Build America Podcast

Ep 237 Parkinson's Law - Hoping to Quantify Pacing –The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 237 Parkinson's Law - Hoping to Quantify Pacing – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast,” where Scott Jennings talks about Parkinson’s Law and its relation, or not, to claim offense or defense. The adage known as Parkinson's Law states that "...work expands so as to fill the time avai...

Ep 236 The Preparatory Meeting: Priceless –The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 236 The Preparatory Meeting: Priceless – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast,” where Scott Jennings talks about Preparatory Meetings. The foundation of your house, so the saying goes, is most crucial component of the dwelling. It's because your entire house depends on it. In this episode, Sc...

Ep 235 Legal Jargon and Process 101 –The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 235 Legal Jargon and Process 101 – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast,” where Scott Jennings talks about legal jargon and the legal process. Many construction professionals, including engineers, contractors, and agency representatives, frequently work within the legal system. Understanding legal...

Ep 234 Bonds and Bonding Capacity 101 –The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 234 Bonds and Bonding Capacity 101– With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast,” where Scott Jennings talks about bonds and bonding capacity. In this episode, you will learn what a bond is and what it takes to get one if you’re a contractor, and what it means to call one if you’re an owner!  In ad...

–The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 233 Construction is Broken - Give me the Onsite EOR – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast,” where Scott Jennings talks about the alignment of owner wishes with contractor support. This episode explains why it’s so important that owners align their schedules and budgets with the support they give to a contractor in quality of documen...

–The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 232 The Importance of As-Builts – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast,” where Scott Jennings talks about the importance of As-builts and their purpose. As-builts can be produced via PDF software, AutoCAD, or even paper and a set of colored pencils.  Additionally, Scott discusses why As-builts are essential and why they should b...

–The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 231 University Cooperative Education – the Real Deal! – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about the importance of University Cooperative Education as it is relates to a candidate’s increase in value to an employer and their ability as a new hire to hit the ground running on day one! This graduation requ...

–The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 230 Water in the Hole! What’s it Mean? – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about the importance of understanding what water behavior in an excavation tells you about site conditions.  There is good water, and there is bad water.  Bad water is pretty much any water in your house - it causes deg...

–The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 229 Smartsheet™  - A Contractor's Dream – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about Smartsheet™. Scott discusses in this podcast how Smartsheet™'s great features make it a valuable tool for any kind of business, certainly construction! This cloud-based software’s platform can scale from a single proj...

Ep 228 Pipe Encasement Flotation – Archimedes was the Man! –The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 228 Pipe Encasement Flotation – Archimedes was the Man! – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about “Pipe Encasement Flotation” – In this podcast, Scott explains the relation of buoyancy to construction and how easy it is to calculate the buoyancy...

–The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 227 Owners Loosen Up Your Grip! – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about “Owners Loosen Up Your Grip!” – In this podcast, Scott discusses how can a contract be fair to both parties by managing risks on both sides, the owner's side and the contractor's side. In this episode, the importance of keeping a...

Ep 226 Reading Rebar Drawings 101 –The Pipeline Podcast – Ep 226 Reading Rebar Drawings 101 – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about “Reading Rebar Drawings 101” – What does rebar actually stand for? Well, it’s a shortened term for reinforcing bar. In the podcast, Scott discusses the importance of being able to read rebar drawin...

–The Pipeline Podcast Ep 225 – Great Ways To Die – With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about  safety hazard and risk assessment as it is important to be reminded because after all, you can’t protect your workers against hazards you are unaware of and unprepared for. Scott shared some scenarios and a couple of his experiences t...

–The Pipeline Podcast: Episode 224 - Don’t Get Your P.E. License - A Ridiculous Statement With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about “Don’t Get Your P.E. License”. PE. Its two letters and you see them on the back of people's names on business cards; they stand for a professional engineer, also known as a licensed engineer. And that...

–The Pipeline Podcast: Episode 223– I wrote A Children’s Book Because I Could– With Scott Jennings Listen to this latest episode of “The Pipeline Podcast” where Scott Jennings talks about him writing his very own children’s book called “No More Potholes, Let’s Mill and Fill”. His objective is to get kids interested on what he does and nothing better than doing it by reading them a book at night. W...

Operating without a contractor’s license can be anywhere from inconvenient to illegal.  Hear here why you should consider obtaining a license. http://sjcivil.net/news/why-to-get-a-contractors-license/

Building a business is ultimately about dollars and cents. You’ve got to not lose money to stay in business. Here’s some advice for those in business or thinking about going into business. Spend less. http://sjcivil.net/news/no-taj-garage/

Gantt charts have long been the established norm for construction scheduling. Linear scheduling is not nearly as common, especially in America, but can be a great tool. http://sjcivil.net/news/linear-scheduling-effective-with-a-bend-of-your-mind/

The effects on a Project by an Owner who untimely, in a “last minute” manner, postpones a bid are significant – here’s how. http://sjcivil.net/news/a-kick-in-the-well-you-know-last-minute-bid-postponement/

Construction claims are generated using many tools and many different methodologies. Listen here to learn some of the basic to intermediate approaches. http://sjcivil.net/podcast/claims-tools-methodologies/

Knowing how to read a concrete mix design is helpful for the project management team: from project manager to foreman. Here are some basics. http://sjcivil.net/engineering/cake-batter-and-concrete-mix-design-same-thing/

Being the best employee does require having traits which benefit your company, but one trait more than any other will help you as an employee benefit yourself and your own career. It’s called being coachable. http://sjcivil.net/management/help-yourself-be-the-most-coachable-player/

In construction, or after the fact in the permanent structure, engineers are predicting structural behavior and trying to either control a failure or minimize it. Herein are ways engineers engineer failure in both instances – via deflection. http://sjcivil.net/news/ways-that-engineers-manage-failure-deflection/

Basically, from the dictionary, a bridge carries a road across an obstacle. On top it could be a railway, or it could be a walking path, or it could be a vehicle roadway. And down below it could be going over a river or it could be a ravine, or it could be another road. Everyone knows what a bridge is; however, not everyone knows the names of the components of a bridge. http://sjcivil.net/news/bri...

Loss of productivity claims for contractors are common, and always difficult to be successful with against an owner. ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), primarily an Owner’s advocate, has provided contractors with another tool for their toolbox: ASCE Standard 71-21 Identifying, Quantifying, and Proving Loss of Productivity. It was published in 2021. http://sjcivil.net/news/another-contract...