Having a mixture of immigrants is healthy for your construction company

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United States is a place that has people coming from all walks of life and they come to this place to have a decent life. It is probably the only country in the entire world which has people coming from different countries to make their dream come true. On an annual basis, US is seeing an increase in the influx of immigrants. Some skilled, some semi-skilled and some unskilled labors constitute the total population of immigrants in this country and strangely they all are able to find a job for themselves. It seems that the construction industry also has a healthy strength of immigrant workers. Since this industry does not need a lot of skilled labor, therefore it does well with semi-skilled workforce. The only criteria that the construction companies have for them is that they should be hard working and should give their 100% to the job.

Now how the construction companies benefit when they employ immigrants in their company. There is a scarcity of labor as many consider this part of the job to be perilous and hence you will find Americans holding the top position where their job is to give instruction to the laborers and also supervise their work. In case, things are not going as per the plan the supervisor will be taken to task. But it is not that the labor workforce is only occupied by the immigrants. You will also find Americans in this club. Usually construction companies are of the opinion that just hiring immigrants as workers can be a bit problematic as they want to give equal opportunity to all and therefore feel that it is healthy to have a mixture of employees constituting your workforce.

Immigrants are paid less as compared to their American counterparts:-

It has now become an open secret that the immigrants are paid less than what the companies had to pay to the Americans. This becomes highly cost effective for the company especially during times of turbulence. The construction market is not always flourishing and there are times when things take a bad shape for the overall sector. This is when the construction companies continue doing business by paying less to the immigrants. Having said so, this does not imply that they exploit them to the core. They are provided with all the other facilities that are given to the resident but are cut short on the wages part. The company in this way is able to save a lot for the hard times.

Immigrants are ready to work beyond the working hours:-

Not every person in the United States readily works beyond his working hours. Though they are paid extra for working after their shift, people are still reluctant to do so. However, the immigrants in this case are more than happy to work and earn some extra money. They are probably without their families and are here with the sole purpose of earning more money. Anything earned in addition to the wages is an incentive. Though government has now made the visa rules quite stringent and construction companies are finding it hard to employ more immigrants. It needs to be seen how things will shape up after few years.

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Is civil engineering a good major for a future in the construction domain

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To hold a crucial designation in a business that is quite a thriving one is certainly important for the growth of one’s career. We talk about any industry for that matter and each of them will have few very crucial designations without which the likelihood of the survival of that industry is nil. It has been observed that people usually eye for those crucial positions but it is not at all simple to achieve them. The sole reason is it is too hard to get there. You need to acquire lot of knowledge and experience to reach somewhere closer to it. We consider the construction domain to be a highly rewarding one. Right from the bottom level people to the guys sitting at the management level, they all make good money at the end of the day. So why not attain a place for yourself without which the sector will find it to be incapable to perform.

Engineers are given a special place in the construction sector. It is because of them that the industry can go out and execute the plans. As a matter of fact the engineers are the one who designs the plan and then work on it to give it an ultimate shape. It is because of the important role that they play in this sector that they are paid so handsomely. Apparently, it is also expected that the engineers do not do things incorrectly as it will hamper the making of the entire project. This means that they got to do their work with complete accuracy and there is no chance of any sort of error.

To become a civil engineer is quite a tough business. It takes 4 years of education in Bachelor of Science in civil engineering in order to become a civil engineer. From thereon, the person needs to strive harder to make his position first in the company and then in the industry. For guys/gals who do not wish to study for 4 years, they can pursue a 2 year associate degree in civil engineering and then work as an assistant to an engineer. After working for few years he/she can then pursue another course to become a complete civil engineer. In both the courses, one has to go through both classroom training as well as practical field work. This is done so that students can have a better understanding of the subject and can develop into able and competent engineers.

If a person is aiming to become a civil engineer, he/she got to be good in math and physics. The entire civil engineering thing revolves in and around these two subjects and therefore someone who do not see much interest in these subjects should never make civil engineering as its goal. Another attribute that is required is that they need to be good team worker as civil engineers are required to work in a team. Overall civil engineering is a good stream that one can pursue and see a rewarding career.

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Liening construction job sites

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Imagine you get a contract to work on a site. You invest good deal of money into the work. All your labors have worked hard, day and night to make sure that the work is completed in time and then once the work is completed, you get to know that the company who has given you the work can no longer afford to pay you. That will come as a lightning bolt out of a clear sky. You may wonder how all of a sudden he does not have any money to pay you and what you have now to protect your interest. To be frank, you got nothing to protect your interest. You have to pay your workers for their labor and you get nothing out of this entire deal. On the contrary, you just end up spending all you have.

Well, this is not how things work in the construction industry. When you take up a work, you make sure that you get the payment regularly. However, before that, you have your lien on the property so that in case the project owner is unable to pay you, he can’t use the property and you can sell it off to any financial institution or do whatever to claim your money back.

Now take the same example other way round. Let’s say that you have taken the contract and you sub contract it to a third party. For some unfortunate reasons, you are unable to pay the sub contractor his dues. This will result him in placing a lien on the said property. Therefore, it is believed that placing a lien on the property is perhaps the only method by which you can secure your payments.

Placing a lien can have serious implications once it is placed on any given property. The first major implication will be banks or any financial institution will lend money to refinance the property. Banks want them to be having first lien if they are giving any loan on an existing property. So if there is already a lien on the property, you cease any scope of getting loans from bank. Not only this, you credit rating also takes a beating. This has a huge impact on your borrowings.

It has also been witnessed that some contractors fraudulently place liens on a property even though they have received all the payments. This is a serious issue and is also dealt stringently by the forces. However, you have to go through lot of hassles till the time it is not proven that the money is paid to the contractor. Work at other jobsites is also stopped as contractors fear that they will not get paid for their work. It is crucial that you scan the contractors well by checking their work history and then give work.

Liens on property can have damaging impact even if it is fraudulently put on you. Therefore, always ensure that you pay your contractors well in time so that they do not impose a lien on the given property.

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My Grease fitting will not take grease on my heavy equipment. What should I do?

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Grease fitting is attached to the top of the grease gun and it delivers grease from grease gun under high pressure to inside of the sealed joints of heavy equipments. For the efficient functioning grease fittings should be free of dirt and not contain hardened grease. However, grease fittings get clogged and become ineffective in delivery of grease (malfunction).The following are some of the solutions to overcome this problem:

  1. Spraying petroleum based spray onto a grease fitting and cleaning it with a cloth will clean the grease fitting.
  2. Heat the clogged fittings with a propane torch or heat gun on a low flame. Following which the grease gun should be attached and flow of new grease will push soften old grease out and will clear the fitting.
  3. To attach commercial grease fitting cleaners such Zecker Zap, IPA, Powerfist and Performance tools to the clogged fitting. They are attached to one end of the grease fitting, injected with light viscosity oil and then stroked with a hammer. This will force the oil into fitting and will clear it of the hardened grease. Thus, these tools help to clear fitting without removing, replacing, digging or scraping. Applying this option has advantages that one does not have to pay for labour charges, reduces maintenance costs and downtime.
  4. When the above solutions do not work, then the grease fittings have to be taken apart to clean off the grease.
  5. After unscrewing the fitting, its passage is cleaned with a wire and filled with motor oil. The fitting is replaced and oil is pumped up, which will soften the grease and get it out.
  6. Sometimes there is a hydraulic lock at the zerk and which seals it. One has to loosen this component so that grease flows in.
  7. Sometimes the little ball in the tip of zerk gets friction stiffness or dirt gets collected over it and just needs to be loosened. A small sharp object can be used to dislodge the tip.
  8. Most the grease hardens on the zerk fitting. After taking the grease fitting taken apart, the zerk fitting is removed. A very small flat head screwdriver is used to remove all the grease out of the opening. The remaining can be cleaned using oil. A new zerk fitting is used and new grease is pumped till it comes out of the seals.
  9. If the above methods are not effective, then the fittings can be replaced with new ones as they are inexpensive.

Additional few things although minor, need to considered when grease does not flow into grease fittings. Sometimes there is lack of contact of the tip of the grease gun and zerk of fitting. There is also a possibility that the grease gun nozzle is worn out and leads to collection of grease around the zerk. Hence, replacing it with a new nozzle works for a long time. Also, one used use superior quality of grease. Finally, a daily scheduled servicing of the grease fitting is necessary for proper maintenance of the equipment.

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Kind of heavy equipment to build a housing lot

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Building houses has always been a thriving business and construction companies have made enough wealth being in this business for years. Even the newcomers are getting enough work and thereby not have to go through a lot of hardships. All that they need is some good heavy equipment and a bunch of able and competent workers who knows to build houses. When you are building a housing lot you need to deploy different types of heavy equipment for digging foundation, for breaking existing structures and to clear land. You can’t make use of 1 heavy equipment for all kinds of work and at the same time you need more machines if the construction area is huge. To build houses in massive lot, you need earth moving heavy machineries like excavators, loaders, bulldozers, backhoe crawler loader, trenchers etc. The utility of these machines is basically to move huge pile of soil that has been dug and load it in a truck. The truck will then ferry the soil in a dump yard.

The utility of an excavator is immensely felt in constructing a housing lot. It is multi-purpose heavy equipment which can be used for array of construction activities such as digging trenches and holes for laying foundation, demolition of existing structure, forestry work, general landscaping etc. It is one of the most common types of heavy equipment that you will find in a jobsite. This is followed by a loader which is primarily used to load materials like construction debris, asphalt, raw materials, logs, dirt etc.

Then we move to the construction vehicles which involve Dumpers, Tankers, Trailers, etc. These heavy equipment are used for various types of work. Right from ferrying the soil from the jobsite to the dump yard to spraying water on the jobsite using a truck, these heavy equipment are used for many such purposes. They have not have a direct relation in house building but still plays an active role. Without these heavy equipment it will be really difficult for the construction laborers to perform their duties. When we are talking about a huge housing plot, one can just imagine the amount of dirt that gets accumulated on the jobsite and to get that cleared off you need the help of a dumper, or a truck.

Then comes the material handling equipment which mostly consists machines like Cranes, Conveyors, and Forklifts. The cranes are used to move heavy slabs and place it on the top. Cranes are required when you are constructing high end towers. They are also used to lift heavy machines which get s stuck for some reason. It is therefore basically used to lift and ferry a heavy item which can’t move on its own from place to another. Conveyors are used to move heavy and bulky materials from one place to another. It is quite common is many construction sites as they all involve moving of heavy material items from one place to another.

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Repo business has good growth prospects

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What if you are given the rights by the bank to take away heavy equipment whose installments are due by the borrower and who presumable does not have any intention to pay them and in return you can earn good commission. Well, you would probably want to have a go in such form of a business. This you may see as a multi-million dollar business if you are able to stick to it for a decade or so and set up god rapport with different banks that are known for lending money to construction companies for buying heavy equipment. We call this business as “Repossession of heavy equipment or simply Repo of machines. This business often demands people who are strong mentally and can withstand pressure. Now when we talk about pressure, it can come from many corners.

Many a time, the borrower is not willing to let go his machine and also will not pay any installments. It becomes difficult to repossess heavy equipment from such people. You can’t even tell that the bank about the borrower’s behavior because it is your work to get it out from him and you got to go to any means in order to get the machine from him. The bank will ask you to show up with the heavy equipment so that they can auction it and can claim the price of the machine. So it all falls on you on how you will manage to get it out from the defaulter.

Moreover, some banks even give you the responsibility to keep a track of borrowers who default payments. So you are also responsible to hunt down men who borrow money to buy heavy equipment but are unable to pay them off. This seems to be quite an effort but it also pays you off real well. A repo agent makes around $400.00 for picking up any small sized machine. The amount increases manifolds if they are to repo big machines. They are paid handsomely for the effort they take to repo the machines and this is why many people are getting in this trade. They find this job to be interesting as they do not have to report to anybody and can wander as per their wish to track defaulters. Simultaneously, they make decent income at the end of every month.

They can also double their income by putting in more hours in a day doing this job. So this is for guys who can handle pressure and can take away the machine without making a fuss out of it. They also need to have contacts with transportation guys who can ferry the heavy equipment from the source to the destination. They at times have to move to other cities and states as well to repo machines. In scenarios like these, they will need the help of the transportation guys so that the construction equipment can be ported from one city to another. They are paid really well when the assignment comes from a different city so they never shy away from taking such jobs.

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Back up cameras on heavy equipment

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Operators experience a real tough time while moving the heavy equipment backwards. There are certain blind spots for which they need signals but the problem comes when there is nobody to give signals and the operator has to move the machine back. If they go wrong with their calculation then there is a big chance of them bumping an object or a person. Therefore they should install a camera through which they can check where the machine is going and if there is any object that is in mid of its path. He can then maneuver the machine by getting inputs from the screen that is installed inside the cabin. Heavy equipment companies these days have stopped manufacturing heavy equipment without a rear camera. Some also have cameras in the front. It actually helps the operator to figure out things that fall in the blind spot so that he can see them on the screen and avoid bumping off anything that comes on his way.

Saves life as well as money:-

A camera at the rear of the machine sounds to be quite effective especially when it comes to avoiding any sort of accidents. A construction zone will always have uneven roads and rough terrain which means that the operator has to be extra careful when it is driving the machine to a spot where he can’t see stuffs that comes on its way. There are always higher chances of him dashing an object or a person and can cause irreparable damage that can’t be compensated monetarily. The construction company on the other hand does not want to get into accidents because that leaves a dent to the reputation of the company. They may get the tag that it’s not an employee friendly company and employees are risking their lives by working with them. Simultaneously, if an accident happen because the operator wasn’t able to locate the object or the individual, it becomes the onus of the company to compensate the loss. So just by installing a camera in the rear can save priceless human lives as well as the heard earned money of the company.

Invest in cameras that last long and are truly effective:-

Cameras that can be installed on heavy equipment come in different quality, shapes and sizes. The cost of the cameras differs based on its features and its quality. It is recommended that you invest in cameras that has the most sophisticated feature and is considered to be one of the best in terms of quality. So before you go ahead to buy cameras for your heavy equipment, do some research on what kind of camera you need? Some cameras have good picture quality in dusty terrain. This means that if you are working in a zone that has lot of dust around, this camera will still be able to give the operator a clear view of the rear of the machine. Also check if they come up with any warranties and the conditions the companies have on such warranties. Only when you are convinced, you should go for the purchase.

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Safety of construction workers

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Accidents have become so prone in construction zones that it seems to be almost impossible to contain it. But the fact of the matter is we can contain many accidents from happening by following few safety parameters. This means that there is a severe lack of awareness amongst the construction workers when it comes to their own safety. Moreover, the effort put by the construction companies to educate the workers about the importance of wearing safety gears is negligible making things worse for the workers. The laws of US are strict enough to curb this problem but the real issue lies with the implementation at the ground level.

Other than this, due to the kind of risk involved it turns out to be a dangerous zone for the people working in it. The workers got to be careful when they are working at heights and while on the land they needs to have an eye on the heavy equipment that wanders all around the place. Though the operator stays vigilant to avoid any eventuality but still accidents happen and therefore it is the responsibility of everybody on the site to see that people around them are safe.

The construction workers also need to follow few safety parameters which will relatively bring down the incidents of accidents to a larger extent.

Wearing of safety gears:-

Safety gears starts right from wearing a belt to putting on a jacket. It largely depends on the type of work you will be doing and the site you are put into. Wearing helmets is quite common but many do not put the strap. This will let the helmet fall every now and then so it is better that the workers should tighten the helmet by putting on the strap. When they are working on heights like cleaning the glass window of a high story building, they should wear the safety belts so that in case if they lose their balance they do not hit the ground.

Check your tools before you begin to work:-

Workers are required to use a lot of tools. Right from Scaffolds to a hammer, they got to do with everything and therefore they need to ensure that all the tools that they will be working with are in perfect order. In case if they see anything to be shaky or not in order, they should immediately reach out to the officer in charge and report it to him. Resume working only if they are offered satisfactory equipment. Most of the times, there seem to be some issue with the ladder and the workers simply underestimate the issue and get on it. They are simply putting themselves at risk.

Know where the first aid box is:-

Most of the construction workers are not even aware if there is a first aid box available in the jobsite. They get to know about it only after the accident. Well, every worker should know about the location of the first aid box and how to use it. It can save their life and also the lives of their co-workers.

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Few basic rules to follow before you rent your heavy equipment

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Before you begin doing anything, you got to follow few very basic rules that will lead to its successful completion. Be it studies, sports or business, there are some rules for everything and you can only do that thing correctly if you follow those rules. Here we will be talking about what one should do while they are renting their heavy equipment. What are the rules one should follow when they are planning to put their heavy equipment on rent.

The very basic rule while you rent your heavy equipment is to identify the machine that you want to let out. Identifying the heavy equipment is done basically by knowing if the machine is being put to any use in your existing projects. If you find the machine is lying idle for months, then that is the one you should be putting on rent.

Simultaneously, you also need to check if the machine is in order or is it lying down there because it is no longer in working condition. If this is the case, then you have to firstly get it repaired by a good service guy and then look at the possibilities if it can be absorbed into any of your existing projects. If you do not see any need for it then you should think about renting it. However, if you see that the machine can be accommodated into any of your projects, then the question of renting the machine does not arise.

After having identified the heavy equipment and also finding it qualified to let it out, the next step would be search for someone who would need the heavy equipment and would be ready to pay you the rent for using it. You may find this to be little difficult. It is not easy to get hold of someone who will treat your heavy equipment like his own, service the machine at regular intervals and keep good care of it.

You need to place ads in various websites or newspaper classifieds from where you can get people interested to take it on rent. The most viable option is to place the ad in a recognized website. A website that many follow to take heavy equipment for rent should be your next target. You need to identify such a website and place the advertisement out there. The remaining process may follow swiftly. You may receive calls from people interested in your heavy equipment. If you are willing to negotiate the price, you can do that over the phone or else you can strictly state “No Negotiation”.

Once you get a person, the next process will be to draft an agreement. You can catch hold your attorney who prepares such drafts. There you need to state in all the terms and conditions and it should be agreed upon by both the parties. Once the draft is legitimized, both the parties are bound to follow the terms of the agreement. After the agreement is done, you can hand over the machine to the user.

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How does rain affect a construction job site

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Challenges have many faces and sometimes it comes in the face of weather. If there is a hostile weather and you have strict deadlines, it is just not possible to complete the job on time. You have to stop work as your men will have a tough time to carry on with the site operations and it also not makes any sense to risk the lives of your workers when you know that it is not going to happen. Though excuses do not work in the construction sector but this does not mean that you are going to put the lives of the workers at risk. A stormy weather or heavy monsoon can be a real spoilsport for your work. Other seasons like summer and winters can still be managed but during monsoon it just becomes unmanageable. One good thing is that it does not rain heavily all throughout the monsoon. There are few days in a month when you will not see the sky pouring water and this is perhaps the time when you should work hard to try and complete the work and be ahead of schedule.

Rain has always been a major threat to the construction business. If it rains a lot it may also affect the quality of the building. The workers have nothing to do as they are instructed not to proceed with the work for a couple of days. This makes things quite difficult for the company. The delay caused due to rains has to be compensated on other days by working for extra hours. The engineers may have their own plans to sort things out but rain can turn things away from them and not all might end up as per the plan laid by them. Heavy rains also impact the digging work. Excavation work becomes riskier as the earth becomes soft and quite unpredictable. Moreover the ground is watery and this can turn really ugly for the guys employed for digging work. No number of safety equipments can be of much use when they work in a situation like this.

Industry experts believe that nothing more can have a much greater negative impact on the construction sector other than hostile weather and specifically monsoon which has after effects too. Some companies have even experienced the worst. It took them almost 3 months to place a slab of a building which ideally does not take more than a couple of weeks. It seemed to rain every day and when it did not workers could not find it convenient to work.

Heavy rains also block the supply of materials to the jobsite. Materials are all blocked for days and it becomes tougher for the company to operate in such a situation. Now one can’t control rains and therefore need to chart out a strategy by keeping these things into consideration. Rains can cause quite a havoc in the construction industry and the companies should be prepared to take on challenges that comes along with it.

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