Tips from the Field

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The Solution to a Macro Concrete Problem? Think Micro.

August 15, 2010 in Construction Trends, Projects, Remodeling, Tips from the Field | No comments

We were asked recently to help one of our customers with a damaged concrete sidewalk. Sounds simple enough, but it wasn’t just any sidewalk. This one was elevated and it was absolutely necessary for this office facility that the sidewalk remain navigable for the tenants through out the repair process.

In years past, if someone wanted to change the appearance of a concrete surface or repair it, we would have had to cut out the entire floor and replace it, incurring great expense along the away. But new technology called micro-topping has made it significantly easier and less cost prohibitive to make such alterations. That’s the route we chose for this project.

The troweled-on, cementitious topping is paper-thin, yet bonds to most any substrate, from concrete and asphalt to wood. Because it is not confined to the color limitations of chemical stains, micro-topping allows for bright designs to be placed into an existing floor of a different color.

Even if the world is not your canvas, your floor can be.


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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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A Case Study in Adaptability

August 6, 2010 in Team Building, Tips from the Field | No comments


Friday afternoon seems like a good time for reflection, maybe even a little story telling. In these economic times, the fledging days of our business come to mind often. I learned a lot from my experiences. Hopefully, the account I share here can save you some time and trouble…

In 1984, our very first customer had just raised $30 million dollars through an IPO and we were going to build all their projects in the U.S. I was in my early 30s and life was good. We had enough work to last a lifetime – I thought. Boy, did that change! In less than two years, our customer was bankrupt and we were left high and dry. Although we did get paid for the work we had completed, our only source of income was gone.

Fortunately, our overhead consisted of only three people: me, my business partner at the time, and our secretary/bookkeeper/coffee-maker. Through those tough times, I learned an important lesson, the first of today.

Nothing lasts forever.

Just when things were looking bleak, an opportunity with a new project in Florida came along. Three partners shared the job of deciding who would be the contractor. One thought we hung the moon; another felt the same way about another contractor; the third partner had no dog in the hunt. We wanted the job badly and the other contractor felt the same way. Our tug-of-war went on for several weeks.

Somehow, I came to my senses even without the wisdom of experience. I suggested that we split the project up. This seemed like a good idea to all and we ended up building a portion and the other contractor built a portion. That contractor later became a good friend.

I learned then that flexibility needs to remain part of our game plan going forward.  We’ve tried to remember this rule of business. That brings us to the second lesson.

It’s better to have a portion than none at all.

Hopefully, you’re the kind of company that who sees opportunity, even when the whole project seems out of reach. When work is scarce, are you looking for ways to divide and conquer? To me, adaptability is key to survival for companies, organizations or firms. It was and is for us.


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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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What Do Construction Contracts Have To Do With Brown M&M’s?

July 14, 2010 in Tips from the Field | No comments

This week, I received an interesting Fast Company article about the details of Van Halen’s contract with concert promoters. There is a clause that the band should always be provided with M&M’s backstage and that none should be brown.

At first glance it seems picky and eccentric, but if you think about it, the “no brown M&M’s” clause is a brilliant low-tech solution for determining if the promoters actually read the contract. If the bowl of M&M’s backstage has the wrong color candy, the production company probably hasn’t read the contract or paid attention to its details. Then it seems fair to question what else they neglected. Were they careful to read for the proper equipment voltage?

I sometimes think about how can I find the “brown M&M’s” or predictors of how things are going with our projects. When problems are still small they are generally easier to fix. It’s always better for the customer relationship when problems are solved sooner than later.

To me, the devil is in the details. More times than not if those details are handled and the contract read, we can eliminate the oversights. It generally means the rest of the job, while maybe not perfect, is being looked after. Someone is paying attention.

I am always looking for the early warning signs of a brown M&M on our jobs. Here are three questions that I keep top of mind:

  • Are the contract submittals being kept up to date in the submittal log, routinely?
  • Are the right questions, appropriate to the stage of a construction project, being asked?
  • Are there red marks on plan review copies? That’s generally a sign that someone is paying attention to the details and not just rubber-stamping to move on.

What are your simple approaches for success?


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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Notes From a Pervious Concrete Seminar: How “Sustainable” Becomes “Practical”

July 2, 2010 in Construction Trends, Green Building, Projects, Technology, Tips from the Field | No comments

This week, several of our team attended a workshop led by Matthew Offenberg, a recognized expert in the field of pervious concrete. The discussion centered on the design and function of pervious concrete pavements, new developments in the technology and some of the challenges in implementing it. I found it interesting that the workshop was held here in Birmingham, an area known for its impermeable clay soils.

Our company has experience with pervious pavements in coastal areas with sandy, drainable soils. We will install our first pervious concrete parking lot in this area this month. Apparently, we aren’t the only ones expanding our use of this sustainable method. Factors that have contributed to the spread of the pervious industry to areas not originally thought to be candidates include:

Increased land values. The growing scarcity of suitable building sites have pushed developers and planners to squeeze more out of the site, and getting rid of the detention ponds creates more space.

Availability of materials. Readily accessible and relatively inexpensive crushed stone makes the addition of a “drainable layer” under paving easier in areas similar to Birmingham.

Industry growth. We now have more qualified suppliers and contractors, training programs and continuing education programs. This provides more resources and experience to draw.

As these and other sustainable technologies become tested by time and experience, their popularity will grow. In this instance, sustainable has become practical, and we consider that a success. Here are some pros and cons regarding the implementation and use of pervious concrete:

POSITIVE

  • Allows drainage of storm water directly into sub-soils
  • Omits the need for expensive retention/detention ponds, saving valuable land space for other uses
  • Structurally self-supporting water storage units can be placed under pervious concrete for irrigation use
  • Can be placed over tree root systems allowing for limited space traffic use
  • Can be placed in run-off buffer zones expanding traffic use space
  • Omits need for extensive storm drainage pipe systems as well as curb and gutter
  • No reinforcement required

NEGATIVE

  • Periodic cleaning required to maintain porosity, but minimal maintenance otherwise
  • Relative weakness does not allow for heavy truck traffic
  • Some raveling may occur over time, especially along edges—may require regular concrete ribbon along edges
  • 6” minimum thickness for light duty traffic
  • Requires substantial porous substrate for positive drainage
  • Must be kept covered and barricaded for a minimum of seven days after initial installation
  • Freeze/thaw spalling can develop in northern climates where there are extreme cold temperatures.

For us, the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to pervious concrete in the right applications—it maybe something to consider when you’re planning your next project. It’s a good option for the environment and an overall value-add.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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How to Keep Segmental Retaining Walls On Time and On Budget

June 30, 2010 in Projects, Tips from the Field | No comments

Last week, I received a call from a long-term customer asking us to get involved with a new civil project. The catch? It starts in 10 days. Wow—that’s a nice problem to have these days. The site is full of challenges we like: wetlands, a stream relocation, a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) interface along a major interstate, a new 4-lane public bridge, underground storm water retention and a 800’ long by 25’ high segmental retaining wall.

In regards to the segmental retaining walls, we have had our share of successes and not-so-successes. Here is what we have learned:

Make design the core of your project. All walls that retain earth, even the smallest, should be built using engineered drawings. These should be prepared by a designer who has experience with the wall systems and the site-specific conditions.

Test to give the designer the best starting point. Proper testing is specific to the area of the site where the wall is going to be constructed, prolific enough to provide a complete analysis of the area from one end of the wall to the other, and give an engineer the data that he needs to properly design the wall.

Work together. Successful wall projects have a cohesive team of professionals including the civil engineer, wall designer and geotechnical engineer. Everyone should review and coordinate with each other’s work. It is important to look beyond the design of the wall itself, to the global stability of the soils and slopes that the wall is sitting on. Consider storm water drainage effects, methods for installing fences, guardrails and landscaping and other features beyond the scope of the wall.

We have learned from experience that it is a lot cheaper to resolve conflicts before construction starts, when you’re dealing with lines on paper. A wise engineer once told me, “Whenever there is a design change during construction the cost will always go up.” I’ve found that to be true. We’re planning ahead on this job, trying to foresee difficulties before they cost us time and money.


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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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When Company Fellowship Turns Fruitful

June 18, 2010 in Customer Relationships, Leadership, Management, Projects, Team Building, Tips from the Field | No comments

Every once in a while, our team takes a bit of time away from the busy schedules we all maintain for a get together. It’s not a big time commitment, but it gives us an opportunity to catch up with folks who may be in and out of the office a good bit. Today, we all had lunch.

It’s always encouraging to me when, after we’ve had some laughs about little league and vacation, the conversation moves toward team building. This is a particularly sharing group—if they’ve had a success, they want everyone else to know how so the success can spread. As I’ve said before, the sum of our work is far greater than the parts.

Here’s what came out of lunch today:

  • Today, retaining customers is more vital than ever.
  • We are in the service business, but we are also in the “experience business.” Conscious or not, our customers will rate their experience as good, bad or indifferent with every sale.
  • Make no mistake about it, cost is important more than ever. But if cost is the same, the experience factor is the new competitive differentiator.
  • Our customers are loyal to us when they receive value beyond the ordinary buy and sell.
  • The more extraordinary the value, the greater the loyalty.
  • It’s important to determine what the “value lever” for each of our individual customers. We’ve got customers who like a routine. Some want fast answers while others are looking for a personal touch. Most appreciate problem solving beyond the transaction. Whatever the individual value leveler, identify it and work to fulfill it.
  • Stay in touch. Communicate. Communicate in different ways: a short note, an e-mail, a phone call or a value suggestion is often appreciated. Smaller, more frequent connects will lead to longer relationships and loyalty.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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International Council of Shopping Centers 2010 Roundup

May 26, 2010 in Construction Trends, Customer Relationships, Management, Recession, Tips from the Field | 2 comments

This week I attended the national convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers, a member-driven organization for the retail industry. This year there were about 25,000 attendees.

I felt the mood of the conference was positive optimism with a sense of getting down to business. Here’s what I’m taking with me:

Landlords and retailers are going to have to compromise on overhead. Many of the public companies have driven down costs about as far as they can go. As the economy heals, they will be opening up more stores to grow the top line. The standoff will be when commercial landlords can no longer deliver store space at the same occupancy costs that the public companies have been negotiating over the last two years. I believe this will resolve itself, but for a while it will be a stare down.

The CMBS market must find ways to heal itself. Commercial banks have the FDIC to be the “hall monitor” so to speak, enforcing regulations and maintaining control. On the other hand, the CMBS (commercial mortgage-backed securities) market is made up of bondholders all over the world. There are special service providers administering the loans, but there’s no umbrella organization for policy or governance.

The feeling was that the commercial banks, while inundated with problematic loans, will eventually work these through the system. The CMBS market is another story. These loans comprise a significant portion of the commercial property loans in the U.S. and about $60 billion come due in 2010.

Hard times have brought out the best in us. There was a spirit of cooperation at the convention. Businesses want to help each other survive and prosper. I think that’s something unique to this retail industry where relationships are so important. As I see it, relationships grow over time when the “bullets are flying,” the tide isn’t rising and when you need each other. Only then can there be a bonded relationship, strengthened over time, where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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BIM Visualizes the “How,” Unlocks the “Why” and Provides a Relationship Value-Add

May 11, 2010 in Construction Trends, Customer Relationships, Leadership, Management, Projects, Technology, Tips from the Field | No comments

Last week, I mentioned a partnership I’ve fostered with WP2DC, the company who designed and implemented a cloud-based application for Stewart Perry. We’ve managed to get all our internal information into an easily accessible virtual file cabinet. As a result we’ve cut out a lot of duplicated efforts.

Using a Building Information Modeling (BIM) is our next goal for being more efficient and a better resource. The American Institute of Architects defines it as a “model-based technology linked with a database of project information.”  Basically, BIM catalogues a structure throughout its lifecycle in real time 3D. All the details—from design, to functionality, to construction, to operation—are accessible from one file. We had a project T’d up using BIM and because of the Recession the project was delayed. We believe that BIM will be a huge value-add for our customer relationships. That’s because, for us, BIM will:

  • improve project visualization
  • improve productivity with easy retrieval of information
  • increase coordination of construction documents
  • isolate and define scope of work
  • increase delivery speed
  • reduce errors
  • reduce costs

BIM will allow us to harness technology to drive long-term improvement in project delivery. It’s a soup to nuts philosophy. If problems come up down the road, building owners can look at how a facility was designed, engineered and built. They can address problems with a holistic approach, often saving them tons of time and effort trying to track down the unknown.

BIM is a huge tool for establishing and continuing relationships. However, I won’t recommend BIM without a word of warning. Adaptation means you’ll have to change the way you look at building phases. There’s a lot less alpha and omega and a lot more ebb and flow. Architects, engineers, contractors and other stakeholders will be sharing more information than they’re used to. It’s more effort up front, but in the end, BIM bridges the information loss often associated with handing a project from design team to construction to owner/operator.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Run the Race with Endurance, Then Push for Excellence at the End

April 30, 2010 in Customer Relationships, Leadership, Management, Tips from the Field | No comments

Lately, it seems like I’m surrounded by races. Earlier this week, I told you about my Indy Grand Prix of Alabama experience at Barber Motorsports Park. A NASCAR race happened just down the road last weekend at the Talladega Superspeedway. This Saturday, the Kentucky Derby will be run for the 136th time.

To me, business is a lot like racing sports. It takes teamwork and efficiency to win, but you can’t be hasty. Dedication and precision are just as important to finishing as raw speed. In fact, there’s probably room for a new business beatitude: “Blessed are those who put in an extra push before the finish line, for they are committed to excellence.”

I find myself grateful for those folks who really take their time before declaring a job done. Those who go back, double-check, then triple-check before considering something finished. Their tenacity for excellence makes all the difference.

The other day I was watching some landscape guys finish up a long day of clearing brush and mulching an area. It was definitely “quitting time” and they could have all left and declared themselves over the “finish line,” but one of them stopped, looked over the job with a critical eye and went back to the far side of the property. He saw it still looked ragged and a bit mangy.

Although he must have been tired, the fellow worked another 30 minutes to fix what he’d seen wasn’t just right. His decision to put in the extra time gave the value of each team member’s work and the job as a whole extra value. He made not only his colleagues and company look good, but also saved them from potential customer disappointment and criticism.

You may read this and think that it’s pretty standard stuff. That’s not always the case. That’s why it becomes important to honor the people in the habit of excellence. Do we identify this trait of going back until it is right and then reward it?

I’ve found that the “critical eye” combined with the willingness to resolve any shortcomings before crossing the finish line is an invaluable approach in business and life. Such passionate people with this disciplined approach help us avoid disappointment, assure real triumphs and gain good habits in the process.

Blessed are those who push for excellence before the finish line! I for one am so thankful for your efforts on our team. May your lingering vigilance always be contagious.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Think Long Term: Build Strong Subcontractor Relationships

April 23, 2010 in Customer Relationships, Leadership, Team Building, Tips from the Field | 3 comments

Over the years, I have seen building contractors take unfair advantage of subcontractors. I’ve seen subs abused, used and in some cases driven out of business. To me, this isn’t the way to approach construction or life, particularly in these tough economic times. It’s all about helping each other get through the downturn so we can all be stronger on the other end.

I contribute a large part of our success as a company to our partner consultants, subcontractor and vendors. We have a group of “go tos” who’ve not only fulfilled their obligations, but have gone the extra mile to help our team, and subsequently our customer relationships. These folks go beyond the typical buy and the sell. We look out for each other, giving leads and identifying potential project fits. That’s what business partnerships are really all about.

Baker Construction Services has been a prime example. Several years ago we had a project in the Highlands section of the Virginia mountains. It was a tough job from the start, made more challenging when the DOT changed plans substantially mid-winter. We were still expected to deliver a final product that April.

Baker was our lead civil sub and they were tremendous. They took a can-do attitude that January and stood shoulder to shoulder with us as we worked through a very wet, cold winter. Together, we delivered on time. It is guys like Bart DeVore and Chad Baker who make it easier for me to sleep at night.

Hopefully one of our legacies will be that while we drive for the right balance of quality and cost, we treat people fairly in business. We look beyond the job itself by seeking projects that build ongoing relationships that last for years. As a team leader, what can you do to develop these kinds of partnerships?

Think long term. View the relationship upstream and downstream. Think only in the present and you’ll surely get burned.

Work as a team. A better product is developed when everyone involved is treated equally. The sum is greater than the parts.

“Do unto others…” Treat others as you would wish to be treated.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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