Scheduling

• Preventing Handoff Errors (Subscriber content)

  Putting all the paperwork for a project in a single notebook ensures details don't get lost during the transition from sales to production

   
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  Breaking Through the Language Barrier

  Going back to school to learn Spanish can pay big dividends in the field

   

• Active vs. Passive Fall Protection

  Either guardrails or safety harness systems can be used to proect workers from falls

   

• Controlling Whole-House Remodeling Costs (Subscriber content)

  Managing customer and architect expectations can head off problems in a remodeling project.

   
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  Why You Should Cross-Train Your Employees

  Temporarily moving your employees to different jobs will get them enthused about both your company and their job.

   
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  Getting Started with Flowcharts and Process Mapping

  Free and inexpensive webware to help you create flowcharts.

   
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  Reach for the Sky: ReechCraft PowerLift

  Achieve easier access to work at height indoors or outdoors with the 20-foot reach of the PowerLift personnel platform.

   
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  Comparing Cloud-Based Apps: CompuTool and BuildTools.com

  The type of company you operate and the kind of work you do should guide your choice of cloud-based applications and services.

   
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  Getting Started With Strategic Planning (Subscriber content)

  It's almost 2012 and time again for annual planning.

   
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  Tracking Changes With Variance Purchase Orders (Subscriber content)

  This month I want to talk about one of the most important aspects of a purchasing system: the ability to accurately capture, manage, and minimize unwanted job-cost variances.

   

• New Jersey Towns Waive Permit Fees in Flood Recovery

   
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  Put Your Construction Business Purchasing Systems to Work

  In July we discussed the basics of a purchasing system, and how it can help you control costs and improve the quality of your projects.

   
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  Control Costs With a Purchasing System (Subscriber content)

  For the past several columns we've been talking about the importance of gross profit and contribution margin, or the amount that each job "contributes" toward overcoming your annual fixed overhead expenses and reaching your profit target.

   
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  Make More By Controlling Your Growth

  When I was a young builder in the early '80s, there was an old-timer in town who worked with a couple of his sons, a small crew, and a handful of good local subcontractors.

   
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  Convoluted Layers in the Lighting Supply Chain

  How and why it came to be this way.

   

• JLC Report (Subscriber content)

  Outsourcing paperwork with a PEO; high-school building program faces closure; defective-drywall guide raises eyebrows; more

   

• Four Alternatives to the Competitive Bidding Process (Subscriber content)

  A recent experience got me thinking about the competitive bid process.

   
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  Protecting Profits in Your Construction Business (Subscriber content)

  Let's begin this month by reviewing some basic financial concepts and benchmarks.

   
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  Faster Time Tracking (Subscriber content)

  This automated time clock can speed payroll, improve job-costing, and help you estimate more accurately.

   
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  Business (Subscriber content)

  Budgeting for your marketing, sales, and project starts