Up to 50% off kindle ebooks on Amazon.com and Amazon.UK this Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. Offers end this Monday. Check out the great deals.

A great opportunity to brush up on your construction project management skills.

Construction companies around the world are complaining about a shortage of people, and in particular a shortage of skilled people. The war for talent: How contractors battle for workers. In fact contractors blame poor quality, late completion, low productivity, increasing costs, and poor project performance on a lack of skills. Is this true? If it is, how can contractors improve the situation?

The construction skills shortage seems to be worsening. Construction is perceived as a dirty and unsafe industry, where people are expected to work long hours for sometimes low wages. Indeed construction has a poor reputation which deters new entrants. Making the problem worse is the transitory nature of construction. Many construction companies dump their workers when a project is completed, with little reward for hard work or loyalty. Countless workers have no job security and know that once their project is complete they must start looking for another job. After a few cycles of this it’s no wonder that good skilled people leave the industry and move on.

Older skilled workers are retiring while the younger generation doesn’t appear interested in a career in construction.

Yet despite this outcry of a lack of skills some construction companies are doing little to retain the skilled people they have. They are certainly doing little to improve the image of the construction industry, and few contractors seem willing to upskill their workforce, or employ newly qualified people and train and mentor them. Nor do contractors think innovatively for new sources of people. It all seems too hard for the average contractor, who seems content rather to use the lack of resources as an excuse for poor construction project outcomes. After all, if there’s not a suitable experienced and qualified person waiting on the street corner for a job it must mean that there is a shortage of workers in construction!

So how can construction companies improve the skills shortage? Well here are a few suggestions
​#constructionmanagement #constructionskillsshortage

Staff retention
It’s pointless employing new people to fill gaps when they don’t stay long, and others in the organisation leave, creating more gaps. Some contractors are in a perpetual cycle of filling voids left by people leaving the company. A cycle that can’t be won unless you take proactive steps to retain people. Now retaining people is a topic on its own which I’ve previously covered in several articles: How do we retain skilled employees in construction? and High Employee turnover? The sooner you know the better. 

So, start by retaining good people in your company and project. #staffretention

Is your company a good place to work?
Linked to the above is the question, ‘is your company a good place to work?’ If it isn’t then you are going to find it harder to attract people to your company and project. And when several contractors are fighting to employ the same person, if your company isn’t the employer of choice then the limited talent will go elsewhere. So honestly ask yourself, ‘is your company a good place to work?’ But not in your position, a role where you may enjoy particular perks and advantages, but rather in the position you are recruiting for. So if it’s a carpenter, supervisor, foreman, or whatever, how would a carpenter, supervisor, foreman, view your company, your project, compared to other contractors, and even other industries? Is the position and role your company is offering better than elsewhere? Learn to see your company as others see it.

​Ask prospective employees what they’re looking for in an employer and you’ll probably find that it’s not only about the best salary. People are generally looking for a company that values and respects them, they want some job security, of course they want a safe place to work, and a fair wage. People want to work for good managers and successful companies. Again this is a topic on its own, and I’ve written several articles on this including Is There Bullying on Your Construction Projects and Respect in construction - why it's important

Ensure your company is a great place to work, where people want to work.

Look within the company for people to fill the role
Some contractors overlook people already working within the company. Is there someone within the organisation that can fill the position? Maybe they just need to be offered the role, and perhaps some extra training? Sure they may leave a vacancy where they are currently working – but maybe it will be easier to fill their position? In promoting someone within the company you’ll be rewarding the person, for which they’ll be grateful, and others within the organisation will see that there are prospects within the company to advance, grow, and take on new responsibilities and roles.

When I became the general manager of a new division/branch of our company, in 5 years we grew the division by 8 fold, also increasing profits 8 fold, and this was almost done entirely without employing new management. We were able to find and promote people from within our organisation to fill the additional roles of foremen, project managers, and directors.

Ask your project managers, supervisors, foremen, managers, is there someone they know working for them who can fill the position that’s needed. Sometimes managers have to be coaxed to put forward good people working for them, knowing that they are going to have a hole in their team, so it’s important for managers to realise that it’s for the benefit of the company, as well as the person they are releasing.

So start your search amongst those already working for the company, before spreading your search wider. You may be surprised at the talent hiding in plain sight within your company.

Who knows who
You’re looking for people – have you asked your employees if they know someone who wants to work for the company – a friend or relative? I’ve sometimes had success this way. If friends and relatives of employees want to work for your company it usually means that your company is an attractive place to work, because your employees are willing to recommend to their friends and relatives to come and work where they are employed.

Even ask your subcontractors, clients, suppliers, and the professional team. Spread the word that you're looking for people. If your client, project team, or subcontractors think that your company is a professional outfit with good managers they'll recommend your company as a good place to work. A contractor that is looking to employ people now.

Do your employees know you are searching for people?

You cannot afford to discriminate
Unfortunately many of us have biases towards people, which may be conscious or even unconscious. So we are apt to put people in boxes and exclude them from certain jobs without even knowing their skills or experience. People are simply excluded from a job based on their race, colour, sex, even on how they dress or look, perhaps even excluding an overweight person on the premise that they must be lazy.

Some automatically allocate people of a certain nationality to a particular job, assuming all Irish, or New Zealanders, or Mexicans, are only good at a particular task, and disregarding them for an alternative position. What nonsense! Construction is desperate for good people, who cares what they look like or where they come from, as long as they are willing to work and have the right skills employ the person and don’t hold them back for any reason other than they can’t do the job. Again this is a topic that I’ve previously written about Discrimination in construction – is it holding your company back?

Are you excluding a large portion of the population from your search because of your biases?

Drop the excuses
There are some perennial excuses that companies use not to employ someone looking for work. Let’s consider how stupid some of these are!

1. They are overqualified. How can someone be overqualified for a job? They are either qualified or they aren’t qualified! What harm is there to have more knowledge than the job requires? Or maybe some bosses are scared of being shown up? If the person accepts the position your company is offering they should know the salary offered and the duties they are expected to perform. If they’re willing to fulfil those duties for that salary then why should anyone have reservations about whether the person has more knowledge and experience than the position requires? And who knows, perhaps with time your company will be able to utilise those extra skills and additional experience? Maybe those additional qualifications will be an advantage to the role they’re expected to fill? Excluding people from a job with the excuse they are overqualified is nonsensical.
2. They are too old. Are they so old that they are frail and weak, perhaps walking with a Zimmer frame? If not, then what difference does a person’s age make? Why should the person’s age disqualify them from filling the position? There are many willing and capable older people looking for a job, most of whom will be loyal, reliable, diligent, and dependable, and many of whom have tons of experience. So what if they’re not going to be working for the company for the next 5 or 10 years, well I’ve got news for you, there are probably very few employees who are going to be staying that long. Anyway you have a skills shortage now, plug the gaps with people who are willing and able to work now – not with some mythical young, bright, strong person that fits your vision of what someone in construction should look like who you can’t find right now. How does age preclude someone from filling the role? Is it simply because you have a preconception of what an old person is capable of doing? You will be elderly someday – will that mean you shouldn’t be working?
3. They’ve been out of work too long. So what? If they have the knowledge and experience to do the job then why is there a problem? Some people choose to take time off work. Maybe their circumstances change and they couldn’t or didn’t want to work. Maybe they retired early, then after a few years decided to, or perhaps needed to, return to work.
4. We don’t employ women because. They’re going to get pregnant and leave the company. They are going to distract the men. They are going to spend the day talking. They can’t work in construction. They shouldn’t work in construction. Etc, etc. So automatically half the population is excluded from your employment search. A third of new hires in this construction company are women. Women can work in construction. Employ a few and see how it goes.

​Are your excuses for not employing someone valid, or are you simply regurgitating time worn excuses? Do you even know why you don’t employ some candidates? 

In my next article I discuss how you can cast your search wider, and how construction needs an image makeover to attract the next generation of construction workers.

​#constructioncareers #contractors #constructionindustry 

​Paul Netscher has written several easy to read books for owners, contractors, construction managers, construction supervisors and foremen. They cover all aspects of construction management and are filled with tips and insights.
Visit to read more.
The books are available in paper and ebook from most online stores including Amazon.

In my previous article 10 tips to successfully pricing your next construction project I discussed how some contractors take the shotgun approach to pricing and quoting construction projects. Literally submitting hundreds of prices in the hope that they will win a few projects. This leads to overwork of the estimators, and in some cases owners or project managers involved in pricing projects. It results in wasted effort, but more seriously it could lead to mistakes and winning projects with a price below what it’s going to cost the contractor to build the project. Unfortunately the shotgun approach could also mean that the contractor misses out on good projects which the contractor could have won if they had put more effort into their quotation and price submission.
​
In this article I’ll discuss another 10 more tips to successfully pricing and winning projects.
#pricingconstructionprojects #constructionbids #constructiontenders

 1.   Understand the quality requirements. Are they standard, and can you deliver the requirements?
 2.   Price the project from first principles. This means:

• Understanding and using the local rates for materials, labour, and equipment.
• Knowing the productivity of workers.
• Learning from previous project costs.

 3. Develop an accurate project schedule. 10 reasons why a construction schedule/program is useful.

• The schedule must take account of the project restraints.
• It should allow for the normal weather conditions.
• The schedule must make efficient use of the available resources.
• The schedule must be achievable. You don’t want to commit to a construction schedule which can’t be met. If you can’t meet the client’s milestone dates maybe you should walk away from the project, or offer an alternative completion date that you can meet. Tell the client why you can’t meet their completion dates. It’s pointless winning a project when you can’t meet the dates, it’s bad for your company’s reputation, and it’s going to cost money.

 4.  Finalise the overhead costs (preliminaries). Those are the costs to manage the project, including the provision of insurances, security, surety bonds, temporary facilities, etc.
 5.   Check the project cashflow. Even a profitable construction project can destroy a company if the contractor can’t manage the cashflow. Negative cash flow – the death for many construction companies. So does your company have the finance available to pay for things while waiting for payment from the client. Most construction projects are cashflow negative until the end of the project. Larger construction projects usually require more cash, as do projects which require expensive materials, and projects that require a large amount of work in a short time frame.
 6.   Check:

• All arithmetic.
• No costs have been overlooked.
• No costs have been overlooked.
• Everything requested has been priced.
• All the required documentation has been included.

 7.   Decide on the final mark-up (profit), How much profit? This could depend on:

• The project risks.
• How desperate your company needs the project.
• Your competitors.
• Company policy and overheads. However this should not dictate unreasonable profits which could cause you to lose a project that the company is desperate to win.

 8.  Check that any qualifications or assumptions you’ve made are clearly noted, as well as any exclusions from your price. 
 9.   Prepare your price submission so that it looks professional.

• Check it has all the required documentation in an orderly arrangement so that it is easy for the client to find the pertinent documents they’re looking for.
• Ensure the submission doesn’t contain documents irrelevant to the project, or include documents which are obviously ‘cut and pasted’ from other price submissions.

 10.  Sell your company’s abilities. Why should the client select your company as the contractor? Demonstrates that your company clearly understands the project requirements and can deliver on these. This could include:

• A portfolio of similar construction projects the company has completed.
• Staff and equipment you propose to put on the project.
• Method statements.
• Company and project safety information.
• Statement of how you will deal with particular concerns the client has raised.
• A statement of why you company can successfully deliver the construction project with minimal risk and fuss.

​Finally make sure your price is delivered to the required person on time. 

​But even when the project price is submitted it doesn’t mean the process is completed.

1. Ensure there’s a record of all calculations and pricing documentation that’s filed where it can readily be found.
2. Client’s will often ask questions and negotiate with the contractors with the best prices. It’s possible to lose a winning bid with poor answers or a weak negotiating strategy. Post bid communications - the difference between winning and losing a bid.
3. If you are called for a meeting to discuss your price submission make sure your team is prepared and have all the documentation easily at hand. Construction project bid negotiations – Don’t make a mistake.

In our 2 articles on pricing construction projects we discussed how important it is to have good market intelligence – what construction projects are coming out to price, and what your competitors or other contractors are up to. It’s important to understand all aspects of the construction project – the client, the contract document, and the project site conditions. Then develop an accurate price – based on an accurate construction schedule and the local market conditions, using the best construction methods suited to the project and the available resources. Finally submit a professional quotation that includes all the documentation requested, and importantly which sells your company’s abilities and why you are the right contractor for the construction project.
​
Pick the right construction project to price, a construction project you want and one you can win from your competitors, then put all effort into winning the project. Finally don’t lose the project or make a stupid mistake in the negotiation phase.

​#constructionprojects #contractors #constructionmanagement

​Paul Netscher has written several easy to read books for owners, contractors, construction managers, construction supervisors and foremen. They cover all aspects of construction management and are filled with tips and insights.
Visit to read more.
The books are available in paper and ebook from most online stores including Amazon.

​Pricing (estimating) a construction project has been described as a science, an art, part luck, and for some just a guess. Getting your price right means you have to win the project with a price that is higher than your final project costs will be, meaning you’ll make a profit. But just because you have the right price (for your company) doesn’t mean that your competitor won’t have a lower price that will be profitable for them. Having a lower price than your competitors also doesn’t mean that you’ll be awarded the project since clients often look for other requirements, and they need to be convinced that you are the right contractor for their project.
​
Unfortunately there are many contractors who submit flawed prices which have little chance of success, or worse, which can lead to the downfall of the company when the price is lower than their final project costs. But there are also many other risks that contractors don’t consider when pricing their projects, these include non-payment, inability to deliver the project to the required standards, lengthy legal disputes, health risk to employees, reputational risks, cashflow problems, and even the risk of losing out on favourable future work.
#pricingconstructionprojects #constructionbids #constructiontenders

​1.    Understand your client. You don’t want to work for some clients, particularly those who don’t, or can’t pay. Check whether your client:

• Has a reputation for paying their contractors on time.
• Has sufficient finance for the project.
• Has employed a suitable project team.
• Doesn’t regularly get embroiled in legal disputes with their contractors.
• Treats their contractors fairly.
• Is serious with proceeding with the project.
• Has reasonable expectations which your company can deliver on.

In construction it’s important to know your clients. It could save you.

   2.    Understand the project documentation.

• What are the payment terms?
• Are there specific project rules?
• Is the contract fair?
• Are their conflicting clauses or potential problems with the contract?

your construction project contracts - why you need to understand them
 3.  Know the market and what other projects are coming out for pricing. Good market intelligence is essential. You don’t want to be stuck with a difficult project at a low price while you miss out on other more lucrative and easy projects that are likely to be available in the next few months. Read: Should contractors price every project?
 4.    Physically check the project site conditions.

• Is access to the work areas available? Are there restrictions on the route to the project which could restrict the size or weight of vehicles? What about traffic?
• Are their other contractors working in the area who could cause disruptions to your work?
• What are the project physical conditions – ground conditions, drainage, water table, etc?
• Are there power cables or other overhead restrictions?
• Are there underground utility lines in the way of construction?

Don’t Submit Your Construction Price (estimate/tender) Proposal Until You Get These Questions Answered On A Site Visit
 5.  Understand the opposition (competitors). It may not be worth pricing projects against competitors who are known to be favoured by the client, ones that have a reputation for stupidly low prices, or competitors that are in a position to deliver a cheaper project because they are working in the area or have the right equipment for the project. You may be wasting your time pricing a project which you don’t stand a chance of winning!
 6.    Understand the project. What is your company responsible to deliver? What will the client supply?

​ 7.    Identify and quantify the risks. Prepare a risk schedule. Understand how you can manage and reduce the risks. Be prepared to walk away from projects that are too risky and where the quantum of the risk event could sink the company. Read How to deal with construction risks
 8.    Know your company’s capabilities. Will you have the people and equipment to do the work? Do you have people with the right experience?
 9.    Check the available resources. Are materials, people, and equipment available?  Will they be available when they are required?
 10.   Consider the construction methodology. Develop the best methodology taking account of your company’s capabilities, the available resources, the project site conditions, the project schedule requirements, price, safety and the client’s requirements and design. Consider alternative construction methods and products. 

 Some contractors take the shot gun approach to pricing projects. Aiming in the general direction of the target and hoping they snag a project. Submitting as many prices as possible, hoping that one will get them a project. Their estimators often work long hours churning out price after price, just hoping that they will have success with one submission.

Unfortunately this often leads to mistakes. High prices mean it's another effort in vain. Low prices may land the company a project at a price they cannot do the work for.

Rather contractors should pick the right project, then spend time and effort preparing a winning price submission. In my next article I discuss more tips for winning construction bids 10 more tips for pricing construction projects​#constructionprojects #contractors #constructionmanagement

​Paul Netscher has written several easy to read books for owners, contractors, construction managers, construction supervisors and foremen. They cover all aspects of construction management and are filled with tips and insights.
Visit to read more.
The books are available in paper and ebook from most online stores including Amazon.

Can technology help the construction industry?
​
Productivity has not improved in construction over the last few decades, contrary to most other industries. Why is building so slow and expensive? Contractors have been slow to embrace technology. 

How can technology help the industry? The future of construction.

The use of BIM is becoming more common.

Technology is useful to eliminate paperwork and increase productivity. Like these quality checklists. 

In this blog I share some interesting articles on technology.
​#constructiontechnology

​Here's a company incorporating technology on their projects. They are even trialling a robot dog as a superintendent. Maybe there are some ideas you can use on your next project?
​You can use robots to help set out structures. Here's more on robot construction.
Robots can be used for drywalling.
What about autonomous equipment. Here's an autonomous excavator.
​#constructionrobots

Is there a place for drones on our construction projects?
Drones can be used aerial mapping and surveying in hard to reach places, like on roofs and on bridges. They can be used to check quality. Is there place for them to do work in dangerous areas, perhaps even painting bridges?
​#dronesconstruction

​Much has been said about 3D printing. How will 3D printing change how we construct buildings and structures?

Safety is another place where technology can help.

You can use remotely operated machines to work in dangerous places. They can do work in extreme temperatures and in difficult conditions.
​
​Here's a company using wearable technology to prevent injuries.
But technology is also useful in safety training using VR.
​#constructionsafety #constructionsafetytechnology

Can technology make construction safer, more productive, and producing better quality? Can it provide clients with a good end product? Will contractors be more profitable? And will the introduction of new technology attract the next generation of workers to the industry - a generation that has literally been born with a smart phone in hand, who's lives are intertwined with the latest technology?

 Can technology help your construction project? What are the risks of depending on technology?

Indeed contractors must use the appropriate technology and implement it properly. Here are some questions contractors should ask .

Cybercrime is on the rise. Contractors must be vigilant to protect against cybercrime.
​
​It's important to build trust between workers and robots and autonomous machines.

Construction must use technology. Contractors can achieve enormous benefits from new technology. However technology cannot make a bad contractor good. Technology cannot make a poor construction project manager good. Technology can make good contractors better. Technology used correctly can make good construction project managers better and more productive.

Contractors must adapt new ways of doing things better. But they must choose the right technology and ensure their teams use the technology correctly.

It's time for construction to move into the 21st century.
​#constructionmanagement