Construction Industry Innovations

Duties of Professional Building Contractors

Posted on January 22, 2012

A professional building contractor is a person who is usually responsible for the proper construction of a building whether it is a residence building or a building built for business purposes. Therefore, they assume lots of duties as well as responsibilities. Their main duty is to have an overview of all the processes and efforts made for the construction of proper structure of the building. There are lots of other duties as well.

A professional building contractor generally is a person who participates in everything related to the development of a building like planning, coordinating, maintaining quality work, taking safety measures and keeping deadline. A professional contractor may be the one who has the power to oversee the building and make sure that all the necessary arrangements are made for the completion of the construction of the building.

There are several duties and responsibilities which a professional contractor should complete regularly to make sure that the overall construction of the project is carried out within the deadline maintaining all the requirements of the customers. The first and foremost duty of any building contractor is usually to implement an idea so that the overall construction project can be carried out to perfection. This extends between hiring competent workers to having a guideline for a specific project that will be strictly followed from the beginning to the end.

Despite the fact that not all professional the building contractors are the same and not all of them use or follow the same techniques, there are some similarities between them. They have everything needed for the proper construction of a building along with leadership qualities as well as the mentality to complete a project within a deadline to maintain high quality of works.

There are some distinctive differences between building contractors and general contractors. General contractors are people who usually work for a specific company at the expense of a salary on a specific contract or monthly basis. General contractors are responsible for the design and proper execution of work that is done. They are also responsible for the supply of materials along with labor and necessary equipments for the construction of the building. To be brief, general contractors are the ones heavily involved in the making of a building but not in terms of strategy or delegation with their clients. They just have to maintain what they are told to do by the concerned authority of a building construction company.

To conclude, professional building contractors play a great role in the construction of a building. Any potential clients need to find a building contractor with the required skill they need and a reputation of maintaining deadline. The duty of the building contractor is to look after the rest of the project.

Construction Management

Posted on November 22, 2011

Like any other business activity, construction management is important in the successful implementation of a home construction project. In construction management, the homeowner hires a construction management professional to handle the supervision of all phases of the construction of the home building. It starts with the drafting of the construction plans (and in some instances include the conceptualization process) and terminates upon the final completion and turnover of the project. The main objective of construction management is to see to it that the construction plans and technical specifications are implemented in accordance with the construction contract executed between the homeowner and the building contractor hired by the former. Construction management is sometimes called construction supervision or contract supervision management. It is covered by a separate contract between the owner and the construction management consultant.

The jobs rendered by the construction management consultant are grouped as follows:

• In some cases, and at the discretion of the owner, the conceptualization of the project is assigned to the contract management professional.

• In charge of drafting and finalizing the construction plans including the details and technical specifications.

• Prepares the estimated construction cost of the project.

• Prepares guidelines in the pre-qualification of contractors and handles the bidding of the home construction project including the selection of the building contractor.

• Supervise the overall construction activities and see to it that the construction plans and technical specifications are followed.

• Evaluates the performance of the contractor and approves his billings.

• Enforces the provision of the construction agreement and sets rules on construction methodology and other aspects of the work.

• Conducts regular and final inspection of the project.

• Accepts the project upon final completion.

Construction management can be performed by the homeowner if he has the knowledge about the construction plans, technical specifications, cost estimates, all phases of the construction activities and capabilities in evaluating the bids of contractors. He can save on the management fees to be paid to the contract management consultant which is normally between five to ten percent of the construction cost. If the project is by management, the construction management is done away with by strictly adhering to the plans and specifications of the building project.

This aspect of consultancy work is handled by competent professional engineers and architects with proven track record in their field of expertise. A seasoned contract manager is one who is well versed on all aspects of the work under supervision. Do not compromise on this expert work just to cut your budget. Your best pick will show up on the completed home project.

Construction Industry Tradesmen

Posted on November 21, 2011

The government seem determined to make construction industry tradesmen work until they drop or better still, until we end up in a wooden box. People in the UK on average work a lot more hours than our European counterparts in general, but this Conservative/Liberal Government want us to work even harder. Construction industry tradesmen need to retire early.

Does anyone ever consider the physical efforts involved in a particular industry?

Work hard and you get respect. Work hard and you get 2 homes and a car with heated seats. Work extra hard and spend half your life working with people you don't like, never see your children, never see the wife, but earn loads of money they can spend. Work hard in a construction trade and all you will achieve is a Bad back, Tennis elbow, Hearing Loss and if you are really lucky... a Knee replacement. Now the government is trying to make construction workers spend even more time at work. Only God himself will know what joys in retirement constructions workers will have, that's if they ever get to that age. Some well being advice can be found at I-BRICK.COM, which may help people have a better quality life.

Bricklayers

Let's look at one particular trade and try to work out the actual stress that will be put on the human body in the course of their natural working life. It's difficult to work out exactly, so let's do some calculations that may just help people realise the effects such hard work will have on the "Old Bones".

• Concrete Blocks: 34, 000 tonnes per working life • Mortar: 10,000 tonnes per working life • Concrete Lintels: 1000 tonnes per working life • Shovels of sand: 800,000 per working life • Trowels full of mortar: Millions Read more...

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