Because construction projects are highly complex, collaborative, interdependent and long-lasting team efforts, the exact final cost is impossible to estimate. It has never been a matter of skulldiggery or incompetence that leads to contentious extras, cost overruns or busted schedules, as many industry patrons have come to believe. Its’s actually the nature of the construction project. The high risk of those projects is exacerbated when the owner and contractor enter into a one-way fixed-price contract designed to protect the owner from pre-sumably unscrupulous, incompetent contractor.

This insanity must stop. Originally, low-bid, fixed-price contracts were invented to keep public servants honest....

Element Elite took possession of their new Gymnasium Building at the First of December 2019. Shireman was able to complete their 17,000 sq ft facility ahead of schedule during the winter months. “I cannot thank them enough for all that they have done, from helping us with bank issues and financing to finishing our project ahead of schedule in the winter when weather conditions were not always favorable. Their willingness to help us achieve our goals, both through budget and functionality of the building, went above and beyond.” Owner Helen-Noel Crawley

Check out their letter of appreciation below.

Last week Shireman Construction celebrated with Rock Creek Community Academy with the ribbon cutting ceremony. This new building houses Rock Creek’s elementary, middle, and high school all under the same roof.

Click on the link below to read more!
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I saw one of those motivational parody posters once that said, “Mistakes: It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.” I feel that the same can be said of the nightmare managers and bad bosses we have all had in our careers.

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Here are five things you can learn from bad leaders:

1. Bad leaders don’t listen

No one sets out to be a bad leader. Even incompetent or emotionally-injured people generally want to do a good job.

And perhaps more often than not, people don’t...

You bid a bunch of work, your crews get busy, you grab on for the ride and hope you survive and make a profit. There are many owners living in this world of contracting unknowns. They don’t have confidence in the future of their businesses, and usually this boils down to a single underlying cause: they don’t have predictability in their current sales model. If this is you here are five steps you can take to transition from a terrifying roller coaster ride to a predictable sales system.

1.) Invest in Sales Leadership – The sales manager position is one...

Shireman Construction achieved official substantial completion on October 22, 2019. This is 10 weeks ahead of schedule. The owner is moving their furniture and equipment in place in anticipation of a November 22nd Opening.

Shireman Construction anticipates that the Owner can take possession on December 1st and begin moving in. Shireman Construction originally had anticipated a Spring of 2020 opening.

For many of us no matter where we work or what we do nothing feels as good as success. And for many of us, nothing is more harmful to our growth and development. Companies tell their employees over and over again to embrace your failures, to ask yourselves what went wrong and to take advantage of all the learning opportunities that failure affords.

But when it comes to success, companies rarely feel the urge to stop and see what they can learn from their experiences, and what they may want to change. Rather, the instinct is to assume that if...

These days, we are talking more and more about how much is changing in the architecture, engineering and construction industry and how much harder it is to get he job done. Although the use of technology supports the building process from beginning to end, we still must do everything we can to improve how we procure and complete work.

The key is to remember that it’s people who build these projects, and success is the result of those people building relationships at the same time. That’s why soft skills must become a bigger part of our professional dialogue. They are...

Check out this great article about six most common causes of low strength concrete breaks. Understanding what can contribute to failing strength tests either for standard or field-cured cylinders is important. Below are the six most common causes of low Cylinder Breaks:

1.) Concrete Mix Design: The concrete mix does not gain strength in the time that had been specified, making compressive strength testing lower than expected. This may happen if wrong mix has been sent or if water is added to a mix to make it easier to place, resulting in higher water-cement ratio.

2.) Sample Production: When casting...