Top Growing Occupations and Provinces for the Construction Industry

Growth in construction sector is a good indicator of a strengthening economy Supplied by CareerBuilder Canada and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. Canada's construction industry has seen steady growth over the last several years, and new data suggests the expansion will continue throughout 2014. According to CareerBuilder Canada and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI), employment in the construction industry has grown by 12 per cent from 2011 to 2014, adding over 102,000 jobs, outpacing four per cent growth for all jobs. “The construction industry is often a reliable indicator of an economy's strength, and right now we're seeing very encouraging growth,” said Mark Bania, director at CareerBuilder Canada. “Not only has the construction industry added a wide variety of occupations over the past few years, but this growth has stretched across the entire country.” In order to help workers determine where the opportunities lie within this growing industry, CareerBuilder and EMSI put together a list of the fastest-growing construction occupations. Among occupations that are expected to see the greatest percentage increases in 2014 are: 1) Administrative officers - Oversee and implement administrative procedures, establish work priorities and co-ordinate the acquisition of administrative services such as office space, supplies and security services.· Change in construction employment (2013-2014) - 5.1 per cent · Median hourly earnings - $21.63 2) Contractors and supervisors, heavy construction equipment crews - Includes excavating, grading, paving, drilling and blasting contractors who own and operate their own business and contractors who supervise crane operators, drillers and blasters, heavy equipment operators, longshore workers, material handlers, public works maintenance equipment operators, railway track maintenance workers and water well drillers.· Change in construction employment (2013-2014) - 4.4 per cent · Median hourly earnings - $29.85

Meet a Piling Professional

Tony Evangelista, Northstar Describe your current job. Tony Evangelista: My primary role is the senior manager - business development at Northstar; however, I'm also heavily involved with estimating projects and working with our project managers and construction teams in the execution of awarded jobs. What are your areas of responsibility? TE: Primarily and from a global perspective it would be client relations, and helping to develop Northstar as a business. On a day-to-day basis, I'm involved with bidding, estimating, submissions and project execution. How did you get to where you are now? TE: Eight years ago, a friend that I was working with as a consultant asked if I'd be interested in working with a company that installed piles. My response was, “Piles of what?” I had no background or understanding of what I may be getting into. A lunch was set up with the president of the company and we hit it off. At the end of lunch, I asked him to drive me home, which elicited a strange look, but he agreed. When we arrived he realized why I'd made this request; a piling company was working across the street driving H-piles for a retaining wall. We got out and spent a good amount of time watching them and I got my first lesson in what we do. I've never looked back.

Pay-when-Paid Clauses

Be sure you know what you're getting, and when By James C. Wishart, Fillmore Riley LLP For better or worse, the readers of Piling Canada are likely familiar with pay-when-paid clauses. Usually found in subcontracts between general contractors and subcontractors or suppliers, pay-when-paid clauses are intended to postpone the general contractor's obligation to pay its subcontractors or suppliers until the general contractor has been paid by the owner for the relevant work. Even some industry standard contract documents, such as the CCA 1 - 2008 (Stipulated Price Subcontract), include pay-when-paid clauses. The question that we most frequently get about pay-when-paid clauses is: what happens if the owner doesn't pay the general contractor - does the subcontractor or supplier still have a right to be paid for its work or has it waived that right by accepting the pay-when-paid clause? In A&B Mechanical Ltd. v. Canotech Consultants Ltd. et al, 2013 MBQB 287, the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench considered a pay-when-paid clause and answered that question.

One for Me; One for You

Learning to delegate is necessary for good management By Barbara J. Bowes, Legacy Bowes Group Think about it: are you becoming concerned there isn't enough time to recover as you jump from one crisis to the next? Is your email inbox always full? Are you struggling to meet deadlines? Is your staff morale beginning to slip? Is your stress level inching upward and causing you to become edgy and anxious? If these issues and sleepless nights are wearing you down, then I can safely say that you are probably taking on too many tasks yourself. You are probably not as skilled as you need to be at delegating to your team members. Maybe the issue is that you don't know how to delegate or are afraid to delegate. Delegation is a skill that is absolutely necessary for good management. It means getting things done through other people. It is all about planning, time management, professional development and the empowerment of your employees.

Small and Mighty

Tricky situations can call for smaller rigs - Meet the Junttan PM16 By Jim Chliboyko It's not necessarily the largest piece of equipment available for the job that is always the best or most appropriate. Occasionally, smaller solutions can be equally or better suited. There are factors other than size and power involved with choosing appropriate equipment, such as portability, maneuverability, ease of use and even weight allowances on roads. In the case of pile drivers, sometimes the trickier the situation the job presents, the smaller the rig may be necessary. Many have turned to the Finnish pile driver manufacturer Junttan and their PM16 model, a 37,000-kilogram machine, to get their jobs done. (The next machine in the Junttan lineup, the PMx20, is significantly larger, listed on the Junttan website as 55,000 kilograms.) “[The PM16] has been a really good seller for us,” said Bruce Patterson of Canadian Pile Driving Equipment. “It's a little machine with a big heart. It's capable of driving upwards of 16 meters of pile length. Basically, the PM16 is the smallest, lightest purpose-built piling rig that Junttan makes. It's big in Alberta at places like oil sands sites and pipeline facilities.”

Solid Foundation

Pinnacle Drilling Products excels as an industry “total solutions” provider By Lisa Gordon When Allan Zdunich founded Pinnacle Drilling Products back in 2007, the Vancouver, B.C.-based company supplied drilling tools and products to the oil and gas, mining, construction, geothermal and waterwell industries. Its first shop was a mere 2,000 square feet, and it was home to just four employees. But Zdunich - a drilling industry veteran who is marking 50 years in the field this year - was clearly onto a good thing. It took only eight years for Pinnacle to grow into a new facility in Burnaby, one that is five times bigger than its original shop. In 2011, a company restructuring initiative brought in more capital to fund targeted growth.

Doing It All

Ruskin Construction Ltd. reaches its 25th anniversary with more plans for growth in the coming years

Winning Formula

Formula Contractors Ltd. gains ground in a broad range of projects thanks to diverse capabilities

Shoring Up High-Rise Construction

[ VIEW PHOTO GALLERY ] Matcon Canada and Soilmec NA work on the Rogers Arena high-rise By Dan Hunt, Matcon Canada MESL Group of Companies and Craig Berninger, Champion Equipment Sales, LLC and Soilmec NA Vancouver Canucks fans and downtown locals will soon be able to enjoy expanded amenities when they visit the Rogers Arena, including the indispensable addition of new restaurants, bathrooms and parking. However, Vancouver residents and workers may be even more excited by the upcoming increase in rental housing and office space that will be provided by the three new, mixed-use high-rise towers under construction surrounding the hockey arena. Canucks fans and residents may not realize how difficult it was to build the Rogers Arena, which was squeezed between the existing Georgia Street and Dunsmuir Street Viaducts. Now building contractors face the greater feat of constructing three high-rise towers within even tighter jobsites - requiring a construction “hat trick” that hockey fans will appreciate. Construction of the 31-story South Tower has been particularly demanding since this triangular-shaped tower is being wedged between the southern wall of Rogers Arena and the elevated Georgia Street Viaduct on one side, and the at-grade Pacific Boulevard and Griffiths Way on the two other sides. When complete, this high-rise will include five levels of underground parking, more than 200 rental units and multipurpose facilities.

Challenge Accepted

Bermingham takes on a dynamic project to show what they can do By Kelly Gray One of Canada's oldest foundation specialists is helping Parks Canada turn the page on troubles with its historic Trent Severn Waterway. When the Canadian federal government needed to repair Dam #37 at Bolsover near Lake Simcoe, they turned to Bermingham Foundation Solutions for the initial stages that would allow for the demolition of the dam and reconstruction. Working with general contractor Metric Contracting, shoring designer Isherwood Geostructural Engineers, contract administrator EXP and Public Works Canada, Bermingham crews would have to dewater the area immediately adjacent to the existing lock and dam and pro- vide a temporary diversion. This is all in a day's work for a company that has been putting Canada on solid ground since 1897. The Trent Severn Waterway is a hard-won piece of Canadian history with politicians and business interests fighting it out section by section. Joining Lake Huron with Lake Ontario, the 386-kilometre canal system was started in the early part of the 19th century and slowly completed over 100 years, at which time it was quickly made redundant by the completion of the larger Welland Canal. Today, the system is operated by Parks Canada as a tourist destination that brings boat traffic to cottage country through the locks between May and October. Last year, there was close to 100,000 lock operations. [VIEW PHOTO GALLERY]

Introducing the PDA-8G

Pile Dynamics completely revamps its Pile Driving Analyzer® system

MENCK Provides World’s Largest Hydraulic Hammer for Sandbank Wind Farm Construction

Subsea pile driving specialist MENCK, an Acteon company, is providing the largest and most powerful hydraulic hammer in the world to assist Bilfinger Marine & Offshore Systems with the installation of subsea foundations for Project Sandbank, a new 72-turbine-strong wind farm in the North Sea. Known as the “Gentle Giant,” the MENCK MHU 3500S hydraulic hammer exerts a massive 6.2kJ per tonne of weight, with a pile sleeve that is 6.5m in diameter. “The MHU 3500S has a proven higher output than any other hammer in the world, yet it is up to two to three db quieter than some of MENCK's smaller hammers, meeting extensive environmental protection requirements,” said MENCK's international marketing manager, Claas Denkmann.

Myanmar’s First Liebherr Rotary Drilling Rig Begins Work on Luxury Yangon Condominium

First Liebherr drilling rig operating in Myanmar Geo-engineering specialist Golden Tri Star Co is using the first Liebherr rotary drilling rig in Myanmar to bore piles for a condominium in Yangon's embassy district. The rig is now working on its second project after successfully completing foundation drilling for one of Yangon's largest commercial projects. The rig has started bored piling work on The Illustra At Pho Sein, a 31-storey condominium project, being built on Pho Sein Road in Yangon's premier Kandawgyi Lake district, which includes the city's embassy quarter. Developer of the project is PSWN Development Company Ltd., who have subcontracted geo-engineering specialist Golden Tri Star Co Ltd (GTS) to carry out the foundations work. GTS is the owner of the LB 28, and is a division of Shwe Taung Group, the company that is developing the Junction City project in downtown Yangon, which is where the rig made its debut on the foundations before being moved to The Illustra.

New Master Dealer Agreement for BAUER-Pileco and ECA

Bauer Maschinen, BAUER-Pileco and Equipment Corporation of America (ECA) are pleased to announce the signing of a new Master Dealer Agreement between the parties, effective December 2014. ECA will continue to be an exclusive BAUER-authorized distributor, covering the northeastern U.S. and Eastern Canada. The distribution agreement changes the territories slightly to improve coverage, by adding Florida and Georgia to the ECA territory. BAUER-Pileco will now service and support Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.

Inaccurate Perceptions of Trade Jobs

A new study released by the Independent Contractors and Businesses Associations (ICBA) reveals that 59 per cent of young adults are unaware of how to get into the trades because of their inaccurate perceptions of construction. “There are misconceptions about working in the construction industry and we all have a role to play to change them,” said Philip Hochstein, president of the ICBA. “The reality is once you pick up a trade, there is a pathway to a long-term, rewarding career in construction with room for advancement.” With one million job openings by 2022 and 44 per cent requiring skilled and technical training, the ICBA commissioned NRG Research Group to conduct a poll to understand the current perceptions of skilled trades among British Columbians aged 18 to 29 years old.

CAWIC Calls on Construction Industry to Promote Women’s Advancement

The Canadian Association of Women in Construction (CAWIC) recently launched its Women's Advancement Project in St. John's, Newfoundland. CAWIC is calling on industry employers, unions and educational partners to collaborate with CAWIC to address the shortage of skilled trades in Canada by promoting the entry and advancement of women into leadership roles within the construction industry. Earlier this year, CAWIC was awarded a grant from the Government of Canada for $249,900 through Status of Women Canada. The grant will fund a three-year project to conduct research and develop, with collaboration from industry employers and female participants, an action plan to open doors for women's entry, retention and advancement into leadership roles within the construction industry. CAWIC is actively seeking employer partners who share its vision to promote change and break down barriers for women in the industry, to create an action plan that makes economic sense, is realistic and attainable. Industry employers with operations in Alberta, Ontario and Newfoundland/Labrador have the opportunity to get directly involved in this important initiative.

Soilmec Supports Customers With Hands-On Training

Skilled operators help contractors get the most from their Soilmec equipment by increasing jobsite productivity, efficiency and safety

BAUER-Pileco Inc. Announces Changes to Executive Management Team

Industry News

Exceptional Use of Liebherr LRB 255 Piling and Drilling Rig in Quebec

Application is relatively new in North America and is being executed for the first time in Quebec