Effective Aug. 19, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is raising its monetary-based small business size standards for inflation by an average of 8.4%, an adjustment that the administration expects will allow 90,000 additional companies to participate in its loan and contracting programs. The SBA said that this increase could result in $750 million more total contracts awarded…
In my world, I’m often asked for a list of “best practices” when estimating or managing a construction project. Here are some thoughts, based on personal experience and discussions I’ve had with other folks in the industry. The short answer is that there is no treasure trove of definitive answers to this question. Best practices are…
Ed Mazria, FAIA, is an architect who has been called “game changer” since the early 2000s. That’s when he saw, in energy data, just how much buildings were contributing to emissions. He recognized then the leadership opportunity for the architectural profession. Mazria is still crunching numbers and pushing the industry toward greater, faster impact. Today,…
American Airlines is building a $250 million hotel and conference center at its new $1 billion, 300-acre Fort Worth, Texas, headquarters, according to The Dallas Morning News. The 620,000-square-foot, nine-story building will include a 600-room hotel, a 131,000-square-foot conference center, office and retail space, dining areas and a tavern, all sitting atop three levels of underground…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ study of potential improvements to the Houston Ship Channel is nearing completion. The study, that began in 2015, has been conducted in partnership with Port Houston and has examined the feasibility and national benefits of various widening, deepening and other improvements for the channel. This will be the eleventh…
Ask anyone familiar with construction hazards, and you’ll likely hear about those on OSHA’s Top 10 Safety Violations annual list or the agency’s Fatal Four — falls, struck-by incidents, electrocutions and caught-in-between accidents. The danger of falls, in particular, has garnered the industry’s attention as the most common cause of accidental construction injuries and deaths. And the agency has…
Construction is risky business. According to OSHA, one in every five private sector worker deaths in 2017 (the latest year recorded) was in construction. That’s 971 fatalities. Jobsite safety precautions can address the top culprits: falls, struck by object, electrocution and caught-in/between. However, there is another danger on jobsites that gets less attention but has a much…
Contractors, do you understand that you are throwing away hundreds of thousands of dollars and risking your business when you skirt around regulations by starting and completing a construction project without obtaining a building permit? Sure, they take time out of your busy day, are challenging to obtain and involve lots of documents, but the…
Admit it! You have checked the box next to the Terms and Conditions when making a purchase or signing a contract and never actually look at the terms and conditions a million times. We have all signed contracts without reviewing each paragraph, often just focusing on what it’s going to cost us and how long…
If a worker fell on the jobsite, how fast would the operations and safety managers learn about the incident and be able to locate the worker to render assistance? When a construction company hires a subcontractor for a big job, does it always know if the sub has the promised number of crew members working…
Peer-to-peer marketplace apps are all about getting rid of the often expensive and usually time-consuming intermediary process and connecting users directly to the services they need. This way of doing business has become popular with everything from vacation rentals a la Airbnb to ride sharing via Uber and Lyft. That desire for convenience — and…
IRVING, Texas – ExxonMobil and Global Thermostat said recently that they have signed a joint development agreement to advance breakthrough technology that can capture and concentrate carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources, including power plants, and the atmosphere. ExxonMobil and Global Thermostat to advance breakthrough atmospheric carbon capture technology Technology removes carbon dioxide from industrial sources…
Modular construction is known for shaving time from construction schedules and reducing project budgets. But in the case of the $10 billion ExxonMobil-SABIC ethane steam cracker and plastics plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, it looks like it is also going to do away with some jobs as well. After the two energy giants announced the project a…
Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that the Fluor-led joint venture company composed of Fluor and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc., was selected by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to design and construct the I-635 LBJ East Project in Dallas. The Fluor team’s scope of work includes the widening and full reconstruction of about 11 miles…
Old East Dallas is a mix of historic homes, mid-century and newly built multifamily buildings, and empty lots. A great deal of empty lots. For now, the lots at the corner of Burlew and Scurry streets are relatively empty as well. In some places, they’re even prairie-like. But development signs stipple the landscape, some of…
Houston Endowment (HE), a leading Houston philanthropic organization, and design competition organizers Malcolm Reading Consultants, recently launched the global search for an outstanding design team of architects and landscape architects for HE’s new headquarters. The center, circa 40,000 s.f., will be HE’s new public face and will provide dedicated space for the organization’s team and community…
“Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) is a new concept being driven by today’s technology-enabled world and is the future of mobility as we know it. It’s smart, integrated, on-demand mobility at your fingertips that puts you in charge of your journey. You may see it in examples like rideshare, bikeshare, scooters and many on demand…
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and American Airlines announced Monday that they will build a sixth terminal at DFW and make improvements to existing Terminal C — work representing a capital package worth between $3 billion and $3.5 billion. The airport is making the investment as part of a long-term commitment from American to operate out of DFW. Design…
By: Nathan Estrada First, you may be asking yourself, “How can an attorney be my friend?” A valid question. Second, you may be thinking of the stigma that can be associated with having an attorney. However, an attorney’s job is to protect you and your rights, as well as your business. The road of business…
In the construction industry, the most threatening risks are the ones that go undetected for too long — design flaws that are spotted well into construction, bad habits that could get a craft worker hurt or a hazard that escapes a manager’s attention. Underlying most contractors’ safety programs is a group effort at vigilance on…
