Construction, busy or slowing down

[MTGomer]

Since I made this post I have received 7 requests for construction staking for Monday morning. (Next business day)

I have two survey crews in that area. I want to have more but can’t get workers.

One of my crews is booked with work that can’t move out in the schedule.
I’ll bump the other crew’s boundary work later in the week. At best I’ll get to 2/7 request.
This leaves 5 construction projects un serviced.
Due to 1) my inability to service them. 2) those contractor’s inability to hire quality employees that can manage projects. Next day survey requests reflect a lack of planning and management capabilities by people with the title “project manager”.

Since typing this comment, I have seen two projects that will face delays due to poor management.

1) structural engineers revised the lengths of some buildings. PM never sent or told us about the revisions. Never told concrete sub about the revisions.
Now there are 3 buildings with slabs poured that don’t match the structural design by half a foot.

2) on another job it was apparently determined that a CMU wall needed to be redesigned to be 3 feet in a different place to allow for a elec line to be added to the utilities that will run between the wall and the property line.
The plans with the revisions were never sent to us, nor the block wall contractors. Trenchers showed up today to install trench/conduit and left the job because they can’t achieve the required separation from other utilities due to the wall being in the wrong spot.


All of this could be solved by a $140k/+ college educated construction manager hitting the forward arrow, typing my name into his email and saying “revised plans attached”

It’s astonishing.

 

[INMT]

Since typing this comment, I have seen two projects that will face delays due to poor management.

1) structural engineers revised the lengths of some buildings. PM never sent or told us about the revisions. Never told concrete sub about the revisions.
Now there are 3 buildings with slabs poured that don’t match the structural design by half a foot.

2) on another job it was apparently determined that a CMU wall needed to be redesigned to be 3 feet in a different place to allow for a elec line to be added to the utilities that will run between the wall and the property line.
The plans with the revisions were never sent to us, nor the block wall contractors. Trenchers showed up today to install trench/conduit and left the job because they can’t achieve the required separation from other utilities due to the wall being in the wrong spot.


All of this could be solved by a $140k/+ college educated construction manager hitting the forward arrow, typing my name into his email and saying “revised plans attached”

It’s astonishing.

Sounds like there’s either some massive dipshits or drunks down in AZ.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Sounds like there’s either some massive dipshits or drunks down in AZ.

Sounds like there’s a couple of architects and interior designers who worked on my last big project who moved to AZ and became project managers…

 

[rogerthat]

Sounds like there’s either some massive dipshits or drunks down in AZ.

It’s not just Arizona. Good PM’s are hard to come by anymore.

 

[BigHornRam]

I'm too busy to argue with you guys for at least the next 3 or 4 months.



Local lumber yard is projecting a record sales year already.

 

[D_Walt]

Curious what the overall # of housing starts in your area/MSA are? Being “busy” is a relative thing, in the Texas markets we cover I am expecting 35,000 housing starts in 2025, and we’ll have 40% of the market with the product in the part of the company I manage. It’s relatively low margin, high volume business.

 

[Nick87]

It’s astonishing.

It's crazy the swing we see from some really great pm's to "I have a pulse". Less and less of the good ones.

 

[BearFoot]

I live in "The Valley" Alaska. 48 years. Commercial & residential new construction is strong. While semi-retired, I've six jobs lined up this summer, that I can't pass up! It's so, so, so, good.
AK has vast reserves of gas, oil, coal, gold, zink, copper, more, timber in abundance. Trade talks about gas exports, trade talks connecting AK railroad to Canada rail. We have it all, what the world wants, and needs. We got everything. Alaska has positive future looking folks, that seek the better in everything. It's being unleashed, with & in spite of tremendous opposition.

 

[belshawelk]

in my world swimming pools its all about location and income. I cover everything from Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, west except CA,AZ. The problem is getting to be the overall cost of materials. Not that the money isn't there from home owners, but its getting expensive as a project.
Places like CO,UT, ID all doing well. Slower in MW states

 

[Hem]

I'm too busy to argue with you guys for at least the next 3 or 4 months.

View attachment 370483

Local lumber yard is projecting a record sales year already.

I was expecting you to be done by now.

 

[Dave N]

I was expecting you to be done by now.

Beginning of October, at least.

 

[nwihunter]

I work in commercial construction in Chicago and most of the union trades that I work with have said their companies are slow right now. I know it’s the case with the company that I work for. Not many tower cranes up right now at all and that is a pretty good indication of how work is in the city.

 

[Bambistew]

Im turning away more work than ever… its crazy how busy it is.

 

[Nick87]

Tower crane work has been super slow since covid. So has most work in the actual city for that matter.

Not many tower cranes up right now at all and that is a pretty good indication of how work is in the city.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Since typing this comment, I have seen two projects that will face delays due to poor management.

1) structural engineers revised the lengths of some buildings. PM never sent or told us about the revisions. Never told concrete sub about the revisions.
Now there are 3 buildings with slabs poured that don’t match the structural design by half a foot.

2) on another job it was apparently determined that a CMU wall needed to be redesigned to be 3 feet in a different place to allow for a elec line to be added to the utilities that will run between the wall and the property line.
The plans with the revisions were never sent to us, nor the block wall contractors. Trenchers showed up today to install trench/conduit and left the job because they can’t achieve the required separation from other utilities due to the wall being in the wrong spot.


All of this could be solved by a $140k/+ college educated construction manager hitting the forward arrow, typing my name into his email and saying “revised plans attached”

It’s astonishing.

Doubt it makes you feel better, but it happens all the time in my field.

Ive come to think the industry is a bit broken. Literally no one provides design input as you move through premliminary design. Everyone rushes to get the ifc out, cause the 'shovels are waiting', when at 90% or ifc rev 0 (when client, owner, EOR, county, contractor finally decide to give feedback) a plethora of changes got made that never got corroborated by other parties.

The whole design process is intended to be incremental so that details/plans get drawn and edited as little as possible. Instead - its become commonplace/expectation to re-edit/design everything at the 11th hour - and then theres no time/money left to make everything right.

I wont say I envy folks who did drafting by hand - I do wish though that people didnt get accustomed to redoing so much because of CAD.

 

[MTGomer]

Doubt it makes you feel better, but it happens all the time in my field.

Ive come to think the industry is a bit broken. Literally no one provides design input as you move through premliminary design. Everyone rushes to get the ifc out, cause the 'shovels are waiting', when at 90% or ifc rev 0 (when client, owner, EOR, county, contractor finally decide to give feedback) a plethora of changes got made that never got corroborated by other parties.

The whole design process is intended to be incremental so that details/plans get drawn and edited as little as possible. Instead - its become commonplace/expectation to re-edit/design everything at the 11th hour - and then theres no time/money left to make everything right.

I wont say I envy folks who did drafting by hand - I do wish though that people didnt get accustomed to redoing so much because of CAD.

The other thing is… I almost never see project schedules anymore. It used to be customary to have a project schedule, critical path items identified, this week scheduled, a one week look ahead, etc.
updates distributed to all parties every week. That just simply does not happen and people look at you like you are insane if you suggest it should.