Roof rakes can lessen the dangers of a snowy winter | AGC: Growth in construction pay tops private average | Dodge: Dim outlook for commercial construction starts
Heavy snow in many areas of the US is bringing roofing problems to the forefront, experts say. One solution is to employ a roof rake, which can be up to 24 feet long and helps solve the problem of ice damming, which can tear off gutters and loosen shingles.
The average wage of $33.15 an hour for nonsupervisory construction workers in December was up 6.1% from a year before, topping the 5% average gain for workers in the private sector, according to analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Meanwhile, the construction jobless rate fell to 4.4% from 5% in December 2021, and the number of unemployed construction workers eased to 443,000, a record low for the month, AGC said.
Commercial construction starts are projected to decline by an inflation-adjusted 13% this year, according to Dodge Construction Network. The outlook isn't entirely bleak, with manufacturing facilities expected to see gains even as retail, traditional offices and hotel projects fall off, according to Richard Branch, chief economist at Dodge Construction Network.
A computer hacking scheme cost a Florida homeowner an $1,800 deposit she thought she had paid to a roofing company through the payment system Zelle. Turns out, the crooks had broken into the contractor's email system and were able to redirect the payment.
Traditional Chinese architecture was the inspiration for the curved concrete roof at the Zibo OCT Art Centre in a semi-rural area in the Shandong province. The wave-like roofs were poured at the site from textured concrete designed to put "techtonic expressiveness" in the project, according to architectural firm Studio Zhu-Pei.
Construction needs to embrace technology and move past the clipboard era, befitting its status as a heavyweight industry, writes Yoav Kutner, CEO of e-commerce platform provider Oro. "It's time to embrace digital transformation to build the flexible, dynamic, and resilient business processes that we need to meet the challenges of the post-pandemic world," Kutner writes, pointing to consumer technology as an example.
Peninsula Clean Energy, which sells electricity to an area south of San Francisco, has released an analysis that claims power from green sources can meet around-the-clock demand 99% of the time -- at competitive rates. The computer model found that needs could be filled with a mixture of small hydroelectric generators, geothermal, solar and wind along with storage technologies.
Minimum wage and pay transparency laws at the state level, as well as a federal proposal on classification of gig workers, will join small-business owners' lists of things to tackle in 2023, experts say. In addition, small-business advisers recommend broader supply networks and more substantial employee training to counter continued risks from inflation, hiring and recession.
Set to launch during the 2023 International Roofing Expo in March, the online publication will deliver content crafted for the unique business needs of roofing supply professionals.
