Wednesday, November 30, 2011
New Complex at USC School of Cinematic Arts
Pending-home sales up by most in almost a year
Cities with the fewest underwater homeowners
It appears the only places that managed to survive this crisis were those that were suffering economically at the time when people were building and buying new homes.
Frozen Yogurt (Part One): Taro Opens in Morristown
Home Price Indices Gave Mixed Signals in Third Quarter
Foreclosure crisis only about halfway over
If the U.S. foreclosure crisis were a baseball game, we?d probably be in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
BUILDER?s 10 Favorite Houses of 2011
Many of our favorite homes from this year are beautiful, a lot are clever and innovative, and some are just plain cool.
Summary Box: Sales Of New Homes Up In October
STAGNANT SALES: New-home sales rose slightly in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Marcello Martino Design: Product & Interior Design
Biz Break: Black Friday cheer spreads to Wall Street on Cyber Monday
Today: Stocks enjoy a healthy bounce as success of retailers, hope for Europe create a big Monday.
Robins & Morton: Carolinas Medical Center
Icahn offers to buy Commercial Metals for $1.73 billion
Investor Carl Icahn speaks at the Wall Street Journal Deals & Deal Makers conference, held at the New York Stock Exchange - Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises LP offered to buy Commercial Metals Co for $15 per share, valuing the metals recycler at about $1.73 billion.
Jane's Carousel
Monday, November 28, 2011
Scott Burns: Young lag in new wealth gap
Questions about personal finance and investments may be sent by email to scott@scottburns.com. Visit www.scottburns.com to comment on any articles, find referenced Web links or to discuss personal fin "This book is about being middle class.
REOs: Where Are They Now
Rick Perry Is Wrong About El Paso
Many Republican politicians ? and not a few Democrats, too ? use the bogeyman of border violence to justify exorbitant security measures, like the ever-growing border fence.
Tentative deal signed between Nav Canada and electrical workers
Nav Canada said Friday it has struck a tentative agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and its 680 members who work for the operator of Canada's traffic control system.
New Home Sales Rise 1.3% in October
The U.S. Commerce Department says new home sales rose 1.3 percent in October, a slight uptick than in months past.
India Globalization Capital Announces Financial Results for Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2012
Dycom Industries, Inc. Announces Release of Fiscal 2012 First Quarter Results and Conference Call Schedule
Parkway construction to buck trend
Construction of Canberra's $288million Majura Parkway will see the ACT defy a national trend of declining roadway construction, industry analyst and economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel says.It forecasts a 20 per cent decline in road construction nationally from 2011-12 to 2014-15. Meanwhile, work levels in the ACT would strengthen as construction of ... (more)
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Housing market slow
The local housing market has kept pace and slightly below the market from a year ago, according to Gary Walter, of the Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors Inc.
United States Steel and AK Steel Expect Lower Fourth-Quarter Earnings
in Pix: This is what billionaires' houses cost in global cities
Though the global market is reeling under a slowdown threat, the ultra-prime real estate market of the world's billionaires has performed well throughout the downturn, according to a new study from the United Kingdom-based real estate firm Savills plc.
Aegion Corporation Awarded $5.6 Million CIPP Contract from the City of Crest Hill, Illinois
Tech-rich buyers help Tahoe real estate rebound
SAN JOSE, Calif -- SAN JOSE, Calif. - Lake Tahoe area real estate agents, hungry for sales in the aftermath of the housing bubble, are counting on the Bay Area's booming tech industry to help generate the next crop of million-dollar vacation home buyers.
Unions blame poor communication, policies for prolonged power outages
John Fernandez, assistant business manager of the International Association of Electrical Workers, Local 457.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Dounreay firm takeover expected
A new owner of the company leading the demolition and clean-up of the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness is expected to be announced later.
HerreroBoldt: Hospital Construction Partnership
FourPlans: Starter Homes
First-time home buyers may only need two or three bedrooms and some modest living space. That's easy enough, so a gorgeous, smart design is what will set your offering apart from existing houses.
Design Details: White Kitchens
With an artful and varied use of materials, white kitchens are anything but drab.
Re-Imagining the Contingency Budget
*RP - Risk of the Past
In an earlier post I discussed the risk of the past (RP) and the ways in which it impacts the contingency budget of a construction project. The table above presents a ?before and after? scenario, where the effects of the RP are reduced through effective use of media to capture and record events and conditions in real time so that they may be examined later.� By effectively leveraging media to lessen the uncertainty over past conditions, the contingency budget can be reduced in many ways as explained below.
Scope Change
Collateral work is the biggest driver of unanticipated scope change costs. Owners can fail to fully comprehend the impact on construction of what may seem to be a minor change request. While inaccurate or incomplete progress reports by the contractor, may lead an owner to believe that sufficient time exists to implement a change without incurring major rework.
Contractors can use media effectively to clearly convey project progress to owners and then build on that knowledge to illustrate the impact of design change costs. In doing so, both parties know what they are in for when approving a design change.
Coordination
Work that is completed out of sequence harms productivity and can lead to unnecessary charges. Often a single instance of out-of-sequence-work can lead to a pattern that spirals out of control. Contractors can use media to capture and share lessons learned immediately to correct these issues and prevent further loss, rather than waiting until the end of the project when the damage is done.
Design Deficiencies
Let?s face it, the RFI is overkill for many contractor inquiries. How many times does the response to an RFI read something like ?See detail D-1?? For example when it comes to process related questions such as window installation, Architects can utilize photos and video to clearly convey to prescribed process for proper installation providing for an easily repeatable process throughout a project.� In the case of a valid RFI request, media provide an effective tool for contractor and architect alike for confirmation of compliance.
Delay Claims
This is an area where the answer is almost never as clear as black and white. Clear evidence of jobsite conditions can allow for a thorough examination of factors contributing to delay claims and often bring to light details that do not survive through recollection and typical documentation alone. For example, even severe weather events are often not the ?show stopper? that they might appear to be in hindsight. A jobsite bogged down in mud, might still be quite productive when it comes to interior work, for example. Photos and video can also conclusively settle issues of materiel delivery schedules or access by subcontractors.
Post Construction Legal Expenses
Well, the lawyers are going to get theirs anyway. Aren?t they?
Tags: construction budget, construction contingency, construction defects, construction documentation, construction inspection, construction photo documentation, construction photos, general contractor, quality control, risk management
By the Numbers: Beazer Homes, Third Quarter 2011
States moving on smaller U.S. mortgage probe deal
States are crafting a scaled-back mortgage abuses settlement with top U.S. banks that would exclude California, one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures and falling home prices.
Senior Living Sees a Boom in NY Area
Friday, November 25, 2011
Ex-Employee Pleads Guilty in Fatal Crane Collapse
Why It's Time to Buy
Harassment and Evictions Bedevil Even China?s Well-Off
The struggle for Huaxiang World Famous Garden, a gated community near the capital, is not like most of the redevelopment battles that each year lead to forced evictions in China.
Make a noise! Acoustics professor at KU wins award
University of Kansas architecture professor Robert C. Coffeen has been named the nation’s top educator in acoustics by the Acoustical Society of America.The prize is awarded every year by the leading international society devoted to the science and technology of sound.“I am honored and feel privileged to receive the Rossing ... (more)
Halting of public-private prison deals costs construction industry
Master Builders South Africa is concerned that the government's halting of the public-private partnership process for four proposed new prisons may lead to a lack of meaningful response from the industry for future projects.
Sharga: Several More Years with Nearly 1M Foreclosures Per Year
Greater Baltimore homes selling faster, cheaper
Greater Baltimore's real estate market experienced modest signs of improvement in October even as home prices continued to fall.
Problems With New Good Faith Estimate Forms
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Home sales continue rising for 6th month
California's housing market displayed a glimmer of recovery during October as pending sales increased for the sixth consecutive month, a trade association said Monday.
Training Seminar
Foster Wheeler Awarded Project Management Support Contract for Gas Storage Project in Wyoming
Harassment and Evictions Bedevil Even China?s Well-Off
The struggle for Huaxiang World Famous Garden, a gated community near the capital, is not like most of the redevelopment battles that each year lead to forced evictions in China.
Ex-Employee Pleads Guilty in Fatal Crane Collapse
Great Lakes Announces Award of $57 Million East Hidd Land Reclamation Project in Bahrain
Affordable Construction
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Highwoods to build new $50M Lifepoint Hospitals HQ
Based in Raleigh, Highwoods will construct a seven-story, 203,000-square-foot office building in Seven Springs Park - investing nearly $50 million in the project, which it hopes to finish by the end of 2013.
Watermark
Real Estate: Monthly home sales volume is up, price down in September
Three teams can still win at least a share of the WAC football title, and two of them -- Nevada and... Bobo's hosts a free Ski Tuning Clinic with Willi Wiltz, a former ski tuner and technician to the U. Two men waited patiently for the Oyster Bar in John Ascuaga's Nugget's to open at 11 a.m. Existing home sales in Washoe County jumped 15 percent in ... (more)
Robot House
October Florida Home Sales Up 13% Over 2010
EYE ON THE FORECAST A mild and humid Tuesday morning with fog and clouds, then partly cloudy and warm with a few afternoon or evening showers.
Labor, execs push for more jobs during American Dream project hearing
Most of the audience - and more than half the speakers - at Wednesday morning's environmental impact statement hearing on American Dream Meadowlands were labor union members and executives who stressed the need for more jobs in the region.