Contributed by Tom J. Moverman, Esq There was a time, not too long ago, that future innovation was of no interest to the majority of the companies in the construction industry. Most companies were happy with the way things had been done for decades, and they were not interested in changing that. However, as construction companies start to realize the money and time that can be saved with innovations such as wearable technology, that old school attitude is changing.
Travelers Insurance estimates that the wearable industry shipped $20 billion in products in 2015, and that number is increasing rapidly. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that there are nearly seven million construction field workers who could benefit from the use of wearable technology, that is technology that can monitor health and other worker elements instantly and deliver reliable data, and the push is to get wearable technology on every one of those workers. The Benefits of Wearable Technology The two primary areas that benefit from wearable technology are worker health and job site safety. For example, a hard hat that has sensors on it can monitor the health of a worker, while simultaneously broadcasting real-time images of the job site to safety personnel. In some cases, safety personnel can see problems coming before the workers even know what is going on, and that is technology that can save lives. Wearable technology can collect job site condition data and relay that to project managers and site supervisors. Companies can collect video and data from wearable technology that can be used to better train future workers, and develop more effective ways of using construction equipment. Many of the conditions that workers and site supervisors could not see in the past involving dangerous materials or high-risk working situations would now be studied in detail to create more effective safety measures. Construction companies can use wearable technology to increase worker productivity and get real data about what happened leading up to an accident. Companies can also tell exactly what workers are doing on job sites, and track the location of each worker in real time. If a worker is somewhere they are not supposed to be, the site supervisor can act immediately and accordingly. The Problems with Wearable Technology Wearable technology can improve worker health, make a job site safer, and even help a company to create more efficient methods that save money. But despite all that it can do, there are still issues with using future innovations in an old school environment such as construction. For one thing, workers may not want to wear the technology because they won't like the feeling that "Big Brother" is watching them. Reliable workers have nothing to fear with technology that reports their every movement, but some workers may find this technology too intrusive. Another big issue with this new technology is the idea that workers will be more interested in the technology than the job at hand. If a worker knows their hard hat is collecting environmental data for a job, then that worker might be more tempted to try and see what the data looks like as opposed to doing their job. New technology is not only useful, but it can also be distracting as well. Technological Breakthroughs Hard hats that can read environmental conditions and safety vests that report worker vital signs are just the beginning of wearable technology in the construction industry. Newer technology that is either in development or already in the field include specially designed glasses that help skilled workers to be more precise in their measurements, exoskeletons that protect workers and make lifting heavy objects much easier, and hard hats that can do 3D mapping of any part of a construction website. The future of the construction industry includes wearable technology that can save money, save lives, and speed up the construction process. Instead of shying away from all of these technological advances, the construction industry has proven that it is looking forward to these future innovations. Author Bio: Tom Moverman established the Lipsig Brooklyn Law Firm with Harry Lipsig and his partners in 1989; The firm’s focus is in products liability, personal injury, construction accidents, car accidents and medical malpractice.
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Contributed by Perry White, CSI, CCPR When you think about painting drywall in commercial structures, everyone is a critic when it comes to how it looks. Anyone can see surface imperfections and usually people come back on the paint job and say what is wrong with it. In many cases that thought is incorrect!
Today’s drywall is usually recycled or imported and though there is nothing wrong with it, a 4’ by 8’ sheet can have different levels of porosity across the board. Drywall viewed under a microscope is very rough and imperfect. When installed, taped and mudded, you have different levels of porosity on those areas. If the installer hits the face paper when sanding the tape joints, little paper hairs will stick up and that is also visible to the eye. What people are seeing is an optical illusion caused by light coming across the board which makes the final paint job look shaded or lacking in paint and sheen level. Since most commercial drywall is smooth without any texture, surface imperfections are highlighted. Porous drywall can suck the sheen out of the paint job and leave holidays, “flashing” or flat areas when a sheen like eggshell, satin or semi-gloss are used and will highlight these areas even more. There seems to be a trend today for architects and specifiers to only specify a Level Four (4) finish leaving the final product to the paint contractor to make acceptable. A Level Five (5) finish includes a skim coat of drywall mud or texture. This is difficult to achieve since the paint contractor has to accept the drywall as is and the paint film is usually no more than 3 mils (0.003 inch) DFT (dry film thickness). For comparison, the human skin is only 7 mils DFT. Any rework to the drywall will also show where those patched areas are, especially if the patchwork was not primed prior to applying the final coat(s) of paint. The key to creating a homogeneous looking surface is multi-faceted. Many primers used by drywall or painting contractors are low-cost, calcium carbonate or clay based primers with little or no acrylic resin to seal up the different levels of porosity in the face paper and tape joints. This is a critical component to creating a finished system due to the lack of a sealed substrate. These low-cost primers make the surface look prepared, but they remain porous. There are better, resin-rich primer/sealers that all paint manufacturers sell, but many contractors don’t want to pay the higher price. Contributed by Michael Riscica www.youngarchitect.com Preface: This post is brought to you by our friend, Michael Riscica. Mike is the Founder of Young Architect, a blog and community dedicated to helping Young Architects succeed. Let’s Fix Construction and Young Architect traded guest blog posts, here is a link to Cherise Lakeside's post titled: 'Set Yourself Apart' on the Young Architect blog.
Mentors, Mentoring, and Mentorship These words get thrown around pretty loosely in the architecture and construction industry. But what do they really mean? Our friend Wikipedia defines Mentorship as: A relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger than the person being mentored, but she or he must have a certain area of expertise. And I agree. But I also don’t believe mentorship has to be, or always sound, so formal. Sometimes, I think that people view mentorship as such a formal process of “setting up two people to connect and learn from each other”. It could feel contrived and awkward or even sound scary depending on the people. My personal definition of mentorship is: Learning from anyone that is farther along the path then I am. Often, many of my best mentors had no idea that they were even fulfilling this role for me. Thanks to technology, I also believe that some of the most powerful mentors you could have are the people you’ve connected with—but may have never even met in real life. Right now, more than ever before, the architecture and construction industry are heavily reliant on ensuring that the next generation makes good decisions and moves things in the right direction. Everyone needs good mentors, and you need to know how to find them. Anyone who is successful in architecture or construction has gotten there with the help of many, many people along the way. No one can succeed alone. It takes a village. Which brings me to my next point: No One Cares About Your Career… …as much as you do. It sounds harsh, but it’s true. Great mentors are never going to seek you out, or be assigned to you by the gods of architecture and construction. Quite frankly, everyone is too busy worrying about themselves. That’s why its 150% YOUR responsibility to find good mentors—people you can learn from and who support you and what you believe in. If you are not actively seeking out these people, NO ONE is going find them for you. Here are 4 tips for finding the great mentors who will make all the difference in helping you grow and finding success in your career. Contributed by Eric D. Lussier (Editors Note on January 11: Deadline extended to January 17th to submit your presentation)
From the first post in August 2016, one of the core beliefs of 'Let's Fix Construction' has been the open sharing of knowledge. Whether acquired in a classroom setting, from a trusted mentor, or learned directly in the field, what good is having facts, informationa and skills if it is not freely and willingly shared with others? Year after year, there is one place in construction where all members of the project team: specifiers, architects, engineers, contractors, facility managers, product representatives, manufacturers, owners and others converge to acquire and share industry knowledge: CONSTRUCT. The Construction Specifications Institute annual meeting and affiliated tradeshow hosts dozens of project team instructors who share their acquired knowledge to attendees who are there to learn and absorb new information. Now is your chance to share your knowledge and turn what you’ve learned into a unique presentation that will help improve the construction community. Consider submitting a Call for Presentations proposal for CONSTRUCT 2017, which is taking place on September 13-16 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI. CONSTRUCT welcomes compelling proposals that address a wide range of topics relevant to the commercial building team and those who design, build, specify, engineer, renovate and operate in the built environment. With over 40 accredited sessions and non-conflicting exhibit hall hours, the education program is an integral part of the CONSTRUCT event experience for specifiers, architects, designers, product reps, contractors, engineers, project managers, and other industry professionals. The deadline for submitting a proposal is approaching fast on January 17, 2017. Have a topic in mind for CONSTRUCT? Now is the time to pitch your fix! For more information about the submission process, visit http://pardot.informacre.com/e/15182/ttendee-Conference-GetInvolved/86yqt7/592646234 Session proposals must be submitted via the automated submission form at http://pardot.informacre.com/e/15182/r-construct2017/86yqt5/592646234 (EDITOR'S NOTE 1/2/2018 - The call for Presentations to speak at CONSTRUCT in 2018 in Long Beach, CA is now open until 1/23/18. Download the press release here.) Contributed by Cherise Lakeside One of the goals of Let’s Fix Construction is to bring common problems in Architecture, Engineering and Construction to the table for positive and collaborative discussion and solutions. We have complained long enough. It’s time to start fixing things.
In my humble opinion, the best way to fix something is to learn what you don’t know. Often problems are perpetuated simply because we lack a piece of the puzzle and, because nobody tells us, we keep repeating the same mistakes. The issue that I would like to address today has driven me crazy for years. What’s worse is that it is a relatively easy fix. But, we are not fixing it. If you don’t already know me, a quick background: I have worked in AEC for 30 years – In Architecture, Engineering AND Construction. This wide-ranging experience in our industry has been a gift in that I have been able to see the process from many different sides. Add to that a heavy involvement in the Construction Specifications Institute (No, they are not only about specs!) and I feel uniquely qualified to write this blog. There is a commonality in AEC, no matter what discipline in which you work. Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Manufacturing, Product Reps, Owners, etc. That commonality is project delivery processes and contract administration. It doesn’t matter who you are, you need to know the project requirements, risks, roles and responsibilities. Period. No question about it. No brainer. But, guess what? Very few in relation to the whole of our industry have this knowledge. WHAAAAAT? How in the world do you work on a project and not know this? Ummmm, we are all over the place. Let me ask you a few questions:
Can you answer these questions? Seriously, I could go on for hours listing the things that many don’t know. The important point here is that the items above and many more affect every one of you on a project, I don’t care who you are. You can’t possibly efficiently and effectively do your job without having this knowledge. Your level of risk skyrockets if you don’t know the contractual requirements of your project (or at a minimum where to look for them) and your efficiency plummets. In a “time is money” business, this is unacceptable. Now, you might be thinking something like ‘This if for the powers-that-be to understand.’ That is flawed thinking. Very, very flawed. |
AboutLet's Fix Construction is an avenue to offer creative solutions, separate myths from facts and erase misconceptions about the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Check out Cherise's latest podcast
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