ConstructionAdvisorToday

Battling Back Against Indemnification Clauses

Construction industry agreements have traditionally included broadly written indemnification clauses. Everyone has seen them. If anything goes wrong, if any liability is incurred, Party A will be indemnified and held harmless by Party B to the maximum extent permitted by law. Party A will be fully reimbursed, including attorney fees.

Comment Period Ends for Proposed Tool to Rate the Sustainability of Hawaiian Schools

The first public review period for a proposed new tool to rate the sustainability of schools in Hawaii has ended. The Hawaii CHPS (Collaborative for High-Performance Schools) Criteria (HI-CHPS) would create a standard for the design and construction of high-performance school buildings that is tailored to address the state’s unique climate and other factors. The proposed standard would be available for Hawaiian schools to use upon CHPS Board of Directors approval. Over the last five years, at least 10 states have developed CHPS rating systems for their schools.

Expert Sees 4D, 5D BIM ‘Taking Off’

Expect the use of 4D and 5D building information modeling (BIM) technology to flourish in the future, Turner Construction’s Treighton Mauldin told a group of construction professionals attending a webinar that WPL Publishing held April 17. He sees 4D, which addresses scheduling, and 5D, which involves estimating, “taking off because they bring all of the aspects of a plan, an estimate, a model, and a schedule into one environment that can be easily monitored and managed and communicated to the rest of the team, which is a huge benefit, and it really starts to eliminate errors in communication, miscommunication, and, in the end, makes people more money.”

Who Pays for Accelerating the Pace of the Work?

Accelerating the planned pace of construction work can be expensive. The contractor may add personnel and equipment. The contractor may incur overtime wage rates. Supervisory and administrative expenses go up as well. It is no surprise that contractors seek compensation for these increased costs. But a contractor’s acceleration of the pace of its work does not necessarily mean the project owner is responsible. This was illustrated on a recent federal construction project.

Expert Lists Several Online Tools for Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings

There are many online tools currently available in cyberspace that may prove quite helpful when undertaking a project to bolster a building’s energy performance, Kelly Gearhart, founder and principal with the international consulting firm Triple Green Building Group LLC, told a group of professionals attending a webinar that WPL Publishing hosted April 10. During her presentation, she provided a list of 20 website addresses that could come in handy for such a project.

Survey Suggests That Handheld Computers Are Proving Their Worth for Real-Time Field Reporting at Construction Sites

Most participants responding to a recent Fiatech survey believe that smart devices either are “valuable” or “very valuable” in construction applications. For each of the six major construction categories -- design and specifications, project controls, quality, safety, material management, and project delivery, at least 60 percent of respondents, representing various construction classifications, indicated that the use of smart devices is beneficial. More than 250 professionals took the survey, which was administered to Fiatech member companies to identify the need for using smart devices during various construction activities.

Do Contract Disclaimers Complicate Project Administration?

One of the primary functions of a contract is to allocate risk between the parties. The primary tool for risk allocation in the construction industry is the use of exculpatory language, or disclaimers. There, disclaimers pertain to a variety of risk factors: delay, coordination, inaccurate quantity estimates, physical site conditions, design flaws, etc.

Could USGBC Survive a Withdrawal of Military Support for LEED?

Could the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) survive a complete withdrawal of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) support for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program? It is a question that has arisen elsewhere in cyberspace and one that Green Building Insider recently put to USGBC Policy Director Lane Burt, who has some very strong opinions about what would happen under such a scenario, which conceivably could unfold someday, given the ever-shifting nature of federal politics. 

Report on BIM Profitability, Market Trends Released

About two in every five contractors and project developers responding to a recent survey said they expect to see an increase in profitability over the year due to the use of building information modeling (BIM) applications. The finding is included in a new 114-page report, entitled “Building Information Modeling in the Global Construction Industry 2012: Implementation and Market Trends, Profitability and Budget Forecasts in the Global Construction Industry,” released by World Market Intelligence.

Loose Lips Sink Low Bids

People have a tendency to want to explain themselves, even when not asked to do so. In the arena of public procurement, this can be disastrous. Unsolicited statements, references or explanations accompanying a bid submittal have ruined many a low bid. There are two recent examples.