ConstructConnect Blog

The construction industry again had the highest number of fatalities of all industries in 2019 with 1,061 worker deaths. This is a 5.3% increase over the 1,008 fatal injuries in 2018. It’s the highest total since 2007 when the industry recorded 1,204 fatal work injuries. The construction industry represented 21.6% of all private industry worker deaths in 2019.

It’s time once again to unveil ConstructConnect’s Top 5 Coolest Buildings of the Year. Each year it gets harder and harder to narrow down our picks to just five buildings. In a normal year, we typically see a few of the projects we have in early consideration get delayed or postponed, and 2020 was no exception, thanks in no small part to the coronavirus pandemic. That being said, there were a number of great projects to come out of 2020 and this list could have easily been expanded to the Top 10 or Top 15 Coolest Buildings of the Year.

When it comes to the construction business, the only thing that defines success is the quality of relationships. Either it is the relationships with the customers or the suppliers, it is the key to business continuity that defines the growth model.

Not that long ago, general contractors who weren't using a subcontractor prequalification process were taking a huge risk. We were in the midst of the Great Recession and good contracting opportunities were becoming harder and harder to find. This led to more firms, both general contractors and subcontractors, bidding on projects they weren't equipped to handle. General contractors were focused more on getting the lowest bid from subcontractors rather than making sure they were capable of adequately performing the work.

Putting together a winning bid proposal, or even a competitive one, takes knowledge and skill. It’s a bit more complicated than just putting some numbers together and hoping for the best. Good bid preparation requires a lot of time and effort and involves everything from reading and fully understanding the plans and specifications to accurately estimating costs for labor, materials and equipment. Making even the smallest mistake can mean the difference between submitting a winning bid and missing out on a coveted and profitable project. We’ve put together our top 10 tips for submitting better bids.

Building Information Modeling, I think it’s safe to say, is one of the biggest developments in the construction space in the last 50 years. It gives building projects a central repository of information that helps keep projects running on time, to budget, and reduces the risk of costly errors such as clashing, among others.

While early builders proved that construction with primitive tools and materials is possible, it would take them generations to accomplish what modern teams can do in a few months.

Most jobs are already tough enough without cuts and bruises. Add these hand injuries into the equation, and you get a whole new level of complication. Worst of all, some injuries could even keep you away from work. Nothing could help prevent these injuries better than a pair of high-quality work gloves—they reduce the risk of occupational injury by up to 70%.

Many construction companies operate on razor thin margins and most are definitely not strangers to cash flow issues. Compound those with a crisis and things can get rocky fast. However, dealing with financial hardships and challenging stretches in business life have given contractors and other construction business owners the skills and steadfastness to withstand difficult times.

Construction project management is not a one-size-fits-all practice. Managers and supervisors will change their practices to suit a specific job site, but some approaches continue to be favorites regardless of time, distance or specific need. What are the most popular project management approaches in the construction industry, and why are they essential?