Letters to the editor
Not to be critical of Mark Eatherton’s work as I have been reading it with enjoyment and sharing his articles with my staff, students and industry colleagues for a long time. But in the early stages of the multi-part series on combustion......
The four-month estate tax cure
My motivation for writing this article is to comment on the don’t-ever-seem-to-get-done work of many real-life lawyers, particularly those who specialize in estate planning. I’ll bet the farm that at least one-half of you reading this column, who did estate planning, can relate to the example that follows (true and unfortunately, often repeated)....
How to reduce mismatched project expectations
Mismatched expectations are caused by information gaps. If you tell someone to make coffee and don’t specify decaf, they’ll have to choose regular or decaf. Half the time they’ll decide on the one you didn’t want because there was a gap in your instructions....
DBE set aside programs: can I get a piece of the action?
As the construction industry still struggles in a weak economy, contractors continue to explore new opportunities for work. This may be why many of our clients want to find a way to participate in programs designed for Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), Women Business Enterprises (WBE), Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) or any of the other programs for contractors that qualify for "set-asides," or who get a preference or other special consideration....
What I’ve learn in 13 years as a columnist
On Oct. 1, 1998, I took a step of faith with the publication of my first column in CONTRACTOR, "The 7-1/2 Cardinal Myths of Project Management," and to say my path for the past 13 years since has been interesting would be an understatement...
Diagnosing appliances for proper combustion — Part 6
In last months article, we ended by telling you we would look at the tales of the tape from combustion analyzer readings to analyze the analysis, and make a determination as to corrective actions. Thanks to an alert reader, it was brought to my attention that I neglected to mention the critical need for fuel pressure settings, and vent stack draft readings. ...
Properly commissioning gas fired high efficiency equipment — Pt. 5
This month I want to address the natural gas fired, forced draft appliance, most of which have a finned tube heat exchanger of one design or another. ...
D.C. energy efficiency world gets murkier
As reported on page 1 of this issue, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have picked a certifying body to test and certify workers for the federal Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and home energy upgrade industry. ...
Productivity enhancing software for the contractor
Adobe Acrobat X Pro, www.adobe.com, offers users working with all sorts of dynamic electronic content including video and photos an efficient way to create, read, edit and share PDF files. ...
Letters to the editor
DAMARISCOTTA, MAINE — I read with interest your blog and commentary on this "murky" subject in the current issue of CONTRACTOR (July 2011, p. 58 and at http://bit.ly/jEELiE). ...
Using Internet videos for marketing
We live in a video world. People like to be presented information in a video format. Since search engine algorithms favor video, Internet videos draw eyeballs. Ultimately, this leads to more clicks, more top of mind awareness and more calls. ...
Increasing your service maintenance agreement sales
If you think about it, when customers purchase maintenance agreements, they're essentially paying you money every month to come back and sell them something else. ...
Video inspection is now faster, easier and more accurate
Video inspection and file storage and sharing have come a long way since the "stone age" of hand-written reports that were mailed. Plumbers have many options to choose from, and the future looks bright for much more to come thanks to improving technology and new innovations. ...
Boldly marching into the brave new world
How you deal with the changes and how you incorporate those changes into your business plans will, ultimately, tell the tale of your survival or demise. As we all know, being in business, especially the construction trades, is a tough way to go....
Confidence in your insurance coverage
If your general liability insurance is part of a business-owner's policy (BOP), its limits may be low. If you need more coverage, a separate umbrella policy is a good option. You can determine the amount of coverage you need by evaluating your potential risk, the state in which you operate (both its legal minimum and its history of awarding high damage amounts), and your personnel quality....
Checking an electric water heater for leaks
Checking an electric water heater for leaks: unless the tank itself has a large enough pin-hole to create a clearly audible “here-I-am” under the jacket, you need to poke and probe for the answer. It's a straight-forward logical series of steps....
Lien waivers: what am I really waiving?
Unfortunately, not all so-called lien waivers just waive liens. Sometimes they waive much more than the contractor realized, which can be a big problem if the need to assert a claim arises later in the project....
Specifications are written on paper, not in stone
It’s an old saying in the trades that if you want to really keep a secret, bury it in a copy of some new building’s specifications, that way it’s sure to be ignored even if it’s noticed. We’ve all read into the hundreds if not thousands of pre-bid specs and how many times have we really read them as opposed to reading over them?...
A marriage made in tax heaven
Well, maybe there is something new under the sun. Readers of this column know that your author often writes separate articles about the tax magic of an ILIT (irrevocable life insurance trust) and an IDT (intentionally defective trust). ...
To be or not to be an S corp. … that is the question
Are you a closely held business that operates as a C corporation? If your answer is "Yes,"' then this article is a must to read. If you are already an S corporation, chances are you will learn one or more tax tricks, that most people don't know, that will enrich you or your family instead of the IRS...
Surviving a bumpy economic recovery
Nothing relating to the last economic recession has been easy. Even the recovery is bumpy. And while we've come a long way from the massive job losses at the end of 2008, the tough times aren’t over yet. ...
I'm not as smart as they thought
Relationship intelligence is critical to succeed in any aspect of life since all endeavors require positive interaction with other human beings. Without the ability to elicit cooperation and action from others a given plan is doomed from the start. ...
Properly commissioning high-efficiency equipment — Part 4
I realize that the title of the article is relating to the newer gas fired high-efficiency equipment, but the reality of the matter is that there are more atmospheric appliances out there than there are high-efficiency appliances, and a person needs to understand the basics of combustion before they can move into the high-efficiency arena....
It's not just rainwater in California
And you thought Obama and Boehner couldn't get along? The code battles continue in California over a rainwater catchment bill....
Hydronic software, productivity apps to improve your business
Hydronics Design Studio Professional Version 2.0 by Appropriate Designs, www.hydronicpros.com, which is available as download and on CD, is Windows based software to aid users in designing high-performance hydronic heating systems in residential and light commercial buildings....
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