Masonry Magazine October 1992 Page. 34
GETTING PAID
Continued from Page 15
remodel project
Find out billing dates
Let the contractor know up front your concern about getting paid. Call the contracting company when it receives its first invoice. Confirm right away that the bill is correct. When you receive money from contractors on time, call or write to thank them. By doing this, you're building people relationships for the long term.
The end of the job always presents cash flow challenges. If lines of communication and teamwork have not been maintained throughout the project, problems will arise. Your goal is to make sure those lines stay open, that you satisfy the contractor's demands, and that you stay out of court.
Retention and Punch List Strategies
Ask for interim punch lists at specific points during construction
Ask for partial acceptance by phase or structure with release of payment and retention
Substitute a bond or letter of credit for punch list value or retention
Ensure escrow account is established for retention
Use specific, final punch list language
Prorate value of retention to punch list items
Get punch list items signed off as completed and accepted
Work hard every day to eliminate any punch list
Handling Change Orders
Identify situations that require a change order claim to protect the contractor from erosion of profits. There are two types defined by law: (1) directed changes as, for example, when the owner gives oral instruction to perform work outside the contract scope, and (2) constructive changes. Be aware of your rights and how constructive changes can add both time and cost to your project.
Constructive changes include the following prime examples, among others:
Change of site conditions
Late inspections
Defective specifications
Identify opportunities to make suggestions for changes that will improve the project and also improve the contractor's profit:
Stay on good terms with the owner and architect.
Be alert to the ideas and suggestions of workers, subcontractors, and suppliers.
Be a salesperson
Be attentive to paperwork requirements:
Daily paperwork builds a defendable case
All documents must be firsthand
The project control system must be consistent with your other job practices.
FMI IS THE NATION'S largest management firm exclusively servicing the construction industry. Principal services are marketing, crisis planning, improving productivity and quality, facilitating mergers and acquisitions, and corporate evaluation and planning. Contact FMI headquarters at Raleigh, North Carolina.
Expect 4.4% Increase for Craft Employees
MERIT SHOP contractors are anticipating granting a 4.4 percent increase in wages to their craft employees for 1992, down from the 1991 average of 4.8 percent. Most of the country will hover around the national average, while the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf states will experience the lowest wage increases, averaging only 3.9 percent in 1992, according to the 1992 edition of the PAS Merit Shop Wage and Benefit Survey. The survey details compensation practices of over 1,000 merit shop contractors through-
Increase Production 20% - 35%
When the wall is waist high to the bricklayer, he will produce more. Government studies, the experience of our customers, and our own experience have proven that point most convincingly. Actually, it's basic human nature. When the bending, reaching, and stooping are eliminated, a mason will fall into a fast, comfortable side-to-side rhythm when laying brick and block. He'll put in more units and be less tired at the end of the day. How much more production depends on the type of work. Production increases of 20% are common, while 35% is typical for blank walls like warehouses. Our users have reported production increases as high as 47% on 12" blocks.
When you calculate the labor savings from this feature alone, you will see that Non-Stop can easily pay for itself in the first 10 to 20 weeks. Some masonry contractors say that their scaffolding paid for itself on the first job.
Never Run Scaffold-High Again
Building a wall from the ground to scaffold-high and then moving your men is another unnecessary expense to eliminate from your operation. It tends to scatter your men, creates extra work for the laborers, and it wastes ten to fifteen minutes of production time getting the crew started again.
Using Non-Stop, you will set your scaffolding in place first, before any work begins. Stock it with materials and your masons start the wall right off the scaffold. Once they have reached a comfortable working height, their walk boards can be dropped in place in about 30 seconds and they continue working uninterrupted until the wall is topped out. Non-Stop gives you the ability to put your masons' walkboards as low as 4" off the ground.
Another standard feature Non-Stop provides is the ability to add an extra walkboard for the masons. In many situations, like brick veneer with block back-up, you must run the block up first. Using Non-Stop, you can run the block with 3 planks for the masons, let the scaffold down, and then run the brick with 2 planks without moving or replanting the scaffolding.