Reshaping the Construction Industry

Three actions are necessary to build a thriving, profitable and durable construction industry:

Acceptance. Recognize current situations and challenges and accept they are real.
Leadership. Embrace core values and principles as innovators and leaders.
Solutions. Collaborate among owners, contractors and workforce for solutions.

What challenges is the construction industry facing? What principles, like sustainable value and social responsibility, should industry leaders embrace? Where will the solutions come from?

The All American Home: Creating Jobs by Building American

Submitted by Construction Citizen on Wed, 02/22/2012 - 17:51

Sustainable Value
Social Responsibility

Anders Lewendal is a homebuilder from Bozeman, Montana who also holds a degree in economics. Last month, on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, journalist David Muir featured him and his endeavor to create more jobs in America by convincing contractors to build with American-made products. Lewendal asserts that if every builder used 5% more American materials, over 220,000 jobs would be created in our country.

The videos below feature a home Lewendal is building using 100 percent American-made materials – the nails and screws, the tape, the paint, the insulation, the duct sealant, the door hinges, the windows – everything. To accomplish this, he used a list of American manufacturers who produce the building materials needed. Compiled by The All American Home, this list is growing, and includes companies from over 33 states. Lewendal encourages other contractors to join him in this effort to build with more American-made products. Read more »

Another Bandit Subcontractor Gets Bitten by the Law

Submitted by Jim Kollaer on Mon, 02/13/2012 - 20:57

The economy in California might be on the upswing, but the construction industry falls short regarding the underground economy and wage theft and insurance fraud for one of the bandit firms that we are ferreting out all over the country. Doherty Painting and Construction in Millbrae is neither responsible or honest.

According to an article on National Underwriter’s website Property Casualty 360, Frances Ann Doherty, owner of Doherty Painting and Construction in Millbrae, is accused of stealing from her workers over $600,000 of wages. Not only did she withhold wages owed, she reported to her clients, the city of San Francisco and a number of school districts, that she had paid the prevailing wage to her workers.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire!” According to the California Department of Insurance, Doherty is accused of misreporting over $600,000 in wages and over $100,000 in insurance premiums to her insurance companies. Read more »

What If?

Submitted by Jim Stevenson on Thu, 02/09/2012 - 12:51

The National AGC Safety and Health Conference] was held in San Antonio in January and I had the opportunity to present the Construction Career Collaborative (C³) industry initiative to over 160 safety professionals. The initiative was well received by our safety professionals as a means to verifiably provide safety training to each craft worker and supervisor. Read more »

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Posted by Administrator on Thu, 02/09/2012 - 17:40

Contractors Volunteer to Build New Home for Severely Injured Marine

Submitted by Jim Kollaer on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 19:20

Last weekend in Tomball, Texas, a group of construction industry volunteers worked on building a new home for Lance Corporal Daniel Peterson, a Marine veteran who lost both legs in the war in Afghanistan. The construction team, organized by SpawGlass under the auspices of Homes for our Troops, included volunteers from Marek Brothers Systems and Ryder Insulation Incorporated, who all contributed time and materials to help make this home a reality for this 22 year old hero.

Here is the story of the amazing veteran who gave so much for our freedom.

“While on his second deployment, Marine Special Forces, Lance Corporal Daniel Peterson was left a double amputee after an explosion in the Southern Helmand Province of Afghanistan on July 24, 2010. Read more »

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Posted by Administrator on Thu, 02/09/2012 - 17:38

Sustainable Workforce with Right to Work

Submitted by Jerry Nevlud on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 18:56

Last week Indiana became the 23rd state to become a “right to work” state. Congratulations to Governor Daniels and the people of Indiana. Every business should have the right to go to market the way they so choose. However, I could not help but sympathize a little when I read of some the opponents’ concern of a “downward spiral” as far as it related to the workforce. After all, we only have to look at the current Texas market in regards to the quality of the commercial workforce: aging, less and less skilled, and more and more piecework.

But it really does not have to be that way. With the advent of the Construction Career Collaborative (C³), there is now not only a vehicle to Read more »

Construction Bandits Rip-Off Workers in Florida

Submitted by Jim Kollaer on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 15:02

New Wage Theft and Payroll Fraud Study Released in Florida

According to a recent report in the Florida Independent, wage theft and payroll fraud are rampant in Florida, and the state enforcement mechanism is overwhelmed and grossly understaffed. They cite a recent report from the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy (RISEP) at Florida International University entitled Wage Theft: An Economic Drain on Florida – How Millions of Dollars are Stolen from Florida's Workforce that illustrates the nature of the wage theft and payroll fraud issue in Florida, specifically in 5 industries: Accommodation and Food Services, Retail, Construction, Healthcare and Social Services and Administrative Support. Read more »

Who are the Bandits?

Submitted by Jim Kollaer on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 14:12

First of all I have to tell you that I think that the subcontractors who hire day laborers, work them 12-14 hours a day, and then don’t pay them their base pay or even the overtime that they are due are bandits. They steal from the workers, they steal taxes from the state, they steal from the IRS, and ultimately they steal from you and me.
I don’t much care for that at all.

On top of that they expose the workers to unsafe jobsite conditions, and they take the chance that the construction is not high quality, so that you and I get exposed to the possibility of injury or worse when we occupy those unsafe buildings and apartments.

In the down economy when jobs are scarce, bids only ring the bell when they are much lower than the Read more »

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Posted by Administrator on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 13:36

Construction Career Collaborative Prepares to Launch

Submitted by Construction Citizen on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 14:42

Last month Cornerstone, the quarterly magazine of American General Contractors Houston (AGC), published an article about the Construction Career Collaborative (C³), the initiative advanced by socially responsible owners, contractors and specialty contractors in the Houston area to improve the commercial construction industry by embracing principles that will lead to a sustainable craft workforce. Titled Building a Viable Career Path: C³ Brings Owners and Contractors Together in Favor of Training, Fair Wages, and High-Quality Craft Workers, the article offers a comprehensive view of C³ from its task force origin two years ago through its development and promotion to its current position preparing to launch with a few “beta” projects. Read more »

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Posted by Administrator on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 16:13

One of the Industry “Good Guys” Produces a Video

Submitted by Construction Citizen on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 21:57

Drywall and plaster contractor BakerTriangle is a company that runs their business with integrity and pays their employees responsibly. They are one of the companies in the construction industry which plays by the rules, delivering quality work through employees who are treated right.

Johnny Barnes, President of BakerTriangle Dallas, Ltd, proudly states in the following video that for the last 38 years, BakerTriangle has paid payroll taxes, benefits, 401K and profit sharing for everyone they have hired. Jerry Smith, President of BakerTriangle Austin Ltd, states: Read more »

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Posted by Administrator on Thu, 01/05/2012 - 01:18

Update on Misclassification in Texas Construction

Submitted by Construction Citizen on Tue, 12/27/2011 - 19:41

On July 13, Construction Citizen shared a story first reported by Dallas/Fort Worth television station WFAA about misclassification of workers on a school construction project. Last week, the same WFAA reporter submitted an update to the story.

The original story featured a subcontractor who lost the bid for work on Mansfield Independent School District’s Center for the Performing Arts to a competitor who does not pay payroll taxes, unemployment tax, or workers’ compensation insurance. Following the investigation and airing of the story, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) charged Mireles, the subcontractor who was hired for the project but did not pay those taxes, for Read more »

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Reshaping the Construction Industry

The All American Home: Creating Jobs by Building American

Another Bandit Subcontractor Gets Bitten by the Law

What If?

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Contractors Volunteer to Build New Home for Severely Injured Marine

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Sustainable Workforce with Right to Work

Construction Bandits Rip-Off Workers in Florida

Who are the Bandits?

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Construction Career Collaborative Prepares to Launch

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One of the Industry “Good Guys” Produces a Video

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Update on Misclassification in Texas Construction