry is Not Going Away - Construction is a basic necessity to human life (shelter, food, clothing, and water). Contrastingly, most manufacturing will be leaving this country over the next few years. Construction cannot be exported. It must be "insitu" or occurring where it produces the end product. This is unlike service center, computer programming or engineering where other countries provide it from afar and then send it back to the United States. Construction and its sister, demolition are captive to the site.

Merit Based - the construction industry rewards hard work. There is no substitute. We are all dissatisfied with the work ethic today. When we find it, we reward it. Let me give you an example - a person comes to you (male / female) doesn't speak English well, but has promised to work hard and keep their nose clean. You give them a chance and 1 year later, you are glad you did. They kept their promise. Now, what will you do? Ignore them? Cut their pay? Of course not! You will increase their wages and give them more responsibility. Construction contractors reward merit. We are an equal opportunity employer.

In a few years, that same person, having earned the technical understanding and crew following might start their own business. It is almost expected. After working in the field, interacting with clients and managing labor, it is normal and rational for this person to at least attempt it.

Additionally, the industry is also merit based. Question: What is the best advertising in the construction business? A completed project that is on-time and on-budget. It speaks volumes of a contractor's savvy and diligence. There are a minority of good contractors. Word of mouth will travel fast. Excellent contractors have more opportunities for work than their lesser competitors.

Matt Stevens is a management consultant who works only with construction contractors. He has been practicing since 1994. His new book, Managing a Construction Firm on Just 24 Hours a Day, is available from McGraw Hill and his firm's website. Stevens Construction Institute is located at www.stevensci.com. Matt may be reached at mstevens@stevensci.com.

See our 150+ Best Practice Analysis and Library. It is an assessment for contractors seeking better ways of managing their contracting business. See our E-Store link below. 50+ page report and listing of 150+ Best Practices is included.

Read McGraw Hill's new 400+ page book published by McGraw-Hill Inc. "Managing a Construction Firm on Just 24 Hours a Day". It includes 170 Best Practices Used in Construction Contracting with over 100 illustrations and examples. We include a CD of 60 Excel Templates when you buy the book from our website. We also include our library of forms and 5 online courses.

The book is available for immediate shipment. We do take international orders.

See our secure Miva / EarthLink / Card Services International E-Store: http://stevensci.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=SCII

Look for our new book, "The New Business Model of Construction Contracting" in 2007..

Matt Stevens is a management consultant who works only with construction contractors. He has performed training and business consultation for the contracting community since 1994. Matt can be reached at mstevens@stevensci.com.">mstevens@stevensci.com.

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We feel that most estimating software is very useful for contractors. However, I have personally witnessed software purchased one day and then never used. The salesman did his job. The rub is the time it takes to be proficient. The contractor's busy schedule doesn't allow for training. In several cases I know of, thousands of dollars has been invested and no payoff. The software sits in its shrink wrap still unopened.

I am raising a red flag. Take a look at all the risk in construction, some of it we choose. Buying estimating software (decreasing our cash) and never benefiting should not be one of our risk factors.

We recommend looking hard at Microsoft. (See our writing on "Computers".) If you use a computer, you can use the Microsoft Office Suite (90% of users do) and especially Excel. For any one just starting to use computers, the advent of the point and click system also known as Windows, makes it all the more easy.

As proof of our conclusion, The American Society of Professional Estimators released a survey in 2005. Here is the background and the results:

Respondents were asked if their satisfaction level with their current estimating software.

Satisfied 80%
Fairly Satisfied 14%
Dissatisfied/Plan to Change 3%
Other/n/a 2%

Respondents were asked if they anticipate change soon (one year or less)

No change planned 93%
Plan to change soon 7%

Respondents were asked the major factor in the purchase of their estimating software.

Ease of use 30%
Customization 30%
Features 25%
Price 4%
Other/n/a 11%

Average time in use

1-5 years 32%
5-10 years 47%
10+ years 21%

For the rest of the article, email us at mstevens@stevensci.com. with the title of the article. Limit 1 article per month

See our 150+ Best Practice Analysis and Library. It is an assessment for contractors seeking better ways of managing their contracting business. See our E-Store link below. 50+ page report and listing of 150+ Best Practices is included.

Read McGraw Hill's 400+ page book . "Managing a Construction Firm on Just 24 Hours a Day". It includes 170 Best Practices Used in Construction Contracting with over 100 illustrations and examples. We include a CD of 60 Excel Templates when you buy the book from our website. We also include our library of forms and 5 online courses.

The book is available for immediate shipment. We do take international orders.

See our secure Miva / EarthLink / Card Services International E-Store: http://stevensci.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=SCII

Look for our new book, "The New Business Model of Construction Contracting" in 2007..

Matt Stevens is a management consultant who works only with construction contractors. He has performed training and business consultation for the contracting community since 1994. Matt can be reached at mstevens@stevensci.com.">mstevens@stevensci.com.

search terms: Pre-construction, post-mortem, lessons learned, Construction Estimating Software, Estimate Costs, Pricing, Bidding Work, Market

Some people suggest taking highly defensive measures since we are a 2nd amendment country. Some are not shy about thinking in these terms if things go very badly as have recent looting events have shown. This is a personal decision for each construction company / owner / employee.

Have a hauling trailer(s) ready. (Large horse / livestock trailers work well) It may not be financially wise to stock a lot of extra material inventory/ personal items but, it may be wise to drive to a factory some distance away and load up on needed construction / personal supplies.

- 65% of all construction contractors have 10 employees or less according to Risk Management Associates. There are currently 2.7 million construction firms in total - that's 1.7 million small firms. Construction is a huge small business industry.

- Minimum three contact methods of all employees - phone, cell, email and of course, physical location - one would go by their house to check on them

- Emergency cash is essential - $300 for each employee - to be paid back later.

- Generators are great in certain situations such as IT operations

- Designate a rally point or meeting place outside of a building or in a location so as to count missing persons.

- Back up computer systems are best if located another state. (I use Carbonite)

- Have syncing software that will keep laptops current with desktops. Laptops are much easier to use after a storm with Broadband capability and electrical charging via truck / car.

- Cars / trucks have electrical generating power for cell phones, laptops etc. make sure they have the adapter plug ins to be used.

- Batteries kept in their wrappers until needed in flash lights.

- Take pictures of all work completed before storm hits for any potential insurance claims.

- Get statistical data from your insurance company about weather related delays. Have this at the ready in case the client starts claims for delay after the storm.

- Wind and Flood are two different damages - know the difference in your insurance policy and adjust accordingly.

- People (your employees) will take unneccesary risks for their pets - consider sheltering them in your building.

- Run practice drills once a year during early storm season.

- Check on emergency rental rates for area hotels - some offer greatly reduced rates during after a storm. During 2004's Hurricane Charley, my daughter and I stayed at the Rosen Hotel - Orlando for $42 a night for 8 days. In hindsight, it was a very lucky we did some planning.

- Better to have a higher deductible and a higher maximum coverage than a lower deductible and a lower maximum coverage.

- Most insurance claims needing a contractor quote. Think about charging for quotes after a storm. Others have done so and homeowners / building owners don't object as long as you tell them upfront.

Government Contractor: A gambler who never gets to cut, shuffle or deal the cards.

Bid Opening: A poker game in which the losing hand wins

Low Bidder: A contractor who wonders what he or she left out of their bid

Engineer's Estimate: The cost of construction in Heaven

Project Manager: The conductor of an orchestra in which every muscian is in a different union

Critical Path Method Scheduling: A managment technique for losing your shirt under perfect control

Strike: An effort to increase golden egg production by strangling the goose.

Delayed Payment: a tourniquet applied at the pockets

Completion Date: The day before liquidate damages are assessed.

Liquidated Damages: The penalty for failing to acheive the impossible

Lawyer: People who go in after the war's lost and bayonet the wounded

IRS: The next people after the lawyers who strip the bodies of any valuables

Where does this apply to the construction industry? There is limited application but, where it applies is powerful.

Before any discussion, let me make it clear that any fair treatment of this application is based on a statistically significant set of data points. That is, many invoices, cost codes, or expense reports must be a large sample size. For a construction company, hundreds if not thousands should be examined if this principal is to be used effectively and not be a dead end.

We see it as a security and anti embezzlement application. Take the first and / or last digit of invoices or purchase orders and see if they appear more than 11.1% of the time. If so, further investigation is needed.

1) Housing lobby looking for help.

2) Politicians looking for power or re-election (or both)

3) Americans looking for external help for their stupidity

4) Others who continuously spend time on a couch or barstool.

We are all in this together - the good and the bad. However, Americans are mostly individualists. We produce great works of art, science, literature etc than any other country. See Nobel, Hollywood, NASA and other places that clearly denote American citizens as leaders.

We have a $13 trillion economy. There is plenty of room for everyone. No one will go hungry. We have great individuals living within our borders. If you want to participate in the recession, be my guest. However, a majority of Americans are silently improving their productivity, saving more, spending less and generally figuring out ways to take market share from Asian, South American, European etc nations. That is the America I adore.

It is interesting to note that Virtual Construction marries one of the oldest businesses with one of the newest business trends. This marriage has the possibility to minimize life-long problems.

If you are older, you sense that the probability is there that technology could give contracting a real boost. However, you remember how poorly managed most technology companies were in the last two decades. They busted the most important rules of business and went away (bankruptcy). Also, "Ghostware" was an accurate term for promised new versions of software. The lack of software upgrades disappointed many contractors several times a year as promises remained unfilled. These are fair criticisms.

Just as significant were the poor financial management practices that technology companies exhibited.

Confidence in tech companies in and out of the construction industry has decreased not increased. Many contractors feel a "wait and see" attitude is appropriate.

However, I believe our best days in the construction industry are in front of us. Wait and see.

He is guilty of litigating in the pages. Not building or thinking through a better approach. He is a second guesser of the first sort. Mr LePatner certainly will attract attention from owners who are looking for someone to sue. His billings should be very high this year. He might even make partner in his firm, if he hasn't already. Maybe managing partner, if billings are high enough.

Hank Harris of FMI Corporation wrote a 5 page condemnation of the the book. I am sure Mr. LePatner thought it was too long. I think it was too short.

A man must choose between two options at one point in his professional life. Shall I strive for riches or significance? Sadly, Mr. LaPatner will certainly be financially wealthy from his work. His significance is to be determined. He can certainly point out what others have identified previously as problems. Good for him. However, his contribution to fixing those problems of construction are minimal.

The goal of our firm is to keep its owner (me) mentally engaged in assisting contractors while providing for my loved ones. It is our informal mission statement. Not complex but then again, see the first paragraph.

What Stevens Construction Institute, Inc. does is not a mystery, it shouldn't be. We are not "cool" consultants. We are "good" consultants. Our heart is in this business for the correct reasons. We love it and we like to be helpful.

What is interesting is that all our clients are people of good character. We don't work with anyone who is continuously angry, contemptuous or is a detriment to people around them. As you know, I don't choose the clients, but I think the (point of the) previous paragraph helps (Yes, I have fired a couple over the years). However, all of our clients are good contractors and people.

What is also interesting, I don't know why this is so, all of the construction firms we work with are first generation contractors. These established firms are not ones started by a previous generation and now are controlled by another one. Don't ask me why but, I find it interesting.

One of our services is process improvment. Our consulting and subsequent documentation of process re-engineering is based on the Lean Approach. Again, no mystery. Lean works well when contractors and their staffs try to improve their business operations. As I don't work as a technical building consultant, I strongly believe any business benefits from Lean. As in all models, it doesn't fit our industry exactly, but it is the best. I don't know of an equal.

If you have read any writings on Lean and you have read my book, Managing a Construction Firm on Just 24 Hours a Day, (McGraw Hill, 2007), you can see the parallels. When I wrote the book in 2005-2006, it was more intuitive and observation based from my years in construction. A few friends have suggested that the book "is the practical Lean approach to construction contracting". Once I read all I could on Lean, I agree.

You are probably curious about one question: Yes, I bought a 2008 Toyota Tundra. How can you not be a fan of the company after you have read about Lean? I don't sell for Toyota, I just love the truck. To appreciate this fully, you have to also know that both my grandfather and great grandfather were plant managers for General Motors. Yes, I believe in Lean.

More tangibly will be my 2009 book that will be my interpretation of Lean for construction contracting. Accordingly, we use established and well accepted tools in our consulting work. Effective ones such as Moveable Type, Tool Book, WebEx, Zoomerang, Constant Contact, DISC, Media Temple, Lombardi Blue Print, SecureWebs and the like. Less mystery for my clents. Remember, it is the content or knowledge that makes a consulting firm a value, not the presentation (sizzle). Addtionally, if (and when) I die, my clients can pick up where I left off. This is the spirit of Lean.

So look seriously at the Lean Approach, read all you can. You will find this is a tenured and established method. It has been vetted by some of the great business people in the world. It is decades old and it is effective. You can confidently apply it to your construction company as dozens of others successfully have before you. But, if you are looking for something new and cool, Lean is not for you.

More to the point, if you want to talk with a management consultant who can help apply it, I am a candidate. I hope you will appreciate my focus on making things less complex and less mysterious. Helpful but not cool.

Client after client has shared this little known fact. Although anecdotal in nature, it has been repeated enough to me that some statistical significance should be assigned to it. Stronger still, I am statistically confident this is true.

This little known fact is "10 years". That is, it takes 10 years to figure out this business called construction contracting. We have such a complex challenge in building work that it takes many years to understand and then act on the true drivers of profitability, safety, quality, speed and people.

As an aside, comedian / actor / writer Steve Martin said the same in his latest book. It took him 10 years to understand what he was doing and then to bring crowds to their feet. Most professions are not instantaneous events. Much like an athlete, it takes thinking, nurturing and faith. Even the most talented, have to go through a period of modest, inconsistent results. If you know Mr. Martin, ask him about performing at the Steak & Ale in Gainesville, Florida. That kind of humble beginning is not what show business is all about however, it is a critical step while keeping the insincere and weakest from earning fame and fortune.

In construction contracting, I do not work with start ups. My books are for established contractors and their staffs to understand more and different things about the construction business. Once in a while I will be asked to help someone in their new business. After I quietly tell them I don't do that kind of work, I usually offer up some quick advice to leave them on an encouraging note. I always bring up the concept of "10 years". Silence from the other party usually ensues.

There are two immediate benefits from mentioning this little known fact. 1) I don't get another inquiry about their new business 2) It keeps the weakest and insincere from competing against the existing contractors.

Doing something because you want to versus doing it because it is cool or profitable is a classic conflict in construction. Obviously, having more contractors building our habitat and our infrastructure who want to be in the business benefits society and our profession. Contrast this with all the "house flippers" of just a couple of years ago.

As you can tell, I vote for the people who are long term and sincere in their professional goals.