Although there is the odd deviant, obeying the law is important!

The Laws of Tendering

“Law is a bottomless pit; it is a cormorant,–a harpy that devours everything” – Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) prophesizes the current condition of Engineering Law and Ethics as taught at any major university.

For those of you engineers out there reading this blog, you too had to sit through a law course in your undergraduate career. If there is as much similarity between this writer, his old classmates, and the rest of the engineering demographic in the known universe as can be reasonably assumed, then engineering law and ethics was the class we all skipped in our desperate attempts to get a decent passing grade in concrete and steel. With that in mind, this article will cover the section of course notes on tendering that we burnt after the final exam, which perhaps is more interesting to all of us now that we have to be professional engineers while avoiding being sued by everyone under the sun.

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Access Scaffold to Steel Structure

Initiatives for Women in Engineering and Construction

Woman, Science, and Engineering

More and more woman are trying to get started in science and engineering, since it’s easy to do and a great career to build. However, most people don’t know too much about engineering, or how to get started. Here’s some information on Woman in science and engineering that you’ll definitely want to know before you get started.

Woman Engineering Statistics

We in the industry have heard it again and again that there are less and less qualified workers on construction sites. The construction sector has seen a shortage of skilled labor across Canada [and the rest of North America] largely related to the retirement progression of the ‘baby boomers’, and the natural decrease in population stemming from decreasing birth rates. Employers recognize that recruiting nontraditional groups such as women is crucial as compensating shortage with Immigrants and temporary workers is just not enough. Statistics Canada recognizes 47% of workforce to be women in 2006, although only 4% are in construction and 12% are engineers.

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What is Construction Engineering?

Construction engineering is the ability to obtain construction operation through engineering. A Construction engineer’s work involves planning/scheduling, management of structures, and plays a big role on site. This work requires a wide range of knowledge and skills.

Construction Engineering Saves Time, Money and Maintains Deadlines

Planning

The planning and scheduling for a construction engineer is the most crucial to the success of a construction project. It involves understanding and delivering the requests of the client. In order to accomplish these requirements, the construction engineer requires a strong sense of comprehension whether it is verbal, in written form, illustration or documentation. Also, the planning includes budgeting and scheduling so that the project does not exceed the client’s budget, at the same time being able to comply with the client’s pre-requisite.

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Why is Construction Engineering Important?

There are three main reasons a construction engineer is important. The project team can save money, save time, and management can save on stress that may add the needed expense of aspirin.

How a Construction Engineer Benefits You

Saves Money

Construction Engineering Saves Time and Money

All three reasons are linked but should be discussed separately. This is because they may all affect the project in different ways. The most important reason to have a construction engineer is that, in the end, it will save the owner and the general contractor money. Many contractors believe that hiring an engineer will be costly, nothing is further from the truth. Many of the same contractors don’t understand that there are net gains in savings. Examples of this are “typical” temporary structures that do not require engineering are usually over designed. This is done to protect the manufacturer. If a construction engineer is hired many times the excess materials saved will exceed the cost of the engineering.

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What is Value Engineering

Adding Value to each Project with VE

Getting the best value engineering is not always about cost savings. Let’s look at the dictionary meaning of value;

“to consider with respect to worth, excellence, usefulness, or importance.” Source

In construction engineering there are two parts to value;  function and costs. An engineer may suggest alternate methods to complete the task at hand that

A) Add more functionality at little to no extra cost. An example of this may apply to an owner of a building. Typically owners have to pay the cost of heating and power. An engineer can suggest ways to reduce the cost of both by using a more energy efficient design. This benefits the owner of the building and consumers (if owner rents or sells units)

B) Reduces the cost of a project without sacrificing any functions. An example of this is foundation thickness. If soil pressure testing checks out, concrete (foundation) thickness may be reduced. This can save money on the material purchased to pour the foundation.

It is a system of organized procedural decisions designed to deliver more value to the project. The beneficiaries of value engineering services are clients, contractors, owners or end consumers. It has been an accepted engineering review & analysis practice since the 1940’s. In the 40’s the original concept was developed by General Electric Company to cut back on costs in a time of war (World War 2). VE is the acronym for this procedure although VEA (value engineering analysis) is also a recognized term.

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