Show the arithmetic: what a change order should look like
A change order with one number on it is a request for trust. Here is what we send instead, and why it takes longer.
Field Notes
What we learned, with the numbers attached.
Written by the people who ran the jobs. No thought leadership, no trend pieces.
Tilt-up or steel: how we price the decision on a distribution building
The answer is usually tilt-up, and the exceptions are predictable. Here is the arithmetic we run.
Eleven questions to ask a contractor before they work in your occupied building
If your building cannot close, the contractor selection criteria are different. These are the questions that separate firms who have done it from firms who say they have.
Why we charge for preconstruction, and what you get that free preconstruction does not include
Free preconstruction is a sales activity. Paid preconstruction is an estimate somebody is accountable for. The difference shows up in month fourteen.
CMAR or design-build: how to choose, and what each one actually costs you
The delivery method decides who carries the risk when the drawings turn out to be wrong. Here is how to pick, in plain terms.
What an EMR of 0.68 actually means, and why most owners read it wrong
The experience modification rate is the most quoted number in contractor prequalification and the least understood. Here is how to read one.
What a geotechnical surprise really costs, using a job where we had one
Eleven feet of uncontrolled fill turned up after the foundation package was priced. The fix was not the obvious one.
Building against a hospital that cannot close
Twenty-six months of steel erection and concrete against a live surgical wing, without shutting an operating room.