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Craftsman
Commercial Dry wall, Inc. Volume 2, No. 1
November, 1980
CDI meeting the challenge
luxyrf high-rise condominiums ©o the ypswooug As they do almost everywhere else, fads come and go in the construction industry. From a building standpoint, some of the "hot items now going up include buildings with rounded corners and mirrored glass exteriors. Atriums soaring anywhere from two to five stories are almost standard in office structure. Now, one type of structure that has increased in popularity in the last few years is the luxury highrise condominium. Houston, one could say, is in a “condominium craze” with no fewer than a dozen major condominium projects going up or in their planning stages. And, as Houston’s leader in the drywall industry, CDI will no doubt be involved in many of these projects. Already this is evident with CDI's role in what might have started the most recent wave of condominiums—the Greenway Condominium I. The Greenway, a 30-story project by Century and Bland Development companies, sold out in just a few short months. With this early sellout came a second Greenway condominium and a host of others, mostly in the southwest sector. Currently, major condominium projects already underway include Greenway Condominium II, another 30-story, The Oxford, a 20-story project near the Galleria, and the Four Leaf Towers, two twin 40-story buildings also being built in the Galleria area. All of these have interior construction by CDI. In addition, plans are on the board for “5000 Montrose at the Museum,” a 22-story project by Century and Bland Development companies, Park Lane, a 38-story high-rise under general contractor, Miner-Dederick,
The twin 40story Four Leaf Towers are a portion of the ''condominium craze" which Houston is now experiencing. More than a dozen high-rise condominiums are now in construction or in the planning stages in the city.
and the Houstonian Estates, a luxury three tower, 28-story project within the Houstonian complex. While these represent only a portion of the construction it reveals the current trend toward this type of housing. Along with these luxury condominiums comes a challenge for all crafts to produce the highest quality work within a compressed schedule, and in often crowded work areas. Since these are residences that range in price from around $100,000. to over half a million dollars, this need for quality under difficult conditions is extremely critical.
CDI’s experience gained from the Greenway Condominium I has provided a foundation for the proper planning and execution of such projects. CDI’s leadership abilities among the crafts and with the general contractor in the sequencing of Greenway II, for instance, has been instrumental in that project’s current success. CDI enjoys its leadership role in the Houston drywall industry, and looks forward to meeting the challenge of the high-rise condominium, just as over the past 17 years we have been a pioneer in virtually every phase of drywall construction.
From the top
‘That’s not my job’ doesn’t work her® By Dick Phillips If someone were to ask me what I felt to be one of the cornerstone’s of CDI’s success, I would answer “team work.” I strongly believe that CDI has been built on this sense of team play and will only continue to succeed with that same spirit. Conversely, one of the biggest breakdowns that can happen to us or any group is when individual selfishness controls the attitude of its members. How many times have you
heard someone remark, "That’s not my job!” Personally, nothing bothers me more than to hear a CDI employee express that detrimental attitude. Usually such a response is an indication that there is a difficiency— either in that individual’s attitude toward his work, fellow employees or company, or it’s an excuse for laziness. Either way, it simply doesn't fit in the mode of a CDI employee.
A note from the editor
Y@yir Craftsman os 1 yaair ©Dd No doubt you have already noticed a couple of things different with this issue of the Craftsman. First, the name has been slightly altered to CDI Craftsman. And second, the volume number on Page 1 has moved up to 2, while the number has been put back to one. The latter changes indicate that, yes, the Craftsman has completed one year of publication, with this issue being the first of the second year. Incorporating CDI into the name is due to a number of factors, one of which is to maintain consistency among all of our operations, especially our Dallas office which is known as CDI Systems. Another reason is something many of you may have already realized. CDI is fast outgrowing its drywall image. No longer are we just a drywall company, and we would like to say this to our customers. We feel that perhaps utilizing the “CDI” will help us build an image beyond our drywall capabilities. As editor of this publication, I would like to make a few personal comments—not as editor though, but as an average CDI employee working long, hard hours for pride in a finished product and that paycheck on Friday. I view my job in regards to the paper as more of a coordinator of information rather than a creator. In other words, I am here to organize news about you into a readable format. With this approach, there is one
catch. Often, it is difficult to know everything about everybody’s job. And, what generally makes its way into the paper is what has been brought to my attention by either a member of management, superintendent, job supervisor, and on occasion, a field employee. I would like to see more of my information come from the average employee. So, if you or someone you know has done an outstanding job, sees an opportunity to improve something, or whatever, I would like to hear about it. If you feel that the paper does not represent you, then please let me know. As I have said, I depend on others to a great degree to inform me of the company's most important or interesting happenings. And, I know that for everyone I write about, there are 10 I have missed. The CDI Craftsman is not my paper, it is yours. When it first began publication a year ago, Dick Phillips said in his message that “the Commercial Craftsman is not fully developed with this one issue. In fact, it will take many more before it becomes a mature publication. And, to progress in the right direction, it needs input from you—your ideas and support.” I believe that the right direction mentioned is your direction. So, when you look at a Craftsman or think of it, remember that is is here for your suggestions and your contributions—because it is your newspaper. -2-
Being the realist I am, I don’t pretend that the “that’s not my job” response doesn’t exist in our company. But, because I am a realist, I say without hesitancy that any individual with such an attitude will not find a career with our company. No, there are enough of those who are willing to do their job, and on occasion that little bit extra. And it’s not the little extra so much that we are looking for, but the willingness to give it when necessary. Throughout the ranks of CDI you will find many individuals who do not let the fact that something may not be in their job description stop them from doing what is needed. These same people are the ones others envy. Because they are well-rounded, likable, not afraid of work, and are usually in or on their way to a respected position within the organization. They are also the ones who realize that we are all on the same team, and let this belief mold their attitudes toward their work. So as a piece of advice and a general statement, I say that CDI will continue to grow around those who believe in the “team” concept— employees who don’t use “that’s not my job” as an alibi for not getting the job done. Team work is what got us where we are today. And, it will keep us the most respected drywall company in the southwest. Something that’s all of our jobs!
CDI
Craftsman Editor: Larry Williams The CDI Craftsman is published monthly by Commercial Drywall, Inc. for its employees and their families. Employees should send their news contributions to Larry Williams, Commercial Drywall, Inc., P. 0. Box 10686, Houston, Texas 77018.
CDI-San Antonio enjoying steady pace Activity in San Antonio continues at a steady pace with the core work for Henry C. Beck's San Antonio Savings project nearing completion, and tenant work beginning under the leadership of David Garcia, Jr. and Paul Buck. Work is also currently underway on the three-story Foley’s, a project of Spaw Glass. Foreman Pete Williams reports everything is running smoothly and on schedule there. Other construction activity in San Antonio includes two B. Dalton Book Stores for Security Construction and Mother Care projects for Empire Construction Company. Scheduled to begin this month is the 14-story Valero office building for Linbeck Construction Company of Dallas, with owner occupancy expected next fall. Additionally CDI San Antonio is beginning two demountable partition system jobs this month. The first is the Texas Department of Human Resources project, located on Castroville Road. The second is a three-story building for the Unversity of Texas Health Science Center, and includes demountable partition system and operable walls.
Bidding activity under Dave Demel and Ron Parker continues at a hectic pace with several projects looking very favorable. Also, CDI-San Antonio has a new employee, Lora Kromar, who is working part time in an effort to help a very busy Sandy Krzywosinski in the office. Superintendent Grady Atnip
reports that CDI employees Joe Solis and Sam Sotello, deserve special recognition for their excellent work in laying out the intricate ceiling in the lobby atrium at the San Antonio Savings project. Both worked on a very complicated design under a tremendous deadline and the results were excellent.
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September/October Attendance Ranking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11
% 98.5 97.5 97.5 97 97 96.5 96.5 96 96 95.5 95 95 94.5 94.5 93 93 92 91.5
Project Mama I & II Allen Center Greenway Houston Center Transco Yard Laborers Jesse's Group Ted's Group 1st International Plaza 1st City Tower Condo I & II Oxford Condo Jerry's Painters
Supervisor or Foreman Steve Mayo Billy Patrick Cliff Welsh Richard Perales Dennis Yanowski Jesse Hajdik Ted Hajdik Fred Lay, Herbert Hawkins Dudley Chisholm Glen Brabham, Mike O'Brien Nick Nunez Jerry Featherston
Jim's Group III Allen Center
Jim La Caze Tom Underwood, Buster Baimbridge
Shell Woodcreek
Roger Warman Daryl Hammons Jay Richards Bobby Smith
Four Leaf Condo Texas Commerce Plaza Bobby's Finishers
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(Top photo) Ron Parker (front), estimator for CDI-San Antonio and field superintendent Grady Atnip pre-planning a project for that office. Shown in the bottom photo is the new CDI-San Antonio office manager Roy Van Cleave.
EMPLOYEE NEWS
Christmas party s®t for D@e. 23 The stage has been set for the 1980 version of the CDI annual field Christmas party. The festive event, as always, will feature plenty of food, music, beer, turkey, and special entertainment, and will be held at the SPJST Lodge at 1435 Beall in the Heights (the same location as last year’s) on Tuesday, December 23. One deviation from previous years, however, is that the party will get underway at 4 p.m. and last until 7 p.m. This change has been made due to a short workweek with Christmas falling on Thursday and Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas being scheduled as nonworking holidays. Plans call for a catered barbeque meal to be served around 4:30 p.m. with beer flowing from 4 p.m. until it runs out. In addition, there will be random drawings for several door prizes, and as last year, special entertainment will highlight the party. CDI employees who wish to attend the party should proceed to the SPJST Lodge following their normal workday on Tuesday, December 23. The lodge is located at the intersection of 15th and Beall several blocks north of the Katy Freeway and west of Shepherd Drive.
Forget me not
i
In featuring Eastman Whipstock as a recent CDI project of the month, the Craftsman inadvertently omitted the mention of Pete Williams as an integral part of that job. Pete did much of the framing and hanging on the radius stairwells, skylights, and planter boxes. Since Eastman Whipstock, he has moved to San Antonio where he is doing an outstanding job for CDI in that city.
(I - r) Kenneth Williams, Abel Nunez, Larry Vance, and Glen Brabham lead activity at the Greenway Condo II for which Glen was recently named supervisor of the month.
With €©mdl© II crew’s help
Glen Brabham ©arsis supervisor award CDI has named its supervisor of the month for October, and the award has gone to Glen Brabham who heads up work at the Greenway Condominium II, a 30-story project for Miner-Dederick. Glen has been with the company for the past three years, with Condo II being his first major project to supervise, although he previously worked with Jay Richards in running Condo I and the Greenway West Tower. With this first project, Glen has achieved remarkable success. His crew has won four budget beater contests, including a steak dinner, and the job has failed to beat its budget only twice during its six months of activity. Much of this success can be attributed to Glen’s outstanding leadership abilities which have surfaced not only with his men, but in relation to the other crafts as ’ well. Perhaps one of Glen’s strongest assets is his ability to get the most out of his foremen and the Condo II crew. This ability, though, comes substantially from their willingness to do the best they can for him. And, Glen is one of the first to recognize this. The success here can be attributed to two groups of people— -4-
L
the foremen and the workers,” says Glen, “they are the ones that make it happen.” Glen credits his men with having as big a part in winning his supervisor’s award as he did. The Condo II foremen include Abel Nunez who directs the sheetrockers, Larry Vance who is in charge of the framers, Kenneth Williams who leads the laborers, and Mike O’Brien who heads up the finishing operation. "These guys, plus all the workers, are really responsible for the way this job is going. To have a successful effort, you need the desire, and everyone here has it,” contends Glen. However, there are certain parts of the job for which Glen deserves the credit. These include his scheduling procedures which he worked out with the general contractor and the other crafts. This scheduling has helped to cut damage to CDI’s completed work while allowing his crews to finish floors with fewer go-backs. At the end of the day, Glen heads home to his wife, Candie, and their two children, Branden 4, and Tiffany who is 3 months old. In his spare 0 time he enjoys the outdoors, with hunting and fishing topping the list o those activities.
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Selected key person
tap®riant role at TCT earns award for David Kirsch
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CDI's David Kirsch, jobsite A very important function of coordinator at the Texas Commerce David’s position is serving as the Tower, has been selected as this communications link between the month’s key person. David, a two office and the field, as well as among and one-half year veteran with the all of those on the job. The company, has been at the 75-story establishment of such project for the past six months, and communications has been a major has been instrumental in making that priority on the project as all foremen job an extremely well organized and workers know where they stand effort. in relation to such critical areas as David’s primary duties involve production, budget and overall timekeeping for more than 50 success of the job. carpenters, finishers and laborers, TCT’s supervisor for CDI, Jay filling out percentage sheets on job Richards, sums up David's job as completion, general organization of “one of the most important on the the jobsite office, communications, project.” “And,” says Jay, “David is and the ordering of necessary one of the best at what he does." materials. Such ability at his job is reflected in the fact that David trains TCT is one of CDI’s smoothest running jobs, and much of this is due all new jobsite coordinators when they join CDI. to David’s efforts. His timekeeping David may be one of CDI’s most responsibilities, for instance, require him to keep track and log work hours active jobsite coordinators as he for every member of the crew. assists foreman Paul Herring in These hours are also plugged into calculating the percentages of work completed every Tuesday. This the job’s estimate code graph which currently requires the walking of shows the correlation between labor floors from 45 down to level A below ^ dollars expended and percentage of the ground level—usually an all-day Q work completed for each job code. affair. By doing this, David helps the TCT Besides his activity on the job, crew determine how they are faring David is presently pursuing a in relation to the budget for each of masters degree in geology at the these job codes.
Paul Herring on Key Person David Kirsch (seated) works with TCT foreman percentage sheets for the 75-story project now going up in downtown Houston.
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University of Houston, where he attends classes in the evenings. David currently holds a BS in psychology from that school. While work and school more than adequately fill his time, David does enjoy photography and jogging when he can find the time. The Craftsman congratulates David on his achievements as key person. His dedication and thoroughness in his job has made him a very valuable asset to CDI, and especially the TCT crew.
United Way drive successful effort For the second consecutive year Commercial employees have taken a major step in their attempt to better their respective communities through generous donations to the United Way. This year our campaign was headed by Larry Williams and Glenn Marek, and happily it was a terrific success. Everyone’s support and assistance were asked for, and the response was overwhelmingly favorable. In dollar signs that favorable response turned out to be an outstanding $92,500., an increase of 34 percent over last year’s tally. Thanks for this achievement goes to every individual who contributed to the United Way. Their commitment to helping others by donating their hard earned money to such a worthy cause is to be commended. CDI's average gift of $165 per person was the highest per capita donation in the entire city of Houston! These figures show a real commitment by CDI employees to help others. It is something everyone who gave can and should be proud
COMPANY NEWS
The 40-story Continental Plaza will dwarf other downtown Fort Worth buildings by more than 50 percent.
CDU Systems busy with bids CDI Systems in Dallas reports another big bid month for that recently opened office. Mike Grogan, vice president and general manager, says that his estimating staff has been busy submitting bids on a number of new projects, while the field is currently involved in work on the Lincoln Centre Office Building. Some of the projects currently in the estimating stage include a 50-story office building in Dallas for Placid Oil, and a 25-story project in Dallas to be known as The Galleria which will be developed by Gerald D. Hines Interests. In the field, the 15-story Lincoln Centre currently has lease work underway by CDI. Heading up that portion of the activity is Chuck Grogan. As reported in last month’s Craftsman, CDI-Dallas has been notified that they will be doing the core and tenant work on a 40-story high rise to go up in downtown Fort Worth. The building, to be called Continental Plaza, will stand 50 percent taller than any other Fort Worth office building.
Project of the month
SASA ®@r® nearing completion The CDI Craftsman is pleased to recognize the San Antonio Savings Association Building as its project of the month of November. The ninestory structure, which is currently nearing completion of the core, is a project for the Henry C. Beck Construction Company. SASA is presently the scene of much CDI activity with approximately 40 craftsmen working under the leadership of David Garcia, Jr. and Paul Buck, two top CDI foremen. Their responsibilities include layout, framing and hanging on the interior partitions, acoustical lay-in ceilings, and under grid walls using CDI extrusions. According to superintendent Grady Atnip, the SASA project has progressed steadily since it began late last spring. With the core now nearing completion, a hectic pace is expected to be maintained so that the building’s major tenant, San Antonio Savings will be able to meet their target move-in date of mid-December. SASA will occupy floors 1 through 4 plus the ninth floor—all of which is
to be completed by the move-in date. The remaining four floors, already 100 percent leased, will be done later with CDI providing unit prices for these areas. Several CDI craftsmen have played an integral role throughout SASA’s duration. These include sheetrockers Jim Pesina, Ray Perez, Frank and Edward Vierra, Fidel Pelayo, Alvaro Martinez, and Vincente and Israel Ochoa. Others involved in various aspects of the job include Tommy Guetterez, Fred Enderle, and Edward Brieno. Completing a very complex atrium area and handrails were Joe Solis and Sam Sotello who did an outstanding job under difficult conditions. The atrium ran some 40 feet high and included floors 1 through 4. The Craftsman congratulates all those who have helped make SASA another CDI success in San Antonio. All the field employees involved on the project plus the various office back-up combined for a great team effort.
Project of the month, the San Antonio Savings Association building, is nearing completion of the core for CDI. The nine-story project is being built by general contractor Henry C. Beck. -6-
CDI-Austin continues smooth operations CDI-Austin activities continue to roll along with most major projects ^on schedule and running smoothly. Larry Hanvey, Austin’s vice president and general manager, says that they are extremely happy with the progress being made on all of the CDI projects there. At the IBM complex, Building 045 has been completed with foreman Gene Doughtery providing the finishing touches to that job. In Building 060. Bob Fritz and his crew have completed work on the manufacturing level of the project and have moved to the building’s lower level. GDI’s Tracor project is doing fine with Terry LaRoche and his crew of carpenters approximately 50 percent complete in that two-story office building for Monarch Construction. In addition, the paint crew has gotten its start there with Mack Gerald, Johnny Ivy and Mel Volkert handling those responsibilities. Just a few blocks from Tracor is the Motorola facility which has begun ^activity. There, Johnny Kovar and Keith Leshe are taking on the early chores on that three-story project. Elsewhere, the Brackenridge Hospital crew under David Kovar has virtually completed hanging on the ninth floor and has moved down to eight where framing has been completed and awaiting rocking. The First Texas State Bank lease work under foreman Ronnie Roberts has been completed with highly favorable results. New jobs coming up in the first quarter of next year have been revealed by Larry and include a Montgomery Wards department store, and a five-story police station for the R. E. McKee Construction Company. In recognition of all the fine work going on in both Austin and San Antonio, Larry has also announced that those two offices are now participating in their own budget beater contests. These contests win ^ award a barbeque catered lunch to the job which bests beats its budge
The Brackenridge Hospital crew (above) has been steady with their performance on two floors under construction in that facility At right, Bobby Hicks is shown screwing off wallboard on the First Texas State Bank lease area, a /ob recently completed by CDI-Austin.
Smaller paychecks during holidays Since Christmas falls on a Thursday this year, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after will all be nonworking holidays. While this more extended holiday period means r' time to enjoy this special time of the year, all CDI field employees should be made aware that the short workweek will mean smaller paychecks. The paychecks which field employees will receive on Tuesday, the 23rd, will reflect only three days’ pay because time will go in on the preceeding Friday to allow sufficient time for processing payroll. The
following paycheck, to be distributed on Friday, January 2, will contain pay for four days’ work, as will the Friday, January 9, paycheck. So, in the three-week period, employees will receive pay for 11 workdays, with no pay for the three-day Christmas holiday and the New Year’s Day holiday. CDI urges field employees to make their financial plans with these short workweeks in mind, so that the impact of the smaller paychecks will be less and the Christmas season will remain enjoyable.
Long way from pumping gas
Mike Holland, CDI’s chief estimator, is an individual who has gone from pumping gas for the company to pumping out bids. Only 26 years old, he has already accumulated nine years of service with the company, during which time he has diligently worked his way up through the ranks. Mike began with CDI on a parttime basis working afternoons while in high school. His early duties included pumping gasoline at the yard to fill company delivery trucks. He moved from there to being a carpenter in the field, prior to becoming an estimator just over two years ago. Now as one of CDI’s top estimators, Mike cranks out bids on a mass scale, with an average of six to eight each week. According to Mike, his work incorporates the company philosophy of building client relationships with a certain group of owners, developers, and general contractors. Most of his work is the result of requests from these companies. However, at times, says Mike, he utilizes the Dodge Construction Reports to ensure that we are submitting bids to our clients who are on the list of general contractors bidding a project. Among the numerous accounts Mike handles are such general contractors as Harvey, Bellows, Ashford, Houston Construction, and Gierhart-Vaughan, to name a few. Mike works with Alan Jezek, CDI’s contract sales manager, who heads up both estimating and budgeting departments. Recent organizational changes increased Alan’s responsibilities to include budgeting, making Mike, along with Bob Pigg CDI’s primary bidding estimators. These changes have given Mike a greater number of projects to bid, in addition to taking on many of the larger projects. Some of his recent jobs he has handled include the Heights House, Northwind Plaza, Corporate Plaza II, and the Four Seasons Hotel.
Currently, he and his wife, Ruth, are in the process of selling their home in Bonaire, making way to build another one soon.
In addition to bidding the jobs, once they become CDI projects, he serves as project manager during their construction. In this way, he can maintain contact with the job, making sure that work goes according to the plans and contract. Assisting Mike on several jobs are Joe Gilligan and Dewitt Churchwell, who often set up the jobs so that Mike can spend more time as a project manager. CDI’s bidding process, as Mike readily admits, can become complicated and usually requires a great deal of communication with the general contractor. On negotiated jobs, he may price them several times before they reach a stage that a final bid can be made and the actual terms agreed upon. Mike is a native Houstonian and attended the University of Houston where he studied architecture for two years. An avid sportsman, he plays basketball and jogs regularly.
The stockpile of prints In Mike's office attests to the number of bids he puts out as one of the company’s chief estimators.
Budget B@at@ir Point Totalis Poamifts
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90 100
Ted's Group Jim’s Group Jerry's Painters III Allen Jesse’s Group Condo II Luis' Group Texas Commerce Tower Four Leaf Condo 1st International Plaza Oxford Condo Shell Woodcreek 1st City Tower
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0
Foam...
A Smk at GDI estimating Webster defines estimating as the act of appraising or valuing- a rouoh or approximate calculation Those in sales sometimes call it an educated .. guess. Nonetheless, it amounts to the dollar amount CDI receives for its An estimate can best be , services. , broken down as: (1) direct labor (2) fringe benefits, including taxes ’ insurance, (3) materials, (4) overhead, and (5) profit. DIRECT LABOR: Have you ever thought why you are asked to turn time in daily on code numbers? And why job status reports are taken every week? The reason is to gather labor cost information. The cost of a particular function must be known in order that future jobs can be intelligently bid. After gathering these costs for a while, CDI is able to categorize jobs as to their size, the
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Estimator Dewitt Churchwell (front) and estimating department head Alan Jezek work together on a bid. CDI's estimating functions are an integral part of the company's operations.
With CDI’s new budget beater system now underway, several major work groups are well on their way to the steak dinner awarded by earning 100 points. Meanwhile, weekly barbeque lunches have gone to a variety of jobs that have been good enough to beat their budget and lucky enough to win the drawing. In order for a job to gain a budget beater lunch, it must first beat its budget during the two-week period, and then be drawn from a hat containing the names of all those jobs which beat their budget during the same time. Those recent winners and their supervisors include the Rosewood Professional Building under Gilbert Shelton, Texas Commerce Tower (two times) lead by Jay Richards, the J.F. Merrill lease under Tommy Williamson, and 9990 Richmond, a job under the guidance of Darwin Macat. x , . The Craftsman congratulates l^everyone associated with these jobs, - plus those who also beat their budget and are accumulating points toward the steak dinner.
degree of difficulty and similar conditions. If we didn’t have these budget numbers, our estimating would be a guess of what we think we should do rather than what we actually can do. Besides arriving at the budget figure, the labor amounts aid in determining draw schedules for jobs, the projected needs of labor for future jobs, and where CDI stands profit wise on any job at any time. FRINGE BENEFITS: Labor burden is a common term for monies paid to the union, the insurance company and to the government in the form of taxes. These include Workmen’s Compensation, state and federal unemployment and general liability. Each of these is a real cost and amounts to almost 32c of each labor dollar. MATERIALS: These are approximated by making a lineal foot or square foot taken from the blueprints. The variable amount that encountered is the waste factor. A smart foreman can minimize his waste by careful planning and cut his material cost by 5 percent to 10 percent. Whatever is saved at this
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level goes right back into profit. Conversely, every piece of track that is bent, every sheet of rock that is negligently broken directly reduces bottom line profit. OVERHEAD: This encompasses a multitude of things that range from the superintendent’s salaries to the delivery trucks that bring the material to the job. Overhead in our industry rarely ranges below 10 percent and sometimes as high as 20 percent. Obviously, the company with the tightest overhead structure will be the most competitive. PROFITS: That’s what the game is all about. The money generated as profit inevitably goes back into the company to finance new growth. An aggressive, growing company has tremendous financial needs that can, and must be financed from within. The money market is and will be a costly source of funds. A company like CDI must have profits after taxes to finance it’s own growth. After examining these five components, CDI puts them all together in a bid. Most of our work is obtained in the open market where (See Estimating, p. 10)
Estimating k@y CDS fyneti®n (From p. 9) we turn in a price based on a set of blueprints and specifications. Other drywall contractors will turn in a bid on the same project and the low man will normally be awarded the contract. However, in some cases, the low man may not be capitalized sufficiently or his reputation may be such that the general contractor does have the option to go with the next low contractor. This is the instance where it is very important for a company's image and reputation to be in good standing within the industry. A large source of our work, however, but not the major source, is the negotiated jobs. The negotiated job begins with the general contractor calling the drywall contractor and asking for a price based on a sketch or very preliminary sets of prints. In this case, we indicate the type of wall systems needed and make suggestions as to cost savings. Usually a meeting or several meetings with the architect and general contractor takes place while the prints are being developed. In addition to the bid jobs and the negotiated jobs, another source of work is the unit price job, in which we give a general contractor or an owner/developer a list of unit prices
Commercial Craftsman Commercial Drywall, Inc. 3705 Piney Woods P.O. Box 10686 Houston, Texas 77018
such as a nine-foot tenant wall, a door, a frame, etc. and then contract to do leases in a building on a unit price basis. This is a very common arrangement and one which CDI is very involved in. In summary, then an estimate is exactly what Webster defines it as. And that estimate is no better or worse than the person putting it
together. And he or she is very dependent upon the date available to perform the estimating function. That is, CDI must have accurate unit costs, and material costs. We must know what our overhead is. And, we must know what percent profit we need to sustain the type of growth that we want to experience in the future.
Scaffold accidents Qommoin) One out of every 10 injuries in building construction is a scaffold accident. Most of these injuries can be prevented if a few practical accident prevention measures are taken. To be effective, these measures require planning before a scaffold is erected, supervision while it’s being erected, and periodic inspection while it’s in use. A study of serious accidents involving scaffolds produced statistics concerning their frequency and insured costs. The four main problem areas are as follows: Frequency Cause Guardrail Lacking 22% 24% Improper Decking Structured Failure 15% Scaffold Overturned 19%
To protect yourself and others: « Inspect all scaffold parts before using. ° Keep maximum height less than four times the minimum width. ° Make decking full width and secure against displacement. ° Install proper guardrails, midrails, and toe boards. ° Always lock all wheels, except when scaffold is moving. ° No one allowed on scaffold while it is being moved. Be careful and remember—It takes years to make a good craftsman, but only one second to lose him.
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