According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 30 percent of companies misclassify employees. Misclassification is defined as employees being referred to as independent contractors and it is a violation of the law.
In these uncertain times, contractors have to make decisions that will ultimately have an impact on your business and livelihood. What job to take, which ones to pass up, when to cut staff, when to add staff, where do you add them, when to expand or even drop a certain segment of the market that is just not worth it-decisions, decisions.
The truth is no designer or contractor wants a leaky wall assembly. Past water intrusion problems into walls have created billions of dollars in damage, struck fear in the hearts of architects and led to some drastic overreaction and insane alterations.
I was a plastering contractor during the last horrible recession of the late-’70s. Work was so scarce that we even bid for one of the more notorious developers in our area. Even knowing this particular developer was infamous for burning subcontractors, running a project site with no regard for proper sequence and avoiding retention payment, we felt we had to bid his work.
Can cement stucco and EIFS work in wet climates? The answer is yes and we can prove it. A recent study from the NAHB Research Center reported that brick veneer was the most dry of all claddings they tested. They really need to know all the facts.
Have you been around long enough to see the changes in construction? Remember when general contractors actually knew how to organize and schedule a project to actually run efficiently and not just a lot of talk about production?
So much change and yet so much remains the same. For years, the codes referred to this mystical product as the “weather” resistive barrier but the new I-Codes deemed it more appropriate to call it the “water” resistive barrier.
Is your New Year’s resolution to lose weight, quit smoking, exercise more and drink less? If you’re like me, you start with great intentions and then quit after a few months.