A Georgia court recently held that a project owner may be held financially liable for failure to properly investigate the solvency of a contractor's surety. This allows unpaid subcontractors to recover from the owner losses incurred due to the default of the general contractor. Yes another reason to effectively manage payments rather than depend on a third party "insurance policy."

Details, Details…

When planning a project, spend a lot of time with your design team or Construction Manager before your project goes to bid. While changes can be made at any time, cost and time for changes grow proportionally (and sometimes exponentially) as the percentage of completion increases. Do yourself a favor; take the time to really study what you're getting beforehand. If you don't understand construction documents, have your design or construction professional spend time with you detailing exactly what's called for on the drawings. Have the consultant "walk you through" the project and describe in detail the aesthetic and programmatic benefits of the final design. It'll be time very well spent and it's sure to help avoid a number of disappointments, headaches and added costs later on.

Get Better Sleep

Here are some ways to get better ZZZ's:

• The best way to deal with one or two bad nights of sleep is to go to bed early the very next evening. Don't treat your body like you can deprive it of sleep whenever you want. Don't try to stay up late more than one or two nights in a row.
• Going to bed early is better than taking a daytime nap. While naps may make you less tired, they make it more difficult to sleep at night.
• Don't pound coffee all day to keep you alert during the day or drink alcohol to help you sleep. Both alter normal sleep cycles in your brain.
• Don't use over the counter sleep aids for more than one or two nights. But they're okay to use to get you back to a normal sleep schedule.
• Be aware of the things that cause you stress. Address the stressors instead of trying to sleep on them.

Now You Know

Ever wonder why small, lap-size dogs are able to chase large, powerful dogs away? It's not because the bigger dog is a wimp. Rather, the large dog views the smaller dog as a puppy--and attacking a puppy is against their inborn behavior code.

Staying Ahead of The Competition

Last issue, we mentioned how AutoCAD gave us virtually instant access to updated plans. Now we're using Microsoft Project to schedule and track all aspects of our projects from planning through punchlist. This powerful program produces Critical Path Method (CPM), Gant, Pert and other schedules necessary to more efficiently produce the results our clients have come to expect of us.

We're Ready. Are You?

Unless one has been living on another planet for the past year, it would be virtually impossible not to be aware of the Y2K, or Millennium Bug, issue. Some think it will be a cataclysmic event. Others believe it's just a bunch of hype. But regardless of which camp you're in, the fact remains that on January 1, 2000, there are going to be a fair number of computer systems and chip-driven devices suffering from indigestion
Recognizing the importance of this issue not only to our own business, but to those customers who depend on us, we immediately went to work to determine what steps we needed to take. We're pleased to announce that our main office and two satellite offices are fully Y2K compliant. While we can't speak for the other guys out there, we'll still be able to service our clients come 2000.

Are Computers Male or Female?

We refer to lots of different inanimate objects in the feminine or masculine; i.e., ships are generally referred to as female. So what about computers?

According to women, computers are male because:

1. They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
2. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem.
3. As soon as you commit to one you realize that, if you had waited a little longer, you could have obtained a better model.
4. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
5. Big power surges, knock them out for the rest of the night.

According to men, computers are female because:

1. No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. The message "Bad command or file name" is about as informative as, "If you don't know why I'm mad at you, then I'm certainly not going to tell you."
4. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later retrieval.
5. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.