The Nigro Firm Collective

An Interesting Time

2010-01-18T19:03:00.003-07:00

It's an interesting time... much is up in the air. And that's very disconcerting for the future to be so uncertain. But all will be well if we remember the fundamentals:

* People and relationships are the most important thing!
* Stay true to your principles and values.
* Be financially responsible... don't spend more than you are bringing in. In fact, save some and spend less than you are bringing in.
* Remember to see the positive in everything! Laugh and smile!
* Take care of yourself... take the time to exercise, de-stress ("go fishin"), eat right, and sleep.
* Be sure you can maintain and take care of what you have before you try to get "more".
* Enough is "enough"!
* If you don't like something, change it.

If you keep the above in mind, the uncertainty of the future and inability to solidly plan won't be so painful.

Take care all!

~Natalie

Murphy’s Law and Its Variations

2009-02-17T15:45:00.005-07:00

Today I had quite a chuckle…

In the early afternoon, I received a call from one of my clients about a project… he wanted to know if we had received the drawings and specs yet. I told him “no,” and that I didn’t expect them to arrive today. I assured him that I would let him know when they did.

And… what do you know… 20 minutes later, UPS delivered the drawings and specs. So, far, no big deal. It’s like UPS waited for me to call him before delivering! Sometimes it just happens that way.

Keeping my promise, I promptly emailed my client that the packages have arrived… and I mentioned something about this being a funny sample of Murphy’s Law, that the declaration that we haven’t gotten the drawings caused them to appear.

Shortly thereafter, I received a response

“I typically operate under O'Toole's Law, which is, Murphy was an optimist. I received this email seconds after I emailed the architect to assure me that we were on track. Timing is everything.”

Well, this was hilarious. LOL (laugh out loud). Ok, I couldn’t let this go. I wasn’t familiar with O’Toole’s Law, so off to Google, and subsequently to Wikipedia I went! I became enlightened with the many variations and adaptations to Murphy’s Law:

Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

Murphy’s Paradox: The more you plan, the more will go wrong. The less you plan, the more likely that you will fail.

Murphy’s Extended Law: If a series of events can go wrong, they will do so in the worst possible sequence.

O’Toole’s Commentary on Murphy’s Law: Murphy was an optimist.

Silverman’s Paradox: If Murphy’s Law can go wrong, it will.

Finagle’s Law of Dynamic Negatives (Corollary to Murphy’s Law): Anything that can go wrong, will – at the worst possible moment.

I also found other laws, with a similar view as Murphy:

The Unspeakable Law: As soon as you mention something, if it’s good, it goes away; if it’s bad, it happens.

Non-reciprocal Laws of Expectations: Negative expectations yield negative results. Positive expectations yield negative results.

Howe’s Law: Every man has a scheme which will not work.

Zymurgy’s First Law of Evolving System Dynamics: Once you open a can of worms, the only way to re-can them is to use a larger can.

Skinner’s Constant: The quantity which must be multiplied by, divided by, added to or subtracted from the answer you get to give the answer you should have got.

Law of Selective Gravity: An object will fall so as to do the most damage.

Barth’s Distinction: There are two types of people: those who divide people into two types and those who do not.

Ninety-Ninety Rules of Project Schedules: The first 90% of the job takes 90% of the time, the last 10% takes the other 90%.

I was amazed at how many of these laws directly apply to the construction industry!

~Natalie Nigro
President of Nigro Firm, Inc.

What does the economic stimulus package mean to the construction industry?

2009-01-27T03:00:00.007-07:00

Newly inaugurated President Barack Obama reports that his $825 billion stimulus package will create or save 3 to 4 million jobs. But what does this mean to the construction industry?

By doling out about $90 billion towards building and repairing highways, bridges, mass transit systems and other infrastructure projects, including "greening" of existing structures and renovating schools, 670,000 new construction jobs are expected to be created by the end of 2010.

Other types of construction related companies could also gain thousands of jobs, according to a study funded by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, including steel makers, concrete, cement, glass, rubber and plastics manufacturers.

How does this effect companies like the Nigro Firm? Our company is a pre-construction service company that performs construction document coordination reviews. We have many years of experience in reviewing construction drawings for public buildings like schools, mass transit structures, fire houses, police stations, libraries, museums, hospitals, universities and more. We expect that we will continue performing these types of reviews and will greatly benefit from the funds filtering into these types of projects. So we are anticipating positive results if the stimulus package is approved and implemented as outlined.

See,

Meltdown 101: What jobs might the stimulus create?

Obama Speaks on Trade, Manufacturing

Small Business Marketing: White Papers

2009-01-27T00:34:00.014-07:00

The infamous white paper... Just what are they anyway? Can your company benefit from a collection of them?And should you write them yourself?

We just recently started working with an account executive (sales professional) who has spent many years working in the technology industry. In that industry, the white paper is a standard piece of sales collateral and he asked us if we had such a thing. And we sadly did not. So we have started to work on pulling much of our sales material, industry information and studies into something that can be called a white paper.

So what is a white paper?
White papers started out as an "authoritative" guide to solving a problem, originally as a parliamentary paper enunciating government policy. Currently, white papers are better known as a piece of marketing material, often focusing on how a specific product can offer a solution to a perceived or real industry problem.

What are the benefits of white papers?
White papers give you the opportunity, with quite a bit of text and detail, to explain how your product and services can solve a problem for your potential clients or customers. In our case, we will focus on how our construction document review services can save interested parties tons of money. It is difficult to quantify how well white papers work, but marketers and many companies believe they do and 46 % of content marketers are expected to devote funds to white papers in 2009. (See Marketers focus on content in 2009).

Should you write them yourselves?
This could go either way. In one respect you and those in your company know your product inside and out and know what kind of image you want to project. Also, some white paper writers are expensive, some writers advertise at $2000-$7500 per white paper. On the other hand, professional white paper writers have experience. It takes experience to know how to narrow focus in on a product and present information in a clear and concise manner. You could also write them yourself and then hire a professional editor to review it, which can run about $40/ hour depending on who you work with. Other editors charge per word or per contract.

Since The Nigro Firm likes the hands on approach and is a relatively small company compared to most construction service companies, we are going to write our own and have them peer edited and professionally edited. So, look forward to seeing those soon.

For more information, check out:
Writing White Papers
White Paper Source
Study Guides and Strategies, Writing White Papers
Writing a White Paper

Cartoonist: Working with Chaise Payan

2009-01-15T01:21:00.003-07:00

We have been working with cartoonist Chaise Payan for a while now, he has created many colorful, creative and fun cartoons for us, many of which are featured on Blueprint Bluepers. Working with a cartoonist is interesting, especially considering he has to take our ideas and real construction document errors and turn them into art. This is one of the first so-called "professional" contracts this young artist has had, it has been a unique experience for him to migrate from creating art that he wants to do, to creating art that a client wants. But he has met the challenge and is doing a great job, we really like working with him.

Here are some thoughts from the President, Natalie Nigro, about working with Chaise.

1 – His attention to detail is amazing. Not only that, there is almost always fun stuff hiding in his cartoons, for example look more closely at “I Heart F...” in the cartoon "Dead End Exit," the text wraps around the mug out of view, we keep wondering what word the F starts?

2 – He always comes up with stuff that we would never expect or be able to think up ourselves… but his cartoon ideas are always fabulous! All we have to do is give him the gist of an idea, brainstorm with it a bit, and he runs with it. He knows us and what we like and then comes up with highly creative, wonderful pieces.

To turn the tables, when we asked Chaise what it was like to work with the Nigro Firm he said, "One thing I find interesting in creating images is how people react to them, so it's nice to work directly with a team of people that are responsive to what I'm making."

We have four new cartoons coming up, here is a sneak preview of one that we are getting ready to publish.

We haven't come up with the text yet, but we can't help but compare this cartoon beagle to real canine behavior.

Someone even created a porcelain replica of a beagle enjoying a doggie "water fountain."

Well, come back soon and visit Blueprint Bluepers to see our great cartoons created by Chaise.

Small Business Marketing: Branding and naming your product

2009-01-15T00:49:00.005-07:00

One of the steps in every companies marketing process is the branding of their product. The Nigro Firm faces a challenge that many companies have faced, how do you name or brand a product that is so hard to describe in only a few words?

Our services are referred to in a variety of ways, as constructablity reviews, construction document reviews, design coordination reviews, interdisciplinary coordination reviews, construction document cross checks and our favorite, since it is the most accurate, construction document coordination reviews. However, none of these terms or phrases roll of the tongue and none of them are that creative, they are just a description really.

So, when it comes to branding the Nigro Firm product we are faced with a unique challenge. How do we turn "construction document coordination review" into something that is easy to say and remember? We haven't come up with anything yet, but in the thinking process we are going to keep a few points in mind:

The name should some how relate to the service.
The brand name should not be so close to a competitors name that they get confused.
Don't get so creative that people can't figure out how to spell it or say it.
Since we work with companies all over the planet it should be something that is flexible enough to be used in any country.
The name should make sense and send a clear message.
It should be something that is not dated, it should be able to stand the test of time.

Well, we are off to the think tank; we will let you know when we come up with something.

About the Nigro Firm: Working with Natalie Nigro

2008-12-23T18:51:00.011-07:00

It may sound cliche, but we all know that a company is only as good as its' people.

So in order for you to get to know us a little better, from the inside out, I am going to tell you about the inner core of the Nigro Firm. I am going to tell you a little about Natalie Nigro our President. And not the kind of stuff you typically see in a resume or a company portfolio, I am going to tell you a little about her, what she likes and dislikes and what it is like to meet her.

First Meeting
When I first met Natalie Nigro, I was coming in to talk to her because I heard from a friend that they were looking for someone to help out in the office. I think I actually met Natalie and Shirley, her mother and partner, on a Saturday afternoon, to accommodate my work schedule at the time. My first impression was that she was cheery, personable and curious about me, how I worked and how I thought. It turned out that I did not fit the position she was looking for, but she thought she could fit me into the company in a different capacity. She asked me when I could start and I said, "Right now." And she took me up on it. Our first project, believe it or not, was to install an office corner desk. A few seconds into the project I already figured out how Natalie and Shirley work together, how their different talents and strengths could be focused into a single project. Shirley was working the tools and lying under the desk taking care of the "infrastructure" so to speak and Natalie had the level out ensuring "quality control." As soon as I saw Natalie pull the level out and REALLY use it, I knew what kind of lady I was going to be working with.

Personality Traits
Natalie is a dynamic and intelligent woman, but here are a few of the highlights:

She is a list maker and actually completes her tasks.

She is a researcher... she never starts a new endeavor without knowing what she is getting into.

She has a big brain... she can understand complex topics, mathematics, physics and tedious procedures.

She rarely gets angry, but if she does, she has a really good reason.

She is a good communicator and knows how to handle delicate or stressful topics without stressing out who she is talking to.

She is extremely flexible, except when it comes to deadlines.

She is always willing to lend a helping hand, which is why she has to get out of the office from time to time, otherwise she would never stop helping reviewers.

Things she likes (not work related):

World of Warcraft (WOW)... she would play all night if she could.
Beagles and cute kitties or any stray that needs a home.

Raw, vegan, vegetarian and organic food, though if she has to cook, pizza delivered is good enough.

Collectible swords, shields and medieval weapons... she even has a spear in her office.

American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

Dog training and organic pet diets... she makes the beagles' dog food every day, no store bought bags of dog food for them.

Things she does not like (not work related):

Yard work, mowing lawns or snow removal... if on her own she would have a condo.

Heavy metal or hard rock and roll... Barbra Streisand and Abba suit her fine.

Spicy food... mild is her version of "hot and spicy."

Uncomfortable clothes... no high heels or business dress for her, unless she absolutely must.

Mornings... though she does often work in the early hours of the morning, she would rather work at the crack of noon.

Well, now you know a little about Natalie Nigro. So next time you call her up to plan a coordination review you can ask her how the beagles are and how late she stayed up the night before playing WOW.

And if you want to read a little about her in a professional sense see, The Nigro Firm's President Natalie Nigro.

Or check out, Who answers the phones at the Nigro Firm.

You are also always welcome to just give her a call, she will tell you all about construction document coordination reviews.

Authored by:
Pamela S. Stevens, Content Development and Writer

Top 10 Ways to Save Money in Construction Costs in 2009 (Not Really)

2008-12-16T01:58:00.005-07:00

We like to have fun every now and then and inject humor into our sites, as the new year approaches we have created our top ten ways to save money in your constructions costs and the cost of running your company in 2009...not really, meaning really DON'T follow these tips, they are just for fun.

Top Ten Ways to Save Money for Construction Companies in 2009...Not Really

10. Require all offices to run the coffee maker TWICE per each load of coffee grounds and reuse the filter.

9. Replace all toilet rolls with single ply paper and only allow each employee to use one square per visit.

8. Save costs on gas by only working on projects downhill from the construction supply center.

7. Reduce the number of porta-potties on site and supply a bucket for overflow.

6. Instead of providing a weekly box of donuts just buy a single bag of M&Ms and give out one to each person.

5. Cover worn tread on work truck tires with duct tape, duct tape fixes everything right?

4. Use error ridden construction drawings to line the inside of worn out work boots to keep your crews feet warm and dry.

3. Replace all company cell phones with two cans and a string or pagers recovered from 1989.

2. Go back to dial-up, it will slow down your Internet service to the point that your employees will get frustrated with trying to shop on Amazon or check their MySpace and will actually get bored enough to ...work.

1. Call us...seriously, no kidding, joking aside we can save you tons of money. Give us a call.

New Construction Cartoon: Seasons Greetings from the Nigro Firm

2008-12-13T21:39:00.003-07:00

We here at the Nigro Firm wish you a
happy holiday and a PROSPEROUS and busy New Year!

The above holiday cartoon is the newest cartoon on our construction humor site, Blueprint Bluepers. It was not inspired from an actual construction drawing error, though we have seen toilets placed in showers and in the middle of a waiting room...so we didn't think this was pushing it.

Coming up with the "one-liners" used in our cartoon is always fun, here are the runner ups:

Santa may be in a hurry… but this is pushing multi-tasking a little too far.
A simple porta-potty on the roof would have sufficed.
Just because the economy seems to be tanking, no reason to flush Santa down with it.
Unfortunately, Santa’s amazing fireplace skills cannot compete with the Tidy Bowl man.
Whoever left the lid up is getting coal in their stocking.
Santa suddenly realizes why the chimney stack looked surprisingly similar to a roof vent.

If you would like to avoid these kind of silly construction errors, please give us a call, we would love to review your drawings so you don't run into any of these "humorous" and expensive errors onsite.

Construction News: Obama Construction Bailout?

2008-12-10T12:14:00.005-07:00

Before even taking office, President elect Barack Obama released a tentative construction stimulus plan intended to help municipalities finish projects or complete desperately needed infrastructure projects and provide jobs for millions of construction workers.

If this funding goes through, it is reported to be the largest investment in the nation’s infrastructure since President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the interstate highway system in the 1950s.

The plan is to "save or create" 2.5 million jobs and includes plans to make public buildings more energy-efficient, build new roads and bridges, and increase broadband Internet connections, according to Obama's weekly radio address.

How would a stimulus package effect small pre-construction service companies like the Nigro Firm?

Though the Nigro Firm does not perform construction document coordination reviews for roads, bridges or highways, it does perform these reviews for buildings, quite often public buildings like fire houses, schools, public works buildings, court houses, libraries and so on. This could mean an increase in work for the Nigro Firm, which would be greatly appreciated.

Full Text from Reuters Below:

By Ryan Vlastelica - Analysis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barack Obama delivered an early Christmas gift to investors in the construction, materials and engineering sectors with his pledge to roll out the biggest infrastructure spending binge in half a century to dig the U.S. economy out of recession.

Shares of companies connected in any way to public works projects rocketed on Monday after the president-elect outlined his plan to throw billions of dollars at everything from highway construction to sewer repairs, with a priority shown to those projects seen as "shovel ready."

The Dow Jones U.S. Heavy Construction index shot up by more than 10 percent, about three times the magnitude of the broader market's advance on the day. Shaw Group, a large construction and engineering firms, surged more than 15 percent; Dow component Caterpillar gained 11 percent.

"The great thing is that because of a seizing up in credit, (these) sectors have been pummeled and now represent value, especially in light of these policy moves," said Doug Kass, president of hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Management, who profited from betting against U.S. stocks over the course of the credit crisis.

The question now is whether Obama's promised largess is merely grist for a bear-market bounce or the seed of a genuine recovery in a group hit just as hard as banks by the housing slump and ensuing credit crisis.

STIMULUS ALREADY BAKED IN?

Indeed, investors had already been anticipating the Obama plan, which remains little more than a broad promise at the moment. The construction index has rallied some 67 percent from last month's low, including a 40 percent advance in the last week of November alone.

That has some analysts worried that investors have gotten overly enthusiastic, particularly given how long it can take to get big projects moving and generating profits for these firms.

"The problem is that these projects don't occur quickly, even when state governments have projects on the shelf that they can put to work quickly," said Charles Bradford, a metals analyst at Soleil Securities. Bradford said that the program was "bound to be helpful," though he didn't see any benefit for at least six months after the bill was signed.

In fact, when valued against prospective earnings, the group has grown 50 percent pricier in the space of just 11 trading days and now trades at about 8.8 times estimated 2009 earnings compared with 5.8 times forward earnings on November 20. That may still look a bargain relative to their multiple of nearly 26 in mid-2007 but can seem an unsettlingly rapid valuation inflation in an otherwise deteriorating earnings environment.

"Even if you had all the permits, these are complex projects," he said. "I would say that if you could get something started in six months, you're doing extraordinarily well. The typical lead time is two years."

Currently, the size of the package -- as well as how it will be distributed -- hasn't been detailed, though Obama on Saturday called for the largest infrastructure spending since the Eisenhower administration's interstate highway construction spree in the 1950s. New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer said the package should be between $500 billion and $700 billion.

At a meeting with Obama last week, state governors said they needed an estimated $136 billion in repairs to bridges, airports and other infrastructure, while Schumer's estimate included such new construction as hospitals, schools and other projects.

SHAW, JACOBS SEEN PROFITING

Obama does not take over from President George W. Bush until January 20 but has said he wants lawmakers to have a stimulus bill aimed at creating 2.5 million jobs ready for him to sign upon his inauguration.

Obama's campaign website proposes the creation of a national infrastructure reinvestment bank that will receive an infusion of $60 billion in federal money over 10 years.

Investors have tagged Shaw Group as a likely winner in the construction sweepstakes. Sameer Rathod, who covers the company for Macquarie Research Equities, said the company has the ability to construct transport infrastructure. If the scope of the bill were broadened to include energy, "they would benefit from the inclusion of nuclear power," Rathod added.

Since the announcement of the package, Shaw Group shares have surged 65 percent from a low of $11.47 reached on November 20. On Monday they rose more than 16 percent to $19, hitting a one-month high along the way.

Chase Jacobson, senior analyst of the Global Industrial Infrastructure group at Sterne Agee, speculated that Aecom Technology and Jacobs Engineering both stood to benefit from the package, though "the benefit is going to replace money that they would've gotten from other places, like state or local budgets that had to cut back."

Since reaching a low on November 20, however, Jacobs shares have soared 85 percent to $48, including a 13 percent advance on Monday. Aecom shares, gaining nearly 10 percent on Monday, have now more than doubled from their low on October 24.

Are such gains sustainable?

Jacobson, for one, said that while the stimulus "will certainly help," it wouldn't be enough to keep the group rallying at their current pace. "My view on the whole group right now is that long term, infrastructure is something we need around the world. Short term, customers will be prudent with cash. So this may not be an 2009 story."

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica, Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Construction Cartoons: Blueprint Bluepers Newest Cartoon

2008-12-05T20:22:00.003-07:00

This year we had our artist, Chaise Payan create a Thanksgiving construction cartoon just for us. You can see this cartoon and others on our construction humor site, Blueprint Bluepers.

A thanksgiving note from our president, Natalie Nigro:
It's Thanksgiving time and we are thankful to have had the opportunity to help cities, universities, hospitals, developers, etc. to save time and money on their construction projects! We are looking forward to continuing our rewarding service into the future. We thoroughly enjoy performing construction document coordination reviews for commercial and governmental projects. Best wishes to all.

New Construction Humor
We also posted some new construction humor on Blueprint Bluepers, including some interesting definitions for a few architectural terms, including sexfoil, ever wondered exactly what that is?

Construction News: Dubai acts as property sales cool

2008-11-30T04:40:00.002-07:00

AP, BLOOMBERG

Worry over Dubai's once red-hot property market has prompted the Government there to set up a high-level committee to tackle the impact of the financial crisis.

There are growing signs the decade-long property boom is over and real estate agents report a slump in activity.

Morgan Stanley warned in August that Dubai could see a 10 per cent price fall by 2010 and there are reports of discounting of new projects of 40 per cent.

Shares in the emirate's biggest developer, Emaar Properties PJSC, tumbled this week to the lowest in almost four years after it was reported the company will allow customers to defer payments because of the credit squeeze.

Less than 10 per cent of Dubai's income derives from oil and it is estimated property and construction account for about 30 per cent of the economy.

The Government committee is exploring ways of restoring confidence and follows the Finance Ministry's decision to pump $19US billion ($32.5 billion) into the financial system to support banks' continued lending to local projects and companies.

Real estate agent Timur Usmanov told the Associated Press of investors trying to flee the market just two or three years after diving in.

"I saw fear take over. There are too many sellers and not enough buyers ... [But] who wants to buy now?"

Interest in unbuilt or incomplete property, once such a hot commodity that it could be resold in a matter of minutes, appears to be drying up.

Some investors who bought in hopes of collecting double-digit or better annual returns are now looking simply to cut their losses on unfinished, or "off-plan" properties, agents said.

"People are saying it's like a tsunami that will attack the country in a few months," said one broker, who sells property for a major Dubai developer and spoke only on condition her name not be used because she did not want to hurt her business.

The broker said one client recently asked her to list an investment property at a markup. But just days later, "Now they are saying they don't want a premium, they just want to sell," the broker said. "They are scared."

At the same time, banks face harder times getting access to cash. That is forcing them to tighten the rules on who can get a loan, and for how much.

No longer do many buyers qualify for mortgages at 10 per cent down, as they did as recently as a few weeks ago with some lenders.

Islamic finance company Tamweel, one of Dubai's largest mortgage providers, is among those offering customers less.

"All the [mortgage] providers have done some element of tightening," chief executive Wasim Saifi said. "That way you're able to do a larger number of loans. The idea is to spread your resources as much as possible."

HSBC, among the emirate's biggest international mortgage lenders, said it was also cutting back on amounts given to borrowers.

Unlike in New York or Hong Kong, many windows in Dubai's newest skyscrapers stay dark - some because they were empty holiday homes for rich visitors, others because their owners failed to find a renter or buyer willing to pay enough to make a profit.

But warning signs of a more serious slowdown gathered on the horizon some time ago.

Colliers International said earlier this month that its index of Dubai home price growth had slowed considerably from the first to the second quarter this year. The real estate consultancy also warned developers are relying too heavily on "high-end" projects at the expense of more affordable housing.

Standard Chartered Bank and Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes have likewise said the market is due for a slowdown. "You did see a lot of speculative money come into the property sector," EFG-Hermes analyst Sana Kapadia said. "I think what you're seeing is an effort to let a lot of the froth exit the market."

Still, many remain hopeful.

Millions of dollars were poured into just the scale models of new towers unveiled at the city's recent Cityscape real estate expo. Vendors there said foot traffic remained as brisk as always, and brokers repeated the assurance that the Dubai market is "different" because its development is being closely guided and partially bankrolled by the emirate's ruler.

Tamweel's Saifi said he thought Dubai's fundamentals remained sound. "The issue to be watched is sentiment because of negativity and issues globally," he said.

Yet some have doubts. Richard Rodriguez, the former CEO of the Dubai division of Emaar Properties, the builder of the world's tallest building, said too many builders in the emirate have focused on return-seeking investors rather than people looking for homes to live in.

"Some of those heightened, frenzied launches with all the developers took on the characteristics of pyramid schemes. If you got in early, you were guaranteed to make money," he said.

"The developers that will survive are the ones who can market and sell to the end user," he said. "And that hasn't existed in Dubai so far."

Green Construction News: Kudos to The Christman Company

2008-11-30T04:14:00.003-07:00

Congrats to the Christman Company, a development firm in Lansing, Michigan that is the first to earn Platinum ratings in both the LEED for Core and Shell and the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating systems.

We at the Nigro Firm, like to follow the green building and design news and strive everyday to make our company more efficient while maintaining a small environmental footprint. And we can help you reach this goal as well. Our construction document reviews have been proven to reduce rework, decrease buildtime and change orders, which in turn saves money and reduces waste. Give us a call, we will be happy to tell you how we can help you.

Here is the full article about the Christman Company's accomplishment.

Michigan Building First to Earn Double LEED Platinum Certification

10/20/08

By Allyson Wendt

The Christman Company, a development firm based in Lansing, Michigan, has announced that its new headquarters is the first building to earn Platinum ratings in both the LEED for Core and Shell and the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating systems.

The renovation of a historic building in downtown Lansing was designed entirely by SmithGroup and included efficient lighting and mechanical systems, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and materials with low emissions of volatile organic compounds. The building is expected to use 34% less energy than a comparable conventional building. Almost all—92%—of the existing walls, roof, and floors were reused in the renovation, which followed the standards for historic renovation set by the Secretary of the Interior.

The Christman Company has developed a green housekeeping program and will commission the building continuously for the first year, then once every five years. More information is available at www.christmanco.com.

This article was produced by BuildingGreen, LLC.- www.buildinggreen.com

Construction Cartoons: Our Featured Artist Chaise Payan

2008-11-30T03:42:00.008-07:00

Our site Blueprint Bluepers features the art of Chaise Payan. He creates original construction cartoons especially for our company based on errors actually found in construction drawings that we have reviewed. We have had a great time helping him develop humorous drawings for us.

However, he does more than just what you have seen on our sites. Here is a peak into his sketchbook.

Necromancy

Um, excuse me, do you-

Mad Hatter

Mademoiselle

Chaise Payan is currently finishing up his senior year at Weber State University, he is expected to graduate with a BFA with a 2D emphasis. Check him out at Linkedin.

To read more about how we look for artists and how we found Chaise, click here.

See more of our original cartoons created by Chaise.

Check out some of the sketches created while thinking about our cartoons.

Thanksgiving Humor

2008-11-26T17:40:00.009-07:00

Anyone that has read our blogs or visited any of our sites, knows that we have a grand sense of humor, and we love cartoons. We even have our own original construction cartoons on our site Blueprint Bluepers.

For Thanksgiving we have collected a few cartoons from the web for your enjoyment.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Utah Construction News: Big-D Construction Hires Hopkins as Director of Pre-Construction Services

2008-11-26T16:59:00.008-07:00

We like to keep an eye on the local construction news and today we saw an article announcing that Big-D Construction has a new Director of Pre-Construction Services. Big-D Construction is a well-known company here in Utah and they have been in business here for nearly 40 years. This construction company through the years has worked on projects ranging from commercial projects to public spaces to medial facilities to resorts. Whenever you pass a large construction site here in Utah there is an extremely good chance you will see a Big-D Construction sign.

We found this interesting since our company specializes in the pre-construction service area, specifically construction drawing coordination reviews. We are not sure who Big-D contracts with (if they do not do them in-house) to perform drawing reviews for their clients, but we are very interested in finding out.

Here is the article in full:
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov 26, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Today Big-D Construction announced the hiring of Will Hopkins as the director of pre-construction services.

Hopkins' focus will include managing/developing new customer bases and supporting existing relationships; leading and managing design/engineering; and managing and assembling strong internal management teams to provide superior processes to support our existing and new customers' building needs.

Hopkins started with Big-D in Phoenix in 1992, and moved to Utah in 1994 to work in the Ogden Corporate Headquarters. He was involved in a notable number of projects that changed the look of downtown Ogden, such as the David Eccles Conference Center, Peery's Egyptian Theater and the Weber County Conference Center.

Additionally, Hopkins was instrumental in helping Big-D with key accounts such as Sysco Foods, Smith's and Las Vegas MOBs, among others. In 1996, he led the preconstruction and contract administration effort on Micron, which at the time was the largest project in Big-D history ($125 million).

In 2004 Hopkins formed his own consulting firm, with Big-D Construction Corporation as a signature customer. He has supported many of Big-D's current projects, including the Utah Natural History Museum and Unified State Lab.

About Big-D Construction:

Big-D Construction has over 40 years of experience providing design-build and construction management services to customers from a wide variety of industries. As one of the largest construction companies in the country, Big-D employs more than 600 associates throughout the western United States. The corporation is strategically located in Salt Lake City, Ogden and Lindon, Utah; Pleasanton, California; Bellevue, Washington; and Jackson, Wyoming. For more information, please visit Big-D's new website, http://www.big-d.com/.

Green Construction News: Is the cost of building green worth it?

2008-11-16T22:34:00.005-07:00

Recently we found an interesting article via SmartBrief titled Panel: Green Revolution is Already Here. The article was authored by Paul Bubney and will soon be featured in the December issue of of Real Estate New York magazine.

This article attempts to answer the commonly asked question of whether the expense and effort required to build green is worth it in terms of ROI and market competitiveness. We here at the Nigro Firm are as interested in this question as most people in the construction industry.

This article relates that not only is it worth it, but it will soon become the construction norm.

Here is the full text of the article.

NEW YORK CITY-Eighteen months ago, recalled construction attorney Kenneth Block, discussions about green building tended to revolve around the question of whether the cost and effort were justified. Now, said a panel of experts Monday evening, everyone from tenants to lenders to government is making it all but essential.

"The state of the art will be green," said Block, partner at Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP. "There’s no question about that." Block pointed out that as part of their more stringent standards, lenders will insist on the-state-of-the-art when it comes to financing new construction. Moreover, government is leading the way in mandating green standards, he added.

Noting that the crux of the issue for commercial real estate is cost effectiveness, moderator Robert Freedman said that owners and developers, "no matter how enlightened they are," are still responsible to the realities of the marketplace. In a business of ROI and payback thresholds, "Can green be sold effectively in the context of this marketplace?" asked Freedman, president and CEO of Williams Real Estate, in kicking off the panel discussion.

Tenant demand can be one factor in answering this question affirmatively. "Is there going to be a green market at all? Actually, I think there’s going to be more of a green market" because owners will need to differentiate their buildings as vacancy rates slip and tenants have more choices, said Nora Fay, principal of Lehr Construction. Freedman commented, "Enlightened tenants can legislate enlightened practices."

Catherine Barton, corporate director of business development at Green Depot, cited municipalities that have implemented incentive programs to encourage sustainable real estate, from the Long Island communities of Babylon and Hempstead to New York City, where the Bloomberg administration rolled out its PlaNYC in the spring of 2007. Within government buildings, too, the green movement has taken hold. Panelist Emily Baker, regional administrator of the US General Services Administration, cited a study showing "real results" in 12 of the sustainable buildings within GSA’s purview.

Additionally, going green does not always entail a cost premium. Andrew Padian, senior housing specialist at Steve Winter Associates, said there are many no-cost steps that building owners can take. "This is not about cutting-edge technology," said Padian. "This is about things that are 20, 30 or 40 years old and most people are familiar with."

If you would like to learn more about how the Nigro Firm can help you build more efficiently and more environmentally responsibly, see Working Green:The Nigro Firm can help you become more enviromentally responsible.

Nigro Firm News: More Reasons to Love Seattle

2008-11-14T10:39:00.011-07:00

There are many reasons to love Seattle - Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, views of the Puget Sound, a stellar night skyline and now, the City of Seattle has partnered with the Nigro Firm. After an extensive RFQ consultant selection process, the Nigro Firm was selected as the City of Seattle's Fleet and Facilities Department's sole source for construction coordination reviews.

The Nigro Firm has begun helping the City of Seattle save money on it's new and/or renovated fire stations. So far, we have reviewed the drawings for the new Fire Station #38 and #39. The old stations are pictured below:

While researching the City of Seattle and its' fire stations we discovered the the city has many historic and architecturally interesting fire stations, such as:

Fire Station #6
Fire Station #13
To see all of Seattle's Fire Stations click here.

In November of 2003, 69% of voters in Seattle approved the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy. This nine-year program that began in 2004, will use levy proceeds and other funding to upgrade, renovate, or replace 32 neighborhood fire stations and to construct a new training facility, a new Fire Alarm Center, and more. We are very excited to be a part of the city's Fire Facilities and Emergency response improvements.

To read more about how the Nigro Firm can help your city save money and time with a construction document coordination review, see the Nigro Firm. Or just give us a call, we would love to talk to you.

Construction News: NY crane regulations get tough

2008-11-08T19:15:00.002-07:00

Construction industry: NYC regulations overzealous
By AMY WESTFELDT

NEW YORK (AP) — It takes a lot of paper to raise a crane in New York City these days.

On top of maintenance records and operator certification tests, engineers have to sign off before cranes are raised or dismantled. The city also requires documents that prove a safety meeting was held before work begins.

It may seem like a lot to ask for, but New York is seeking to become a national example after two deadly crane collapses in Manhattan killed nine people this year.

This year's spate of deadly accidents in New York and other U.S. cities, including Houston, Miami and Las Vegas, triggered the federal government in September to propose updated crane regulations for the first time in 40 years.

But New York has introduced more stringent rules governing constructions in addition to those required by the federal government, including laws that require training for tower crane workers, limit the use of slings that hold loads, and overhaul licensing requirements for mobile crane operators.

"We have worked closely with industry officials to develop checks and balances that are making construction sites safer than ever before," city Department of Buildings spokesman Kate Lindquist said. "There are thousands of construction sites in New York City that are managed without incident every day, and there is no reason why developers cannot build safely to avoid any preventable delays."

But the city's construction industry says the rules are difficult to follow, hard to enforce and often cause costly delays. Contractors say sites are often shut down for days or weeks for minor violations, like a missing piece of paperwork, and stopping work at a high-profile site can cost more $100,000 a day.

"In some respects, it's already overkill," said Louis Coletti, president of New York's Building Trades Employers Association. "You've got new rules and regulations coming out every day."

In midtown Manhattan, where a crane crashed into a town house on March 15 and killed seven people, a crane still hasn't returned to the high-rise development site. A crane at the site of a May 30 collapse that killed two workers was not re-erected until September.

Work stopped at both sites for months, and the latter site was ordered to stop again a week ago because of a missing permit.

Coletti said contractors have received orders from multiple inspectors with conflicting interpretations of building codes, and finding an inspector to lift an order can be as challenging as fixing the violation.

Contractors are most up in arms over a requirement for engineers or manufacturers to certify plans to raise tower cranes. They say professionals would be unlikely to approve plans for work they can't supervise.

Alfred G. Gerosa, executive director of the Cement League, whose members often contract out crane work, said in September that the rule could "shut down the entire tower crane industry in the city."

Frank Bardonaro, president of a suburban Philadelphia crane rental company and head of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association's crane safety task force, called New York's rules "unenforceable."

"Are you going to test every bolt, nut, bracing?" he asked.

The city maintains the regulations are standard across the construction industry and are necessary to ensure safety.

We at the Nigro Firm have been concerned about crane safety since the incidences in New York and Miami and we are happy that the City of New York is taking crane safety seriously, though the new requirements may seem tough, if they prevent just one injury they are well worth the paperwork.

See:
Construction News: Crane inspector arrested after two New York incidences
Construction News: Crane collapses in Miami, kills 2, injures 5

Green Construction News: Comcast Builds Green in Philadelphia

2008-10-27T20:00:00.004-06:00

We like reading news like this.

Sustainable Construction Reaches New Heights in Philadelphia with NewCem High-Performance, Environmentally-Friendly Slag Cement

Lafarge North America Inc.

The new Comcast Center in downtown Philadelphia - featuring 1.25 million square feet of office, restaurant and retail space - now has the distinction of being the nation's tallest green office building. A spectacular addition to the city's skyline when it was officially opened this summer, the high-performance skyscraper was constructed with a concrete mix consisting of 40 percent Lafarge NewCem brand slag cement and 60 percent Type I cement.

Engineered for high strength and long-term durability, NewCem slag cement helps achieve greater strength potential, reduced permeability, and increased resistance to chemical attack in concrete structures. Soaring 58 stories and 975 feet, the Comcast Center tower required 50,000 cubic yards of concrete, of which 36,000 cubic yards had to be 10,000 psi-specified for its inner core. The mix used in the project reached strengths as great as 14,000 psi, which is one of the key reasons why the NewCem slag cement was selected for this high-performance application. An additional 3,000 tons of the product also was used for the lighter weight concrete on each floor.

NewCem slag cement was also a strong contributor to the tower's sustainable building design, which is expected to earn the Comcast Center a LEED silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The use of slag cement in concrete saves virgin raw materials, consumes less energy, and makes use of a of a recyclable by-product material of the iron-making process that might otherwise be disposed of in landfills. The result is high-performance concrete with less environmental impact.

To learn more about LaFarge and it's products see their corporate web site.

To see the above article in it's original context, see ForConstructionPros.com.

Is the Comcast Center the type of building that could have benefited from a construction drawing coordination review from the Nigro Firm?

Definitely, large structures like the Comcast Center are more likely to stay under budget and on schedule with the application of a coordination review. For more information about the Nigro Firm's construction drawing review services, see Our Services.

Green Construction News: Kudos to JC Penney

2008-10-24T18:17:00.005-06:00

The Village at Fairview shopping center in Texas, is getting a new JC Penney store, but it will not be a traditional box store, it is expected to be 41% more efficient than similar sized stores.

Ground broke Thursday for the 115,000 sf building that will be Penney's first store to obtain the high-performance building certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Some of the energy saving features of this building include a reflective white roof, energy efficient lighting, recycled construction materials and cotton insulation made from recycled denim. Plumbing fixtures are expected to reduce water consumption by 20 percent and construction waste will be recycled instead of going to landfills.

Other large retail/grocery stores that are building with improved environmental standards include the H.E. Butt Grocery Co. in San Antonio, which is under review for the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design certification, Safeway Inc. opened a solar-powered store in California and Best Buy Co. plans to reduce its' greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent per square foot by 2012.

Interested in green building ? Check out some of our related articles:
San Jose sets some progressive green build standards
Green Roofs and Green Buildings
Building on the green agenda, TED talk by Norman Foster
Building Green: Green Roofs

To learn how the Nigro Firm can help you build more green, see:
Working Green: The Nigro Firm can help you become more environmentally responsible

Construction News: Non-residential construction index plunges: AIA

2008-10-22T15:29:00.004-06:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A forward-looking measure of U.S. nonresidential construction activity plunged last month as more architects reported cancellations of projects amid the ongoing credit crisis, an architects' trade group said on Wednesday.

The Architecture Billings Index fell more than 6 points to 41.4 in September, according to the American Institute of Architects. A reading below 50 indicates a decline in billings, a leading indicator of construction activity about nine to 12 months in the future.

A separate measure of inquiries for new projects fell to 51 from 52.4 in August.

"Many architects are reporting that clients are delaying or canceling projects as a result of problems with project financing," AIA chief economist Kermit Baker said. "Conditions are likely to get worse before they get better."

Demand also dipped for projects such as schools, hospitals and government buildings, with the institutional category of the index falling below 50 for the first time this year, the AIA said.

All the other sectors tracked by the group were also below 50, as were all four of the geographic regions.

Companies that sell to the nonresidential construction market include diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc; lighting maker Acuity Brands Inc; electrical components maker Thomas & Betts Corp; Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd.; and Johnson Controls Inc, which provides heating, ventilation and cooling systems.

An October 14 research note by analysts at UBS also highlighted exposure to the sector among Caterpillar Inc, Terex Corp, Manitowoc, and Illinois Tool Works Inc, among others.

NCI Building Systems and Perini Corp get the bulk of their profit from the sector, according to UBS, while some companies including Cooper Industries Ltd have proved to hold up relatively well in past downturns.

(Reporting by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Where the Nigro Firm Stands on this News

Most of our work comes from non-residential projects, with the exception of large condo/apartment buildings, so of course we are a little nervous and worried about the future of our work and the construction industry in general.

The bright side we see is that the focus of our work is saving our clients money, so those that do get financing in this shaky market can more easily reduce their cost over runs and complete their projects on time. Wonder how we do this? Give us a call we would be more than happy to tell you...and no, you will not have to talk to a sales person or an account manager, our President answers all of our calls....really.

See, Who answers the phone at the Nigro Firm?

Construction Humor: Who is reviewing your construction drawings?

2008-10-21T17:53:00.007-06:00

Hmmm...bad idea.

Give us a call instead...we have many more years experience than your cat...and we have oppose-able thumbs.

Green Construction News: San Jose sets some progressive green build standards

2008-10-14T22:06:00.005-06:00

The City of San Jose gets serious about green building standards. It has been about a year since the city adopted it's Green Vision policy, since then the city of San Jose has agreed upon environmentally friendly building standards in an attempt to reduce energy and water consumption in new residential, commercial and industrial construction projects.

The 10 Green Vision goals, approved in October 2007, includes building or retrofitting 50 million sf of construction to green standards and reducing per capita energy consumption by an impressive 50 percent. To put together their new green building policy, the city obtained input from 200 representatives from construction, engineering, development, design, architectural and electrical firms; trade, labor and professional organizations; and real estate, property management, environmental and green building groups. Fifteen meetings were held to acquire feedback.

Larger projects, such as commercial and industrial buildings of over 25,000 sf will be required to meet LEED Silver standards. Residential developments of 10+ units will be expected to meet basic LEED certification standards or achieve 50 points under the Green Point rating system. Housing structures over 75 feet high will be requited to meet basic LEED standards.

This is a progressive move, though for a city known for technological innovations, it seems like a logical step. We are sure that other city's will soon follow the City of San Jose and adopt their own green building standards.

Want to know how the Nigro Firm can help you build more green?

See, Working Green: How the Nigro Firm can help you become more environmentally responsible

Construction News: Rising material costs hit home

2008-10-14T10:35:00.002-06:00

Rising material costs over the last few years have made a huge impact on the cost of constructing schools in Utah. Though this is not just a local problem, rising material costs effect all construction projects.

For example, in 2003 the Jordan School district in Utah built a school for the total build cost of 7 million, today the same building plan will cost them 15 million.

The dramatic difference has been pinpointed to two factors, the rise in material costs and the increase of the price of land in the district. Increased copper prices have driven up the cost of the electrical system by 200%, drywall cost rose 90% and the price of land has skyrocketed from around $50,000 per acre to nearly $300,000.

Could the Nigro Firm have helped this school district reduce costs?
At this point, likely not, since they are working from a set of drawings that have already been built from, we would like to assume that the errors on the drawings have been discovered and corrected. However, we can help reduce total build costs by reviewing original sets of drawings. Our construction coordination reviews catch errors on drawings and if they are corrected before materials are ordered and construction has started, cost over runs can be greatly reduced.

Construction News: McGraw-Hill Construction to Release 2009 Outlook Report in DC, Oct. 22-23

2008-10-14T00:39:00.003-06:00

NEW YORK, Oct 13, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The McGraw-Hill Construction Outlook 2009 Industry Forecast and Trends Executive Conference, a mainstay for construction business planning, will take place at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC, on October 22-23. The 70th annual conference, attended by more than 400 design and construction industry executives, is the forum for the release of the highly anticipated Construction Outlook report. This closely watched report, authored by Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, details the construction forecast for the year ahead.

"In a time of economic uncertainty, the demand for industry intelligence and credible information is even greater than in past years. With unprecedented headlines coming at us daily, if not hourly, this year's conference promises to be even more critical to our business decisions than any year in recent memory," said Norbert W. Young, FAIA, president of McGraw-Hill Construction. "McGraw-Hill Construction knows the design and construction industry and can provide the kind of insight our customers and colleagues need. This year's conference registration is exceptionally high, further validating the need for this information in planning for the year ahead," he added.

This year, the conference will also unveil a new report that analyzes industry trends for building products and industry players. In addition, the conference will provide a preview of the 2009 Green Outlook: Trends Driving Change, a first-of-its-kind outlook report on market size, trends and opportunity across green building sectors and regions.

Mr. Murray will present the 2009 Executive Construction Outlook results during the concluding session on October 23.

Other illuminating speakers at the conference include:

Kermit Baker, Ph. D., Hon. AIA, Chief Economist, The American Institute of Architects
Harvey Bernstein, Vice President, Industry Analytics, Alliances & Strategic Initiatives
McGraw-Hill Construction Tucker Carlson, Senior Campaign Correspondent, MSNBC
Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chairman, U.S. Green Building Council
Michael Mandel, Chief Economist, BusinessWeek
John Moebes, AIA NCARB, Director of Construction, Crate and Barrel
John Mothersole, Principal, Industry Practices, Global Insight
Michael Rogers, Futurist-in-Residence, The New York Times

For more information or to register, visit http://construction.com/events/outlook2009/. Attendees can earn 6 AIA continuing education credits.

The Outlook 2009 Executive Conference is produced by McGraw-Hill Construction. The premier sponsor is AT&T, and other sponsors include the American Institute of Steel Construction Inc. and Computer Methods International Corp. (CMiC).

The Details

Date & Location:
October 22-23, 2008
Capital Hilton
1001 16th Street
Washington, DC 20036

Attendee Fee:
Early Bird Registration Fee: $725, if you register by September 19th.

Standard Registration Fee: $825, if you register after September 19th.

Multiple attendees discount:
4-8 associates from the same firm - $650 each

Over 8 associates from the same firm - $550 each

Our Take:

We are just as interested as everyone else on getting at least an educated guess or glimpse into the construction industry future. Certainly with the market being as unstable as it has been lately we are all worried about how this may have a direct effect on our companies. We hope this conference can provide some interesting insights.

It is possible that part of your stress lately has been caused by trying to find creative ways to save money on your projects, while finishing on time...we can help you do this. Our construction document coordination review services have proved time and time again over the last 20 years to save tons of money, on every project we review. Want to know more? Just give us a call.

It's Harvest Time at the Nigro Firm

2008-10-06T23:42:00.003-06:00

It's that time of year again...fall harvest time, when trees are bowing down with apples, zucchinis grow to the size of small cars and grape vines swarm with hungry bees.

And like the bees....we have been busy. So far we have collected and processed pounds and pounds of FREE food, and with the economy as crazy as it is right now, free is good.

So far we have dried various melons and pears and have canned over 60 quarts of grape juice. Soon we will be drying and juicing apples.

So what do we do with all of the juice? Well, for one - gin and juice, of course. Try this recipe:

The Nigro Firm's Infamous Gin and Juice

1.5 oz of Tanqueray Rangpur Gin
4 oz of Organic, non-sweetened grape juice

Pour liquid into an 8-10oz rocks glass over ice, enjoy, repeat, repeat...till the juice is gone. And of course, share.

Gathering and preserving food is just one way to save money and prepare for the future. But when it comes to your construction projects, saving money (or preventing cost overruns ahead of time) can be a little more complicated. However, we can help you find errors on paper before ground breaking, while they are still relatively cheap to fix. Want to know how we can help you? Give our president, Natalie Nigro a call, she would love to explain how we can help you on your next project.

See also,
Healthy Workplace: Cooperative Food Buying and Preparation
Fresh Preserving
National Center for Food Preservation

Construction Humor: Take a break with these funny videos

2008-10-06T20:54:00.003-06:00

And you thought your Monday mornings were bad...

Contractors....don't follow this guys example, please.

Every wonder what your crew is doing when you are not around?

You might want to think twice before yelling at your heavy machinery operator...

NOW GET BACK TO WORK, LOL.

Construction News: Hanley Wood Launches HousingCrisis.com and Construction Pulse News Bureau

2008-10-06T20:02:00.005-06:00

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - October 6, 2008) - Hanley Wood Business Media has launched a new Web site www.housingcrisis.com, powered by the company's newly organized economic news and analysis bureau, Hanley Wood Construction Pulse. For more than 30 years, Hanley Wood's mission has been to meet the evolving information needs of construction professionals and building product manufacturers through an expanding group of products and services across all relevant media.

Designed to be a one-stop source for construction professionals, housingcrisis.com will deliver instant updates on the real estate and construction economy -- with news, data and conversation about options, problems and opportunities. Content will include exclusive articles, related stories and linked resources in real-time from across Hanley Wood's brand portfolio and other trusted sources.

"Housingcrisis.com will provide our audience with a single dashboard for the information they need, a step ahead of when they need it," says John McManus, Editorial Director of BIG BUILDER and MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE media groups, and Director of HousingCrisis.com site and Construction Pulse.

HousingCrisis.com is the first of a series of themed online sites to be powered by the Hanley Wood Construction Pulse news bureau service. Staffed by print and online editors aligned with each Hanley Wood brand, the mission of Construction Pulse is to serve as a cross-brand news and data team that will offer as-it's-happening finance, policy, and economics insight -- via articles, info-graphics, blogs, video flashes, aggregated links and resources. All content will be aimed at helping audiences in Hanley Wood's more than 30 business communities make smart decisions amid the housing and economic crunch.

"This is a critical time in the housing sector and the economy. The audience that Hanley Wood serves is looking for up-to-the-minute news and intelligence which help them make informed business decisions," says Peter Goldstone, President, Hanley Wood Business Media. "Construction Pulse will fulfill this important requirement as the all-day news resource about the housing and construction events which shape our industry."

HousingCrisis.com launched in September 2008.

About Hanley Wood

Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media and information company serving housing and construction. Through four operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America's leading publisher of home plans. Hanley Wood Business Media (Washington, D.C.) publishes 36 award-winning residential and commercial construction titles, including BUILDER, REMODELING, CUSTOM HOME, CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION and residential architect. Hanley Wood Business Media also offers the construction industry's foremost collection of Web sites, including BUILDER ONLINE, REMODELING ONLINE, and ebuild, the comprehensive online guide to building products, as well as the largest collection of house plans online through eplans.com and Dream Home Source.

Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is a $250 million company owned by affiliates of JPMorgan Partners, LLC. CCMP Capital Advisors manages the Hanley Wood investment for JPMorgan Partners.

Our Take on the New Site
As one can easily imagine, much of the recent news on this site has to do with the current tumultuous state of the US economy, which of course effects the construction industry. However, this site was just launched last month, I am sure in time other construction related topics will be covered, which is indicated by their categories: codes and standards, green home building, home builders, supply chain and more.

UAE Skyscraper is now the tallest structure built by man

2008-09-29T22:01:00.007-06:00

The Burj Dubai skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now the tallest structure on the planet built by man. Some sources say the building is 688 meters and others say 713.7 meters, either way it is very tall. The 5 billion dollar building will include apartments, hotels and offices. Other buildings as tall as a kilometer are planned for Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

As many as 5000 workers and over 30 contracting companies have worked on this building, which will include 7-star luxury living in a building that is designed to handle high winds, seismic forces and last over 100 years.

Interesting facts about his building:

The final height was kept secret for a while.
It took 20-25 minutes to pump concrete to the top of the building.
Up to 10 cranes at a time have been on-site.
The entire downtown Burj Dubai development will cost roughly 20 bil USD and will include the world's largest shopping mall.
Floors 17 through 108 will have 800 private apartments.
An observatory on the 124th floor at 442 meters high will be open to the public and will be the highest publicly available view in the world.
The water system will process 250,000 gallons per day.
The buildings outer surface is about the size of 17 football fields.

For more information on this building see:
UAE skyscraper takes record as world's tallest building
Burj Dubai Skyscraper
The "Official" Burj Dubai Website
Interested in buying or leasing space in the building? See the Sales Center.

Has the Nigro Firm reviewed drawings for a building like this? Not quite, we have reviewed buildings with a build cost of over 3 billion USD and have reviewed a few high-profile projects that have been built in the UAE. For more information, contact us, we would love to talk to you.

Our Newest Construction Cartoon: How do you wind this thing?

2008-09-29T14:08:00.006-06:00

Bright move… putting a sundial
where the sun don’t shine

The Real Deal
After giving precise calibration instructions for the sundial, the drawings showed it in a location where it would be in the shade for the entire day.

We do not have an official title for this one yet, but here are some of our ideas:

Sundial in the Shade (sorta a spoof on Raisin in the Sun)
How do you wind this thing?
Made in the Shade

Hmm....any ideas, let us know.

For more great construction cartoons, see Blueprint Bluepers.

Want to avoid these type of errors? GIVE US A CALL!

The days of beer and dandelions

2008-09-26T14:03:00.002-06:00

At the Nigro Firm we believe the days of wine and roses are over and we are now in the days of beer and dandelions. We believe that it is time to reduce costs where ever and whenever we can, without sacrificing quality.

We started the Beagle Review Newsletter to introduce our firm to you and to bring a little humor into the construction industry. We have enjoyed designing and producing each and every issue. We sincerely hope you enjoyed receiving them. However, we believe we can share information by using our web sites in the future with a lot less environmental impact.

We hope you will stop by and visit us frequently and enjoy our articles, cartoons, and anything else we can think of to share.

Please feel free to keep in touch. We will miss you if you don’t.

The days of wine and roses are over...or are they?

2008-09-26T13:56:00.004-06:00

The days of wine and roses have faded away. Everyone in the industry has become concerned over the last few years about the rapid escalation of construction costs.

The biggest driver of higher costs is the price of materials. In many instances, material costs have doubled and even tripled. Over the last 18 months, steel prices skyrocketed more than 50 percent. Not to mention, this year prices are very likely to rise on oil-, plastic-, and copper-based products.

Investors are tightening their proverbial money belts. Many projects in the public and private sectors are being put on hold or shelved all together and new projects face a tough and skeptical path to financing. Many invested in the US construction industry are starting to show signs of a mild, but ever increasing panic. But is the panic a result of a real or imagined dreary forecast? The safest bet is to assume the worst case scenario and prepare for it.

Tightening the flow of money out is a good first step. Start with well coordinated and accurate contract documents. When the construction documents are not up to par, change orders during construction promote delays and cost overruns which place a tremendous strain on resources. Fixing the problems on paper, prior to breaking ground, is a fantastic way to reduce unexpected large expenditures.

Take the first step. Contact us for more information about our coordination reviews.

Featured Construction Project: The new JetBlue terminal at JFK

2008-09-26T13:24:00.004-06:00

JetBlue layovers may actually be a pleasurable experience at JFK.

It is not the 26 new gates you keep hearing about or the 20 security lanes... when it comes to JetBlue’s T5, the buzz seems to be all about the food. The 800 million dollar JFK terminal will have 55,000 sq. ft. of dining and shopping space and is planned to be ready for hungry travelers this fall.

JetBlue’s T5 is the first terminal to be constructed post 9-11, hence the extra security lanes. It’s great to get past this step of the flight travel process as quickly as possible!

The latest news indicates that this project will be completed under budget and ahead of schedule! The team of dedicated, ambitious companies that helped complete this project included the Nigro Firm, Inc, who performed a construction document coordination/constuctability review to help ensure the best start possible.

Post security, there will be numerous restaurants, including many that will not offer the typical franchise-type airport fare. Since many travelers spend an hour or more waiting for flights, T5 developers decided to bank on the fact that most are going to get hungry and many may want something other than a hamburger or a slice of pizza. T5’s chef-driven restaurants will include
AeroNuova (Italian trattoria), Deep Blue (sushi/Asian), La Vie (brasserie), Piquillo (tapas) and Revolución (Mexican). One can only wonder though, what will it be like to eat a high-end meal with a plastic spork?

The building will be full of light from the numerous windows and high ceilings and will offer free wi-fi. For convenience it will have a direct skywalk connection to the JFK AirTrain.

Turner construction has been contracted for the construction management and the architects were Gensler and Associates. Other partners include ARUP, DMJM Harris/AECOM, URS, Parsons Brinkerhoff and Project Consult, the Rockwell Group, and the Port Authority of NY and NJ.

To see more projects that the Nigro Firm has performed construction document reviews on, see our Abbreviated Project List or contact us directly for more information.

What Makes the Nigro Firm Stand Out? We Love What We Do!

2008-09-16T00:02:00.004-06:00

As I was tiding up the office the day after a job was FedEx-ed out, I was thinking about how much fun the project was. It also got me thinking about marketing, who knows why. However, I want to share my thoughts with everyone who is interested in knowing about, contracting or even doing coordination reviews for your upcoming construction projects.

First thing, the Nigro Firm strongly believes in and encourages competition. We know we can please some of the people all of the time or please all of the people some of the time, but we can’t please all of the people all of the time. And we want all of the people constructing buildings to use a coordination review on their drawings all of the time.

Not only that, but competition is a motivating force for us to continue to improve… and we love to improve! Meeting challenges and stretching our brains is a big part of what makes this work so fun for us.

Doing business with someone means having a relationship with them. People have a tendency to trust or “click” with certain other people or personality types or business approaches. With our variety of competitors, I hope there will be a match and a place where a good relationship can develop for everyone who’s building a building.

We have worked with many of our competitors in the past and it’s been a tremendous win-win situation. See the Partnering area of our Nigro Firm web page. I am not going to say that we are better than they are, and I’m not going to say we are less than they are… we are just different. However, after looking at all the web sites, they mostly say the same thing. The wonderful unique differences between us is not always apparent. So, what I do wish to say is, we like what we do and are happy when we are reviewing a project and we do it very well. We enjoy working with our clients to make their lives a little better and brighter.

It isn’t easy to market these days. Doing business isn’t in a home town where everyone knows everybody. Doing business is working with folks across an entire country or even the entire world.

Working to find that good relationship with businesses you need to successfully run your business is worth all the money and work it might take.

Author: Shirley Nigro

Other marketing articles posted by the Nigro Firm:
Marketing: Telling a great story with the help of Seth Godin
Business Networking: Wonderful things can come in unusual ways

The Funniest Travel Story Ever: A Reviewer Goes to Montreal

2008-09-15T21:48:00.011-06:00

This may indeed be our longest blog ever posted by the Nigro Firm, but it is worth it, it is hilarious.

One of our construction document reviewers, who is an inexperienced traveler, especially in the post 9/11 era, wrote this story about his trip to Montreal. I guess this guy is lucky he does not have to fly to review construction documents.

Please read and enjoy.

It started with getting up early in the morning Wednesday to make it to the airport two hours before our flight. I, not being a world traveler like my wife, asked why. She said it was because of the long lines to get through security. We made it to the airport, parked the car, rode a “short” bus to the terminals and walked in.

We walked, very quickly, up to the ticket giver guy. He didn’t smile…actually he didn’t show any emotion but gave us a bunch of stuff and took our suitcases. Janet kept everything but gave me back my passport and one piece of paper and said come on and took off. I tried to keep up but it was tough. Just when I thought I would forever lose her in the distance she stopped in a long line. I reached her and realized this was the dreaded security line. I have never been through a metal detector without it going off but Janet had grilled me pretty well about what I could bring and what I couldn’t. It went something like this:

Janet: Empty all your pockets.

Me: *Emptying my pockets with a look of distrust* (I am the boyscout type that carries everything from duct tape to a leatherman, which I never leave the house without).

Janet: Leave all of that home.

Me: *Curl up on the floor in the fetal position*

Security

After we got in line I asked Janet about those other papers she got and she said I would get the appropriate papers at the appropriate time. As the security people got closer I have to admit I was nervous. When we finally got there I took out three of those big gray bins and emptied my pockets into the first one (yea I know, I don’t listen), put my laptop and carry-on in the second and then put my jacket in the third. They then made me take off my boots and put them on the belt. I then nervously walked through the thing and it didn’t beep. I was so happy I wanted to walk through it again just to hear it not beep but decided they would probably then strip search me or something so I decided against it. So I figured the hard part was over we could relax and wait for the plane. Janet though was scooping things up out of those bins and running off again. I grabbed my stuff, started to put a boot on and she said “No, just grab it and come on.” So I grabbed all of my stuff and took off hoping they didn’t think something was up and that was the reason why we were running. Luckily we were just going over to a bench so we could get organized. We finally got everything put back on and in and I figured a leisurely stroll to the gate but Janet was gone again. We got to the gate and she put everything down on a couple of chairs and said she was going to the restroom and to wait right there. I sat down and waited. When she got back I asked her if we would be boarding soon. She said in about an hour and a half. I sat there dumbfounded. I thought to myself, why were we running through the airport then? Never mind, I’ll go shopping. I went to the store next to us. After looking at every item in the store three times and buying some water and Dr. Pepper I had killed ten minutes. So I sat down and pulled out my book. I was reading the five book trilogy of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Why he calls five books a trilogy I don’t know.

Take-Off and and a Thing Called Turbulence

We finally boarded and got settled. My anxiety was high. I’ve never liked being in any vehicle that I’m not in control of. Through my life whenever I was taught the Bernoulli principle they always taught it around an airplane wing. I would listen, make some calculations and figure out quickly that there was no way a plane should get off the ground from the Bernoulli principle. When people ask me why I hate to fly I just tell them I don’t believe in the Bernoulli principle. This has worked great until I told Preston that and he said “That’s not how a plane flies.” Well, this really freaked me out. I’ve looked at planes many times and there is just no way they should be flying. They are big, made of metal and just have tiny wings. I figure I may have got Bernoulli wrong but Preston doesn’t usually mess up Physics. As all of this is going through my mind, I’m sitting staring out a window. I got a wing seat so I can see the wing and how it works. There is a “flap” on the back and I decide it must be pointing downward now and then it straightens out and that is what makes it go up. As we hurl ourselves down the runway in a plane that consists of a third fuel, a third metal and a third humans - my eyes are fixated on the wing and when the flap thingy is going to move. Well, pretty soon we get airborne and the flap never moved. Panic starts to set in as now I have no idea how a plane works and figure it must just run off of faith. Everyone on board simply believes it will fly. I figure I’ll be OK as long as I can see the wing and the ground…I think this ...as the plane goes into the clouds. I turn to Janet for reassurance that we aren’t going to die and she is dead…no, she is just dead asleep, how can she sleep through this? Then the plane starts shaking, I mean shaking bad, you can see the wing tip bouncing. I know this can’t be normal. I look around the cabin and people are reading, sleeping and chatting completely unaware that they are going to die! The captain then says he apologizes for the "slight" turbulence and that we should be out of it in about ten minutes. I just keep thinking, “I should have driven to Montreal.”

After a while these Stewardess’s ask if I want something to drink. This wakes up Janet and we get something to drink. She asks me how I’m doing and I say “fine.” She starts to read. I figure I will try and do that for a while. Reading actually helps. I start to relax and even enjoy looking out the window on occasion at the crop circles (not the alien kind but rather those farmer create with the use of circular sprinkler systems) and various other landmarks. From this high up the cars all look like tiny little cars. It’s not long before we start our descent. This starts the acid in my stomach bubbling again. Janet is chatting about how long we have (2 hours) and other chit chat and I’m trying to concentrate all of my happy thoughts to the captain so he doesn’t kill us. About 30 seconds out my stomach acid finally bubbles up into my mouth leaving a nasty acid taste …this of course is the point where Janet asks me what I feel like having for lunch. I calmly explain to her that I don’t feel much like eating right now and let’s discuss it after the crisis is over. She looks at me funny and says OK. We land without incident and taxi to the gate.

Landing

The captain turns off the seat belt light and the plane people come to life, well at least two thirds of them do. I figure about one third are the “real travelers,” these people just sit in their seat and wait because they know it will be a while. Then there are the third who are “impatient experienced travelers" i.e. Janet who just wants to get off the plane. These people stand up and jockey for position. Then there is the third that are the inexperienced who jump up because they don’t want to be left on the plane on accident. Janet jumps up, throws me my stuff from the bin and jockeys for her position. I do too but she ends up a few people in front of me. I figure it’s not a big deal because we have two hours here so we’ll just take our time and wander through the airport. As we disembark Janet waited for me at the end and makes some comment about me being too nice and takes off like a rocket through the airport again. Well, by now my back hurts, my hips hurt, my knees hurt and I just can’t keep up. The last I see her she is hurdling chairs like OJ Simpson in that 1970’s commercial. A man in a walker passes me and I tell him if he runs into a hot redhead to tell her that I’m coming as fast as I can. He says he’ll relay the message and takes off too fast for me to grab onto his walker and let him drag me along. Eventually Janet comes back for me and this is when I learn the travelers rule. You have to run to your gate make sure everything is OK and then you can relax. Now this doesn’t exactly make sense to me because typically she would just make sure the gate does indeed exist and then would look at the TV screen and check on our flight. Logically, I think we can assume the gate does exist and those TV screens are everywhere but by the number of people at the gate two hours early I can tell this is not just her rule but an acceptable rule of travel.

We then ate at Popeye’s chicken (I don’t recommend it) and sat down to wait for the next plane. It arrived and we boarded it. This time wasn’t quite as bad as the first but it was still a little nerve racking. The flight was longer so I had more time to calm down between take off and landing and I think that helped.

Flying Home

Coming home wasn’t as scary; however, for the first leg to Chicago I couldn’t sit by my wife which was annoying. She was only four seats in front of me but she may as well been in the front on the plane. When we got to Chicago and ran to our gate, Janet went to the restroom and I went up to the cute blond behind the counter and flirted a little and then told her I was scared and could she change our seat assignments so that I could sit by my wife so she could comfort me. We got the second row back from the front next to each other. Janet was happy and so was I. The last flight I hardly got nervous at all and decided that faith after all might not be a bad way to fly a plane. I still think I will stay grounded for a while though.

To read more about our reviewer's wife and her speedy legs, see Compassion in the workplace: Going the extra mile...or 26.

To read about how this reviewer helped us meet a crisis deadline situation, see Creative Problem Solving: Meeting deadlines.

Wonder, just what it is the Nigro Firm does, see What does the Nigro Firm do?

Construction Humor Speaks the Universal Language

2008-09-12T18:18:00.005-06:00

Our site, Blueprint Bluepers has enjoyed International traffic since day one. Humor speaks the universal language and the terms "construction humor" and "construction cartoons" are searched on from all over the world.

Though you may notice that much of our traffic comes from the US, you will also notice visitors from many other places. Keep in mind, that this map only reflects September 12th, 2008.

Standard Google Map:

Hybrid Google Map:

Since we understand that humor is an international language we have spent quite a bit of time creating this site, to not only help promote our company name, but to also help relieve stress levels everywhere. This site includes construction cartoons, construction humor and tales and stories.

According to numerous researches, laughter decreases the level of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine, adrenaline, dopamine and growth hormone. And it increases the level of health-enhancing hormones like endorphins and neurotransmitters. Laughter also increases the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T cells. So in conclusion, laughter helps support a stronger immune system and decreases the negative physical side effects of stress.

Go ahead, relax and laugh. Here is our newest cartoon, we have more coming soon.

And please, check out our site Blueprint Bluepers.

Construction Projects: Why sometimes the small jobs are better

2008-09-12T15:22:00.004-06:00

Sometimes it seems that those of us who work in the construction industry are always looking for the next "big job."

However, after working on projects with over 2000 drawings...which is stressful for everyone involved...we occasionally rethink our stance. Yes, sometimes the small construction projects are much sweeter. Small for us meaning a construction project with a build cost of under 30 million.

Benefits of working on small projects:

Fewer interested parties to work with, less likely to have a large board of directors or other complicated and slow approval processes.
Requires a smaller team and less resources to complete.
Construction drawing review can be completed quickly...and almost joyously, compared to large projects which are much more complex.
More likely to be able to work directly with interested party.

Recently, we completed a smaller project, that may lead into a series of small projects, we are very much looking forward to the opportunity to work on these projects.

Will we still take large projects? Very likely, we love a challenge and of course they look great in our portfolio.

Have a project coming up? Give us a call.

The Great Light Bulb Debate

2008-08-21T20:47:00.013-06:00

What type of light bulb do you buy? Perhaps you have switched from standard incandescent light bulbs to CFL's, only to find out that the CFL's (though they last a long time and consume little energy) contain mercury. And we all know what mercury does to fish right?

So, what to do, what to do? Conserving energy has it's advantages, but at what cost?

A company called Vu1 Corporation thinks they have an answer for you. Recently, they have began the production research for manufacturing a light bulb they are calling ESL or Electron Stimulated Luminescence. It is expected to go into mass production in 2009 in the EU (though some sources say as soon as this fall).

About the ESL Bulb
The life of the bulb is about the same as a CFL, it will have full color range and dim-ability. It will generate as much light as an incandescent but use 75% less energy. And the best part is - no mercury. In addition, they are not oddly shaped like the CFL's so they potentially can fit into more existing light sockets.

For more information
Vu1 Tech. creates an affordable ESL bulb
Say hello to the newer and greener 'ESL' bulb
The newest greenest light bulb
ESL Bulbs Are Better Than CFLs and LEDs, Says Company
New Lighting Technology Offers Alternative To CFLs and LEDs

Does the Nigro Firm Care?
Yes, we do. We are always looking for affordable, safe products that use less energy.

Construction Study of Interest:United Arab Emirates (UAE) Construction Industry in 2006

2008-08-20T17:00:00.004-06:00

Research and Markets just announced (as of August 20, 2008) the release of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Construction Industry in 2006. Those interested in working in the UAE, may want to purchase this article.The study is available for 341 EUR or roughly 503 USD.

The Key Topics Covered in the Study Include:

- Year 2006 - a closer look

- UAE - GDP in 2006 and 2007

- Major Projects Awarded to Contractors in 2006

- Top Contractors in 2006

- Top Consultants in 2006

- Top Developers in 2006

- Contractor Awards in 2006

- Expected Contractor Awards in 2007

- Major Projects Announced in 2006

Other Information
Market Watch,
Examine the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Construction Industry in 2006 & Gain Valuable Knowledge of the Industry

You may also be interesting in our upcoming Beagle Review article, The Days of Wine and Roses are over…or are they,? which discusses the need to be competitive in an international construction market.

Green Roofs and Green Buildings

2008-08-20T15:15:00.013-06:00

Since our blog article Building Green: Green Roofs has been pretty popular, we have decided to do a second article featuring these type of "green" buildings.

Want to learn more about green roofs?
If you are really interested in green roofs, you can go on a six day tour in Germany and Switzerland with Green Roof Safari. Or you can take Green Roof Design courses online though Green Roofs for Healthier Cities or Green Roofs: A Sustainable Strategy, online course for CEU. You should also check out greenroofs.com and greenroofs.org for tons of information.

Here are some images of these attractive and efficient structures for a little inspiration:

The Nigro Firm, Inc. and Green Roofs
The Nigro Firm has participated in the construction document review process for varioius buildings with green roofs. We have been really impressed with the projects we have worked on, we find the green roofs to be attractive and a great way to conserve resources and heating/cooling costs.

Other Resources
A Greener Chicago
Building Green: Green Roofs

Magazine Articles of Interest

You may also be interested in a recent Popular Science article titled, The Vertical Farmer. This concept building goes beyond green roofs and into the realm of inner city farming to the extreme. The building, designed by Dickson Despommier, would be costly but it would feed 50,000 people per year with zero waste.
This article is notable (though more for home construction than commercial) it was published by National Geographic in 2005 titled New Green Building Materials.

Studies of Interest (some require a fee)

The Top Ten Most Expensive Stadiums

2008-08-17T18:06:00.009-06:00

We found an interesting article in Forbes online recently titled In Depth: The World's Most Expensive Stadiums. We found the top ten list compelling, though not entirely up to date, since it is missing the New Yankee Stadium, which would have landed in the top three in overall project cost (at 1.3 billion) and the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium (one billion plus). The Beijing National Stadium misses the top ten at 500 million estimated USD.

Here is their list of top ten most expensive stadiums:

10. Anz Stadium, Sydney Australia, 624 million
9. Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis Ind., 675 million
8. Safeco Field, Seattle Wash., 656 million (not sure why this one was not #9)
7. Soldier Field, Chicago Ill., 714 million
6. The Emirates, London England, 770 million
5. Rangers Centre, Toronto Canada, 930 million
4. Stade de France, Paris France, 974 million
3. Madison Square Garden, New York NY, 1.1 billion
2. Olympic Stadium, Montreal Can., 1.4 billion
1. Wembley Stadium, London England, 1.5 billion

Has the Nigro Firm reviewed drawings from the top ten list?
We have not reviewed drawings from the ten listed by Forbes, however, we have reviewed a soon to be completed project that will likely land in about the number three spot.

What was it like performing a coordination review for such a large project?
Difficult, tons of hours...our teams were very busy....especially in regards to mechanical, HVAC, electrical and plumbing, since most sports arenas include many bars, restaurants and bathrooms.

Would the Nigro Firm be interesting in conducting another high-profile stadium construction drawing review?
Wow....it is tons of work...but yes we would, we love to work.

Other Resources
New Yankee Stadium to cost $1.3 billion
High-Profile Construction Projects: The New Yankee Stadium
America's Most Expensive Stadiums
In Pictures: America's Most Expensive Stadiums
Building a fortune through stadiums (video)
Yankee's Super Stadium (video)

Celebs Take the Green Movement to the United Arab Emirates

2008-08-13T18:02:00.006-06:00

Everyone in the construction industry knows that some interesting things are happening in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The locations bring in large revenues from tourism, which of course means - hotels, and in some cases eco-friendly hotels with celebrity endorsement and/or support/investment.

Recently, Pamela Anderson announced that she is partnering with the royal family to build an eco-friendly hotel in the Abu Dhabi area. The hotel will be a vegan friendly resort with organic linens and bath products that have not gone through animal testing. According to the celeb, the the hotel is "going to be built with no fossil fuel at all in Abu Dhabi where they have all that oil."

Actor Brad Pitt, is taking a more hands on approach and is working on the design team with Graft for a "socially conscious" 800-room luxury hotel to be located in Dubai. The Dubai project was announced by developers Zabeel Properties. Zabeel chief executive Robert Norton said: "Our master plan and design concept will be world-leading and we're delighted to be collaborating with Brad Pitt and the team at Graft, which is recognized for its innovative building design. This project will display our uncompromising focus and commitment for developing high quality and environmentally sustainable real estate in this region."

Other Dubai endorsed projects include the “Michael Schumacher Business Avenue,” Niki Lauda Twin Tower" and “Boris Becker Tower.”

The Nigro Firm, Inc. and Dubai projects
The Nigro Firm has performed construction drawing coordination reviews for two extremely large and complex Dubai projects. However, due to a non-disclosure agreement we cannot reveal the name of the projects nor the parties involved.

Other Resources
Dubai City travel information
Abu Dhabi tourism
Pamela Anderson's Green Hotel
Brad Pitt turns architect and designs Dubai hotel
Brad Pitt to help design hotel in Dubai
Schumacher and Becker join Dubai party
Boris Becker Business Tower Launched in Dubai
ACI real estate launches Michael Schumacher business avenue in Dubai

Other Green Building News
Olympic Village Awarded LEED Gold - Xinhua
Resonance House LEED Silver Certified - University of Kentucky News
Dockside Green Is the Highest Rated LEED Platinum Project in the World
Designing for Performance, Not Prescription
Architect Helps Make Green Movement Sustainable
Pittsburgh's Green Mixed-Use Skyscraper

Other Nigro Firm Collective Green Articles
Building on the green agenda TED talk by Norman Foster
Construction News: LEED 2009 Open for Public Comment, put in your two cents!
Building Green: Green Roofs
Corporate Environmental Responsibility: What to do with drawings, specs and shipping material

How to Use our Construction Cartoons

2008-08-08T21:57:00.006-06:00

We love to share our construction cartoons....but not necessarily our bandwidth.

So, if you would like to post our Blueprint Bluepers cartoons to your website, forum or blog please link to our Photobucket album. Currently, we have 10 full-color original construction cartoons in this album.

Including our first, The Circulating Pimp.

All we ask is that you please include the entire cartoon with attributions/credits. And please do not sell them or alter them in any way.

Of course you are also welcome to print them out, we offer large printable versions from our website Blueprint Bluepers, see the cartoon section.

If you would like to learn more about our featured artist, Chaise Payan, click here.

If you have construction related cartoons or humorous stories that you would like to share, see our contribution guidelines.

New JFK Terminal: JetBlue puts on the ritz

2008-08-08T19:48:00.004-06:00

Forget sitting at Starbucks for four hours waiting for your flight...avoid the jitters...and indulge in some fine dining instead.

The new T5 terminal at JFK is expected to be ready for weary, hungry travelers this fall and will include many high-end restaurants that will offer everything from sushi to Italian to an americanesque steak house.

We performed a construction document coordination review on the drawings for this terminal before ground breaking and are happy to hear that T5 is under budget and ahead of schedule....we hope we had something to do with that.

Please stay tuned for more information about this new terminal in our next newsletter.

How much experience does the Nigro Firm, Inc have reviewing airport terminal drawings?
Plenty. If you have a project like this coming up, give us a call, we would like to see your project be under budget and ahead of schedule too.

Another high-profile Vegas project put on hold

2008-08-03T21:57:00.005-06:00

The Nigro Firm is sad to hear that the current construction and real estate "crisis" has paralyzed the progress of yet another sin city project, The Echelon. Boyd Gaming Corporation announced Friday that it will halt work for nine months to a year on the $4.8 billion project.

The Echelon, which is planned to include a 140,000 sq ft casino, 5000 guest rooms in five hotels, two theaters and nearly 750,000 sq ft of meeting and exhibit space on 87 acres, unfortunately joins a growing list of suspended projects in Vegas. The project just broke ground in June and as recently as Thursday there were up to 800 construction workers busy at the site.

Please see our article, Construction Financing Trouble hits Sin City, Wynn Still Optimistic.

Other Resources
Echelon Renderings
Boyd Gaming Corporation Official Site
The Echelon Resorts Site
Boyd Gaming Climbs After Delaying Echelon Las Vegas, Bloomberg.com
Morgans Hotel Group Issues Statement Regarding Echelon Project in Las Vegas, MarketWatch
Boyd Gaming suspends Vegas casino-resort project, CNN Money

Building on the green agenda TED talk by Norman Foster

2008-08-01T16:11:00.005-06:00

In the above TED video, architect Norman Foster discusses his work and how computers can help architects design buildings that are beautiful, elegant and nearly pollution free. This talk was originally video recorded at the 2007 DLD Conference in Munich.

If the above video does not play, here is the direct link.

About Norman Foster
Norman Foster is the chairman of Foster + Partners in the UK. He won the 1999 Pritzker Prize and his work has been referred to as "clean, unfettered and environmentally aware." (BBC News)

About Foster + Partners
This group has worked on a wide range of projects from bridges to museums to sports arenas to housing projects. Their current projects include the world trade center in Abu Dhabi, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Caja Madrid Tower.

The Nigro Firm and projects like those designed by Foster + Partners
We have worked on numerous projects similiar to those designed by Foster + Partners, including projects in the multi-billion dollar range. Large, high-profile projects can greatly benefit from accurate and coordinated construction drawings. Not only can our services help save money and time, but they also can help design firms have the resources available (by outsourcing or subcontracting) to supplement their own quality control processes. See Nigro Firm Partnering.

Other Resources
Norman Foster related film, Building the Gherkin
The Pritzker Architecture Prize main web site
Norman Foster Wikipedia page
Other architecturally themed TED talks, Architectural Inspiration and Design Like You Give a Damn.
Our article on the 2008 Pritzker winner, Jean Nouvel

Construction Financing Trouble hits Sin City, Wynn Still Optimistic

2008-07-22T20:21:00.005-06:00

Bankruptcy court, difficulty in obtaining financing, and cautious investors have shut down or slowed down many large commercial projects in Las Vegas.

What has changed?
A year and a half to two years ago construction loans were easier to obtain and developers could get away with putting as little as 5-10 percent equity behind a project and cash rich investors were more willing to take chances with new projects.

Some Scrapped or Up-in-the-Air Projects
W Towers
Ivana
Las Ramblers
Montreux Resort
The Plaza
Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino
Spanish View Towers

Wynn is Still Optimistic and Building
Wynn's Encore is expected to open in December with over 2000 rooms and an additional 60,000 square feet of meeting space. Wynn has reportedly said that the company only has 25 percent debt, compared to many of his competitors who carry up to 70 percent debt. Wynn Macau is also apparently doing very well.

Other Signs of Optimism
Clark County commissioners have awarded Perini Building Co. a 1.2 billion dollar contract to work on the expansion of McCarran International Airport. Despite the uncertainty over the future of the airlines, many believe that a large project like this needs to go forward based on the anticipated future use and not the current situation.

How can the Nigro Firm Help?
The application of a good construction document review by the Nigro Firm can greatly reduce cost over runs and can help create tighter bids. In general, for every dollar spent on the review you can expect to save seven to 30 dollars. The Nigro Firm has reviewed drawings for many "Vegas type" buildings including large resorts, theme parks and airports. For more info, see Nigro Firm Services.

Related Articles of Interest

Las Vegas aims higher–much higher

Credit crunch crimps commercial development

What's holding back new Vegas resorts?

Gaming Stocks: Wynn Relishes another Encore

Perini wins contract to build new terminal

Real Estate Close-Up: Las Vegas

The dead dreams of Vegas

Wynn: Las Vegas slow but Macau flies

Introducing our newest construction cartoons

2008-07-18T22:08:00.006-06:00

Too close for comfort

We actually saw this in a construction drawing, though technically it was not an "error," we felt that perhaps the placement of the urinals should be reconsidered.

Dude, What's Up?

This cartoon was inspired from a construction drawing that called for a heavy HVAC unit to be placed on the roof without enough structural support to hold the weight.

To see these cartoons and more construction humor visit Blueprint Bluepers.

Interesting Construction Blogs

2008-07-12T00:11:00.003-06:00

Though we enjoy The Nigro Firm Collective, there are quite a few other construction related blogs and web sites online that we find interesting. Some are related to a specific company and others track the progress of a certain project or area.

Here are a few interesting construction related sites:

Burj Dubai Skyscraper
Tracks the progress of the construction of the next tallest building in the world. Includes images, video and commentary.

Smart Growth.org
Includes tons of up to date information on smart growth related news, such as green building, sustainable communities and more.

McGraw Hill Construction Online
Offer construction news, directories, reports and more. However, not everything on this site is free.

New York Construction
For those that do work in New York state, this is a good resource. Includes project information, industry news, directories and more.

Building Design and Construction
Includes industry news, green building and sustainability news and building technology news as well as non-residential project information.

Facilities.net
Publishes industry specific information, industry news, case studies and four blogs.

Stadiumpage.com
Includes construction pics of the New Yankee Stadium and the New Mets Ballpark.

Architecture Online
Publishes architecture news, resources, a blog, portfolios and more.

Architecture for Humanity
Blog published by the non-profit organization, offers sustainable living news and information, also recognizes innovative design ideas that support sustainable, affordable housing, schools and other community use type buildings.

There are of course, many more web sites, including our three other sites, Nigro Firm Inc, Blueprint Bluepers and the Beagle Review.

Stress Management: The Nigro Firm Goes Fishing

2008-07-09T21:06:00.008-06:00

Recently, on a local radio station we heard an ad for fishing licenses. Our first reaction was, "What?! They have to advertise to sell the opportunity to go fishing?" Obviously... fewer people are fishing than used to! Are people taking less time to relax?

There are many ways to reduce stress. One way is through rest and relaxation, which many find in knee waiters in the middle of a cold, rocky stream with a pole in hand, even when not a single fish bites.

We at the Nigro Firm believe that hobbies, vacations, days off and even just a simple belly laugh are good ways to reduce stress. Lower stress levels help our team be more productive, work more cooperatively, and more creatively.

You don't have to go fishing to relax. "Gone Fishing" can be more of a metaphor to represent all forms of recreation or to simply indicate that you need to just take a break. So, next time you are stressed and wish you could just get away, put up a "gone fishing" sign on your office door and just take a few minutes to clear your mind. Often just ten minutes of meditation or relaxation can save an hour of stressful time wasting.

Print out your free "gone fishing" door hanger.

The internet is loaded with lists of ways to reduce stress, here are just a few:

101 Ways to Reduce Stress
52 Proven Stress Reducers
25 Ways to Cut Stress in Your Life
10 Ways to Reduce Stress at Work
3 Ways to Reduce Stress

However, if all else fails GO FISHING! Are at least go find a river to sit next to, it will do you good.

Introducing the Nigro Firm’s Complimentary Evaluations

2008-07-09T20:24:00.000-06:00

Acquire foresight and first hand experience for FREE.

Imagining potential loss is difficult, if not impossible. However, we are offering you a way to capture a glimpse of the cost saving possibilities that you can obtain from a construction document coordination review.

Frequently, people ask us an important and relevant question, “What kind of savings can be achieved in both time and money on the project to justify the additional expenses of a coordination review?” It is a good question. However, understanding the answer requires a bit of imagination and vision.

Can you visualize the road not taken?

Imagine this situation as a quick analogy. You are standing on the curb of busy street. As a bus approaches, the man standing next to you, for an unknown reason, starts to step in front of the bus. You grab him by the shirt and pull him back to safety. He turns to you and says, “Wow. Thanks, I really appreciate your help. How much pain, suffering, money, time and hassle did you just save me?” Your answer is, “I have no idea. But I imagine it would have been a lot. What would have been the accumulated loss if you had stepped in front of the bus?”

We can’t quantify the savings that a coordination review provided since we can’t go back in time and redo the construction process without the review. It all boils down to foresight. Or the ability to understand that finding mistakes on paper is cheaper and faster to fix than mistakes discovered in the field. And then belief that the review fee is minuscule compared to the impact of errors discovered after ground breaking.

Curious as to what we can do for your next project?

We understand that visualizing the positive impact of a review is difficult, so through the end of this year, we are offering a complimentary evaluation of a small project of your choice so you can get a feel for what we do. Truly, the only way to fully understand our service is to experience it.

For more information, visit:
Nigro Firm Complimentary Evaluation

Coordination Errors Don’t Have to be a Daily Occurrence

2008-07-03T23:09:00.000-06:00

Would you invest $1 to get $7 back?

Of course you would.

Just because it has “always been that way” does not mean it always has to stay that way. The ROI of a coordination review is solid; however, we have found that many in the industry still need a little convincing.

We run into an extremely interesting phenomenon when we explain to people what we do.

To many the benefits of a coordination review are obvious.

People who are not in the construction industry “get it” right away. They immediately see the value of catching mistakes on paper instead of in the middle of the construction process. It’s obvious and logical to them and fits the old adage that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

People in the industry are used to dealing with coordination errors.

When we tell people, who are in the construction industry, how we can help them, they often have a “yes, but…” response. Although people don’t like dealing with the costs, delays, and hassles involved with errors, omissions, variances and inconsistencies in the drawings and specs, they have a feeling that “it’s just the way things are” and that they have to put up with it.

What prevents some from understanding the benefit of a coordination review?

Often people think of their established protocols, methods, systems, bureaucracies, etc. that do not take advantage of a construction document coordination review. The conventional methods are typically the only ones considered, even though the system is not perfect, it is familiar. Of course, changing the process is not an easy task, especially when multiple parties and a large investment are involved. But it is worth the effort.

The advantages of a construction document coordination review.

Reviews performed by independent third-party reviewers are affordable and an extremely efficient way to reduce risk. They improve bid accuracy, help you meet deadlines and position each job for greater overall success.

How much money can be saved?

Benchmark studies have shown that per $1 spent on a construction document coordination review, between $7 and $30 are saved in averted change orders and cost overruns. This is an excellent return on investment (ROI).

Who commissions reviews?

The people who use our services are people with foresight. They are leaders in the industry who are innovative, organized, and efficient. They are experienced and competent.

Customized reviews for each project.

The Nigro Firm, Inc. realizes that each company has unique systems, projects, and needs… requiring our coordination reviews to be customized for each project’s budget, schedule, and areas of concern.

For more information, see:
Nigro Firm Custom Reviews & Fees

Featured Construction Project: The Galveston National Laboratory

2008-07-03T22:34:00.000-06:00

When construction document quality is critically necessary - you can count on us.

It can stand strong through hurricanes, it can contain highly dangerous infectious agents, and has some of the most sophisticated security protocols imagined. What building is it? The Galveston National Laboratory (GNL) or the National Biocontainment Laboratory. The building should be completed this month.

The GNL has to be Perfect

This facility can be nothing less than perfect. When it comes to containing agents like anthrax, Lassa fever, dengue fever and Ebola there is no room for structural error. The Nigro Firm reviewed sections of this lab in 2006 and found the project extremely interesting and particularly unique.

The Nigro Firm’s experience reviewing GNL

Our experience reviewing GNL was incredibly fascinating.

Many things that would not normally be a big deal in typical construction projects were fatally important for this research lab. For example, the pipe sleeve locations between the concrete floors had to exactly match the locations of the plumbing fixtures, decontamination showers, lab equipment, etc. To prevent micro-cracks and possible hiding places for microbes, holes could not be drilled through the concrete after it was poured. In addition, the building’s special systems such as the decontamination shower system were extremely interesting and required the design of a special custom review.

Who funded the construction of the GNL?

The GNL was primarily funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health (NIAID/NIH). This organization was formed after the 2001 post office anthrax attacks and helped fund GNL as well as one other National Biocontainment Laboratory and Regional Centers of Excellence (RCEs) to research hazardous biological agents.

GNL Specs

The GNL is nearly a 170 million dollar project which, when complete, will include 174,000 gross square feet. Construction began in May of 2005. University of Texas Medical Branch will possess and operate the GNL in support of the biodefense research agenda of NIAID.

How do other projects compare to the GNL?

Most buildings are not responsible for containing NIAID Category A, B and C priority pathogens such as typhus fever, West Nile virus, yellow fever and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. However, all projects have access to the quality review services provided by companies like the Nigro Firm to help ensure that their buildings are top notch.

Interested in other projects reviewed by the Nigro Firm, see our Abbreviated Project List.

The latest Beagle Review newsletter is about to go to press

2008-07-03T17:43:00.006-06:00

Watch your mail, our July newsletter will be mailed on the 15th.

Our July edition discusses the Galveston National Laboratory, one of two national containment laboratories. This lab should be completed this month. This building is an extremely unique structure since it will be used to conduct studies on containing NIAID Category A, B and C priority pathogens such as typhus fever, West Nile virus, yellow fever and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. The Nigro Firm reviewed parts of this project in 2006.

Our second article discusses why many in the industry have a hard time grasping the benefits of a coordination review. We also explain why coordination errors do not have to be common place or tolerated.

Our third article introduces our complementary evaluation program. Since many have never seen a set of reviewed drawings before, we are offering a free evaluation of a small project so you can see our work in action.

We will also be introducing a brand new, original Blueprint Blueper cartoon. We are not going to give the punch line away, but the image below is a hint.

Please look forward to our newsletter. If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe by sending an email with your physical mail information to subscribe@beaglereview.com. You can also read the articles soon on the Beagle Review website.

Thanks for reading.

We understand the need for perfection

2008-06-24T19:14:00.004-06:00

Believe it or not....this is our office pantry. Go ahead and measure the distance between the cans, we dare you. We enjoy nothing less than perfection.

Imagine what we can do with your construction drawings.

Who answers the phones at the Nigro Firm?

2008-06-23T17:58:00.006-06:00

The answer may surprise you.

Is it a sales person? No.
Is it a secretary or executive assistant? No.
Is it the VP of sales? No.
Is it an account executive? No.

Who answers the phones at the Nigro Firm?
The President, Natalie Nigro.

Why does the president of the company answer the phones?
Because, simply put, she knows everything.

Other reasons our president takes the time to answer all phone calls:

She can make all final decisions, in regards to contract negotiations, pricing, review requirements and so on.

She has over 17 years of coordination review experience and is the best qualified person to help you figure out what kind of review best fits your project.

She knows exactly what her review teams are capable of performing in a given amount of time.

She has access to the review schedule and can schedule reviews.

She cares and wants to get to know her clients one-on-one. She feels that this helps her provide the best service possible.

Natalie is one of the most knowledgeable and personable people you could ever talk to on the phone. She never pushes the hard sell and she is genuinely interested in customer education and friendly win-win contract arrangements.

Go ahead, give her a call, she would love to hear from you.

For more information on how to contact the Nigro Firm, click here.

Team Building Events: Some Assembly Required

2008-06-16T21:28:00.009-06:00

We here at the Nigro Firm are do-it-yourselfers, team players and like to save a few bucks here and there. So, we recently combined a complicated assembly project into a team building experience , why not?

Our project was to put a desk together. Sound easy? Maybe, if you have good instructions and few parts....building a simple elementary school extension is easy too, when you have good build instructions.....but we all know the reality of that situation.

The Instructions
Like most "some assembly required" projects this one was actually "tons of assembly required." According to the 37 pages of instructions the project should take one person about an hour and 20 minutes.

However, here are the real stats:
Build Time: 3.5 hours
# of People: 3

Other Highlights and statistics:
# of times someone said "This is stupid": 48
# of times someone said "What the ____?": 23
Tools and screws not included: 5
Beers and Iced Teas Required: 6
Total Swear Words Uttered: 297
Total Number of Full On Belly Laughs: 12

Favorite Saying Developed During the Process
"If all else fails, smack it."

Least Helpful Team Member: Izzy
Though we assigned this beagle the task of translating the instructions from Spanish to English, he failed miserably due to his constant napping.

Finished Product:
After three and half hours of assembly, we decided we liked it better before we took it out of the box, lol.

What we learned during this team event:

That complex and confusing tasks are easier and more amusing when not completed alone.
We learned compromise and that sometimes parts can be put on upside down and still work.
Good communication is paramount to success, especially when your content writer refers to the brackets as the "L" things.
That building from bad instructions is stressful. And that building from bad construction drawings must be exponentially stressful. That is what makes our work so rewarding, the assistance we can offer to help people obtain the most accurate construction drawings possible is an amazing reward to our hard work.
That we are perfectionists. Despite confusing instructions, bad drawings, and general frustration, we refused short cuts, never skipped a step and kept the final product in our mind at all times. That is just how we operate.

Client Relationships: We love positive feeback

2008-06-12T16:27:00.007-06:00

We love hearing from people that we have worked with, especially when they have such great things to say about us. We realize that we are all busy with our work, families and friends, so when someone takes the time to send us thoughtful, positive feedback we really appreciate it.

Recently, we received an email from a project manager who we had worked with several years ago. Before checking our availability to perform a review for a new project, he sent us a really nice email. We love getting emails like this one, it helps us to see the real value of our hard work and how much our work is appreciated.

Here is the letter: (We removed identifying information from the email to protect the anonymity of our client.)

Hello Natalie,
It’s been a few years since we have spoken but I will never forget how happy I was when you returned our documents. I was the Director of Construction when I hired your firm to review a project we were developing in the Florida Keys. The review was PHENOMENAL and I know we saved time and money by having it done.

I am now working for another company in Miami and I will be the Project Manager on a new project. In addition, we have other projects in progress and in the pipeline that I believe could benefit from your services.

Shirley, being an ex-graphic designer, found it interesting that he used every type of font attribution for the word phenomenal…capitalized, bold and underlined to emphasize the word, that takes effort and thought.

We are very excited and look forward to working on this project and know that we can provide excellent service and help everyone involved save tons of money.

Construction Cartoons: Just for fun

2008-06-06T22:02:00.006-06:00

As many readers know, we publish original construction cartoons on our web site Blueprint Bluepers. However, we figured why keep the fun to just that site? So, we asked our artist, Chaise Payan, to create two illustations... project manager Beagles, one that is happy and relieved because his construction drawings are accurate and coordinated, and one stressed beagle who is burdened with tons of RFI's, cost over runs and change orders.

And this is what our artist came up with:

Hmmm...which one would you rather be?

That's what we thought. Before you break ground on your next project, get your drawings and specs checked by the Nigro Firm. We can save you tons of worry and money and may even prolong your life.

Please check out our services page to see these cartoons in context and to learn more about what we do.

Construction News: Crane inspector arrested after two New York incidences

2008-06-06T21:28:00.004-06:00

New York City's chief crane inspector for construction sites was arrested today and charged with corruption in relation to two crane collapses in March and May that killed nine people.

(See our article covering this and the Miami incident, here.)

IN BRIEF:
James Delayo is charged with receiving bribes, falsifying business records, offering false instruments for filing, tampering with public records and receiving unlawful gratuities.

We don't need to rewrite everyone's else's article, but if you are interested in learning more, see the news articles below.

Related News
AFP: Crane inspector arrested after two New York accidents
The New York Times:
City’s Chief Crane Inspector Accused of Taking Bribes
Bloomberg.com: New York City Crane Inspector Charged With Bribery (Update2)
AP: Senior NYC crane inspector accused of corruption

Construction News: LEED 2009 Open for Public Comment, put in your two cents!

2008-05-29T19:35:00.004-06:00

You have 19 days left!

You still have time to offer your comments and ideas to the USGBC in regards to the 2009 version of the LEED Green Building Rating System. The USGBC is allowing 30 days for comments, which began May 19, see the original press release.

To submit your comments, please review the comment process information on the US Green Building Council website.

If you are a green builder or are interested in obtaining LEED certification on your new projects, this is the perfect time to voice up your opinions.

MORE INFORMATION

What is LEED?
LEED Professional Accreditation Information
LEED Resources
Letter from Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair regarding LEED 2009 proposed changes
LEED 2009 Vision and Executive Summary

You may also be interested in our article,
Working GREEN:
The Nigro Firm can help you become more Environmentally Responsible

Blueprint Bluepers: Our Newest Construction Cartoons

2008-05-28T20:47:00.007-06:00

We are truly excited to announce that we have two new construction cartoons on Blueprint Bluepers, our construction humor website.

The first one is called The Beagle Bulb, and was inspired by a very curious spec error.

Our second new cartoon is called Wet Dog, which was based on the bad placement of a scupper.

Our construction cartoons are 100% original and are based on errors actually found while performing construction drawing coordination reviews. Please visit Blueprint Bluepers for many more fun and unique construction cartoons.

Why do we create construction cartoons?

For fun! We believe that humor is not only amusing, but also a great stress reducer. Please see our main cartoon page for more info and check out our artist, Chaise Payan.

Is it OK to share Blueprint Blueper cartoons?
Yes, please do. We offer a printable version on the Blueprint Blueper website or you can link to an image in our photobucket album at http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll194/nigro_bucket/.

High-Profile Construction Projects: The London 2012 Stadium construction starts three months ahead of schedule

2008-05-22T16:42:00.006-06:00

Construction of the 80,000 seat Olympic venue in London has begun today, three months ahead of schedule, and passes inspection with flying colors.

Though we were not involved with the review process of the construction drawings for this stadium, we have reviewed similiar type structures and understand the complexities involved, and congratulate everyone on getting the construction started early!

We commend the designers, reviewers, the Olympic Delivery Authority, 'Team Stadium,' the London 2012 Organizing Committee, British Olympic Association, HOK Sport, Buro Happold Ltd, Savills Hepher Dixon and everyone else involved in getting this project underway ahead of schedule and on budget. Kudos!

The stadium basics: (The following info was retrieved directly from London2012.com)

Bowl - a sunken bowl built into the ground for the field of play and lower permanent seating, designed to bring spectators close to the action;
Seats – 25,000 permanent, 55,000 demountable;
Roof - a cable supported roof will stretch 28 meters the whole way around the Stadium, providing cover for two thirds of spectators;
Wrap – a fabric curtain will wrap around the stadium structure, acting as additional protection and shelter for spectators; and
Pods – facilities such as catering and merchandising will be grouped into self-contained ‘pod’ structures, adding to the spectator experience around the access level of the Stadium.

The 2.5-square-km Olympic park will also feature an Aquatics Center, the Velodrome, hockey, fencing, basketball and handball arenas and an international media center. It will be used for the upcoming Olympic games as well as the Paralympic games.

This stadium was designed by HOK Sport, the same firm that designed the New Yankee Stadium, which is currently under construction in the Bronx, NY (see High-Profile Construction Projects, the New Yankee Stadium). Senior Principal architect Rod Sheard from HOK Sport said, "The design is a response to the challenge of creating the temporary and the permanent at the same time - that is the essence of the design for the stadium. A new era of Olympic Stadium design will be launched in 2012, demonstrating how a successful event can be blended with the long term needs of a community."

The Team Stadium Consortium consists of:

Construction Contractor - Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd;
Architect - HOK Sport Ltd;
Sports Venue Designer - HOK Sport Ltd;
Structural Engineer - Buro Happold Ltd;
Building services engineer - Buro Happold;
Landscape architect HED;
Planning Consultant - Savills Hepher Dixon

VENUE IMAGES

MORE INFORMATION

See these articles:
London 2012 stadium under construction
London 2012 given glowing review after inspection
London 2012 praised by inspectors

Or for many articles, see the Olympic homepage at telegraph.co.uk.

For stadium time line and more Olympic 2012 info, see London2012.com.

Does the Nigro Firm, Inc review these type of projects?
Yes, these are exactly the kind of projects we have experience reviewing. Though we usually review smaller projects like hospitals, schools or universities, we have reviewed projects very similar to the London 2012 stadium. Large projects like this can save perhaps even millions of dollars by working with high-quality, coordinated construction drawings.

For example, the image below shows a section of drawings from a single large project that we worked on in 2007.

How to pronouce our company name, the Nigro Firm, Inc.

2008-05-21T21:35:00.000-06:00

If we had a dime for every time someone saw the word "Nigro" and paused in confusion, we would be billionaires. People are nervous about how to say our name without sounding "politically incorrect." And granted, our name can be confusing. So, we decided to give you a little help.

Nig ro is a southern Italian name meaning "black." Most Nigros immigrated to the US in the late 1880's, like many immigrant populations. And here is how you pronounce it:

First Syllable: Ni, is pronounced with an "i" sound like in the word "high" or "pie."
Second Syllable: gro, is pronounced exactly like "grow."

Put it all together and it is like "nigh-grow."

So, next time you see our company name or you meet us, you can skip the dramatic pause and just belt out a salutation - "Hello Nigro's, nice to meet you!"

Marketing: Telling a Great Story with the help of Seth Godin

2008-05-15T18:14:00.010-06:00

Marketing a small companies' service comes with some unique challenges and advantages. So, many small companies, like the Nigro Firm, turn to marketing gurus like Seth Godin for some cheap yet useful advice.

Recently, we read Godin's book, All Marketers are Liars (2005). We really enjoyed this book and and think that Godin's "world view" or how he approaches marketing coincides with our beliefs about honesty and risk taking in marketing. Many of you have likely read this book, but if not, we would love to share with you some of the things that we have learned.

This book makes many interesting points, but we will just hit on one today.

Telling a Great Story
When we think about marketing, most of us tend to get entirely too logical, we think about the benefits of our service, our price compared to our competitors, our target market and what our marketing material looks like - which is important...but they are not the most powerful selling tools ...what is...is the STORY.

The great story is not a "once upon a time" type story... the story is how your potential clients or buyers feel in relation to you or your product, which can be true or not. For example, if you ask any little kid if their new tennis shoes help them run faster and jump higher, they will say yes and proceed to run and jump around to show you how their performance has improved... they really BELIEVE it! Truth is of course relative, with that in mind, here are Godin's main points about telling a great story:

A great story is true. The Nigro Firm does well with this one, we only tell the truth, good or bad. We feel that we would do ourselves a disservice and attract the wrong kind of client by being untruthful or misleading.
Great stories make a promise. This one is a little harder, but people want to know what they are going to get (or think they might get) from your product, whether it be more money, hot babes or smarter kids.
Great stories are trusted. Of course, if they are unbelievable they have zero positive impact, but plenty of negative.
Great stories are subtle. They leave a little to the imagination, since the audience needs to fill in a few of the blanks themselves to make the story jive with their beliefs.
Great stories happen fast. Audiences have a minuscule attention span, you may have to catch them with one image or one line... rough work indeed.
Great stories don't appeal to logic, but they often appeal to our senses. Many of us would like to think that people think logically and take the time to think things through, but that is often not the case, they react immediately and sometimes for emotional or preprogrammed reasons.
Great stories are rarely aimed at everyone. This is where targeted marketing comes in, since everyone does not think the same or believe the same things, marketing must appeal to a set of individuals who think similarly. For example, the Nigro Firm would have a hard time convincing those that accept bad construction drawings and think that "is just how it is" to commission a construction drawing review. Our audience includes proactive people, who want to work with great construction drawings and believe it is possible to obtain them.
Great stories do not contradict themselves. This concept kinda goes along with the "true" concept above. Though people are impatient and not always logical, they are not stupid and can see inconsistencies with amazing accuracy.
And, almost all great stories agree with our world view. Meaning that they agree with what people already think. Good stories create almost a camaraderie type feeling, such as -- "I like how they think," or "they make me feel good," or "wow, that is how I feel too!"

There are many more useful lists, suggestions, ideas and marketing tid bits of good stuff in this book, so check it out. You may also be interested in Godin's Blog, Seth's Blog and you can read about or purchase his books at sethgodin.com.

Here is a video of Godin speaking to some people at Google:

Do you agree with our world view? That it is possible to have clean, non-confusing construction drawings that give accurate instructions for constructing a building without 4 million RFI's. Then give us a call, we would love to help you achieve that.

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

Announcement: Our newest edition of Beagle Review is hot off the presses

2008-05-13T20:42:00.007-06:00

Our May edition of Beagle Review is available.

We just completed our latest edition of Beagle Review. So, look forward to receiving it in your mailbox soon or check out a version of the content online.

The May edition includes:

Our newest Blueprint Blueper cartoon: Original artwork by Chaise Payan featuring an amusing spec error.
Small town meets big city, planned urban villages: Discusses the urban village trend and the Irvine Apartment Company and it's apartment communities.
Impact of a coordination error: The Nigro's explain how one little error can snowball into one giant mess if it is not caught before build time.
The Nigro Firm Demystified, why we do what we do: Reviewing is hard work, but there are many reasons why we do what we do and why we love our work.

Beagle Review - for those of you who are not familiar with Beagle Review, it is a construction related newsletter that discusses industry news and trends, construction document review information and stories, and features our original construction cartoons.

Check out our online content or subscribe to our print newsletter by sending your information to sub@beaglereview.com.

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

Building Green: Green Roofs

2008-05-08T17:34:00.009-06:00

Green roofs are becoming increasingly popular atop intercity buildings, and I don't mean green asphalt tile, I mean roofs with green plants growing on the roof.

What are the advantages? They reduce:

Storm water run off
City temperatures
Air pollution
Heating and cooling costs
Noise pollution from the outside
The number of roof drains needed

And increase:

Building aesthetics
Commercial value
Living space for birds and other small animals
The life of the roof 2X
Amenity space (park, day care, recreation)

Other possible benefits:

Can be used to grow food
Speeds up the approval process
Grant money
Reduce the size of or eliminate the need for a run off pond or cistern
Credits under the US and Canadian Green Building Council LEED certification system
Satisfy green space/ parkland requirements
Greenhouse gas emissions trading credits

What are some examples of green roof implementation?

Chicago City Hall, 20,000 sf
The Bill Clinton Presidential Library
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Conference Center 348,480 sf
Chicago’s Millennium Park, 24.5 acres
The Minneapolis Target Center

For more information see these articles:
Green roofs popping up in big cities
Ecogeek's Green Roofs and introduction with pretty pictures
EPA: The Heat Island Effect

You may also be interested in checking out these green roof resources:
Greenroofs.com
Greenroofs.org: Green Roofs for Healthier Cities

Want green roof training and accreditation?
See, GRHC 2008 Course Information

The Nigro Firm, Inc. and Green Roofs
The Nigro Firm has participated in the construction document review process for numerous building with green roofs. We have been really impressed with the concept of green roofs and the potential they have to not only help conserve the earth resources but also the aesthetic value they add to properties.

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

Nigro Firm Inc., Company Update

2008-05-06T11:30:00.005-06:00

What have we been up to?

Well, let me tell you...we have been BUSY. Since we all love to work, this suits us fine.

Status Updates:

Web Sites: We have been busy converting all of our websites (we have three, Nigro Firm, Beagle Review and Blueprint Bluepers) to php so we can do updates more easily. In the very near future, look for our new cartoons on Blueprint Bluepers, they are hilarious. We will also have new content on Beagle Review very soon, just about the time we mail out our next newsletter (in about a week). On the corporate site, we have added our new partnership pages, check them out. Our web sites, are doing better everyday as far as moving up the Google search results for our keywords, we are very pleased. We are now pretty easy to find online.

Newsletter: We have just completed our fourth newsletter, it includes a new full-color cartoon, an article about The Irvine Apartment Company and the "apartment community" trend, an article about coordination errors and one about us....sorry, we had to get one in for the team. If you would like to receive our newsletter, send your mailing address to sub@beaglereview.com.

Spring Cleaning: We cleaned out the office and recycled about a ton of construction drawings, well maybe not a ton, but it sure seemed like a ton. We have been so busy that drawings were beginning to pile up under tables and in corners, but now our office is clean and has plenty of room for more drawings, so send us some!

Charity: Natalie has helped raise over $250 online for MDA, which she is very pleased about, we didn't know she would make that much....there is still time to donate, so please hurry and donate before MDA shuts down her donation link. In addition, we donated a lot of stuff (that we cleaned out during our spring cleaning) to a local non-profit art foundation for a rummage sale, we also worked a booth there, it was great fun.

In the Works: We are working on our "free evaluation" program, so stay tuned for more information about that, or go ahead and email Natalie, if you just can't wait, at natalie@nigrofirm.com.

Of course, on top of all of the above, we also REVIEW CONSTRUCTION DRAWING.

Thanks for reading our blog, keep in touch, we have many exciting and fun things coming soon.

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

The Nigro Firm Demystified: Why We Do What We Do

2008-05-01T22:41:00.001-06:00

What Makes the Nigro Firm Tick?

We perform construction document coordination reviews, which may sound complicated, and it is, but it is worth it. We honesty get fulfillment from what we do and believe a good review can be a powerful tool for maintaining good relationships and preserving resources.

A typical day of work, when a project is busily being reviewed for coordination errors, is a good day! Having the opportunity to really help this world be a better place is tremendously rewarding. Knowing that we can help prevent the waste of time, money, energy and materials, while preserving valued relationships and providing peace of mind, is the best reward for our work that we can imagine! It makes it fun to get up in the morning and leap into work! We have enjoyed 17 years of these types of good days!

Most people who use our services (construction document coordination reviews) hear about us by word of mouth from an associate, friend, boss, etc. And this is one of the best ways to find folks to work with. However, word of mouth can be a slow form of communication and since we believe in the value of our service so much, we have been trying to think of ways to spread the word faster and to more people. So, the Nigro Firm hosts three distinct web sites, authors a blog, and mails out a bi-monthly newsletter to try to help people understand what we do, who we are, and why we do what we do. Please tell everyone you know about the work we do, so together we can change how construction documents are presented, and together we can reduce tremendous waste and build smarter.

Our cohesive review team works hard to meet the challenges of performing coordination reviews. We are motivated by creativity, opportunity, and progress… and we work with integrity, enthusiasm, efficiency, insight and perspective. Our goal is to enrich and improve ourselves, our clients, and our world through the pursuit of excellence!

Integrity

Passion

Knowledge

We really believe this stuff… it’s not just lip service. Find out for yourself. Give the Nigro Firm a call. Try us out, send us a sample project, we will look over it for free, just so you can get an idea of how valuable a coordination review can be.

Featured Construction Projects: Irvine Apartment Company, North Park

2008-05-01T01:02:00.000-06:00

Small Town Meets Big City, Planned Urban Villages

Cozy villages with a quick commute? Yes, trendy villages and apartment communities are sprouting up in many choice California locations to provide residents get-to-know-you type intimate communities with convenient access to everything “the big city” has to offer.

The Irvine Apartment Company has been providing California residences with high quality apartment communities for many years and make certain they work with the best from the construction drawings to the last brick laid around the community fire place.

The Irvine Apartment Company Ensures a Quick Build Time

The Irvine Apartment Company knows what Silicon Valley renters want in apartment community living — high quality, high-tech living at just the right price. The Nigro Firm commends the Irvine Apartment Company for choosing to commission a construction document coordination review for many of its’ projects including various North Park projects (The Laurels, The Redwoods and the Sycamores) and more recently two buildings at The Park at Spectrum.

A High-Tech Village with Coffee!

North Park in San Jose has everything Silicon Valley residents could want, including a five acre park and a Starbucks! Of course, since North Park is in the Silicon Valley, they also include the technology that residents demand such as high-speed internet, in-home alarm systems, internet cafes, multi-media conference rooms, Wi-Fi access in community spaces and cardio theatres.

Village and Urban Community Trend

Communities like North Park are becoming increasing popular with renters and buyers, since they offer a close community or village type atmosphere, which is generally almost impossible to find in a large city. They offer more than a subdivision; they are more like an autonomous community that may include amenities like community gardens, daycares, gyms, retail shops, dry cleaners, markets, sports clubs and even wine tasting. Apartment communities like The Village at Irvine Spectrum Center also include abundant community space where residents can get together and get to know each other, like pools and wading areas, BBQ pits and grills, demonstration kitchens, banquet facilities, yoga and dance studios, and media rooms with big screens and surround sound.

Most new villages also offer a variety of housing choices from small one bedroom units to “estate homes,” which may include up to three bedrooms and a family room. This range of home choices supports a diverse community, from seniors to singles to families, much like a “real” village.

It Takes a Village

Not only does it take a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to raise a high-quality apartment community. A design/construction village of forward thinking architects, motivated developers, top notch builders, and construction document reviewers like the Nigro Firm to help provide the most clean and buildable drawings possible.

To learn more about the Irvine Apartment Company, click here.

Explore North Park Apartment Village in Silicon Valley, click here.

Discover The Village at Irvine Spectrum Center, click here.

To see more projects that the Nigro Firm has reviewed, click here.

Impact of a Construction Drawing Coordination Error

2008-05-01T00:50:00.000-06:00

An ounce of coordination error prevention is worth a ton of the cure.

One coordination error, two or three… that would be walk in the park…we usually find hundreds…Here is the story of one, a particularly troublesome one.

As you know, construction drawing coordination errors, whether seemingly minute, manageable or indefinably gigantic, can have quite an impact on your life. If errors are not caught on paper before ground breaking and material delivery, you may notice a few things: costs skyrocket, delays paralyze your crew, tensions rise, inboxes overflow, tempers flare, your cell phone rings every five seconds, and you just might begin to forget what your family looks like.

Maybe you have already been there, but if not, an example may help explain how this can happen.

Recently, we found an alarming coordination error that involved a large number of doors and windows that would not fit into the openings designed for them! Luckily, we found this chaos inducing error on paper - imagine the mess it would create if it were not discovered until the windows and doors were delivered and the exterior walls were built.

As you know, material procurement for commercial projects is not as simple as waltzing down to your local Home Depot… and if the size is wrong you cannot return to the store for an easy exchange. In many cases, the doors and windows are custom made and finished (wood/metal types, glazing types, etc.) and cannot be returned. To make matters worse, the days, weeks, or even months for costly replacement doors and windows to be built and delivered can cause some real problems… you can’t secure the building easily without doors and windows, right?

Or even worse… what if the openings have to be reframed? Sometimes you cannot change the size of the doors or windows due to egress codes or other requirements. Reframing can be a major (and expensive) hassle and may involve a ton of rework that most people would be willing to give their right arm to avoid. And remember, we are not talking about a few windows — we are talking about hundreds!

To top it all off, this rework and/or re-ordering is done at “non-competitive,” “non-bulk,” “non-discount” rates. Regrettably, it can become quite painful. Needless to say, we were happy to be able to help those involved with this project steer clear of this potential fiasco.

How do you avoid this predicament?

Has something like this ever happened to you? Well… don’t let it happen again! To avoid these potential nightmares and gain peace of mind, a simple coordination review by the Nigro Firm is the perfect solution.

For other examples of coordination errors click here.

Constructability review, design coordination and other confusing terms defined

2008-04-29T02:23:00.003-06:00

Constructibility review, design coordination, interdisciplinary coordination...there are many terms...likely you have come across a few...but what do they mean?

When we started doing a bit of research to try to help our potential clients understand what we do (construction document coordination reviews), we found many similiar terms on the web, each with several common usages.

We would love to save you the hassle of trying to decipher these terms on your own. So, on our corporate website we have posted the definitions, alternate terms, references and relate whether we perform those types of reviews or not. Currently, when it comes to these terms, we are the most comprehensive resource you will find on the web.

Please, if you have ever been confused by these terms, check out these pages.

Construction Document Coordination Review

Constructibility Review

Design Coordination Review

Interdisciplinary Coordination Review

RediCheck Review

Construction Document Review

Construction Document Cross Check

Compassion in the Workplace: MDA Update

2008-04-17T22:43:00.007-06:00

You still have time to donate.

As of today, Natalie has raised $205 for MDA, that is enough to pay for one clinical diagnostic exam. With your help she can assist many more children. You can donate, through Natalie's MDA donation page until May 16th, but don't wait that long, donate today.

Natalie Nigro's Donation Page

So far, these awesome friends have helped out:

Want to learn more?
See, Compassion in the Workplace: Help Natalie raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)

New Yankee Stadium: Interesting reason for a construction delay...

2008-04-14T15:12:00.005-06:00

The Funniest (yet serious to Yankee fans) Reason for a Construction Delay

Curse the Yankees? Well, one Boston Red Sox fan, who happened to be working on the New Yankee Stadium, tried. He hid a Red Sox jersey inside the new construction of the New Yankee Stadium. The Yankees got wind of his sneaky little trick and commissioned construction workers to spend five hours jackhammering through 2 feet of concrete to dig it out Sunday.

That has to be the funniest, yet serious reason I have ever heard for a construction delay.

See the whole story here, Yahoo Sports.

See Pics here:

The jersey, #34, held up by project executive, Frank Gramarossa #1,
Pic #2 with Frank Gramarossa
Construction workers digging the jersey out
Jersey in its discovered location

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

We are always looking for construction humor, Do you have some funny stuff to share?

2008-04-11T18:43:00.006-06:00

As many of you know, the Nigro Firm, Inc publishes a construction humor site, Blueprint Bluepers.

And we are always looking for and enjoy funny construction stories. If you have some funny stories to tell or some artwork to share, SEND IT TO US, we would love to see it and perhaps publish it on the site. We are particularly interested in humor that relates to the actual construction drawings or related specs.

If you are interested, please check out our Contribution Guidelines.

Partner Relations: We are all in this together

2008-04-09T19:43:00.007-06:00

Often we work with other companies who do the same type of work we do (i.e., our “partners”). In our business, the work can come in waves. Some waves are small and fast... several small projects all at once. Other times, waves are huge, or one very large project. Working as a subcontractor is no stranger to us.

Some of the companies are pretty small, even a one man business. From time to time, stuff happens and a little help is needed. We were privileged to help out one of our partners recently when a medical issue occurred. A seemingly small issue like this, is a huge issue for a one man operation. We have worked with this particular office on many projects and had established a wonderful win-win working relationship. We have trust, respect, and admiration for one another.

Things were pretty hectic, it was over the Christmas/New Year’s holiday, and we had 4 or 5 jobs in house and one was a biggie. One of the projects we were sharing with our partner and we had five parts of the project and he had three. Unfortunately, he had to have an emergency surgery and was laid up when he was supposed to be working on his three parts of the project. Needless to say, he couldn't work. It looked highly likely that the project would be in jeopardy of being finished late if some relief was not found.

One of our worst nightmares is having a project going past a due date… and we knew our partner felt the same. Our team huddled around, we checked out our present work schedule and it looked bleak, we were committed to the max. After much soul-searching, problem-solving, and much checking and rearranging of our personal commitments during the holidays, we found time to help. So, we called him up and offered our assistance... and he happily accepted.

The added work really taxed our team, but it was sooo worth it. The sense of accomplishment and “feel goods” we got for helping a fellow partner were just wonderful. After all, isn't that what partners are for?

What did we learn from this experience?

That you have to be proactive. Some people will not ask for help or do not like to ask for help, so it may be up to you to offer your help when you see they have a need. And likely your offer of help will be extremely welcome.

You need to be aware of what is going on with your partners. If you stay in good communication and listen to your partners, you are more able to access their needs.

You need to consult with your team. If you are thinking about taking on more work, when your team is already taxed, you should consult with your team to see if they have time to help and are willing to help, because ultimately the burden will be theirs. In addition, your team will be more likely to support a decision they helped make.

Author: Shirley Nigro and Pamela S. Stevens

Business Networking: Wonderful things can come in unusual ways

2008-04-06T19:26:00.009-06:00

Wonderful things sometimes come in unusual ways. Last week Natalie and I had lunch with a good friend of ours, Angelina Feichko, a real estate agent who heads a fantastic team. In fact, the name of her group is called Sold by an Angel, and that is what they all are - angels. While shooting the breeze, we realized it had been 2 1/2 years since our last time together. We were in disbelief at how long it had been. To us it was just like a couple of months. We decided the time flew by because we were all so engrossed in our business. Consumed would be more like the word, working on new ideas, growth, marketing, and the daily requirements of running a company.

While eating, talking, laughing and catching up, Angelina mentioned that she knew someone we should meet. This person was involved with a business consulting company. Being open to new ideas and with Angelina's enthusiasm about the folks who owned it, we said she could have them give us a call.

Sure enough we received a call from a very upbeat, pleasant gentleman. This was the beginning of the "wonderful thing" I mentioned earlier. Their approach to introducing their business and what they do was wonderful. Simply put, they let you experience and learn about the process of doing business with them while they learn how to help you - with no financial obligation. The skeptic in me wondered - how do they make money? The answer was something like...by letting us know who they are and how they can help, and letting us see and use the benefits may result in several things. Essentially, either A) We like their services and use them or B) We don't use their services, but by understanding what they do, we may refer a friend, who could benefit from their services.

We were impressed with their ideas because we believe our company may benefit from a similar approach, since our services are unique and not very well known in the construction industry. We have worked hard to present materials on our web sites to introduce what we do, how we do it, and who we are. Our next step will be to develop a program to allow potential clients to experience us and our work first hand with little risk. Then if they like what we do and who we are, we can move forward and provide them our full services, or if they find that they may not benefit from our work, they likely know someone who can and may send us a referral.

We are currently working on our new "get to know us" program, as soon as we have it fully developed, we will let you know by posting on this blog and through some of our direct mail programs. If you would like to be added to our direct mail list or to our email list, send us an email at subscribe@nigrofirm.com.

Thanks, we look forward to hearing from you.

Author: Shirley Nigro

Construction News: 2008 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Winner, Jean Nouvel

2008-03-31T13:55:00.010-06:00

Jean Nouvel of France
Becomes the 2008
Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate

The Frenchman who said he became an architect "by mistake," Jean Nouvel, will be awarded the coveted Pritzker Prize on June 2, 2008 in Washington DC at the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.

In a statement released yesterday he said, "My interest has always been in an architecture which reflects the modernity of our epoch as opposed to the rethinking of historical references."

Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, which created the prize said "The jury acknowledged the 'persistence, imagination, exuberance, and, above all, an insatiable urge for creative experimentation' as qualities abundant in Nouvel's work." The Pritzker jury also related in their citation that “For over 30 years Jean Nouvel has pushed architecture’s discourse and praxis to new limits. His inquisitive and agile mind propels him to take risks in each of his projects, which, regardless of varying degrees of success, have greatly expanded the vocabulary of contemporary architecture.”

This is a great achievement for a man that wanted to be an artist but chose architecture to appease his parents. Today Nouvel's designs can be enjoyed across the planet from the Lyon Opera House in France to the Saitama Arena in Japan to Doha High Rise Office Building in Qatar.

Quotes from Nouvel
"For me, every building is an adventure, every project is an adventure. I research every project. I talk to a lot of people. Every building has a relationship to the climate, to the wind, to the colors of the buildings around it. I arrive at a concept with all the parameters in place. When I have all of these constraints, I begin. Without constraints, architecture does not exist. You are a sculptor."

"When you go around the world, you see all the same buildings, and you feel like you're in the same place. I fight all the time for the specificity of architecture. I fight against global architecture."

"I feel like every site has a right to have an architectural aesthetic. Architects today try to create a little world, a petit monde, a micro monde. It's important to try to create a building in its context."

"Cinema was very important in architecture because it established a new relationship between the time and the images. You compose a building a little bit like you make a movie . . . the relationship between the color and the shadows and the view of the city."

"My work deals with what is happening now -- our techniques and materials, what we are capable of doing today."

“Every time I try to find what I call the missing piece of the puzzle, the right building in the right place.”

“The wind, the color of the sky, the trees around — the building is not done only to be the most beautiful. It’s done to give advantage to the surroundings. It’s a dialogue.”

About the Award: From the Pritzker Architecture Web Site
"The purpose of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture."

Interesting Clip about the Kuwait City Center

Previous Laureates (1997-2007)
2007: Richard Rodgers, United Kingdom
2006: Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Brazil
2005: Thom Mayne, United States
2004: Zaha Hadid, United Kingdom
2003: Jørn Utzon, Denmark
2002: Glenn Murcutt, Australia
2001: Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Switzerland
2000: Rem Koolhaas, Netherlands
1999: Sir Norman Foster (Lord Foster), United Kingdom
1998: Renzo Piano, Italy
1997: Sverre Fehn, Norway
To see complete list, click here.

Resources
Media Kit from the Pritzker Architecture Web Site
Photo Kit from the Pritzker Architecture Web Site
Jean Nouvell- Ateliers Project List
Jean Nouvell Web Site

Photo Credits
Medal: Image retrieved from media kit
Jean Nouvel: Photo by Gaston Bergeret, Courtesy Ateliers Jean Nouvel
Philharmonic Hall, Paris, France: Photo by Gaston & Septet
Nemausus 1, Nimes France: Photo by Deidi Von Schaewen
Abu Dhabi Louvre Museum: Courtesy Ateliers Jean Nouvel

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

Compassion in the Workplace: Help Natalie raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)

2008-03-29T21:18:00.011-06:00

Natalie Nigro will be "Arrested" by the MDA for Being Guilty of
"Having a Big Heart"

PLEASE DONATE: (It's easy) CLICK HERE

Please Read: Letter from the President of the Nigro Firm, Inc.

Dear Everyone,

This year, I have the honor and pleasure of participating in MDA's Ogden Lock Up 2008 to help "Jerry's Kids®". To reach my goal I need your help!

I'd like to include you or your company name on my list of contributors who help me reach my goal. Your donation can help MDA continue the important fight against muscular dystrophy. Check out my MDA donation web page by clicking on the link above. There you'll find all kinds of information about MDA, and be able to make your tax-deductible donation online using your credit card.

MDA serves people with neuromuscular diseases by providing clinics, support groups, assistance with the purchase and repair of wheelchairs, braces and communication devices, and summer camp for kids. MDA also funds research grants to help find treatments and cures for some 43 neuromuscular diseases that affect people of all ages, in your community.

I sincerely hope that you'll take the opportunity to support MDA. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or email me.

On behalf of the families MDA serves, thank you!

Warmest Regards,

Natalie Nigro

Learn more about the MDA and Muscular Dystrophy

Natalie Nigro's Donation Page

MDA Official Web Site

MDA National Events, Programs and Volunteer Opportunities (Including information on the Lock-up fund raising event)

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Information on Muscular Dystrophy and links to Muscular Dystrophy organizations)

MayoClinic.com: Information on Muscular Dystrophy

KidsHealth.org: Muscular Dystrophy

Author: Natalie Nigro and Pamela S. Stevens

Construction News: Crane collapses in Miami, kills 2 injures 5

2008-03-26T20:41:00.014-06:00

We at the Nigro Firm offer our condolences to the families of the recent crane accident victims, two people in Miami on March 25 and seven in NY on March 16.

These accidents have prompted many states and municipalities to reevaluate their policies in regards to crane inspection and regulation and crane operator licensing.

Miami
Two people were killed and five were injured when a crane collapsed into a building used as a construction office next to a high rise condominium project located on Biscayne Bay.

Senior vice president for Bovis Lend Lease Holdings Inc., Mary Costello, said "the accident occurred when a subcontractor tried to raise the crane section and it came loose." The subcontractor is Morrow Equipment Co., and the tower developer is Royal Palms Communities. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent two investigators to the site.

New York
March 16th, a 20-story crane fell at a New York City construction site killing seven people and injuring 24. This Tuesday, New York City ordered numerous improvements in regards to the inspection of and regulation of tower cranes. See this New York Times article published today,
City Tightens Its Regulation and Inspection of Cranes.

This accident apparently occurred when nylon strapping used to help in "jumping" the crane broke loose. "Jumping" is a process used to add length to the crane.

Miami: AP Video Released Tuesday March 25, 2008, comments on crane operating safety and lack of adequate operator certification and training

Miami: CNN Video Released Tuesday March 25, 2008, aired yesterday during rescue efforts

New York: 2 News Video, live coverage right after the accident

New York: CNN News Video released soon after the accident

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

High-Profile Construction Projects: The New Yankee Stadium

2008-03-25T20:22:00.012-06:00

Everyone is excited about this project. Just Google "the new Yankee stadium" and you will find numerous pics and fan buzz. Since we review these type of construction drawings, we understand how complicated this project is - imagine building a stadium that will seat 53,000 fans!

Here is the basic rundown:

The New Yankee Stadium, to be located across the street from the current Yankee Stadium, will seat 53,000 fans and is quickly accumulating in build costs and related expenses to well over a billion dollars. HOK Sport’s design team was chosen to design the new stadium; HOK Sport has been involved with 24 Major League Baseball franchises and numerous other sports related organizations.

The new stadium will retire the over 80 year old Yankee Stadium (the “House that Ruth Built" ),and will feature 60 luxury suites, numerous restaurants, large concourses, retail space and unlike many older stadiums, will be accessible to all fans.

The new stadium will include many aspects of the current stadium including the same field dimensions, tall cathedral windows, auxiliary outfield scoreboards, a right-field Yankee bullpen and Monument Park will be transferred to the new park. Four new parking garages are also planned to be added to accommodate around 10,000 vehicles.

Ground was broken on August 16, 2006, exactly 58 years after the death of Babe Ruth. The stadium is expected to be ready for the 2009 season.

The New Yankee Stadium: Sites of Interest

MLB Official Website: The New Yankee Stadium

Ballparks.com: New Yankee Stadium

Ballparks of Baseball: Yankee Stadium

Sliding into Home blog: See numerous construction pics

Watch "Inside the Yankee Stadium"

Our Yankee Pics were so popular that we had to host them elsewhere. If would like to see our New Yankee Stadium renderings or construction pics, see them here:

Construction Pic 1
Construction Pic 2
Construction Pic 3
Artist Rendering 1
Artist Rendering 2

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

Blueprint Bluepers Construction Cartoons: New cartoon, the home team advantage

2008-03-25T19:56:00.005-06:00

As many of you know, the Nigro Firm publishes a construction humor site called Blueprint Bluepers. We have posted two new original cartoons recently - The Home Team Advantage and The Dead End Exit.

These two cartoons were created by artist Chaise Payan and were inspired from errors actually found on construction drawings. We love the creative process and often publish preliminary sketches that our artist roughs out before he creates the final version, check out the sketch for The Home Team Advantage.

Please visit Blueprint Blueper's construction cartoon page and share our cartoons with your friends.

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

What does the Nigro Firm do?

2008-03-18T21:00:00.014-06:00

For some companies this question is easy to answer, "we sell luxury cars," "we manufacture and distribute plastic products" or "we are event planners." But our elevator speech is not so simple. Technically, we "are third-party reviewers who perform construction drawing coordination reviews," whew... that is a mouthful and not exactly self-explanatory!

To simplify, we proofread construction drawings and specs, focusing on looking for coordination errors, omissions, and discrepancies. This is a tough service to market because, A) Most people don't know what to call our service, or B) They don't even know such a service exists.

In the construction industry, you may hear our type of review service called a variety of terms such as:

Interdisciplinary Coordination Reviews
Constructability Reviews
Construction Document Reviews
Construction Plan Reviews
Buildability Reviews
Design Coordination Reviews
Redicheck Reviews
Third-Party Construction Document Reviews

You can easily see how people may get confused about what we do and how marketing our service can be difficult. So we market in a variety of ways, covering a broad spectrum from construction humor to this blog to direct mailers to partnership invitations to a Google campaign, on top of our corporate site. These are the marketing avenues that we use to educate our potential clients and parters about our product and corporate philosophies.

What kind of projects does the Nigro Firm review?
Generally, we review high-profile commercial and government projects, some projects so high profile that we can't even tell you about them. A typical project might be something like a new high school, a hospital expansion project or a new museum. To read more about our projects see, Building Types Reviewed and our Abbreviated Project List.

Who is the Nigro Firm?
The Nigro Firm is headed by Natalie Nigro, who has over 17 years of review experience and was trained by her father William T. Nigro, the originator of the RediCheck system, who currently owns The RediCheck Firm, LLC. The Nigro Firm's reviewers consist of highly trained subcontractors with years of construction related experience. Everyone involved with the Nigro Firm, with the exception of Natalie and Shirley Nigro, are self-employed subs who partner with the Nigro Firm, this includes everyone from the cartoonist to the reviewers to the content writer. This arrangement has worked very well for us and we often write about it in this blog. For example, see Employee Relations: Working with the entire human, emotions and all.

Want to learn more? Please see:
Nigro Firm Services
Examples of Possible Custom Reviews
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Nigro Firm

Thanks for reading. Please check out our sites and share our construction cartoons with your friends.

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

Healthy Workplace: Cooperative Food Buying and Preparation

2008-03-17T18:45:00.004-06:00

What are the reasons people give for not eating healthy? Usually you will hear things like "I don't have the time to cook," "I don't have the time to shop," or " I can't eat fresh vegetables before they go bad." Sound familiar?

We here at the Nigro Firm understand very well the impact that working long hours, eating fast food and stress can have on our health. Sometimes when we are busy with project after project and we can't seem to think of anything besides construction drawings, we feel the ill effects in our bodies. So we have tried to find ways to eat healthier while at the same time decreasing the burden of purchasing and preparing food.

There are several ways that we have learned to decrease the time involved in shopping and preparation, so we can spend more time working or simply enjoying our life. We have tried many things, but here are a few that have worked for us, that may work for your company as well: cooperative organic food buying, shared bulk shopping and cooperative preparation.

Cooperative Organic Food Buying: In the area we live in Utah there is a community supported organic farm called Borski Farms, they offer fresh, organic produce on a pre-purchase basis for 15 weeks of the growing season. However, in the past when we were busy at the office it was difficult finding the time to pick up our produce. So we have begun to purchase our shares as a group and share the burden of driving. So instead of having to pick up once a week, we take turns and each party only has to pick up once a month. So we can enjoy organic, local produce with a quarter of the driving!

Shared Bulk Shopping: We all know that visits to Costco or Sam's Club are rarely quick visits and even more rarely convenient. The parking lots are huge, the stores are enormous and the size of product is often unusable! Can one family really eat their big bag of green beans or broccoli before they go bad? So sometimes we combine our efforts and group buy. For example, we will split the bag of green beans and we have discovered that we can enjoy more variety this way and can generally eat the food before it goes bad or we get tired of it. Other times we will just call one another and say, "Hey, I am making a trip to Costco, need anything?" This saves the gas and energy of everyone involved and it just makes sense.

Cooperative Preparation: As mentioned in previous posts, we have a fully functional kitchen at the Nigro Firm office. So from time to time, a group of us will get together and do a huge batch of cooking. For example, we might cook several rice cookers of rice, some beans or a variety of sauces for freezing. So later we can put together quick healthy meals with half of the work already done ahead of time. Or this last summer we acquired lots of apples and spent a few days canning and drying them for tasty winter treats.

Cooking at work may sound a bit unusual, but not if you knew the owners of the Nigro Firm. Natalie and Shirley Nigro are avid healthy eating enthusiasts and have co-authored the Companion Guide to Healthy Cooking: A Practical Introduction to Natural Ingredients, which you still may find on Amazon. Through the years they have learned a lot about whole food cooking, vegan and vegetarian cooking, and food preservation. They love to share their knowledge and skills. So for us, using healthy eating to lower corporate stress just seems natural.

Author: Pamela S. Stevens

Check out this video for preparing tasty asparagus: