Holiday Light Electrical Safety & Energy Saving Tips

During the holiday season it is important to remind your customers to heed safety and energy conservation while enjoying holiday festivities. Electric lights and candles warm our hearts, but they can turn holiday cheer into tragedy if they are not handled carefully. Here are some valuable safety tips you can provide to your clients.

Electrical Safety Tips for Holiday Lighting

• Be sure all holiday lights have the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) label, which means they meet UL safety standards. Be sure to buy the right set, either for indoor use, outdoor use, or both.


• New, light-emitting diodes (LED) holiday lights use much less energy than traditional lights. Consequently, they do not become hot enough to burn fingers or catch trees on fire.


• Before installation, check for frayed wires, damaged sockets, or cracked insulation. If you find any defects, replace the entire light set.


• To minimize fire and shock danger, make sure there is a bulb in each socket. If a bulb is burned out, leave it in until you unplug the light set and replace the bulb.


• All outdoor cords, plugs and sockets must be weatherproof. Also, make sure there is a ground fault circuit interrupter on each circuit.


• Remember that hot bulbs can ignite dry tree branches. To avoid damage and injury, keep trees well watered and keep extension cords and light strings away from the water.


• Keep a working fire extinguisher handy.


• Be sure your home’s smoke detectors have new batteries and that they are working properly.


• Don’t overload your electric circuits or extension cords with too many light strings. Don’t connect more than three light strings. The cords could overheat and start a fire.


• Never leave lighted candles unattended. Responsible adults should monitor them at all times. Do not light candles on Christmas trees. Properly installed electric lights are much safer.


• Always unplug holiday lights before going to bed or leaving the house.

Some Holiday Lights Are Energy Hogs

If you’re a fan of those old-fashioned, two-inch (C-7) bulbs for decorating, keep in mind that they each use about five watts of electricity. According to the U.S Department of Energy, lighting six, 100-light strands of these large bulbs around the clock for 30 days costs more than $18, based on an average of eight cents per kilowatt hour.

A more energy-conscious choice would be the miniature white or colored lights. Miniatures use only about half a watt each.

Even less costly and more efficient are LED holiday lights, which use .04 watt per bulb. Over a 30-day period, lighting 500 LED bulbs would cost about 19 cents. Operate lights for no more than six hours a day to keep energy use under control. Timers make this simple. If you are building a new house, ask your builder or electrician to install holiday electric outlets which turn on and off with one easy switch.

Guarantee Profit in the New Year

With 2007 quickly approaching, we thought it would be a good time to address your profit goals. How much profit do you think you should you make? Your answer is probably one of the following: “5%,” “10%,” or “15%.” Or it’s possible that your reply is “More,” or “As much as possible.” None of these goals is a clear target.

A recent survey of over 2,500 construction company owners showed that:

• 66% of companies have NO specific profit goals
• 70% of companies have NO overhead goals
• 50% of companies have NO sales volume goals
• 92% of all company employees have NO written goals

Shoot for nothing, hit it every time!
Most companies shoot for moving targets by attempting to make ‘as much money as possible’ or ‘more’ than they are currently making. ‘As much as possible’ is not a target. ‘More!’ More than what? These are not clear targets or goals. 5%, 10%, or 15% are not clear targets either. As your sales and job costs vary each month, your total markup earned changes, while your fixed cost of doing business remains the same. This causes your net profit to move up and down like a roller coaster.

A specific annual sales target of $3,000,000, an overhead target of $400,000 and a net profit goal of $120,000 are specific fixed targets you can shoot for and hit. Not, “More!” And not, “As much as possible!” As 2006 draws to a close, it is time to ask yourself:

What is your annual sales target?
What is your annual overhead budget?
What is your annual net profit goal?

Always make a profit!
The goal in business is not to stay in business or keep your crews busy. The goal of business is to always make a profit. According to a recent study, companies who have specific strategic plans with clear targets and goals make 33% more profit than companies without targets. And only 33% of all contractors actually make a profit every year. Additionally, 92% of all business owners reach age 65 with $0 net worth! It’s not how much you make that matters, it’s how much you keep (after overhead, job costs, staff, and a fair salary for the owner).

Run your company like a business
Very few small and medium size general contractors actually run their companies like businesses. A “business” has a business plan, sales goals, job cost goals, an overhead budget, and profit goals. A “business” pays its president or owner a fixed and reasonable salary every month (plus year-end bonuses from the net profit). A “business” prepares monthly financial statements, profit and loss statements, income statements and balance sheets. Most importantly, a “business” makes a profit. A “business” without ALL of the above is not a business. It is a place to go to work; a place to try to make some money; a place to try and cover expenses; and a place to try to have some leftovers to pay for the owner’s lifestyle.

Get a return on your investment!
If asked to invest $100,000 in a friend’s new start up contracting business, what annual return would you want? 10%, 15%, 25%, 50%, or more? Considering the risks, one should never invest in a new construction business that doesn’t offer at least a minimum guarantee of 15% to 20% annual return on investment. Your fixed cost of doing business (overhead) is an investment in your future ability to make a profit as well. Every year you decide what overhead costs you will need to run your business. Your staff accordingly, rent an office, seek jobs to bid, and hope enough business comes in to make a profit. Likewise, you must also make a minimum 15 to 20% annual return on your fixed overhead investment you commit to in advance every year.

Aim at a fixed target
Construction companies should make a minimum 20% return on overhead every year. This is the minimum target to shoot for. If your annual overhead is $400,000, you should expect a minimum net profit pre-tax of $80,000. Remember this is the minimum and in most cases, too low to shoot for. Aim at a target of 40% to 50% return on overhead as a higher target to hit. For example, if your overhead is $400,000, your pre-tax net profit goal would be $160,000 to $200,000. Now you have a minimum target and a higher target to shoot for. These are specific goals you can aim at and then track your progress.

What is your fixed cost of doing business?
First determine your fixed cost of doing business or annual overhead costs. Overhead costs include everything you need to run your business without any jobs under construction. Overhead costs include:

• Company management
• Administration and accounting
• Estimating
• Marketing and sales
• Your office and utilities
• Computers and supplies
• All non-job charges business costs

Job costs are not a part of your overhead and include everything that occurs out in the filed or on the jobsite and must be job charged. Your job costs should include:

• Project management
• Supervision
• Pro-rata share of owner for project management or supervision time
• All field labor
• Field labor burden and fringe benefits
• Field workers compensation insurance
• Liability insurance for jobs and labor
• Field trucks and equipment

A typical $3,000,000 construction company’s overhead is shown in the example below. Your task is to calculate your accurate fixed annual cost of doing business. This is the ‘nut’ you have to crack before you can break even every year. Always include a fair and reasonable salary for the owner or president of your company6. If your owner runs some jobs, split his or her time between overhead and job costs such as project management or supervision. Also, field labor job costs must include workers’ compensation insurance and liability insurance. These are now overhead charges as they don’t occur unless your field crews are working on jobs. Be sure to put those costs into your job costs and not into overhead. Another mistake is putting all of your company vehicles into your overhead. Most vehicles are used out in the field and should be job charged including the insurance, gas, and maintenance.

Marketing to Construction

The recent slowdown in residential construction-specifically new housing starts-has garnered a lot of press and has been seen as a key harbinger of a weak economy as 2006 comes to a close. However, some experts say that the housing slide of the past year is nothing to be concerned about.

Although the annual start rate for 2006 is projected to have decreased by almost a half a million from 2005, it still marks the fifth best year ever for residential construction. It has been predicted that $622.00 billion will be spent on residential construction in 2006, down from $630.70 billion in 2005. Expectations for 2007 include a considerable drop to $602.00 billion in spending, but also a quick rebound in 2008 to $626.00 billion. Experts agree that the market should come back to trend in mid- to late 2008.

However, the residential market represents just a fraction of the overall construction industry. Both nonresidential building and public works-including such projects as roads and sewage systems-are expected to increase significantly in 2007 and beyond. Spending in nonresidential construction-including offices, schools and commercial space-is expected to rise from $350.50 billion in 2005 to $384.90 billion in 2006 and $419.90 billion in 2007. Similarly, public works construction project expenditures are projected to increase from $136.50 billion in 2005 to $149.10 billion in 2006 and $159.80 billion in 2007.

Despite the slip in the residential sector, insiders forecast that construction industry spending will continue to show steady growth, moving from $1.110 trillion total construction in 2005 to $1.160 trillion in 2006 and $1.180 trillion in 2007.

Trends to watch

Because of this optimism about the construction industry's growth, there are many opportunities for marketers and vendors to take advantage of it. Three major trends that should have long-term traction are:

Green construction. Being environmentally friendly and energy conscious is becoming a serious part of the construction process. It is being required to some degree in all government building and within five years will be the standard across the industry. Incentives to go green will push the process. Companies that stayed away from the trend a couple of years ago are now looking for ways to go green.

Building information management (BIM). With BIM, all parties-owner, architect, engineer, contractor, subcontractor and suppliers-sit down at the beginning of a construction project to optimize cost and process controls. Jobs that have made use of BIM have significantly reduced costs and construction time. A totally integrated BIM environment results in the elimination of bidding that translates to a savings for the contractor, eliminates shop drawings (thereby speeding up the process and improving profit), prevents cost escalation, eliminates punch lists and finger pointing, minimizes errors and omissions, and facilitates online payment of requisitions.

State and local public works projects. Due to increased tax revenue at the state and local levels, there has been an increase in building and road construction at these levels. In some regions, the local governments have grown tired of waiting for federal [money] and have tackled projects on their own, some with creative financing.

Best marketing practices

Best practices for companies that market to the construction audience appear to be changing significantly. The industry is dealing with factors such as increased demand, major increases in the costs of materials and labor, the impact of technology on the planning and building process, and the stability in the financial markets. These factors greatly affect savvy vendors' marketing tactics.

For instance, many marketers still have blue-collar perceptions of construction workers and find it hard to believe that one of the best places to reach them is on the Web. Contractors and their labor use the Internet every day in the course of their jobs to do research, check on deliveries, verify plans and schedules, and communicate with each other. In some trade categories, the incidence of Internet usage during work hours is an astounding 100% and, on average, construction people use the Internet more frequently for business than they do personally.

This need to be connected on the job means the construction industry will be one of the most lucrative markets for mobile b-to-b marketing once it comes into its own. Motorola is one major company that recognizes this reality and is accelerating development of mobility products that will service institutional, commercial and governmental construction areas.

Tried-and-true tactics

Regardless of the tactics used, online or off, construction audiences prefer to invest in tried-and-true products and services rather than the latest ones, regardless of the benefits touted. Innovative products-highly valued in other markets-are eschewed in favor of products that ‘work like they always do.’ Even great and well-respected brands have trouble launching products that are deemed ‘too new.’

To get over this sizable hurdle, marketers need to get products into the hands of end users. Demonstrations, free trials and sampling are more important than ever. Construction audiences need to use the equipment and services to accept, trust and, ultimately, buy them.

Public relations and viral marketing add an overlay of trust and credibility to any marketing effort and are extremely effective when targeting construction industry decision-makers. The two disciplines used together dispel any concerns about lack of tenure as a brand or capabilities of newer products, and let your happy customers do the marketing for you.

Don’t Stress the Billing Process

Invoicing is imperative to the survival of your contracting business, but it is often one of the most loathed tasks. We have a few suggestions for making the invoicing process easier.

You don’t get paid if you don’t invoice. If you ask many financial professionals why some contractors have persistent cashflow problems, the frequent response is that they put off invoicing until they absolutely need the money. In a rush to collect, some contractors fire off sloppily created invoices that are riddled with math errors and may not even correctly identify the work done. There are better, faster ways to invoice for the money you are owed.

The best invoicing tip you will get is to invoice each customer as soon as the job is done. Do it that night, get it in the mail in the morning, and the customer—still basking in the splendor of a new kitchen or bathroom—most likely will pay without question.

Ask your customers how they want to be invoiced at the start or completion of a job. Some like faxes, others U.S. Mail, still others will prefer e-mail. The medium doesn’t matter; what matters is that you cater to your customer’s preference.

Make sure your invoices stand out from other materials you send out. If you use U.S. Mail, put invoices in a different color envelope than the envelopes used for mailing out quotes or marketing material, and clearly label this sheet of paper: INVOICE. If you use e-mail for invoices, include a clear header: Invoice from ABC Remodelers, for instance. The goal is to get the recipient to pay special attention to your invoices and, above all, to keep them from getting trashed along with incoming "junk mail."

Handwriting isn’t on the Wall
Handwritten invoices are a no-go that make a business look unprofessional. A printed, computer-generated invoice has become a must. Probably the small business standard is Intuit’s QuickBooks, which provides intuitive bookkeeping tools along with invoicing capabilities. But, specialized software is not a necessity. Microsoft Word, for instance, provides an invoicing template, as does Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet. Both create invoices that can be printed and mailed easily, or for a more high-tech flavor, the document can be transformed into an Adobe PDF and e-mailed to the recipient.

The real goal is to make it easy for your customer to pay as soon as possible. It helps to include a stamped, self-addressed envelope with mailed invoices. With e-mailed invoices, try accepting payment via PayPal, an online bill payment service offered by eBay, the giant auction house. Anybody who has a credit card and Internet access can pay via PayPal, and any business with a checking account can transfer payments quickly to PayPal into a bank account. That won’t appeal to everybody—PayPal charges recipients significant transaction fees—but when getting money fast is the goal, it’s an option worth considering. The bigger point: When customers find it easy to pay, they have one less reason to procrastinate. Let your customers pay by check, credit card, online services such as PayPal and, of course, cash.

If you are a hardcore invoicing procrastinator, dictate invoices into your voicemail, and then forward that voicemail to a bookkeeping assistant. It will be worth the price you pay your assistant. That’s because by doing this easy exercise you will see invoices paid faster, fewer invoices that just never get sent because they are forgotten about and a healthier business bottom line.

A Customer’s Lament
Here are some common complaints customers have about the invoices they receive from contractors:

• Invoices that aren’t itemized, including when and what type of work was performed.
• Mistakes like addition errors, invoicing twice for the same thing, etc.
• Misunderstood rates.
• Being handed an invoice by a contractor expecting immediate payment.

Remember that an invoice is a marketing tool and, when done right, it can leave a customer happy to pay you.

Rules for Hiring the Best

These rules have been designed to aid employers in the difficult task of recruiting and interviewing prospective employees. Interviewers must be diligent in their questioning of each potential staff member. Here are some things to keep in mind when considering an interviewee.

1. If they look too good to be true, they might be. Explore further.
2. A negative person often spends more time complaining than they do working.
3. If the problem that caused them to leave their last position exists in your company, common sense says they will also leave your company.
4. People do change, but don't assume you or your company has the power to create that change.
5. If someone had problems in the past, it is not unlikely that they will have similar problems in the future.
6. Trouble tends to follow people around.
7. If you choose to hire someone out of charity, (or because the bosses tell you too), recognize and accept the risks of your choice.
8. A detail-oriented person does not have numerous cross-outs and blanks on their application.
9. If they job-hopped in the past, what makes you think they won't job-hop in the future?
10. Neatness counts in an interview.
11. There are some people that are good with both paperwork and details as well as with people. However, most people who are really good with paperwork and details are not so good with people, and vice versa.
12. If their email address is lazygirl@aol.com, they probably are.
13. A potential employee will have to like your job/company a great deal to be willing to travel over an hour to work for a sustained period of time.
14. If they can't spell, they don't read. If they don't read, they don't think.
15. Always question dates of employment listed on a resume or application (by asking how long they were at each job); it's the #1 item that applicants "exaggerate" on.
16. Always ask if they can provide proof of salary if it looks inflated; it's the #2 item that applicants "exaggerate" on.
17. When interviewing, ALWAYS ask reasons for leaving for each job. It provides the most important information for making your selection.
18. If you ask a person what they like best and least, you will get more honest information on what they are good and not so good at than if you ask for their strengths and weaknesses.
19. If they had difficulties working with co-workers in the past, there's a good chance they will also have difficulties with your co-workers.
20. If they didn't like their last manager, what makes you think they will like you?
21. If they were fired in the past, it was probably their fault (regardless of the story that they tell you!).
22. If they were laid off but the company didn't close, why were they not selected to stay?
23. If they left their last job for more money, how often will they be expecting raises from you?
24. Most people don't quit jobs because of money; they just don't want to tell you the real reason.
25. If they are looking for "better opportunity", when will your opportunity no longer seem better?
26. If they say they don't want to work overtime, don't hire them for a job requiring overtime.
27. If they list a skill on their resume, it doesn't necessarily mean they are proficient in it. Probe further.
28. If they didn't like the long hours or commute at one of their past jobs, why will they accept the long commute or hours at your job?
29. If they are in sales, ask them to name some of the titles or authors in their personal self-development library. If they don't have any, they may not be serious about being successful in sales.
30. Find out the singular most important thing they are looking for. If your company/position doesn't offer this, don't hire them. If it's compensation, definitely don't hire them.
31. Do you want the applicant with the odd handshake shaking your clients' hands?
32. Don't expect them to want to work for your company if you tell them only the negatives.
33. Get references from past supervisors, not from friends and acquaintances on their reference list.
34. None of the above rules apply to applicants right out of high school or college. It often takes a couple of years and a couple of jobs to find their niche. Decide carefully if you might be their niche.

Who Has the Keys?

How to protect your company and employees by emphasizing driver safety on the road and at the jobsite, with close monitoring and ongoing training.

Safety in the workplace has emerged as one of the top issues facing business executives today, particularly for contractors. Federal laws clearly require employers to provide a safe work environment for all employees, and 26 states have adopted their own workplace safety standards and enforcement policies.

What does that mean for you? Simply put, it means the days of blindly handing out keys to your employee-drivers are over. When examining your own worker safety policies, your primary concerns should be the safety of your drivers and the condition of their vehicles, both on the road and at the jobsite.

Driver safety must be emphasized across the board. Not only should your company take aggressive steps to monitor potential safety issues, it should also make safety the focus of new employee training. Statistics indicate that ongoing training reduces the number and severity of driver accidents over time.

Some of the safety practices business owners can implement include:

• Collecting and verifying the motor vehicle records of your driver-employees. Typically, about two-thirds of drivers have relatively clear driver histories, but about 25% will present some degree of risk on the road, and between 5 and 7% will be revealed as high-risk drivers with multiple infractions.
• Not skimping on the maintenance of company vehicles. Having cars and trucks routinely serviced ensures that they stay in good working order. This is especially important in the construction industry, where jobsites generally expose vehicles to much higher levels of dust and dirt, which shorten the intervals between oil changes, replacement of air and fuel filters and other maintenance.
• Keeping complete and accurate files on all fleet vehicles. Hire a fleet management provider to monitor fleet maintenance and ensure vehicles are inspected regularly.
• Reading the factory guidelines for each company vehicle in your fleet and requiring your drivers to do the same. The safety guidelines listed in a vehicle manual are there for a reason. Most vehicle specifications outline the loads the vehicle can safely carry. Your employees may think they can push those limits and occasionally overload a work vehicle, but an unbalanced load is an unsafe load.
• Putting a system in place that assigns consequences to unsafe drivers in your work force. Analyze your drivers and look for repeat offenders. Implementing consequences for unsafe driving protects employees, other drivers and your company, and it levels the playing field. A top sales executive with an unsafe driving record is just as liable for his or her actions as the new construction foreman or summer intern.
• Implementing a point assignment program that ranks your drivers according to the severity of previous motor vehicle infractions. After conducting an MVR search, assign points to each infraction to determine each driver's overall risk.
• Providing drivers with training opportunities, so that poor driving behavior can be ad-dressed and changed immediately and good behavior can be rewarded.

As your company grows, so will your vehicle fleet. Consider partnering with a fleet management company to assist with related issues-and possibly save money and manpower in the long run.

Tips For Running An Effective Fleet Safety Program:

• Do your homework. Know your drivers and evaluate their risk behind the wheel.
• Implement a safety policy. This sets specific guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable driving behavior.
• Enforce your policy. From the top down, drivers must be held accountable.
• Be proactive. Address poor driving behavior with training opportunities and reward good driving habits that save your company money.

Building Material Innovations

An explosion of new materials, both confusing and intriguing, lands on the designer's palette.

Concrete—that gray, monolithic building material—is getting a face-lift. Inventors are reshaping it to do more, last longer and show off. A new kind of “translucent” concrete uses fiber optics to carry light and shadow. New light-sensitive terrazzo flooring can reflect a rainbow of colors. And high-strength concrete placed inside buildings and bridges can flex like hard rubber to dampen earthquake shocks. The possibilities seem endless.

Innovation is infusing other traditional building blocks, such as steel, glass and wood, with renewal, while nanotechnology and “green” building has brought a host of hybrid materials. A heightened interest in building smart, clean and fast is driving this rapid research across the material world.

Finding thousands of examples is easy, thanks to new resources. Bringing these products to market is another story, inventors say.

The ongoing quest for innovation has put some wild, new products on the designer’s palette. Reflect for a moment on glass: It protects people from the elements, provides modest insulation and offers a nice view. But now it can do so much more. One type can clean itself using a catalytic film that uses sunlight and rain to break down and wash away dirt particles and smudges. Suppliers are starting to experiment with similar substrates that help concrete buildings, bridges, and highway barriers take pollutants out of the air. Even paint can clean itself.

You might say that designers wishing to use radically new concretes are waiting for the critical mass. New materials are a tough sell. Some offer a long-term cost benefit at a short-term price premium; others simply have architectural appeal controlled by the whimsy of consumers.

Fast computers, aeronautic inventions and environmental sensibilities have contributed to these recent material developments. The playing field is broad. If these innovative products have one thing in common, it is their ability to transcend expectations, often confusing the mind and engaging the eye.

One of the most striking examples is a new type of translucent concrete called “Litracon,” developed by Åron Losonczi, a Hungarian architect. Inside Litracon’s precast blocks and panels are glass fibers, arranged in parallel like millions of tiny windows. They transmit light from one side of the concrete to the other. Tight manufacturing tolerances make production of this material a challenge, not to mention complicating on-site casting.

The end result, however, is illuminating. On his website, the inventor says he has inked agreements with “leading manufacturers” and hopes to offer it soon worldwide. Designers are fascinated because the addition of the glass fibers completely changes the whole way architects think about concrete.

Kinetic and Mimetic

Innovative materials are finding new ways to interact within the natural world and reflect its beauty, both architecturally and structurally. A promising new technology is ultra-high-performance concrete, such as Lafarge’s “Ductal” product. Introduced several years ago, it casts like concrete and feels like concrete. Once cured, it behaves more like a metal, using carbon fibers, polyvinyl-alcohol fibers and other embedded materials that bring compressive capacities up to 30,000 psi and flexural strengths to 6,000 psi. Available in custom precast shapes, it costs somewhere “between” traditional concrete and steel, says the French producer. It is the featured material on a highway bridge completed this past spring in Wapello County, Iowa.

“Bendable” concrete is another material emerging in the fast-growing UHPC segment. It is similar to Ductal, resisting cracking 500 times more than traditional concrete, weighing 40% less and reducing the need for reinforcements and joints, especially in seismic zones. Under development at the University of Michigan, the combination of high strength and elasticity comes from synthetic fibers placed in the mix using traditional construction equipment and techniques.

Engineers are also experimenting with fiber-reinforced-polymer composites, such as glass-epoxy wraps, that can be applied to existing buildings and infrastructure to extend their life. Structural engineers say that the greatest aspect of this material is the high strength-to-weight ratio.

The construction industry prides itself in innovation, yet inventors cite major problems in bringing new building materials and systems to market. Building codes that do not yet address new technology and risk-averse owners are partly to blame.

The conservation movement also has helped bring along some “green” materials, such as a new product called “Kirei Board.” Made from sorghum and starting at $7 per sq ft, it behaves like plywood but is friendlier to the environment, the manufacturer claims.

Inventor Bob Simmons is doing for steel what others are doing for concrete. The design-build contractor invented a moment-resisting space frame, called “ConXtech,” that arrives on site and within minutes snaps together like a model airplane. But the building system is no toy, having solid roots in a seismic region and capable of rising to heights of up to 100 ft in about half the time of traditional frames. His patented “boltless” connectors, which robotic welding machines affix to the ends of 12-in.-deep beams, mate with dovetails welded on faces of hollow columns. The beams lock into the tubular columns, measuring between 4 in. and 8 in. square, using gravity. With the help of a mobile crane, the contractor can stand the frame without bolts. “We erect it from the top down,” explains Simmons, “then we deck from the bottom up.” Crews install bolts at each floor before pouring concrete slabs.

Amid the innovation, traditional materials still have their place, and can look just as cool. In Chicago, an 82-story rectangular, mixed-use tower called “Aqua,” which begins construction this month, will have concrete balconies that cantilever as far out as 12 ft. Each slab has a unique shape in plan, with random undulation that will make the building appear to “ripple” from bottom to top. Underneath, the 10-in.-thick slabs and the core-and-outrigger structure couldn’t be more typical.

Control Your Business’ Growth

Growth is good—in moderation. Take these steps to avoid becoming one of the companies whose business is so booming that it actually fails.

You could call it too much of a good thing: A larger-than-expected contract comes in, or your overall project load starts growing exponentially, and all of a sudden you’ve got more business than your firm can handle. Such a scenario can challenge your management abilities and even pose risks to your company’s survival. Experts say that with today’s uneven economy, contractors need to plan well for sudden growth.

Success can sometimes be a problem if it’s not managed correctly. Smaller organizations can absorb a certain amount of growth simply with the owner and one or two workers putting in more hours. But as annual revenues start approaching the $1 million mark, existing systems can start to go awry if your infrastructure is not set up for that level of business.

At this point, owners need to start spending less time in the field and more time in the office, not a situation most contractors relish. But devoting the time to big-picture planning becomes crucial as your business expands. This kind of management is important in any business, but in a business that is growing quickly, it is imperative. The owner’s job is to make sure they are proactively managing the resources they need to deliver the work.

Another important issue for owners is taking the time to understand which jobs are the right jobs for his or her company to accept. It pays to look at your work history to determine which kinds of jobs are the most profitable. You don’t want just volume. Simply taking on more work without recognizing potential revenue impact can result in a cash-flow crunch, since more work requires more manpower, and that added payroll might have to be met before the client or general contractor has paid you.

Planning is crucial when your business starts taking off, and because workers are an electrical contractor’s biggest resource, these preparations need to start with a timetable of when new employees may need to be hired to ensure adequate staffing. Think ahead about how many employees you’re going to need, where you’re going to find them, and what you’re going to do when you get them. Owners need to consider how long it will take to find, hire and train new workers when they’re developing timetables.

Financial planning also is crucial. A line of credit or other financial assistance can help address cash-flow issues, but contractors still have to estimate carefully to ensure the work they accept has a positive bottom-line impact, or they could end up working themselves into bankruptcy. If you do not have a very strong understanding of your financial situation and your margins, you can quickly grow yourself out of business.

Being informed about a general contractor’s financial standing can be important when contractors work as subcontractors on larger projects. In addition, these companies may have specific policies and procedures regarding invoicing and payment, and not following these protocols exactly could delay payment.

All this analysis and planning may seem overwhelming, especially if you’re also facing a backlog of work and a client load that’s beyond what your present staff can support. However, doing your deskwork now, even when you’d rather be working in the field, will give you the opportunity to grow your business even more in the future.

Tips To Protect Workers In Cold Environments

Prolonged exposure to freezing or cold temperatures may cause serious health problems such as trench foot, frostbite and hypothermia. In extreme cases, including cold water immersion, exposure can lead to death. Danger signs include uncontrolled shivering, slurred speech, clumsy movements, fatigue and confused behavior. If these signs are observed, call for emergency help.

OSHA's Cold Stress Card provides a reference guide and recommendations to combat and prevent many illnesses and injuries. Available in English and Spanish, this laminated fold-up card is free to employers, workers and the public. Tips include:

How to Protect Workers

• Recognize the environmental and workplace conditions that may be dangerous.
• Learn the signs and symptoms of cold-induced illnesses and injuries and what to do to help workers.
• Train workers about cold-induced illnesses and injuries.
• Encourage workers to wear proper clothing for cold, wet and windy conditions, including layers that can be adjusted to changing conditions.
• Be sure workers in extreme conditions take a frequent short break in warm dry shelters to allow their bodies to warm up.
• Try to schedule work for the warmest part of the day.
• Avoid exhaustion or fatigue because energy is needed to keep muscles warm.
• Use the buddy system - work in pairs so that one worker can recognize danger signs.
• Drink warm, sweet beverages (sugar water, sports-type drinks) and avoid drinks with caffeine (coffee, tea, sodas or hot chocolate) or alcohol.
• Eat warm, high-calorie foods such as hot pasta dishes.
• Remember, workers face increased risks when they take certain medications, are in poor physical condition or suffer from illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease.

For free copies of OSHA's Cold Stress Card in English or Spanish, go to OSHA's website, www.osha.gov, or call 1(800) 321-OSHA.

OSHA's objective is to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. Since the agency was created in 1971, occupational deaths have been cut by 62% and injuries have declined by 42%. Construction Book Express offers a wide variety of OSHA publications.

Best Practices for Energy Efficiency

Last week we discussed what NOT to do when it comes to energy efficiency. This week we present some best practices for energy-efficient design and building.

Address the Basics First
The design of an energy-efficient house begins with a well-insulated, air-sealed shell and very efficient HVAC equipment, which means a minimum 90 percent AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) furnace and 13 SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) air conditioner.

Anyone intending to build an energy-efficient house needs to be sure these basic requirements are met before considering exotic (and expensive) components like photovoltaic modules.

Orient the House Properly
Passive-solar design does not need to be complicated; a few simple steps can save significant amounts of energy. Yet most new-home builders still pay almost no attention to orientation.

If the lot size permits, a house should always be oriented with its long axis aligned in an east-west direction. In most climates, about half the home's windows should be facing south. In hot climates, it's important to minimize the number and size of west-facing windows.

Install Basement Wall Insulation
According to the prescriptive requirements of the International Energy Conservation Code, basement walls should be insulated in climate zones 4 and higher.

Basement walls can be insulated from the exterior or the interior. Most builders find that installing interior basement insulation is easier and cheaper than installing exterior basement insulation; far too often, however, they get the details wrong.

Interior basement insulation is effective only if the work is properly detailed and meticulously installed. The rim-joist area must be air sealed (either with sprayed polyurethane foam or very careful caulking), and the rim-joist area and walls must be carefully insulated with rigid-foam sheets or sprayed polyurethane foam. Never use fiberglass batts to insulate basement walls.

Exterior basement insulation usually performs better than interior basement insulation. It locates the wall's thermal mass within the building's thermal envelope; if installed properly, it can be used to protect the rim-joist area. Also, by keeping the concrete warm, it prevents the condensation and moisture problems often associated with interior basement insulation.

Install Better Windows
Windows represent the weakest thermal link in most building envelopes. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Energy has chosen to set a very low bar for Energy Star windows, so Energy Star labels provide little guidance to builders. In most parts of the country, in fact, an Energy Star window is equal to a code-minimum window.

Specifying windows can be complicated, but a few general principles apply. Casement windows usually have less air leakage than double-hung windows. In heating climates, the best windows will have a lower U-factor than windows minimally complying with Energy Star standards (U-0.35). Consider investing in windows with argon-filled triple glazing and two low-e coatings; such windows are available with a whole-window U-factor as low as 0.17.

In south central and southern climate zones, Energy Star specifications call for windows to have a maximum solar heat-gain coefficient (SHGC) rating of 0.40. In these zones, consider purchasing windows that beat this standard — that is, windows with an SHGC below 0.40. Specifying glazing with a very low SHGC is especially important for west-facing windows, since these are the ones most likely to contribute to overheating.

Install Rigid Foam Wall Sheathing
Many cold-climate builders still cling to the belief that foam sheathing creates a wrong-side vapor retarder and therefore contributes to wall rot. In fact, the inside surface of foam sheathing will be much warmer than the inside surface of OSB or plywood sheathing, and will therefore be less likely to support condensation. Foam-sheathed walls, if built correctly, are less likely to have moisture problems than walls sheathed with OSB or plywood.

Foam sheathing wraps a home's walls in a warm jacket, keeping the framing warm and dry and greatly reducing thermal bridging through studs. Furthermore, if foam sheathing is held in place with vertical strapping, a rain screen is created behind the siding.

Builders making the switch to foam sheathing must choose one of three strategies for bracing walls against racking. They can install traditional 1x4 let-in braces, diagonal steel strapping (for example, Simpson TWB straps), or, at the corners, sheets of well-nailed 1/2-inch plywood. The plywood can then be covered with 1/2-inch rigid foam to match the thickness of the 1-inch foam installed everywhere else.

Of course, before settling on a bracing method you should make sure your local building inspector approves of your plan.

Install a Drain-Water Heat-Recovery System
One of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to reduce energy used for domestic hot water is to install a drain-water heat-recovery device.

The best-known such device is the GFX, which consists of a length of 3- or 4-inch copper drainpipe surrounded by a spiraling cocoon of 3/4-inch copper tubing (see Notebook, 3/97). Designed to be installed vertically in a plumbing waste line, a GFX unit transfers about 55 percent of the heat energy in the drain water to the incoming supply water. In homes where residents prefer showers to baths, a GFX can save 20 percent to 25 percent of the energy used for water heating.

The best thing about a GFX unit is its indestructibility: Having no moving parts, it is likely to last as long as the house in which it's installed. Model S3-60, the whole-house model (a 3-inch copper drain 60 inches long), costs $520.

Install a Solar Hot-Water System
Rising energy prices have made solar hot-water systems a good investment in most parts of the country. At sites beyond the reach of natural gas pipelines — where conventional water heaters must be fueled by either propane or electricity — an investment in a solar hot-water system will usually have a fairly quick payback.

A substantial fraction of the hot water needs of most families can be met by two 4-foot-by-8-foot collectors. It's almost always better to have an oversized storage tank than an undersized tank; if the budget permits, install a 120-gallon stainless-steel indirect water-heater tank from Amtrol, Bradford White, Burnham, Heat Transfer Products, Triangle Tube, or Viessmann. An instantaneous gas water heater can be used for backup.

Upgrade the Mechanical Ventilation System
Because an energy-efficient house has a well-defined air barrier and very low air-leakage rates, mechanical ventilation is essential.

Ventilation can be provided with a simple exhaust-only system (a timer-controlled bath exhaust fan, for example) or a passive supply system (such as a passive fresh-air duct, controlled by a motorized damper and connected to a furnace's return-air plenum).

But the most efficient way to provide fresh air to every room is with an HRV or an energy-recovery ventilator (ERV). Currently, the most energy-efficient ERV available is the RecoupAerator 200DX from Stirling.

Install Dedicated Ventilation Ductwork
Every HRV deserves dedicated ventilation ductwork. Ducts designed to distribute air for heating or cooling are not optimal for distributing ventilation air, so don't try to use the same ducts for both purposes.

A forced-air heating system usually draws its return air from a big grille in the hallway. An HRV, on the other hand, should draw its exhaust air from bathrooms, utility rooms, and the laundry room. Unlike forced-air heating ducts, ventilation ducts are sized for low airflow; usually they measure only 4 inches or 6 inches in diameter.

Install a Better Lighting Package
Installing compact fluorescent instead of incandescent bulbs is probably the most cost-effective energy upgrade in any home. Now that the quality of compact fluorescent bulbs has improved and prices have dropped, make sure all your houses are incandescent-free.

Arrange for Blower-Door Testing
Do you know how much air leaks under your rim joists or bottom plates? If you're still a blower-door virgin, you haven't yet earned the right to brag to customers about construction quality. Most blower-door contractors can recount stories of proud builders humbled by the revelations of a door-mounted fan.

Once you're familiar with the lessons taught by whole-house depressurization, you'll probably be more conscientious with gaskets and spray foam on your next house.

Tweaking the Recipe
It goes without saying that it's possible to build a high-performance house that deviates from these guidelines. The recommendations are based on logical principles, but they inevitably reflect my own biases. Furthermore, specifications for an energy-efficient house depend greatly upon local climate.

Before settling on any construction details, you should always investigate methods used by other energy-efficient builders in your region.

Energy Efficiency Don'ts

 Efficiency Dos and Don’ts From an Energy Nerd by Martin Holladay

With high fuel prices here to stay, now is the time to get it right. Many builders are familiar with energy-efficient construction techniques — they just can't convince their clients that energy efficiency is worth the extra investment. Most builders are accustomed to juggling several balls at once: They need to satisfy their clients, keep the local building inspector happy, and make a profit.

Sometimes, however, a builder gets lucky and lands a client who insists on a high-performance home and is willing to pay for it. To help you get ready for that day, here's a list of dos and don'ts — starting with the don'ts.

Don't Design a Complicated Roof
For those who espouse the principle "form follows function," the ideal roof is a simple gable over an unheated attic, much like the roof on the house we all drew in kindergarten. Unfortunately, designers these days are fond of complicated roofs — ones with enough valleys, dormers, and intersecting planes to make the home look from a distance like an entire Tuscan village.

Such roofs are difficult to insulate without resorting to spray polyurethane foam. Though spray foam is effective, it's also expensive. In most cases, simple roofs are easier to insulate, easier to ventilate, and far less prone to ice dams than complicated roofs.

Don't Install a Hydronic Snow-Melt System
Snow can be removed from a driveway with a shovel, a snow-blower, or a plow. It can also be removed by burning great quantities of fuel to heat water circulating through buried pipes.

In rare cases — for example, at the home of a handicapped client — a hydronic snow-melt system makes sense. In most homes, however, such systems are uncalled for.

Don't Build a Poorly Insulated Slab
In a hot climate, an uninsulated slab in contact with cool soil can lower cooling costs. In a cold climate, though, slabs should be well-insulated.

Some cold-climate builders, having learned that heat rises, install thick attic insulation while leaving their slabs uninsulated. But heat actually moves from warm to cold in all directions. While it's true that in winter the soil beneath a slab is warmer than the outside air, a slab can still lose a significant amount of heat.

In cold climates, a basement slab should be insulated with at least 2 inches of extruded polystyrene (XPS) under the entire slab. For a slab-on-grade home in a cold climate, specify 3 or 4 inches of XPS under the entire slab, with additional vertical foam at the slab's perimeter. Foil-faced bubble pack (R-1.3) is no substitute for adequate insulation; under a slab, it's virtually useless.

Don't Insulate Rim Joists With Unfaced Fiberglass
Although fiberglass insulation is a thermal barrier, it is not an air barrier. If unfaced fiberglass is used to insulate a rim joist, moist indoor air can filter through the batt, leading to condensation at the cold rim joist. The result, eventually, is mold and rot.

There are several acceptable ways to insulate a rim joist. Rigid foam insulation can be installed on the exterior of a recessed rim joist; small pieces of rigid foam can be inserted in each joist bay from the inside; or spray polyurethane foam can be used to seal the entire rim-joist area.

Don't Install Recessed Can Lights on the Top Floor
Despite their tendency to cast strange shadows on people's faces, recessed can lights retain an inexplicable popularity. Ignoring the pleas of lighting experts — who note that it makes more sense to light the ceiling than the floor — many customers still request recessed cans.

When installed in an insulated ceiling, these fixtures are an energy disaster. Some builders have switched to "airtight" cans. But airtight cans are not completely airtight. The amount of leakage depends on the care exercised when installing the gasketed trim kit, and any future trim changes can affect the fixture's airtightness.

It is much easier to air-seal electrical boxes installed for surface-mounted fixtures than to air-seal a recessed can. Just say no to recessed cans.

Don't Install Oversized HVAC Equipment
Compared with homes built 30 years ago, today's houses are more airtight and better insulated, so their heating and cooling loads are smaller. Yet many HVAC contractors continue to use old rules of thumb to size furnaces and air conditioners, often throwing in a generous safety factor for good measure.

Oversized furnaces and air conditioners cost more than right-sized units. Oversized equipment frequently operates less efficiently, too, because it suffers from short cycling. An oversized air conditioner often shuts down before it's had a chance to wring much moisture out of the air, compromising comfort.

Although HVAC contractors usually claim to have performed detailed load calculations, you should insist on seeing written evidence. Heating and cooling loads should be calculated for each room and must be based on accurate specifications for window sizes, orientation, and U-factor, and for the installed glazing's solar heat coefficient. Don't let your contractor talk you into adding a safety factor to a calculated load.

Experience has shown that builders who want right-sized HVAC equipment need to educate themselves on this issue and double-check the work of their HVAC sub. If you don't feel qualified to verify your sub's calculations, at least specify two-stage equipment that can operate at partial load most days of the year.

Don't Install HVAC Equipment Or Ducts in an Attic
An attic is almost as cold as the exterior in winter, and can be much hotter than the exterior in summer. While attic floors are often insulated to R-38, attic ducts are usually insulated to a measly R-4 or R-6.

During the summer, the difference in temperature between the cool air in the ducts and a hot attic is much greater than the difference in temperature between the indoor and the outdoor air. So why does attic ductwork have so much less insulation than a wall or a ceiling?

Moreover, the air in a supply duct is at a much higher pressure than the air inside a house. Since most duct seams leak, a significant portion of the volume of air passing through attic ducts usually leaks into the attic. Any leaks in return ducts allow the blower to pull hot, humid attic air into the air handler.

Installing a furnace or air handler in an attic causes even more problems than merely installing ductwork there. A recent study found that the leakage of a typical air handler, coupled with the leakage at the air-handler-to-plenum connection, amounts to 4.6 percent of the airflow on the return side. If the air handler is installed in an attic, a 4.6 percent return-air leak can produce a 16 percent reduction in cooling output and a 20 percent increase in cooling energy use. Any duct leakage would make the situation even worse.

In most homes, HVAC equipment and ductwork belong in the basement or crawlspace. If it's absolutely necessary to build on a slab, include a utility room for HVAC equipment and install ducts in air-sealed interior soffits.

Don't Install a Powered Attic Ventilator
Many builders assume that hot attics are a problem. If soffit and ridge vents don't keep an attic cool, they may decide to install an exhaust fan in the attic to improve attic ventilation. This is almost always a mistake.

If an attic has no ductwork or HVAC equipment and its floor has a deep layer of insulation, high attic temperatures don't matter much. In fact, high attic temperatures can help lower winter heating bills.

Several studies have shown that a powered attic ventilator often draws its makeup air from air leaks in the attic floor, pulling conditioned air out of the house instead of in from the soffits. This, of course, increases the homeowner's energy bills.

Don't Use a Standard Furnace Fan To Distribute Ventilation Air
Most new homes include some type of whole-house mechanical ventilation system — for example, a passive outdoor-air duct connected to a furnace's return-air plenum. Some builders provide ventilation by connecting a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV) to the home's forced-air ductwork.

Both methods have an Achilles heel: They depend on the furnace fan to distribute ventilation air. In homes equipped with air cleaners, homeowners may leave the furnace fan running continuously. This can carry a substantial energy penalty. Furnace fans are designed to move a lot of air — up to 1,400 cfm — yet most homes require only 50 or 100 cfm for ventilation. In fan-only mode, certain furnaces can draw as much as 700 to 800 watts.

One solution is to specify a furnace with a blower powered by an electronically commutated motor (ECM) that draws 200 to 250 watts in fan-only mode. Another is to choose a different type of ventilation system — a simple exhaust-only system or an HRV with dedicated ventilation ductwork.

Don't Install a Humidifier
Homes with very dry indoor air during the winter are usually leaky. Make the building more airtight, and it won't be as dry.

Installing a humidifier is so risky it should be avoided like the plague. In cold climates, almost all moisture problems are worsened by elevated indoor humidity. High levels of indoor humidity are associated with wet walls and wet roof assemblies.

If homeowners want a humidifier, warn them about the dangers of humidification. If they insist, let them install it themselves after you leave the job.

Project Pre-Planning

Project planning can be described as the amount of time spent moving around a jobsite, mobilizing and cleaning up every day, studying plans, laying out the work, and other activities not directly related to actual installation.

This “non-installation” time is spread evenly over the course of the typical project. A few minutes here, a few minutes there, day-by-day, spread over the entire crew. More than half of this “non-installation” time is spent on plans, layout and material logistics.

• What if you could shift those activities to the front of the project, the “Pre-Planning” stage?
• Could those activities be done more efficiently as a dedicated task rather than in the field a few minutes before going to work?
• How much money could you save in efficiency if more of the work was pre-planned? Could you get your crew to work a few minutes earlier?
• Could you minimize trips from the work areas to the job office / gang box if things were better planned?

How much would the bottom-line on your projects change if you could improve labor productivity by 5%?

Construction and Problems

Constructing a project is challenging; it is very messy. There will always be problems. Problems are a fact and they need to be factored into your plans. Problems are often amplified on construction projects because of the separation of the design functions from the construction functions.

Architects, engineers and design consultants are often forced into “low-bid” contracts and the pressure to constantly deliver lower prices means cutting out on coordination between engineering disciplines, eliminating detail drawings, cutting down on elevations, minimizing plan-checking and peer reviews, etc.

All of this cost-cutting on the design side means that fewer and fewer conflicts are caught at the design stage and left for the contractors to figure out.

How you overcome problems will determine the success of your project.

The Cost of Problems

Problems are not usually recognized until you are right in the middle of them – at this point the problem will cost about 30% to fix – so if you are in the middle of a $1,000 piece of work and discover a problem it will cost about $1,300 before you are done.

In the worst case, when problems are discovered after the work is complete it will cost up to 80% to fix.

Our focus needs to be on spending whatever resources are necessary to identify and solve problems BEFORE we are in the middle of construction.

A 5,000 Man Hour Project

Pre-planning is just what it sounds like – it is about taking the time that is normally spent on planning throughout the project and shifting it to the beginning of the project.

When you look at what happens during the day for one person it just looks like a few minutes and it seems impossible to save any real time. Let’s look at a 5,000-hour project and how the time is spent in the field.

Over a 1 year, 5,000-man-hour project, there are 6-7 hours per day spent on non-installation activities; a total of 1,800 man-hours. We can plan our attack by focusing on four key areas:

1. Plans & layout – 11%, 550 hours
2. Material Logistics – 6%, 300 hours
3. Mobilization, cleanup and site movement – 13%, 650 hours
4. Breaks and other non-productive time – 6%, 300 hours

Planning & Layout – Where Can You Be Most Efficient?

There is no question that planning and layout has to be done. The question is when and where can it be done most efficiently?

• Pre-planning is about moving as many of the field layout, coordination and planning issues to the front of the project as possible.
• Pre-planning is about taking the activity out of the field and into a controlled environment that is specifically designed for efficient planning.
• Pre-planning is about taking advantage of tools that allow more accurate layout and communication of ideas.
• Pre-planning is about finding and resolving problems before you start working to minimize disruptions to progress and re-work.
• Pre-planning is about locating value-engineering and pre-fabrication opportunities well before construction starts.

There is no hard and fast rule about what pre-planning looks like. The process will look slightly different for each company and project type. The goal is to build a culture into the company where people seek out opportunities to shift work from the project to a more controlled environment. It is about shifting the thought process from being reactive to proactive.

OSHA’s 35-Year Milestones

OSHA's mission is to send every worker home whole and healthy every day. Since the agency was established in 1971, workplace fatalities have been cut by 62 percent and occupational injury and illness rates have declined 40 percent. At the same time, U.S. employment has nearly doubled from 56 million workers at 3.5 million worksites to 115 million workers at nearly 7 million sites. The following milestones mark the agency's progress over the past 35 years in improving working environments for America's workforce.

December 29, 1970 - President Richard M. Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

May 29, 1971 - First standards adopted to provide baseline for safety and health protection in American workplaces.

January 17, 1972 - OSHA Training Institute established to instruct OSHA inspectors and the public.

November-December, 1972 - First states approved (South Carolina, Montana, Oregon) to run their own OSHA programs.

May 20, 1975 - Free consultation program created - more than 500,000 businesses participated in past 30 years.

June 23, 1978 - Cotton dust standard promulgated to protect 600,000 workers from byssinosis; cases of "brown lung" have declined to 0.1 cases per 10,000 workers.

January 20, 1978 - Supreme Court decision setting staffing benchmarks for state plans to be "at least as effective" as federal OSHA.

April 12, 1978 - New Directions Grants program (now known as the Susan Harwood Training Grants program) to foster development of occupational safety and health training and education for employers and workers. (More than 1.3 million trained since 1978.)

November 14, 1978 - Lead standard published to reduce permissible exposures by three-quarters to protect 835,000 workers from damage to nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. (Construction standard adopted in 1995.)

February 26, 1980 - Supreme Court decision on Whirlpool affirming workers' rights to engage in safety and health-related activities.

May 23, 1980 - Medical and exposure records standard finalized to permit worker and OSHA access to employer-maintained medical and toxic exposure records.

July 2, 1980 - Supreme Court decision vacates OSHA's benzene standard, establishing the principle that OSHA standards must address and reduce "significant risks" to workers.

September 12, 1980 - Fire protection standard updated and rules established for fire brigades responsible for putting out nearly 95 percent of worksite fires.

January 16, 1981 - Electrical standards updated to simplify compliance and adopt a performance approach.

July 2, 1982 - Voluntary Protection Programs created to recognize worksites with outstanding safety and health programs (more than 1,400 sites currently participating).

November 25, 1983 - Hazard communication standard promulgated to provide information and training and labeling of toxic materials for manufacturing employers and employees (Other industries added August 24, 1987).

November-December, 1984 - First "final approvals" granted to state plans (Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Alaska) giving them authority to operate with minimal oversight from OSHA.

April 1, 1986 - First instance-by-instance penalties proposed against Union Carbide's plant in Institute, West Virginia, for egregious violations involving respiratory protection and injury and illness recordkeeping.

December 31, 1987 - Grain handling facilities standard adopted to protect 155,000 workers at nearly 24,000 grain elevators from the risk of fire and explosion from highly combustible grain dust.

January 26, 1989 - "Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines," voluntary guidelines for effective safety and health programs based on VPP experience, published.

March 6, 1989 - Hazardous waste operations and emergency response standard promulgated to protect 1.75 million public and private sector workers exposed to toxic wastes from spills or at hazardous waste sites.

September 1, 1989 - Lockout/tagout of hazardous energy sources standard issued to protect 39 million workers from unexpected energization or start up of machines or equipment and prevent 120 deaths and 50,000 injuries each year.

December 6, 1991 - Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens standard published to prevent more than 9,000 infections and 200 deaths per year, protecting 5.6 million workers against AIDS, hepatitis B and other diseases.

October 1, 1992 - Education Centers created to make OSHA training courses more widely available to employers, workers and the public. Twenty centers train more than 300,000 students each year - over 370,000 students were trained in FY 2005 alone.

February 24, 1992 - Process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals standard adopted to reduce fire and explosion risks for 3 million workers at 25,000 workplaces, preventing more than 250 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries each year.

January 14, 1993 - Permit-required confined spaces standard promulgated to prevent more than 50 deaths and more than 5,000 serious injuries annually for 1.6 million workers who enter confined spaces at 240,000 workplaces each year.

February 1, 1993 - Maine 200 program created to promote development of safety and health programs at companies with high numbers of injuries and illnesses.

June 27, 1994 - First expert advisor software - GoCad - issued to assist employers in complying with OSHA's cadmium standard.

August 9, 1994 - Fall protection in construction standard revised to save 79 lives and prevent 56,400 injuries each year.

August 10, 1994 - Asbestos standard updated to cut permissible exposures in half for nearly 4 million workers, preventing 42 cancer deaths annually.

September 4, 1995 - Formal launch of OSHA's expanded webpage to provide OSHA standards and compliance assistance via the Internet.

June 6, 1996 - Phone-fax complaint handling policy adopted to speed resolution of complaints of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions.

August 30, 1996 - Scaffold standard published to protect 2.3 million construction workers and prevent 50 deaths and 4,500 injuries annually.

November 9, 1998 - OSHA Strategic Partnership Program launched to improve workplace safety and health through national and local cooperative, voluntary agreements.

April 19, 1999 - Site-Specific Targeting Program established to focus OSHA resources where most needed - on individual worksites with the highest injury and illness rates.

November 14, 2000 - Ergonomics program standard promulgated to prevent 460,000 musculoskeletal disorders among more than 102 million workers at 6.1 million general industry worksites.

January 10, 2001 - Jersey public employee plan receives final approval.

January 17, 2001 - Steel erection standard, developed in concert with industry and union groups, preventing 30 fatalities and 1,142 injuries annually and saving employers nearly $40 million a year, issued. It’s the first OSHA safety standard to be developed under the negotiated rulemaking process.

January 18, 2001 - Recordkeeping rule revised to improve the system that employers use to track and record workplace injuries and illnesses.

January 18, 2001 - As mandated by the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, OSHA revised its bloodborne pathogens standard to clarify the need for employers to select safer needle devices.

March 7-8, 2001 - Under the auspices of the Congressional Review Act the Senate votes 56-44 to repeal ergonomics rule. The House follows suit the next day and votes 223-206 to repeal the rule. It is the first time that Congress exercises its authority under the Act to repeal a federal standard.

March 20, 2001 - President signs S.J. Resolution 6, repealing the ergonomics rule.

April 27, 2001 - Occupational Safety and Health Administration celebrates its 30th anniversary; over the past three decades job-related fatalities are cut in half, injuries and illnesses declined by 40 percent.

September 11, 2001 - OSHA responds to terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington, DC. More than 1,000 OSHA employees from New York and around the country volunteer to help protect workers involved in the cleanup and recovery efforts at both sites.

March 1, 2002 - Agency launches bi-weekly electronic newsletter QuickTakes.

April 4, 2002 - Secretary Chao unveils a comprehensive plan designed to reduce ergonomic injuries through a combination of industry-specific guidelines, strong enforcement, outreach and assistance, and further research.

May 30, 2002 - The recovery phase and cleanup at the World Trade Center disaster site comes to an end. For more than eight months, three million work hours were logged on a worksite like no other, yet only 35 workers missed workdays due to injury and no more lives were lost to work.

March 11, 2003 - OSHA announces an enhanced enforcement policy to focus on those employers who have received "high gravity" citations.

March 13, 2003 - Ergonomics Guidelines issued for the Nursing Home Industry.

July 1, 2003 - Final rule establishes criteria for recording work-related hearing loss.

October 24, 2003 - OSHA welcomes 1000th site to achieve "Star" status in Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).

February 4, 2004 - OSHA unveils its National Emergency Management Plan, a new directive that clarifies the agency's policies during responses to national emergencies.

May 28, 2004 - Ergonomics Guidelines published for Retail Grocery Stores.

August 24, 2004 - Final rule establishes procedures for handling whistleblower complaints under the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, also known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

September 2, 2004 - Ergonomic guidelines announced for the poultry processing industry.

November 24, 2004 - Federal agencies required to adopt private sector worker safety and health recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

May 12, 2005 - Oregon becomes the 17th state to receive final approval to operate its own job safety and health program.

August 31, 2005 - OSHA responds to Hurricane Katrina and offers the full resources of the agency to help protect the safety and health of workers responding to the disaster along the Gulf Coast.

September 22, 2005 - OSHA reaches settlement agreement with BP Products North America Inc. The company pays more than $21 million in fines following a fatal explosion at its Texas City, TX, plant. It is the largest penalty ever issued by OSHA.

February 27, 2006 - OSHA publishes final rule on hexavalent chromium, lowering the permissible exposure limit (PEL) from 52 to 5 micrograms per cubic centimeters based on an 8-hour workday.

Your Common Masonry Questions Answered

Contractors and masonry workers often run into problems during the course of their work. Here we have listed eight common problems one might encounter when doing masonry work and their possible solutions.

Why isn’t the rock sticking on the wall?

There are several things that could be causing this. First, it’s possible that the rocks are dirty. If that is the case, be sure to wash them well. Or perhaps the rocks are too wet, in which case you must wait until they are dry to resume working with them. If the mortar is too wet or too dry, use more water or more sand and cement to adjust your mix. Or you may have to add more cement or bonding agent if there is not enough in the mix already. Finally, it is possible that the stones are of poor quality, and are too shaley.

Why isn’t the mortar sticking to the masonry wall?

Did you use bonding agent to coat the wall? If not do so, or if you haven’t roughed the surface up, that might also be the problem. If you are working on a dirty or greasy wall, clean it and coat it with bonding agent. It is possible that the mortar is too wet or too dry, in which case you should add more water or more sand and cement to adjust your mix. Add more cement in the mortar if you think there might not be enough already, and if the wall is too wet, take a break from it until it is dry.

Why doesn't the mortar stick to a wood wall?

If the mortar will not stick to a wood wall, it is possible that it is the mortar is too wet or too dry and you may need to use more water or more sand and cement to adjust your mix. Another common cause of this is if there is not enough cement in the mortar; add more cement. And finally, did you remember to put on metal lath?

How do I deal with mortar joints?

Mortar joints make all the difference between professional and unprofessional looking stonework. The most important thing is to keep your work neat and clean. It is easy to clean the mortar off the stone while the mortar is still weak. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get mortar off after it has set up.

How do I repair a loose stone?

If the mortar is still solid in the hole, remove the stone and clean it well. Put a good adhesive on the back of the stone as well as in the hole it came out of and re set the stone. You may have to brace it until the adhesive sets.

What should I do if the mortar is crumbling or broken up?

Remove any loose stone and mortar, clean the stone well, re-mortar it into place and redo your mortar joints. Use bonding agent in your mortar.

Why is rock falling off the wall after the job is finished?

The cause could be that stones were disturbed before they had set up. Or perhaps stones were not tapped into the mortar to create suction. Still another reason would be if not enough mortar was put behind the rocks or it was poor mortar. Did you use a bonding agent? In not, that is why the rocks are falling off. It is imperative that you use quality, clean rocks, otherwise, rocks might fall off. It is possible that the building settled and cracked the stonework, or that the footings were not adequate or that they settled too much (or perhaps a frost heave caused it). Still other reasons would be if the metal lath was not secured well enough, or if the mortar froze.

Why is the mortar starting to crumble and fall out?

There could be several reasons for this, many of which we’ve already discussed. You may not have used enough cement in your mortar. If you used bad cement, or if there was dirt in your sand, or you used poor sand this could also happen. The sand must be sharp and clean. If your sand contained salt it would also cause the mortar to crumble and fall out as well. It is possible that the moisture was sucked out of your mortar too fast and it dried too quickly and did not have a chance to cure properly. Bonding agent helps to prevent this.

Did you use mortar that should have been thrown out? Do not add water to drying out mortar unless you really know what you are doing. Once the chemical reaction has taken place, the mortar could be destroyed. Another reason is that your mortar may have frozen.

Construction Book Express has many guides to working with cement and stone. Check out our huge selection of masonry and concrete products for further tips and instruction.

Building Codes: How Do They Help You?

The regulation of building construction is not a recent phenomenon. It can be traced through recorded history for more than 4,000 years. Through time, people have become increasingly aware of their ability to avoid the catastrophic consequences of building construction failures.

In early America, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson encouraged the development of building regulations to provide for minimum standards that would ensure health and safety. Today, most of the United Sates is covered by a network of modern building regulations ranging in coverage from fire and structural safety to health, security, and conservation energy.

Public safety is not the only byproduct afforded by modern codes. Architects, engineers, contractors, and others in the building community can take advantage of the latest technological advances accommodated by these codes with viable savings to the consumer.

For codes to be effective, an understanding and cooperative relationship must exist between building officials and the groups they serve – homeowners, developers, urban planners and designers, and others in the construction industry. Codes must therefore be responsive to the government’s need to protect the public. They must provide due process for all affected and keep pace with rapidly changing technology. These communities can work together to develop and maintain codes.

During the early 1900’s, model building codes were authorized by the code enforcement officials of various communities with key assistance from all segments of the building industry. Now, model codes are the central regulatory basis for the administration programs in cities, counties, and states throughout the United States. They simply represent a collective undertaking, which shares the cost of code development and maintenance while ensuring uniformity of regulations so that the advantages of technology can be optimized.

Building safety code enforcement has historically been accomplished by defraying the costs of administration through a system of fees relating to a specific project – a system that is self-supporting. These fees are generally less than one percent of the overall cost of the building project. Public protection is thus obtain in a cost-effective manner with the entire process, from plan review to field inspection, carried out in a professional manner. The system is so well developed that the true complexity of the process is obscure to many.

Who needs Building Codes?

We all do – whether in our homes, offices, schools, stores, factories, or places of entertainment. We rely on the safety of structures that surround us in our everyday living. The public need for protection from disaster due to fire, structural collapse, and general deterioration underscores the need for modern codes and their administration.

How reliable are they?

Most aspects of building construction – electrical wiring, heating, sanitary facilities – represent a potential hazard to building occupants and users. Building codes provide safeguards. Although no code can eliminate all risks, reducing risks to an acceptable level helps.

What is a Building Code?

Practically, it is the government’s official statement on building safety. Technically, it is a compendium of minimum safety standards arranged in a systematic manner (codified) for easy reference. It embraces all aspects of building construction – fire, structural, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical.

What if I want to do a building project myself?

Building departments have pamphlets and brochures explaining, in detail, how to obtain permits and design and construct a safe building. Inquire within your local community.

Why should minimum safety codes apply to my own house?

For several reasons:

• Your personal safety, and that of your family, and the guests invited into your home.
• To ensure the economic well-being of the community by reducing potential spread of fire and disease.
• For the conservation of energy.
• To protect future home purchasers who deserve reasonable assurance that the home they buy will be safe.

Local building departments provide a wide range of services beyond the usual plan review and building inspection process. These range from the administration of planning or zoning laws to housing maintenance inspection, nuisance abatement, and a number of other related or ancillary duties. Visit your local building department and get acquainted with the people who make it work.

Visit www.ConstructionBook.com for a full line of building codes that can help you ensure that all of your projects meet public standards for quality, safety, and energy efficiency.

Recognizing and Eliminating Workplace Hazards

Hazards can be found everywhere in the workplace. Some are quite apparent. Others are so small or seemingly ordinary that they're easily overlooked, and every worker is placed at risk in some way.

A workplace hazard denotes any kind of object or situation that could result in injury, disease or death. Some indicators are things we wouldn't immediately consider -- age, for instance. Young workers new on the job (age 15-24) have more of a chance of getting hurt than older, experienced workers. Another invisible hazard would involve experienced workers who use that same tool all day, every day. They're susceptible to repetitive strain injury.

So employers and floor supervisors need to develop the proper mindset to recognize hazards.

The Major Hazards

Many facilities have workplace health and safety issues that are specific to their own industry. But some issues are common to almost every business. Workplace safety starts with knowing the major hazards. These include:

• Physical hazards that involve equipment, machinery or tools
• Bio-hazards that involve bacteria, viruses, fungi, mold or plant materials
• Chemical hazards that involve dust, fumes, vapors, gases or chemical mists
• Electrical hazards

Watch your Step

The single biggest cause of injuries at any workplace is conditions that lead to slips, trips, and falls. These are the most frequent causes of non-fatal major injuries in both manufacturing and service industries. They comprise more than half of all reported injuries. Employers can help to reduce slip and trip hazards looking around the workplace to spot uneven floors, electrical cables, and areas where spillages may occur.

Ways to reduce such risks include:

• Cleaning up spills immediately after they occur
• Positioning equipment to avoid cables crossing pedestrian routes
• Keeping walkways clear of rubbish and other debris
• Securing all rugs and mats so that they won't move and their edges won't curl
• Providing handrails, floor markings and signage in areas where the flooring slopes
• Making sure workers have the proper footwear for the workplace

Other specific workplace hazards include:

• Moving vehicles such as forklifts
• Collapsing platforms or equipment
• Confined-space work areas
• Falling objects
• Workplace violence

Raise the Safety Bar High

Every employer has an ethical and legal duty to set a high standard of workplace safety. As part of this, they should look around the work place and ask themselves questions about the environment. Who comes into the workplace and how would they be at risk? Are the precautions already in place?

An effective safety program involves:

• safe work practices as part of the company's work policies
• Keeping all tools and machinery in a safe condition
• Ensuring that all internal facilities, including bathrooms and eating areas, are clean and germ-free
• Providing information, training and supervision for all workers
• Involving workers and supervisors in all decisions relating to health and safety
• Designating a safety supervisor for all facility areas
• Conducting regular safety meetings

Construction Book Express has many codes, standards, and handbooks that can help you to establish a health and safety program at your workplace.

Four Tips for Building Green

It is the goal of "green" building to increase the efficiency of the use of materials, energy and other resources and to reduce the impact on the environment and the health of the occupants. This is accomplished for the entire lifecycle of the building through better site design, better system design, and better construction methods and materials. Green building is an essential component of the bigger overall concept of sustainability. Here are some tips in four aspects of green building.

Indoor Air Quality - The biggest pollutants are paints, stains, and sealers, as well as the adhesives and glues used in such things as particleboard, cabinets, and carpet. Include systems to control, condition, ventilate, and filter the air inside the home; and make sure the systems can recover the energy (heating or cooling). Isolate the air from your garage and mechanical room from the interior of the home. Use cement-type board under wet applications like bath tile. Fix all water leaks immediately; don't let mold get started. Use integrated pest management for insect control.

Thermal Performance - Insulation and air infiltration are two of the biggest factors in how much energy is required to operate a building. The most efficient insulator is an uninterrupted wall surface or roof such as spray foam, an insulating concrete form, or structural insulated panel. Also important is the solar orientation and thermal mass of the building. Maximize solar gain in the winter with south-facing glazing along the long side of the house, but protect the house from solar gain in the summer. Use enough thermal mass to absorb heat from the winter sun and coolness from the summer nights. Efficient heating and cooling equipment and appliances have a dramatic effect on energy consumed. Use flourescent lighting as much as possible, especially in lights that are used all the time. Solar water heaters and photovoltaic electric systems will further reduce energy consumption.

Embodied Resources - There are large amounts of energy and/or other resources used in the manufacture and transportation of many building materials. For instance, the manufacture of Portland cement used to make concrete requires a tremendous amount of heat. Compare that to an adobe made onsite and baked in the sun. Also consider the amount of clean-up needed, waste generated, the recycleability of the materials, and the "hazard" to the environment and employees.

Water Conservation - Reduce water use with water-saving dishwashers and washing machines, low-flush toilets, and low-flow faucets. Use point-of-use water heaters or hot-water recirculating loops so that it is not necessary to run the water to get it hot. Use drip irrigation with a weather-activated timer and zone plantings according to water needs. Reclaim waste water and capture rainwater.

Green buildings are more energy-efficient, healthier, and reduce the environmental impact of a structure. They can reduce some short- and long-term costs and provide a more enjoyable living solution for any new home or remodel.