I'll take a businessperson over a craftsman
ONE OF THE greatest impediments to successful contracting businesses is the total lack of business training on the part of anyone involved in administration....
All life insurance policies not created equal
WHAT DO AIRLINE tickets and life insurance premiums have in common? The cost for the identical service can vary all over the map. Two unrelated airline...
Best solar DHW pre-heat systems
IN LAST MONTH'S column ("Active and passive solar pre-heat systems," pg. 36 ), the final system we addressed was the closed-loop pressurized system. One...
Woman PHCC president is big step for industry
AT ITS ANNUAL convention in October in Boston, the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors - National Association will install Mary Garvelink as its first...
New housing market squeezes our profits
I SPENT SOME time with a fellow phc contractor whose firm has been doing new home construction for three generations. He's ready to toss in the towel...
Doing due diligence on a dirty job
IF YOU STAY in the project management profession long enough, you're going to be assigned a "dirty" job, even if that job is a cleanroom or ultrapure...
No pay arrangements in advance, no work
IN PREPARATION for writing this column, I visited extensively with one of the sharpest financial operators I know specializing in service contracting....
Stop paying other people's bills
NOW THAT'S a headline to catch your attention! Other than contracting the plague, or paying a lawyer, I can't think of anything a contractor hates more...
Radiant software makes instant recalculations
RADIANT HEATING IS an increasingly popular option in American homes. The process of laying out properly sized and configured piping runs manually is tedious...
Tort reform needs act of Congress, and more
TORT REFORM has been an issue facing contractors, wholesalers and manufacturers since I started covering the plumbing and heating industry about 14 years...
Tapping into the political process
IF YOU ENJOY watching paint dry, you have a future in local politics! The battle of our local York, Pa.city-licensed plumbing contractors vs. oppressive...
Liquidated damages must relate to actual ones
LIQUIDATED DAMAGES are an acknowledged part of life in the construction industry. While people in other lines of work might be surprised that anyone would...
Maybe you shouldn't be a project manager
THE ECONOMY IS still weak and construction is a lagging, not a leading economic indicator. Many of my project manager brethren are still being laid off...
How to eliminate a tax-you-twice IRD
OVER THE YEARS, this tax column has ground out more than 1,200 articles on a ton of tax subjects. But never have I heard more from readers about a subject...
Manage projects and documents online
ONLINE PROJECT management solutions can help users generate, communicate and archive project data using a centralized database and standardized or often...
Active and passive solar pre-heat systems
SOLAR HOT WATER pre-heat systems fall into two basic categories active and passive types with numerous subcategories. A passive solar DHW pre-heater is...
The Battle of the Joints
WIPE JOINTS, lead and oakum joints, black and galvanized threaded iron joints, brass threaded joints and copper joints were all prevalent in 1954. A service...
Valuable Advice Can Come From Conventions
WE ARE HEADING for the fall season when many contractor associations hold their annual meetings. If you have even the slightest thought that you are going...
Rules for Creating a Successful PM Career
I CANT THINK of a catchy opening line, so lets jump right into my list of rules for creating a successful career in project management. Dont make your...
Staying Responsive to New Opportunities
LETS KEEP 1954 in perspective. As proud as we are of our 50th anniversary, the start of CONTRACTOR was not the most newsworthy event of the year. That...
Making Cell Phones Indispensable for Techs
ITS 10 A.M. Do you know where your technicians are and what they are doing? As more and more contractors and their service personnel carry and use mobile...
Traditional Estate Plans Enrich the IRS
THIS IS A TAX WAR story, told in a U.S. Tax Court memorandum opinion case. In 1989, Robert H. Lurie, a successful entrepreneur and very wealthy man, was...
Solar Domestic Hot Water Pre-Heating
SOLAR DOMESTIC HOT water preheating has been around for centuries. A search of solar collector patents shows patents being applied for back as early as...
Game plan for this fall's convention, show
LAST MONTH, I strongly recommended you go to the national convention of the appropriate industry group important to you (July, pg 22). For most of you...
Protect and Boost Your Productivity
HERE ARE TWO computer solutions that can help a contractor maintain smooth sailing. The first protects productivity; the second aims to boost productivity....
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