Electical Contractor

You may already work with building information modeling (BIM). Perhaps you’ve built a team proficient in this technology or hope to in the near future. At the very least, you suspect one day a project will come your way that will require BIM.

With their vast capabilities, emerging building information modeling (BIM) technologies continue to challenge and transform the construction industry.

By Oct. 18, 2013, all states in the United States must put in place a commercial building energy code at least as stringent as the ASHRAE/IES 90.1 2010 energy standard, according to a Department of Energy (DOE) ruling on Oct. 19, 2011.

Integrated project delivery (IPD) is defined by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in its 2007 “Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide” as a “project delivery approach that integrates people, systems, business structures and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents

(Editor's Note: This article is a follow-up to Joe Kelly's full profile report in the July issue.

The design/build approach to construction management has been hailed as a boon to both owners and contractors and a big improvement over standard design/bid/build arrangements.

Whether they like it or not, electrical contractors are becoming more involved in the completion of design plans and the specification of products than ever before. And this is not just a disciplinary exercise of assuming greater engineering responsibility.

I touched on the design/build work two years ago. I reviewed what I wrote, so I wouldn’t repeat myself (my editors hate that). What I said two years ago is relevant to what I’m about to discuss now. So after reading this column, read my June 2006 column, “Estimating Blind.” In the beginning …

Before any building is built, influential owners, architects, and general and electrical contractors decide not just who will build it, but who will design it and how it will be constructed. Every contractor knows significant planning and design work lay the foundation for a successful project.