Factors that affects the construction industry

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For the functioning of any industry/business, there are few factors that have to work positively or else the chances of the industry to develop any further become obscure. This is why there are companies who have hired strategists so that they can frame plans to ensure that the factors that can have a positive impact on their company never cease to exist. The entire construction domain heavily depends on such factors which in a way have to be conducive for the industry to exist. For instance, constant availability of raw materials is one of the most important immediate requirements of the construction business. A couple of days ago you may find the stock to be in order but just within 2 days you may find it to be almost empty. Now the contacts that you have with the suppliers’ is instrumental. That acts as one of the factor.

After having ordered the materials you also need to keep a tab on the time it may take for the stuffs to come. Now there can be some factors which are beyond our control. Factors like flood, hurricane and other such natural catastrophes can’t be known and therefore if something of this kind strikes the place from where the raw materials was supposed to come it will only unnecessarily delay the project. It is therefore important that you have to foresee the requirement as you will not be able to foresee the catastrophe and accordingly keep your stock up to date.

There are also few factors that can affect the overall construction industry positively. One such example is fall in the price of fuel or lowering of interest rate by the federal government. Both can be good news for the construction company who manufactures condos, PUDs and single unit residences. They will be able to save a lot on fuel and still get the same work done and sell it at no lesser price or perhaps at a slightly lesser price. Fall in the interest rates does not have a direct impact on the construction company but it more or less benefits the common man who goes out hunting for a home. If the interest rate is down, it means that the general public will now aggressively look for a property and the construction company will be able to sell their produces like hot cakes during this time.

Construction industry is closely linked with the heavy equipment sector. So if there comes a problem in the heavy equipment sector, it will have a direct and a big impact on the construction industry. Fall in fuel price normally hurt the economy of the heavy equipment industry. This means that though the fall in fuel price can bring smile on the faces of the contractors but can simultaneously make the heavy equipment industry look grimmer. Heavy equipment companies will therefore begin cutting costs by shutting down few of their offices or can even increase the price of their machine to sustain. They may even call off the production of some affordable heavy equipment to save themselves from incurring losses.

 

How to hire competent operators

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Hiring competent workforce can be a real challenge for any company. They often see this as a pain and the HR finds this to be the most challenging task out of the many activities they conduct on a daily basis. It is simply not possible for any human being to judge another person by having a 15 minute talk. You may not know if the person knows about the subject that the company wants him to work on or for that matter how the person will be facing once he is hired. If the job demands a person who can work under pressure, it is virtually not possible for an HR to identify the person who can indeed work under pressure and still deliver results. But when the company needs human resource, the HR team has to get into this work of hiring men/women and they have to ensure that they pick the right guys/gals from the lot that come for the interview.

The construction industry is a highly competitive business and here the impact of hiring a wrong candidate can prove to be really costly to the company. The HR of the company does understand the seriousness of the business and this is the reason why they take utter precaution while hiring for important positions. They conduct levels of interview with the same person in order to judge the kind of person he/she is. The different levels of interviews are held by different people and then their view on the interviewee is collated and a decision is finally taken if they all agree to hire him or not.

Hiring an operator becomes more challenging because here the person interviewing the candidate should have little technical knowledge about heavy equipment and how it works. So firstly, the ground level HR can interview him by checking his credentials and qualifications. If the HR finds him to be apt then he goes to the next round where he is interviewed by guys with sound technical knowledge.

Asking the right question is important:-

When you are hiring an operator, you can’t ask him questions that are relevant to a mechanic. You should be checking with him the different types of heavy equipment that he/she has worked on and the models. On the basis of his answer, you should be putting forth your next question. He may not be able to answer a question that does not fall within his domain and therefore asking the right question is important.

Check his skills on the machine:-

When you are hiring heavy equipment operator, you should make it a point to check his skills on the machine. You can provide him with construction equipment and give him a task to complete. The task should not be a complex one as you are only checking his skill and not trying to get a part of the work done. You need to see how well he can maneuver and how smooth he is on the machine. If the operator is really good on it, you can hire him.

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Construction companies should hire competent contractors

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Competency is the need of the hour in any form of industry. No matter how qualified you are, in the end all that matter is how effectively you can execute the responsibility. It all depends on your competency level and how experienced you are pertaining to a given type of work. It is a no brainer for any company that they will hire guys who have the competency to deliver in time and outperform whenever required. As a matter of fact, this is the real reason behind the success of any industry. Volatile industries are more dependent on competent employees. They just can’t afford to hire guys who do not possess the skill to execute a given responsibility. It will lead to the debacle of the business and will eventually have to wind up. Construction industry is also considered to be a volatile form of business and therefore it is a must to get onboard a project with highly skilled men.

A construction company after bagging a project starts hunting for contractors. They know for sure that they can’t complete the project singlehandedly and they will require the co-operation of contractors. This is also perhaps the reason why we have contractors in existence. The real work is indeed done by the contractors. The construction companies only deal with bagging the projects and then they hand it over to the next level to take care of the execution part and in this case the next level is the contractors. Hence it becomes quite imperative to hire highly competent contractors. The future of the construction companies more or less is dependent on the quality of work that they can get from their contractors. It is therefore equally important to set up a benchmark to hire contractors. Anybody falling short of it will not be a part of the project.

Detailed study of contractors is essential:-

Before you hire a contractor for your project, it is essential that you do a thorough study of the entity. Remember, here you are not hiring an individual that you will not have enough time to screen the person. Since you will be hiring an entity you can get volumes of information from internet. You can check the reviews and accordingly take your call. More importantly, you can speak to other construction companies with whom you have good terms and know if they have ever encountered with the contractor that you are likely to hire. Try to gain as much data as you can before you finally pick them up for work.

Monitor the performance at regular intervals:-

The work of a construction company does not end after hiring a contractor who is renowned for its work in the industry. The company should also ensure that it takes some time out and monitor the performance of the project. This is crucial to be done as the project is owned by the company and not by the contractor. It will be supreme if the construction company works hand in hand with the contractor. This will give the company a better control over things.

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Starting an utility company

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Though construction business is considered to be the most rewarding business but there are few businesses that are associated with it which are equally rewarding. One of them is the utility business. What we understand from the word utility business is a business that covers the work of installing sewer mains, pipelines, gas pipelines, communication lines and things thereon. If one is intending to start a business that involves installing the utilities, he/she will find it to be a rewarding business. It is definitely not as simple as it sound but it is definitely not an impossible task to start a utility company. Once you have started an utility company, you can expect businesses coming from all spheres. You can expect getting contracts from government as well as from private concerns. The job of a utility company also includes installing traffic signals, street lights, power lines and things of that sort. So this means that you got to have the right people for the job.

Hiring competent workforce:-

Once you have a utility company, you start dealing with many things and therefore you need to have people who are competent in doing many things. If at all, they are expert in one particular field then you got to search for guys who can take care of some different department. For example, if you have guys who are excellent workers when it comes to installing sewer mains or pipelines but they do not know much about communication lines or power lines. This means that you need to hire people who know about that stuff as well. Once you are in this business you tend to get all types of work and you can’t say “NO” to any of them. Therefore, having the right men by your side is of uttermost importance.

Hunt for clients:-

By no means should you feel that you have lot of clients from whom you can get enough work. You never know when you will be short of clients. Therefore, you better keep your hunt on for more clients. More clients definitely means more business and more business will only benefit your company. There are some good opportunities in installing gas pipelines as there are natural gas companies who are also in hunt for utility companies that have experience in laying gas pipelines. So that sounds to be a good deal. Similarly, there are more such business opportunities that you will get in you keep your hunt on.

Have good knowledge of the regulatory policies:-

In a utility company you would be dealing with crucial things that need sanctions from the concerned authorities. There are lots of policies in place which one needs to be aware of. So people who things that anybody can start a utility business needs to think all over again. You got to know most of the regulatory policies so that you do not go wrong when it comes with the law of the land. You can also hire an able attorney who will take care of the legalities but you should be ready to pay them a heavy price for their service.

Different departments should work in tandem

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The success of any business lies on how collectively different departments of the company are able to work. To work as a team is quite a crucial component for the success of any business and when it is about the construction industry, team work becomes all the more important. A big construction industry has a lot of things to take care of and all needs to be in sync with each other for smooth functioning of the business. If any of the department lags then it will have a hard impact on all the other departments and they will face a tough time to deal with the shortcomings of that one department. This is the reason why if at all a department lags behind or is not able to cope up due to some issues that needs to be addressed then and there so that it does not lead to any further complication.

Collective effort from Admin and payroll team is needed:-

The Admin and Payroll team of a construction company plays a big role in managing the office expenses as well as ensuring that all the employees are paid fairly and correctly at the end of every week or bi-weekly as they receive the amount. The payroll team has to be very stringent with records keeping and stuff so that they do not overpay or underpay anybody. Problems and confusions do happen in a big company and if any employee experiences such an issue then that should be cleared at the earliest. Also steps should be taken to ensure that such mistakes do not happen again. To avoid mistakes or confusions, these 2 departments have to work very closely with each other. It becomes the responsibility of the head of the departments to check that things are moving smoothly and if there has been problems check the steps taken by the team to resolve it.

Growth of construction business:-

Growth of construction business largely depends on effective communication between several departments and effective communication is possible when people from different departments know each other. For instance, the operators who are in-charge of heavy equipment should know people from the support team (heavy equipment mechanics) as they are dependent on a large scale on the support team. Simultaneously, the support team should also provide quick response to any issue that has come up in the site. Heavy equipment are bound to fall sick. The mechanics should provide their help by getting things right on the machine.

Loopholes if any should be weed out:-

Any type of loophole that a department experiences should be taken care of in the first level itself. It should not be allowed to creep any further. If there is a situation that can’t be controlled in the first level and needs involvement of guys from another level then that should be informed to them in advance. They should be aware of the situation so that they can take necessary steps and be prepared to deal with it. This kind of collaboration is required the most in a construction segment.

Collaborate with giant construction companies to get exposed to big projects

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Owner of every construction company dreams to grow and take his company to a point where it will not be a problem for him to get projects after giving proper introduction of his company. Just the name of the company should be enough for entities to give work to him. Well, if a person works hard he will definitely find his place but just working hard will not do the trick for him. He also needs to be smart enough to grab opportunities coming from all corners. He should be in a position to understand his capabilities and based on that take up as it comes on his way. As and when he becomes more experienced and develops his portfolio to an extent that he can now move to the next level. The next level is to get into collaboration with giant construction companies. There you will get the exposure to work in big construction projects and develop your company’s portfolio even further.

Big companies need small companies to work for them:-

You may have heard a giant construction company bagging a huge project and you may wonder how on earth they have so much of resources to work on such a massive construction project. Well, these guys play smart. They definitely do not have so much capital and other resources to manage such a magnificent work but they still manage to do it by collaborating with small construction companies. It would be prudent to say that they incorporate other small companies and contractors and use their resources to work on the project. These small companies are paid in phases. Once they complete a phase of work they are paid their dues and then a review is done on the quality of work. If the company finds it to be satisfactory then they continue with them or else they do away with them. At times, they also review the work during the mid of the project so that things do not go out of control and they can make some changes if the construction work looks shabby.

Keep an eye on the market and meet companies quite often:-

Small construction companies who dare to dream big should constantly keep an eye on the market and check the latest happenings in the construction world. They should be aware of any upcoming project and also keep the names of the company handy who all are vying for it. Once that is known the companies should be contacted and quotations should be given to them. Now the ball goes to their court. They will check your credentials and see if you fall fit for the job. Ensure that you meet the companies quite often so that you do not go off their minds.

Do not get disheartened if you are not given the opportunity in a mega project. You can eye for the next one for settle for something less for the time being. Take your time to develop your name in the construction sector and once companies start knowing you they will invariably give you work.

How to do inspection in heavy equipment auctions? Hire local heavy equipment dealers

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Heavy equipment auctions have the ability to draw in huge number of people. Right from contractors to owners of the construction company all would want to have the best from auction and this is why it is quite essential to have someone inspect the auction. The inspection is required to see that everything is carried out in a smooth manner and that nobody has any sort of complain with the auction process. The auction process is in itself a very complex and time consuming process.

 

Anything that involves a mammoth crowd who wants to have their piece of share from the items getting auctioned can become chaotic at any given point of time and therefore the necessity to have someone inspect the auction is of utter importance. Other than that it is not feasible for the organizers of an auction to maintain the crowd and they have to give that work to someone else. Similarly, it is also important to ensure that the auction is conducted fairly without the intervention of any forces that might steer the entire process to their benefit.

 

Some auctioneers are smart and they try to take people on a ride. They kind of indulge in practices that increase the price of the item which then goes for the auction. This means that the price at which the auction begins is an inflated one and anything that goes beyond that price is certainly a profit for them. An inappropriate profit for the seller but definitely not going well with the buyer as he will pay more for a construction equipment which actually does not cost the price he is paying.

 

The best way to deal with this is to hire local heavy equipment dealers who have fair degree of knowledge about heavy equipment and the price that each machine would be of. Since they are always engaged in the business of selling heavy equipment, they will be the suitable one from the lot to judge if the auction is going the right way.

 

Advice and information center:-

 

The local heavy equipment dealers can also work as an advisory to the visitors that have come for the auction. People can reach out to them and can seek suggestion on the heavy equipment that is there for auction. What ideally happens here is that the people get a fair idea of what they will be dealing with and if the item they will buy will be indeed worth their money. Other than that they will get an assurance from the expert about the exact condition of the machine. The heavy equipment dealers should be impartial body and should not display their loyalty to any party.

 

Auctioneers should place an ad to hire the dealers:-

There is no point in hiring heavy equipment dealers whom the auctioneers know and have good rapport with. They should be hiring people whom they do not know or who will be impartial to the entire process and can inspect the auction till the end without any flaw. For that, they should place an ad and then pick the dealers.

Worried that your heavy equipment may get stolen – install cameras

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It is natural for us to care for the expensive item that we possess. There is always a fear that those expensive items might get stolen if we do not take proper care to keep it in a place that we consider as safe. Therefore we take every possible measure to keep it hidden and away from the eyes of any miscreant. This is possible as far as the expensive item is small in size but what about those items that is big enough to be hidden or even if you try to hide them there is someone or the other who will get to know about it and can then make every attempt to steal it. You buy an expensive car and you may stay a bit worried that someone might steal that and therefore you keep that in your garage completely locked. But you can’t do the same for your heavy equipment which are left open in the construction site. If you have a lot of heavy equipment that are working on the construction site, it will be next to impossible to lock it in some garage. You have to think of something else to keep it safe.

Well in such a situation, the best that you can do is install cameras around the jobsite and appoint some security personnel who will keep a close watch on the screen to check if anybody is trying to be become smarter and making his way to steal either of your machines. There is a chance that the robbers may come with their faces masked and try to first break off the camera. Well, if this is what they do first the security guys sitting inside the control room will get to know about it as they will find the screen has gone blank which will suggest that someone has ended up breaking the cameras. They can then go to that direction to nab the culprits.

The price of the cameras are hardly few dollars and definitely far lesser than the price of the heavy equipment. So one should buy them without thinking twice and secure all the machines from getting stolen. You also have cameras that rotate 180 degrees which means that you do not have to install more cameras on the jobsite. If the jobsite covers few acres of land, you may have to invest a bit on cameras or else a couple of them should be fine. Either ways it will be a win-win situation for you and you can sleep without having any worries or fear of your machines getting stolen.

While hiring the security guys, you should ensure that they have some experience in guarding things. They should know how to monitor things on the switch between multiple monitors. The existence of cameras will have no importance if you have recruited incompetent workforce to guard your belongings and will eventually lose it. However, if you have the guys trained there is negligible chance for someone to have the opportunity to steal the heavy machines.

Market your work to big companies

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In the construction sector it is all about getting new projects one after the other. The moment you are done with one project you should ensure that you have another one in hand or else your labor will be idle. Although most of the labor force comes from the union but at times you hire the cream and make them a part of your company. So you can’t afford to be out of project at any given point in time. If you are a small construction company and have always taken up small projects, it is perhaps the time that you begin to try to get work from big companies.

Big construction companies usually require small companies and contractors to work on their project. They deploy very few of their labor force at work and give contracts to other small companies. It makes sense to take up work from them. This will give you the much needed exposure that you need to grow as a company.

Create a strong profile of your work:-

Before you approach to any of a giant construction company, you need to make sure that you have a strong profile of your company to put across. These big companies do not give contracts to any lay construction company. After all it is a matter of their reputation and they will not do anything to put it at stake and hence will acquire the best resource to complete the project. Now you have to prepare your profile in such a way that by having a glimpse of it they should appreciate it and should feel proud enough to have you as a part of their institution. You will ideally go to them with a Power-point presentation where you will mention the key projects that you have completed and your role towards the completion if you were not the sole player. Also talk about the types of heavy equipment you have at your disposal or can acquire them if you come across a bigger project.

Your experience should talk about you:-

If you are a company that is into the business for the last few years then you should talk about your experience and the different types of work your company has got into. If you specialize in a particular genre of work then that should be highlighted and spread it across the board that they will not find anyone doing the same work better than you. Design a website that looks professional and speaks volume about the construction world and also about the projects that you have been associated with. These big companies need you. All they want to make sure is that you are the right guy for them and this is exactly what you also need to pass it across to them.

The project undertaken by these giant companies last long which means that you are in business for that long. By the time you are associated with one such company, try to reach out to other companies by displaying your role in the current project. It will really help you to get new work.

 

How to operate a grader

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Landscape in the construction sector has gained prominence over the years. This means the construction equipment required to do landscaping work is in much demand and also the people who know to operator it. When we talk about landscapes or leveling land, the heavy equipment that comes in our mind in the first stance is a grader. Grader plays immense role when it comes to leveling the land and making a path for the workers to move. We can imagine how crooked the paths are on a jobsite and therefore how difficult it must be for the workers to move on it. If not leveled at the right time, the soil gets hardened and then it becomes a problem to get it removed. Same is the case with creating landscapes. We have to get the work done at the right time or else the effort that we have to put to get the work done just multiplies.

To know all the functions of a grader is crucial:-

One can become an efficient operator only when he/she is aware of the various functions that are available in a grader. Jumping in inside the cabin and driving/operating the machine can be part of the basic function but if you find yourself in a difficult situation and you do not know all the functions then you are at a greater risk. The operator is expected to know all the functions in a grader and if you fail to do so then you will be jeopardizing the prospect of the project and also to a larger extent your career in the industry. If you are a trainee, it is important that you sit along with your mentor and check how he/she is operating the machine. Learn from him the functions that he uses and ask to show stuffs that are important for you to know.

Learn the signals properly:-

A grader throws lot of signals to the operator and every signal has a different meaning attached to it. If the clutches are not functioning properly then it may throw a certain type of signal or for that matter if there is some issue with the engine or parts related to the engine it will indicate through means of a signal. Now it is for you to comprehend and understand them so that you do not overlook the signal and continue your work as usual. Unable to comprehend signals can have catastrophic effect on the machine and also at times to the life of the people on the jobsite.

Do some basic checks on your own:-

Conducting certain basic checks like ensuring the brakes are in order and when applied it stops the machine from moving, the clutches, gears, levers are all in place and are working absolutely fine is very crucial. You should not have problem to stop the machine from moving when you are working on a steep land or to your amazement you find out the machine is not moving as it should as there are issues with its clutches. These should be examined well in advance.