Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News February 2016

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With a rented office in Hurst and rented yard in Euless, concrete contractor ConScape needed

consolidating. That’s why owner Charles Half-mann’s sons Lance and Ryan, who work for the business as an estimator and a foreman, respectively, were excited to purchase the west Fort Worth property at 3210 Joyce Drive. “We were specifically looking for an office on the west side of Fort Worth. Ninety-nine percent of our work is in Fort Worth; I don’t think we ever go east of 360,” Lance explains. “Also, [the move] is in anticipation of the development of the Walsh ranch area and the development headed west and our proximity to 820

L-R: Ryan and Lance Halfmann’s ConScape headed west to Fort Worth.

and I-30; we can go in either direction.” The search for the perfect property was a five-year mission; Lance even asked a supplier to keep an eye out for potential real estate. Last October, the call came; one of the supplier’s customers was sell-ing a property and, within a month, Con-Scape moved in with only computers and raw materials, with everything else pro-vided by the previous owner. The 1,400-sf office is the perfect size for the Half-manns (including Charles’ wife, Gretch-en, who handles accounting and billing) and their 20 employees. To accommo-date future supply increases, the 3000-sf warehouse has the option of expanding to twice its size.

When Autobahn Motor Group needed additional storage for its BMW inventory, one option

was to buy more land around Fort Worth’s 7th Street/University Drive corri-dor. Instead, the dealership adopted a use-what-you-have attitude and, with the help of design-build general contrac-tor Speed Fab-Crete, looked up for inspi-ration. “The original new car sales building was there, and those buildings actually date back to the 1940s,” Speed Fab-Crete project manager Mitch Hanzik explains. “They were big concrete warehouses; not only are the walls built out of concrete, but the roof is built out of concrete. By doing some structural testing, we were able to verify that the roof structure that was there would support a parking lot. There is limited land on the 7th Street corridor, so here was an opportunity to put a lot of inventory up on the roof with-out having to buy any more land. We ac-

tually built a new structure over the top of the existing concrete building.” Load testing of the building was Speed Fab-Crete’s first priority to ensure the project could be safely executed, es-pecially since employees would be work-ing in the offices directly below the roof-top parking. “Essentially, swimming pools were fashioned on the roof,” Hanzik explains. “We framed out an area, put a plastic lin-er in there and filled it with water to simu-late heavy loading. Water weighs a little over 8 pounds a gallon, so we can deter-mine how much weight based on the vol-ume of water that we’re stacking this area. Then we can see the deflection of concrete, we can see how much, if any, is pushing down. Obviously, we did all of this testing on a weekend when no one was around and verified that the roof sys-tem could handle the loads that we

Rooftop parking and a new clock tower took this dealership to a whole new level.

Construction News is pleased to an-nounce the launch of its new, rede-signed website.

Welcome to constructionnnews.net, a site where you will find instant access and expanded capabilities to enhance our five printed publications. Our new website has been crafted to reflect what our readers need and want to know. Additionally, the redesigned site builds upon technology capable of ad-dressing future needs. Upon visiting our site, you will imme-diately notice streamlined menus, simple navigation and access to the information you want. It’s all there for the viewing!What’s different? New features run the gamut from

easy access to all of our stories – or, if you prefer – stories broken out into the city newspaper they originated in. We now offer classified ads and at present, they are free! So, help us kick it off by taking advantage of this section. Do you need a reprint of your story to add to your walls? It is now easy to or-der one or more online. Did your secretary keep your copy of the latest Construction News? No prob-lem! Use our easy to find rack location maps to find the closest location to pick up a copy in most areas of the state. Additionally, you can find a full PDF version of our latest papers – even get-ting a past issue is a breeze.

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Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News • Feb 2015


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Melissa Jones-Meyer . . . . . Dallas/Fort Worth [email protected] 817-731-4823

Dallas Fort Worth

The Dallas Fort Worth Construction News (ISSN 1547-7657) is published monthly by Construction News Ltd., dba Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News, and distributed by mail to construction related companies in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area. All submissions should be mailed to our editorial offices. We reserve the right to edit any materials submitted. No fees for materials, copy or photographs submitted will be due unless agreed upon in advance in writing. Submissions will be published at our discretion on a space-available basis. Construction News, Ltd., dba Dallas Fort Worth Construction News, will not be liable for errors in copy or in advertisements beyond the actual cost of space occupied by the error. Publisher reserves the right to reject any advertisement at any time.

If you are a construction-related companyin Dallas, Tarrant, Collin or Denton counties

and are not receiving a free copy of theDallas/Fort Worth Construction News, callfor a Requester Form, or visit our website.

Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Buddy Doebbler

Editorial/Production . . . . . . . Reesa Doebbler

Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cyndi Wright

Production Manager. . . . . . . . . . Sue Johnson

Sales Representative. . . . . . . . . Kent Gerstner

Sales Representative. . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Reilly

Cattle, horses and sheep weren’t all that was exhibited at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Repre-

sentatives from construction equipment companies HOLT CAT, Landmark Equip-

HOLT CAT’s Brandon Leonard L-R: Landmark Equipment’s Ralph Kochand Jeff Burns

L-R: Bobcat of Fort Worth’s Toby Decker and Todd Lewis

L-R: Zimmerer Kubota’s Bill Pearson and Rick Schofield

ment, Bobcat and Zimmerman Kubota also showed off their stock. The latest in equipment was exhibited for thousands of attendees at the Amon G. Carter Jr. Ex-hibits Hall Jan. 16 through Feb. 7. –mjm In the early evening hours of Dec. 29,

Mildred Doebbler took her last breath and left this world for a better place.

Her three children, me being the oldest, were with her at the end - which was only fitting since she was always there for us. She was small in size and always very prim and proper. She was also ornery, strong-headed, opinionated and tough when she needed to be. Like I said at her funeral, I am my mother’s son all right. But there was a much different side of her. She always supported the three of us in whatever we decided we wanted to do. She never missed a football or base-ball game when we were playing and my sister had many great experiences be-cause of Mom. She was always there to help us and encourage us and her love for the grand-kids and us was always the strongest.

Mom, your job is over

We would sometimes make fun of her little quirks, like dating photos of people in years, months and days. That really came in handy for the funeral, so I guess mother knew best. The last two years of her life were spent in Colonial Gardens Alzheimer's Assisted Living. I know she drove t h e m all crazy at first, wanting perfection for everything, but they came to love her. She was a handful, but they got attached to her and there were lots of tears from staff the day she passed. It was hard to watch this terrible dis-ease take its toll on a once vibrant lady. We can only hope that someday a cure will be found. Mom, you raised your children and took care of daddy but now you can fi-nally rest. Love you always.

Buddy Doebbler, Publisher

Mildred Doebbler at 76

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John ClarkPresident

USA Renovations Inc.McKinney, Tx

Where opportunity meets prepa-ration, that’s where you will find John Clark, president of USA

Renovations Inc. With his enthusiastic drive and entrepreneurial spirit, Clark has embraced out-of-the blue opportunities, and turned them into success stories.

How did you start on this path to own your own ceiling and floor company? I actually started my career selling insurance in 2002. Three years later, I saw an opportunity to become a Nationwide Insurance agency branch owner. I had to generate a premium book size to the tune of a couple million in three years. On March of 2008 that goal was success-fully reached. It was not until 2008 mid-year I realized insurance may not grow as quickly as I had desired. The economic downturn was making growth unrealis-tic, not to mention the saturated market caused additional pressures on growth. Although I maintained the business at a sustainable growth, I felt I should keep an open mind of emerging markets.

And you saw an opportunity there? During the latter part of 2008, there was an opportunity that came along, and that opportunity was building a company from scratch that provided ceiling restoration services to big box centers. Day 1, we sought out experienced workers that had been in the business longer than we had. In April 2009, USA Renovations was in business and our specialty was solely ceiling restoration, which was in heavy demand in big box supercenters nation-ally. It did not seem as if the economy was stressed due to the demand of our trade.

Did you have any reservations about taking on this business at the same time you owned the insurance com-pany? No, I actually had no reservations at all. I saw the idea, the opportunity was there, and I went with it. I knew, “This could be something big.” I had no hesita-tion. Let’s do it! Whatever it takes, we’ll make it happen.

Do you feel that the entrepreneurial spirit is just something you have al-ways had, and the right opportunity presented itself? Yes. If you have enough desire it will push you forward, there are always op-portunities at some point in life, and an entrepreneur will take one of those and make it something. It takes consistent day-to-day persis-tence, focus and a dream. The path is made up along the way and falls into place. Of course, depending on how impa-tient you are will determine how quickly you achieve that desire. I never saw my-self owning an insurance agency and a construction company. I wasn’t quite sure about what I would be doing at the present, I just knew I wanted to find a great service/product that I would turn into a business to grow the company. That was my dream.

How did your work with ceilings grow into a polished concrete business as well? The ceiling business was going great. In 2010, our first year, we completed over 150 projects. Through trial and error, we had our victory year, the one that set the bar. At that time, we had ten crews travel-ing the U.S. The ceiling company had fan-tastic profits. During that time, our business dis-covered polished concrete was an up-and-coming industry. As a believer in di-versity of what our company has to offer, I felt it was a good addition to our busi-ness. I was skeptical of the polish industry at first, but after plenty of due diligence, I realized the risk might be a great long-term investment for the company, maybe this was something that could become something even bigger than ceiling cleaning.

Did you have an idea of what you were going to do with it? The average project that we would target was 10 to 20 times the price of a ceiling restoration job. That was the moti-vation that drove me to take our first project. In 2012, we purchased the equip-ment necessary to begin. I quickly had to learn all aspects of the polished concrete industry to insure our company was run-ning at an optimal level allowing us to become profitable as soon as possible. I did everything I could to adopt trade secrets and learn the business. Once you get to that point and it all just works, that’s when you feel it’s time to push harder.

Now that you’re going into your sixth year with polished concrete as a divi-sion of USA Renovations, what advice do you have for people just starting their first year? Take advantage of all training that is made available, especially as the market grows and more training is made avail-able to you. Hire experienced employees – it’s cheaper to hire people that know what they’re doing than to suffer a cata-strophic issue that costs more. Today we

only hire skilled tradesmen that must have five years of experience, not to men-tion we run them through an extensive training program day 1 to learn the USA Renovations way.

What do you enjoy about your work? I don’t run this business like a typical construction company. Most think of dirty floors and unorganized warehous-es. From the beginning we have always run our office and our team with great organization and cleanliness. We want our customer to see how we will treat their project. What was nice about getting into this business was it utilized all the skills I was extremely good at handling. From employees, to schedules, to equipment needs, we constantly have to be firing on all cylinders or our competition will sur-pass us. I enjoy that mind set greatly. The best part is looking back at how far we have come and not seeing any limit ahead of us. Our real competitors are the ones five times our size. Those are the companies that should look out. USA Renovations is coming.

What is the next step? We currently have a staff of employ-ees that are top notch, allowing us now to focus on sales and growth. Our reputa-tion is getting out there that USA Reno-vations is a company of integrity, quality, and one that delivers results. More re-cently, we’ve been focusing on our web-site, search engine optimization, and cus-tomer acquisition. We’ve hired additional sales staff this year; right now we have several more crews plus a great manage-ment team. This is causing our office to be busting at the seams. We have plans to move to a larger 10,000-sf facility to ac-commodate our rapid growth.

How will your growth affect your com-pany? That’s a burning question: How else can we insure we maintain our growth? First you have to sustain what you al-ready have. To insure this we have had to increase diversity by focusing on a few trades the construction market needs. Ba-sically we positioned ourselves to take on

John Clark polished his entrepreneurial skills on his ceiling and floor restoration business.

more diverse jobs. Our main focus is pol-ished concrete but we must offer a few other trades to insure stable growth. It also gives our customers a break dealing with fewer companies on a job. We can handle more trades, which causes less need for other companies on a project. Currently we are certified installers of concrete sealants in the interior and exterior of the buildings. We are also cer-tified installers of resinous flooring, which is better known as epoxy flooring. Along with ceiling restoration we feel these four trades will allow for a stable platform to grow from focusing on the trades that allow for the most return on investment.

Are you excited about growing your business even more than you already have? Absolutely. Our staff and I have a burning desire to grow. The company and I will do what it takes to make it hap-pen. Even if our company was four times the size it is today, I still would be push-ing as hard, as I believe our service and final product is second to none. The checkpoint for us is going to be the 10th year in business. By that time we will be so much further along. It’s at that point I know we made it and will be seen as a true large business. There really is no limit how big I would like to see the com-pany get.

Personally what are your plans for the future? I don’t see myself stopping at all. I was asked by a mentor of mine, “Every-one has a number they want to reach, what is yours?” My response was, “I don’t have a number.” What excites me is seeing something grow. I’m happy where I’m at; seeing something grow from what was, at one point, nothing, is what makes me wake up in the morning. It’s purpose that gives life to someone. This is my purpose. McKinney-based USA Renovations spe-cializes in providing complete ceiling and floor restoration for a variety of larger-scale markets throughout the country. –mjm

Ricardo Arguello of Trinity Drywall & Plastering Systems in Fort Worthsuits up for a day of site-seeing. –mjm

Vest dressedConstruction News ON LOCATION

L-R: SpawGlass Contractors Inc.’s regional manager Weston Voss and preconstruction services manager Ted Sena step outside the Fort Worth office to savor a sunny moment. –mjm

Carpe sunumConstruction News ON LOCATION


The Texas Nursery and Landscape Association’s 2015 Winter Showcase and Trade Show was TNLA’s first,

but they’re hoping it will become (par-don the pun) an annual event. The Aus-tin-based association combined the busi-ness management workshop and the new trade show for a one-stop experi-ence tailored to Texas commercial land-scaping/hardscaping businesses. “The Texas Nursery and Landscape Association is thrilled to partner with the Dallas Market Center for the first TNLA Winter Showcase for retail growers, land-scapers and the green industry of Texas,” Sarah Riggins, TNLA director of EXPO op-erations and marketing, says. Exhibitors on the first floor of Dallas’ World Trade Center were eager to show visitors their services and supplies, and

So mulch to see …

TNLA’s Sarah Riggins welcomes guests to the trade show.

Roundtree Landscaping Inc.’s Laura Gruenau

hope the event will grow in years to come. –mjm

Even though she loves working in the construction industry, fitness and fashion has always accelerated the

heart rate of Warrior Construction presi-dent and CEO Gail Warrior. Now, pulses are racing over her new line of fitness wear called Warrior Elements. “I have had a love and passion for health and fitness for many years before I even started Warrior Construction,” she says. “Many people don’t know that when I was working in corporate Ameri-ca, I was also a personal trainer for a gym in Dallas. I got my certification, and what I thought I was going to do as an entre-preneur was open up a small training stu-dio. Life took over, and I had an opportu-nity to start Warrior Construction, so I kind of put the health and fitness thing on hold. “In the early part of 2013, I decided to go back into it,” she continues. “I’ve al-ways loved fashion, health and fitness. I’ve competed in bodybuilding competi-tions and fitness competitions over the years and decided to pursue my passion for fashion as well as health and fitness and merge the two.” Warrior was committed to hiring a local manufacturer and found a woman-owned manufacturing business in Arling-ton to produce her designs, which are in-spired by the elements. “The name of the company comes from my last name and the four elements – water, fire, earth and wind. I created de-signs and things that I liked, colors that I thought were fun and bold. I wanted something that was going to be fashion-able, that people would want to wear not only when they’re in the gym but some-

Getting her work out

Gail Warrior adds an element of passion to her life with a new fitness wear line.

thing they can run their errands in. We have tops that you could actually wear to work with a blazer or a jacket over it.” Warrior is working hard to get her line on the same successful track as her construction business. “The past year was very busy for me creating the designs, researching manu-facturing and looking for the right fabrics,” she says. “I created the website to be able to market online and now we’ve been busy creating and looking for additional sales and distribution channels. I was at a trunk show last month and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.” Founded in 1997, Warrior Construction is a woman/minority owned general con-tractor with offices in DeSoto and San An-tonio. –mjm

L-R: Prism Electric Inc.’s Luis Hernandez, Blake Combs and Dale Payne celebrate good times at the company’s customer appreciation event held Dec. 19 at Katy Trail Ice House. –mjm

Customer a-prism-ationSubmitted to Construction News

There’s ‘snow’ time to slow down! Carlos Santillan, project manager for Fort Worth general contractor Sebastian Construction Company, knows a possible flurry is in the

forecast, so he plans to work as much as he can while it’s sunny. –mjm

Work while it’s warmConstruction News ON LOCATION


Last month we began the discussion of “invisible” ex-clusions – exclusions that may not be brought to the

attention of the insurance buyer and that will not be de-clared on a certificate of insurance. Discussed were three endorsements that gutted the contractual liability coverage required in most construc-

tion agreements. This discussion focuses on five other largely invisible endorsements that delete needed (and usually required) coverage.

Invisible exclusions, part IICharles E. Comiskey, Sr. V.P.Brady, Chapman, Holland & Associates, inc.Houston, TX

Classification Limitation General liability coverage usually covers all operations of an insured. A classification limitation restricts that cov-erage only to certain specifically listed classifications on a policy. If an opera-tions falls outside of that description (in the insurance company’s opinion), no coverage is provided. For instance, we recently reviewed the coverage for a large excavation con-tractor. 100% of their work was per-formed underground, but their classifi-cation as stated on their policy excluded any damage to property underground. Good deal for the insurance company, right? Not so good for the unaware con-tractor.Habitational or Residential Exclusion When addressing a group of con-tractors, I like to ask how many of them never do any residential work. The vast majority raise their hand. The follow-up question is whether they would do resi-dential work if requested by their largest customer, or their mother or sister, and the story changes. A residential exclusion is an absolute exclusion. There is no exception for cer-tain customers or family members. What is the definition of “residen-tial”? It varies widely and may be nego-tiable, but many insurance companies have a very broad definition including anything with a bed – homes, apart-ments, condos/townhomes, jails/pris-ons, dorms, barracks, sometimes even hotels or motels. If confronted with a habitational or residential exclusion, don’t assume. Ask.Insured vs. Insured Exclusion A Named Insured vs. Named Insured endorsement excludes cross claims against members of the same economic family and is perfectly acceptable. An Insured vs. Insured exclusion, however, excludes cov-erage for any claim made by any insured against any other insured. If your firm is an additional insured on another contractor’s coverage, it is an insured. An Insured vs. Insured exclusion eliminates all coverage should your firm bring litigation against that other contractor.Subsidence Exclusion A subsidence exclusion is really a thinly veiled construction defect exclu-

sion. The wording varies from insurance company to insurance company, but usu-ally includes reference to collapse of drains, improper soil compaction and movement of earth in any manner. For any contractor performing underground or concrete work, a subsidence exclusion could be deadly.Punitive, Exemplary or Multiplied Dam-ages Exclusion Punitive/exemplary claims against contractors are rare and difficult to prove, but practically every construction-relat-ed claim includes an allegation of viola-tion of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. This is a much easier allegation to prove, and if proven the damages are multiplied three-fold. As recommended last month, discuss these exclusionary endorsements with your insurance broker, and verify that they are not included in your insurance program. But what if you are the up-stream party depending on a certificate of insurance? Two steps can be taken:

1. In your insurance requirements, state that these endorsements are prohibited on the downstream par-ty’s insurance program; and

2. Require a copy of the Schedule of Forms and Endorsements page veri-fying that they haven’t been includ-ed in the underlying insurance pro-gram.

If any of these endorsements are be-ing used, obtain copies and read them carefully with the assistance of your in-surance broker. Attempt to negotiate around any undesirable wording, or con-sider selecting another contractor whose insurance program more closely com-plies with your needs. Next month we will discuss fre-quently misunderstood additional in-sured issues and the invisible exclusions inherent in them.

Charles E. Comiskey, CPCU, CIC, CPIA, CRM, PWCA, CRIS, CCM, is Sr. V.P. of Brady Chapman Holland & Assoc. and is National Chairman of the Construction Insurance Practice Group of RiskProNet International, the 5th largest broker-age organization in the U.S. He can be contact-ed at 713.979.9706 or [email protected].

Saving tax dollars with areverse audit

John Wellington, Director of State and Local TaxesLane Gorman Trubitt PLLCDallas, TX

If you have not paid all of your Texas sales and use tax-es, chances are the Comptroller’s Office will let you

know about it. However, when you pay too much sales and use tax, no one is going to tell you. To identify over-

payments and seek reimbursements, companies should consider conducting a “re-verse audit,” whereby it audits its own records looking for overpayments of sales and use taxes.

Take Advantage of Tax Exemptions While many companies have sales and use tax compliance systems in place to prevent overpayment, such systems need to be frequently reviewed to ensure that they are working properly. Business expansion or downsizing, employee turnover, or even just human error can compromise the safeguards you have in place, resulting in overpaying sales and use tax. The majority of overpayments come from unclaimed tax exemptions. With a combined sales tax rate in Texas typically exceeding 8%, it can be well worth your time to ensure that you are claiming all of the exemptions that you are entitled to receive. For example, manufacturers are ex-empt from sales tax imposed on their manufacturing equipment and related replacement parts and utilities. Begin-ning in 2014, Texas also offers an exemp-tion for certain research and develop-ment expenditures.

Timing is Everything One of the best times for conducting a reverse sales and use tax audit is at the start of a major capital project. Even if you cannot commit to the time and ex-pense of a full companywide audit, you can still audit the transactions specifically associated with this project. Not only will you uncover overpayments during the project, but you will also be reminded of previous projects with similar transac-tions. Another excellent time for a reverse audit is when there is a significant change to state tax law. Changes in tax laws are often overlooked, but can result in sig-nificant missed opportunities. As the 2015 Texas Legislature ramps up, many sales tax exemptions are being consid-ered.

The Anatomy of a Reverse Audit A reverse audit should look at both your tax compliance systems and your purchasing records. It should encompass your entire business and go back as far as the statute of limitations will allow (four years in Texas).

Sample payments that should be re-viewed include:• Warehouse equipment• Safety equipment• Maintenance fees• Service transactions• Software licenses• Protective clothing When examining whether you have made overpayments in these or other ar-eas, it is important to have a comprehen-sive understanding of your operations and the applicable tax law. Companies must be able to examine the process as a whole to maximize the benefit from po-tential sales and use tax exemptions.

Worth the Investment Reverse audits can be a lengthy and involved process, but the rewards can make it well worth the effort. When uti-lized to its full potential, a reverse audit will not only allow you to claim refunds of significant amounts of overpaid taxes, but will also enable you to update your compliance systems to minimize over-payments in the future. The intricacies of sales and use tax law are complicated. Before tackling them on your own, be sure to work with your trusted state and local tax special-ists.

About Lane Gorman Trubitt, PLLCFounded in 1950, Lane Gorman Trubitt PLLC (LGT) is one of the largest certified public accounting firms headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Dedicated to serving the mid-dle market, the firm represents a broad range of clients, from individuals to public companies, in a variety of industries. LGT offers traditional accounting, audit and tax services, as well as various other specialized services. In an effort to expand the services we provide to our valued clients, LGT has launched three affiliated companies, LGT Financial Advisors, LLC, LGT Insurance Ser-vices Inc. and LGT Retirement Plan Solu-tions.

Superintendent Tim Cox, Tim Cox Construction, measures his cut on lumber that will build the new a Wish with Wings office addition in Fort Worth. Southlake Commercial

Construction serves as the general contractor on the 988-sf project. –mjm

Wood for wishesConstruction News JOB SIGHT


It is common knowledge that if you plan to sue the driv-er who ran into you at the intersection, you need to

photograph, inspect and adjust your damages to pre-serve your claim.

Don’t spoil your claimKaren Landinger, PrincipalCokinos, Bosien & YoungAustin, TX

What seems so obvious in the con-text of an automobile accident often gets lost on the construction site. Deadlines, schedules and weather can all make the need to correct a problem seem more ur-gent than the need to document the problem. However, without proper documen-tation, notification and preservation, you might end up picking up the bill for someone else’s mistake. In simple terms, spoliation is the im-proper alteration or destruction of evi-dence that is important to the evaluation of claims in litigation. The spoliation of evidence may give rise to a presumption and instruction to the jury that the evi-dence would have been harmful to the party who destroyed or failed to preserve it. Last year, the Texas Supreme Court instructed that a duty to preserve evi-dence exists when “a party knows or rea-sonably should know that there is a sub-stantial chance that a claim will be filed and that evidence in its possession or control will be material and relevant to that claim.” Brookshire Bros., Ltd. v. Al-dridge, 438 S.W.3d 9, 20 (Tex. 2014). A spoliation instruction will be pro-vided where “(1) the spoliating party acted with intent to conceal discoverable evidence, or (2) the spoliating party act-ed negligently and caused the non-spoli-ating party to be irreparably deprived of any meaningful ability to present a claim or defense.” Petroleum Solutions, Inc. v. Head, 11-0425, 2014 WL 7204399, at *5 (Tex. Dec. 19, 2014). As a result of job site dynamics, spo-liation is a considerable risk in the con-struction industry. In the Miner Dederick case, the spoliation of evidence resulted in the loss of a $727,000 verdict by Gulf Chemical and Metallurgical Corporation (“Gulf”). Miner Dederick Const., LLP v. Gulf Chem. & Metallurgical Corp., 403 S.W.3d 451, 455 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2013, pet. denied). Gulf contracted with Miner Dederick for the expansion of a hazardous material containment building which included the pouring of a new foundation. Follow-ing completion, the foundation began leaking at an expansion joint. Gulf re-quested that Miner Dederick repair the expansion joint pursuant to a warranty.

Miner Dederick refused to remedy the defect, but sent three separate requests to Gulf asking for the right to inspect the expansion joint. Gulf denied Miner Ded-erick’s requests, and undertook repair which included covering the expansion joint with a new sealant and pouring sev-eral inches of concrete over it. Gulf subsequently sued Miner Ded-erick for the cost of the repairs. During trial, Miner Dederick sought a spoliation instruction asserting that Gulf destroyed or concealed evidence regarding the al-leged defects of the expansion joint. The trial court denied the request and award-ed Gulf $727,000 in damages. On appeal, the First Court of Appeals ruled that be-cause Gulf was aware of the chance that it would file a claim against Miner Deder-ick, Gulf had a duty to preserve the ex-pansion joint, and, by resealing the joint and covering it with concrete, Gulf breached that duty. The court also found that Miner Dederick was injured by Gulf’s action and consequently reversed the judgment of the trial court. Given the harsh effects of a spolia-tion instruction, contractors would be well advised to err on the side of caution when it comes to preserving evidence. Merely taking photographs and docu-menting expenses may not be sufficient. See id. at 470 (finding that the value of the spoliating party’s photographic docu-mentation was insufficient because the non-spoliating party did not have oppor-tunity to conduct forensic testing). The Miner Dederick Court suggested that if a party has a legitimate need to de-stroy evidence, it might discharge its duty by giving the other party notice of the claim and a right to inspect and test the evidence before its destruction. The failure to follow procedures may result in a loss far greater than the delay.

Karen Landinger is a principal of Coki-nos, Bosien &Young, a full service law firm with offices in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin. For more information on our services, please visit www.cbylaw.com

Forklift SafetyJoann NatarajanCompliance Assistance SpecialistOSHAAustin, TX

Safety rules developed under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulate the safe use of fork-

lifts and other “powered industrial trucks” in the work-place can be found in 29 CFR 1910.178. This standard is

available at the OSHA web site: http://www.osha.gov

A forklift is a powerful tool that al-lows one person to precisely lift and place large heavy loads with little effort. Using a tool such as a forklift, cart or hand truck instead of lifting and carrying items by hand can reduce the risk that you will suffer a back injury. However, there is great risk of injury or death when a fork-lift operator: • Has not been trained in the princi-ples of physics that allows it to lift heavy loads,• Is not familiar with how a particular forklift operates,• Operates the forklift carelessly, or• Uses a forklift that is not safe due to malfunctioning or missing parts. When-ever an attachment is used that could af-fect the capacity or safe operation of a forklift, its use must be approved by the forklift manufacturer. The employer must mark the forklift to show the new weight with attachment. The maximum capacity at the highest elevation must also be shown. OSHA standards require that the em-ployer ensure that a forklift operator is competent to operate the forklift he or she is assigned to use. The employer must document operator training and an evaluation of the operator’s performancewhile using the forklift.

Refresher training must be given if the operator is observed operating the truck in an unsafe manner, is involved in an accident, near miss, or is assigned a different type of truck. In a car or truck the front wheels steer the vehicle. A forklift has the steer-ing wheels in the rear. The rear end of the forklift swings in a circle around the front wheels that support most of the load. The operator must check that there is room for the rear end to swing when making turns. A forklift is not as responsive as a car when turning the steering wheel. Rear steering makes it difficult to stop a forklift quickly or swerve and still maintain con-trol. It is important, then not to drive a forklift fast or round corners quickly. If you drive a forklift on an incline, you must keep the load on the uphill side. Otherwise, you may have no weight on the wheels that steer and can lose control! The load could also fall off or cause the forklift to tip. Often a large forklift load obstructs the driver’s view in one direction. It may be necessary to travel long distances with the load to the rear (in reverse for most forklifts).

[email protected] x232

It’s the bomb!Construction News JOB SIGHT

Mechanical contractor DeColores Industrial gets a lift at the Bomb Factory in Dallas’ Deep Ellum district. The historical building was originally an automotive plant and then an actual

munitions factory during World War II. Once construction is complete, it will become the largest concert venue at 48,000sf. C1S Group is overseeing the design-build services. –mjm

Precision vision

What was supposed to be a seasonal mechanical engi-

neering position turned into something much more per-manent for Cody Shook. “I started in the industry the summer after I graduat-ed high school,” the owner of Precision Flow Engineer-ing remembers. “The truth of the matter is, I got into it as a summer job and just kind of never quit!“ Even as Shook took night classes at the Universi-ty of Texas at Arlington to earn his mechanical engi-neering degree, he always managed to stay in the in-dustry. He worked his way up to operations manager, and, though happy in the position, the desire to start his own busi-ness was growing. In April 2013, he took the plunge starting his own Testing, Ad-justing, Balancing (TAB) and Commis-sioning (Cx) firm in Mansfield. “I come from a reasonably long line of self-employed people,” he says. “I don’t know if you can subscribe to the fact that entrepreneurship is in your blood, but my family have always worked for themselves in some capacity, wheth-er part-time or full-time. Somehow that bug got planted and it was very difficult to shake. I knew that when I got to be 70 years old, if I didn’t at least try [to start my own business], I was going to have quite a significant void in my life.” Fortunately, his years of work experi-ence had prepared him for the unex-pected. “The first year was an extreme amount of work and was an adventure,” he says. “The highs and the lows were a lot

Cody Shook took his years of knowledge and experienceand turned them into his own TAB and Cx company.

of fun and I never really lost heart. There were a lot of challenges, times of high profits and times of no profits, but I never for a minute doubted that we were going to be okay. We’re starting to find our name in more and more specifications and there’s not a billboard in Texas that can buy us better exposure than that.” As he grows his business, Shook has a clear-cut mission. “We’re very proud of the customers we’ve earned and of the product that earned their business. I’m also very proud of the personnel we put in the field and the pay and benefits we’ve been able to offer this early in the game.” “I want repeat customers that like dealing with us. I want my employees to come to work every day without dread-ing it and to go home safely. And,” he adds, laughing, “I’d like to make a few bucks! Those are my three goals and I doubt they’ll ever change.”–mjm


Position requires 10 years of related work experience in slurry wall technology and 10 years of experience with hydromills, diaphragm wall grab, drag line or drill attachment. Experience may be gained concurrently. Travel required, dependent on job site location. Must be able to temporarily relocate as necessary for long term assignments to various unanticipated project locations in US. Requires strenuous activity such as walking, bending, climbing and being able to lift minimum of 50 pounds and the ability to work in diffi cult ground conditions and work environments.



Project Foreman in Frisco, Texas

Multiple openingsfor a Hydromill

Operator inFrisco, Texas

Foreman – Specialized Heavy

Equipment inFrisco, Texas

Interested applicants should forward a resume to:Jean Witt

Layne6811 Ash StreetFrisco, TX 75034

Layne has openings for the following

positions:

Round-Up

BakerTriangle has promoted David Long to president of Triangle Plastering LTD of Mesquite. Long is an eight-year veteran of BakerTrian-gle and was formerly project manager for Baker Drywall Dallas. He will manage all plastering operations for TPL across the state of Texas.

Balfour Beatty Con-struction an-nounced that Deren Wilcox has been hired as vice presi-dent of business ac-quisition for North Texas. Wilcox, who will be based in the company’s Dallas office, has more than 15 years of experience in the AEC indus-try. Wilcox holds a Masters of Organiza-tional Leadership and Ethics MSOLE from St. Edwards University in Austin and a Bachelor of Science from The Citadel in South Carolina.

Architecture, engi-neering and plan-ning firm Smith-GroupJJR an-nounces the addi-tion of Kevin Glasscock AIA, LEED AP, as senior project manager at its Dallas office. Pre-viously an associate principal at Omnip-lan Architects, Glasscock brings nearly 30 years of experience to the firm.

MYCON General Contractors in McKinney an-nounced that John Hero, LEED AP BD+C, has joined the company as business develop-ment manager. Pri-or to joining MYCON, Hero served eight years as business development manager for another major general contractor. He also executed market growth strategies for Gilbane Building Company and over-saw business development activities at ATC Associates. Hero attended the Uni-versity of Minnesota and is a LEED AP with a specialty credential in Building De-sign and Construction.

Lee Ann Collins has been named the fourth manag-ing partner of CPA firm Lane Gorman Trubitt, PLLC. Col-lins, who previously served as partner, will replace manag-ing partner Bob Knight, who will remain as partner to help Collins in her transition. Collins ac-quired her BBA in accounting from Abilene Christian University and began working on construction industry clients at Dohm & Wolff (which merged into LGT), first in the auditing and then in the accounting and consulting department, where she became department leader. She will oversee day-to-day operations and long-term planning for the firm.

Hill and Wilkinson General Contractors announces the following promotions in the firm’s Richardson office:

Matt Sisco, LEED AP, has been pro-moted to vice presi-dent - division man-ager/institutional. Sisco, a 15-year vet-eran at Hill & Wilkin-son, has been in-volved in supervis-ing the construction of more than 16 million s.f. of commercial projects. He is a Texas A&M University graduate with a degree in construction science.Matt Smith, LEED AP BD+C, has been promoted to vice president – group manager/health-care. Smith, who holds a degree in construction sci-ence from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Regis University, has 18 years of experience in the construction industry with a focus on healthcare projects.

Dos décadas

The Regional Hispanic Contractors Association (RHCA) celebrates two decades of service to local small and emerging contractors! L-R: President John Martinez; board member

Ruben Landa, K Strategies Group LLC; board member Marciela Reyes, Reyes Group; Aguirre Roden Inc.’s Pedro Aguirre; board member Perfecta Gallegos, City of Dallas;

Innovation Mechanical’s Mike Treviño Sr.; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Monica R. Alonza; and Chairman of the Board Ben Muro, Acme Brick –mjm


BAFFIN BAY –– LAGUNA MADRE –– LAND CUTSPECKLED TROUT –– REDFISH –– FLOUN DER

FISHING AND HUNTING TRIPS

STEVE SCHULTZ OUTDOORS, LLC

(361) 813-3716(361) 334-3105

www.baffi [email protected]

U.S. Coast Guard &Texas Parks and Wildlife LicensedGeneral contractor Rogers-O’Brien’s deer lease has quickly become a place

where memories are made. Project superintendent Tony Dougherty recently scored this 10-point deer, field dressed at 150 lbs. Dougherty had just packed

up his gun when he spotted the deer ready to step out, saying “I had to reload and everything.” Project manager Dustin Moore’s son, Caleb, recently shot his first deer, an 11-point buck with a 16-inch spread, at the lease. The father and son are so proud of the buck that it might just earn a place of honor in their game room at home. –mjm

The buck drops here

Tony Dougherty’s “10” Dustin Moore’s son Caleb with his first deer

Mother Nature cranks up winter

by Capt. Steve Schultz

Sponsored by:Premier Yamaha Boating Center,

Majek Boats, E-Z Bel Construction,Power Pole Shallow Water Anchor,

Aggregate Haulers, Interstate Batteries, Pure Fishing, Mirr-O-Lure, ForEverlast

Hunting and Fishing Products andColumbia Sportswear.

As we roll into February, which I con-sider our coldest part of the winter, we are faced with constant weath-

er changes. Cold fronts every four to five days followed by warming trends in be-tween. This makes it hard to plan for any type of outing on the water, mainly be-cause you never know how severe the weather is going to be, and depending on an accurate weather forecast is practi-cally impossible. For this reason, you must be ready to roll on the spur of the moment. February can be a tough time to lo-cate fish, but with a little knowledge of fish habits, you can eliminate a lot of wa-

ter and narrow down the areas in which you want to fish. Learn to read the water. By that I mean look for signs of baitfish and game fish that may be present. Some exam-ples would be, starting with the most ob-vious, is feeding sea gulls. Find the feed-ing gulls and specks are sure to be pres-ent. Feeding pelicans are another dead give-away. Schools of hungry specks are feeding on the shrimp or baitfish, send-ing them fleeing to the surface to escape. Another sign of feeding specks are so called “SLICKS.” The active feeding of game fish and regurgitation of baitfish they are eating cause these oil slicks floating on the surface. You will usually detect a sweet smell near the slicks. Fish-ing under and around these slicks is very productive for specks, as most fish will be caught on the bottom as they wait for injured baitfish and/or the remains of

Mark Afram of Corpus Christi caught this 4-lb. Speck on an Original Corky Devil on acold morning last month in Baffin Bay, while fishing with Capt. Steve Schultz.

Water temp. was 46 deggrees at the start of the day.

baitfish falling from the surface. The best way to fish the birds or the slicks is to qui-etly drift or wade into the area being ex-tra careful not to disturb the feeding fish. If you’re in a boat equipped with a troll-ing motor, use it instead of running your outboard! Fishing pressure is beginning to be a big issue this time of the year. With most of the anglers wading and pre-fishing for upcoming tournaments, you can bet there will be someone in a spot where

your want to fish, especially if it’s one of the more popular spots in Baffin. Cathead, East Kleberg and some of the other well-known areas that have been known for big fish will be congest-ed always. If you’re in one of the more popular spots and fish don’t seem to be biting, don’t throw in the towel too early. When you decide on an area to fish, give it time. I sometimes see a fisherman pull into an area to fish and get out of his boat. If he is not catching anything in a short while, he will get back into his boat and leave to try another area. It’s impor-tant to fish an area thoroughly. This time of the year your cast-to-catch ratio is probably going to be 300 to 1. In the product section this month is something that every angler must have if they are wading in fridge water of the La-guna Madre. My Simms waders are by far the most important item on the boat dur-ing the winter months. They are the toughest, driest, and most comfortable pair of waders I have ever owned. Layer-ing up with Simms clothing and finishing out with your Simms waders, you will be assured that you can with stand Mother Nature’s hashish conditions. To schedule your next bay fishing trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or 361-334-3105 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Al-ready booking for the 2015-fishing sea-son. Good luck and Good Fishing.


Half or Full Day Fishing Trips

All Bait, Tackle & EquipmentFurnished

Your catch Filleted andBagged for You

Furnish your TPWD FishingLicense & Refreshments,

and WE DO THE REST!Ken Milam Guide Service(325) 379-2051

www.striperfever.com

Ryan Halfmann of concrete contractor ConScape Inc. nabbed this 10-point buckon a recent hunt in Protection, Kansas. Halfmann used a bow and arrow at

20 yards to get the buck. –mjm

Bow wowSubmitted to Construction News

Ken Milam’s Fishing LineSince 1981, Ken Milam has been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country,. You can hear Ken on radio on Saturday and Sunday mornings, 6-8

AM on AM 1300, The Zone – Austin, or http://www.am1300the zone.com

I have been a fishing guide since 1981. I have fished thousands of trips and met jillions of fine people. For the most part things go well, but not every time. Some-times people can mess up their own trip without even trying. Here are some tips to help you always get the most out of your guided hunting or fishing trips.1. Give your guide some lead-time. This is especially important if you need a trip during a high demand time like spring break or summer vacation. Remember, if you know about a good guide, there are probably a couple of thousand other people that have his phone number too. The further you can plan ahead, the better chance you get the day you want.2. It is never a good idea to change the game plan with-out advising your guide. It is understandable that the number of people in your party might change between the time you book a trip and finally get to go. Tell your guide so he can have what is needed for your trip at hand or help you make other arrangements. If you find

you are running late, let your guide know.3. Don’t show up to your fishing or hunting trip stink-ing drunk. Nothing spoils a good time like having to wag a semi-conscious hunting buddy all over the pas-ture with you. Find out what your guide’s policy is re-garding alcohol. If it is permitted, be sure you have a designated driver so you don’t have to sleep it off in the guide’s back yard.4. Try not to bring too much stuff. When you are on a guided trip you need to be able to move around well and not be hindered by gadgets, excess baggage and monster ice chests. Ask your guide what you need to have with you.5. Keep an eye on the weather, not the weather where you live, but the weather in the locale where you will be fishing or hunting. Every year we see a lot of people bail out of the truck looking like they came to the wrong party. Weather is not just what happens to you on the way to the car. When in doubt, call your guide. You can be sure he will know what to expect because his very livelihood depends on him knowing what direction the wind is coming from.

How to get the most from your guide

6. If you are an experienced hunter or fisherman it’s okay to share your stories with the rest of your party. Just don’t be a know-it-all. When you hire a guide, you are getting a chance to learn from his experience. Ev-eryone does things in their own way and you are sure to pick up something useful if you just keep your eyes and ears and your mind open.7. Don’t expect the guide to discipline your children. If your kids are disruptive and disobedient, they may not be ready for a guided hunting or fishing trip. Most guides enjoy getting to work with kids because it’s fun to see them have a good time and learn something new, but your trip is still serious business. Just remember you hired a guide, not a babysitter.8. Last but not least…tipping. If your guide has done a good job for you, reach in your pocket and tip the man. Your tip will be much appreciated and will let him know he did you a good job. Try not to ask your guide to give you back $2.50 in change. C’mon! In short guides are people too. We want to do the best job for you that we possibly can if you will let us.


Buck truthSubmitted to Construction News

In Alexandra Acosta’s house, all of the pets are characters, and their movie-worthy names are proof! The Action

Gypsum Supply sales representative is the proud owner of Boston terrier “Rid-dick,” a Persian Himalayan named “Opti-mus Prime,” “Eve,” a lionhead rabbit named after the “Wall-E” character, and guinea pigs “Peter Parker” and “Mary Jane” (who, incidentally, is male). In Acos-ta’s opinion, they steal the show! –mjm

Animal all stars

Optimus Prime is optimally fluffy.

Eve (center) with Peter Parker andMary Jane plan their escape.

Superintendent Larry Kirby of Ridgemont Commercial Construc-tion in Irving took it to the limit one

more time when it came to his catch on a recent fishing trip. One of his best was a 16-lb. striped bass. –mjm

All about that bass

The buck stops hereSubmitted to Construction News

L-R: Carson and Connor Schultz both harvested their first buck this season.(Capt. Steve Schultz’s sons (Steve Schultz Outdoors)

Carson’s deer was a straight up six-pointer weighing 165 lbs.and Connor’s deer was an eight-pointer weighing 175 lbs. Both deer were

harvested in McMullen Co. Way to go boys! Made Dad Proud!! –rd

Castro Roofing of Texas’ AJ Rodriguez got this buck on a winter trip to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in Sherman. Estimated at 200

inches, this 15-pointer was shot with a bow and arrow, which is Rodriguez’ preferred method

of hunting. “Before shooting this buck, I

watched him fighting another buck for a few minutes,” Rodriguez recalls. “After

showing his dominance, he proceeded to walk down the

trail where I had been stalking him for the last few days.

When the moment of truth came, I was completely jacked up with adrenaline, so it was very difficult to maintain my composure. I remember my hand trembling as I began to draw the bow back. The interesting part for me is

that once the bow is drawn, everything goes into slow

motion, the adrenaline goes away and there is a feeling of complete relaxation. After the

shot you go through everything that you experience before

drawing back the bow, for what seems like a long time.” –mjm


Before she started navigating the wilds of the construction industry, Austin Industries estimating clerk

Taunda Tustison lived for a year in Jo-hannesburg, South Africa, and has yearned to return ever since. Four years later, she got her chance, traveling 30 hours last December to her former home. Once there, she headed straight for White River, Mpumalanga to spend Christmas with nearly 30 relatives on her cousin’s large timber-community farm. The balmy 85-degree weather meant she spent Boxing Day jet skiing and swim-ming on the dam. She then visited Kruger National Park where she fulfilled a lifelong dream to see a leopard, which she calls one of her “top 5 animals.” Tustison also saw a large herd of nearly 75 buffalo (a rarity in those parts, she was told), a black rhino, elephants, giraffes, baboons, ze-bras, kudu and hippopotamuses. Johannesburg was Tustison’s next stop, but she didn’t seem to stop at all. Inspired by her college professor aunt who protested against apartheid and met Nelson Mandela, she visited the Apartheid Museum “It was really cool to be able to see what [my aunt] stood up against,” Tusti-son says. “It was intense; I sat in a replica of a cell that Nelson Mandela was in on Rob-ben Island. To experience that, and then to see how this man was so happy and kind, made me realize how lucky I am.”

Afterward, it was time to get up close and personal with the region’s wildlife. “I went to the lion park and actually got to pet two baby lion cubs and a full-grown cheetah during a cheetah walk – we got to walk with it and pet it. It licked me to pieces! Even though it’s a tamed animal, you can still tell it’s a wild animal! You have to stroke a cheetah really hard, or else it will think you’re a fly [buzzing it,

Far trek

Tustison took a licking duringher “cheetah walk.”

and get agitated]. I’m really glad I got to do it; that was one of my favorite parts of the trip.” To top off her vacation, Tustison in-dulged in a bit of shopping. Eager for a momento to remind her of her love for South Africa (although she’d love to for-get Johannesburg’s abundance of snakes), she settled on a stone carving of two giraffes kissing. –mjm

Elephants crossing at Kruger National Park.


What’s your mostannoying habit?

L-R: George Chavez and Mario Zarate of steel fabricating and erecting company MACON Inc. work on Westover Village’s newest 10,000-sf retail space. Ridgemont

Commercial Construction serves as general contractor on the project, which isoverseen by superintendent Larry Kirby. –mjm

Steeling awayConstruction News JOB SIGHT

Forecast: Sunny

What growth can the design and construction industry expect to see on both a local and national

level in 2015? That was the question on attendees’ minds as they took their seats at Dallas’ Latino Cultural Center on Jan. 20. Fortunately, nationally recognized analysts Cliff Brewis of Dodge Data & Analytics and Anirban Basu, chief econ-omist for Associated Builders and Con-tractors, provided optimistic forecasts for the upcoming year at the 2015 Economic Outlook, hosted by the American Insti-tute of Architects and TEXO. Brewis assured the crowd that they lived and worked in “one of the best plac-es to be” due to the diversity of the local economy. Non-residential building was expected to grow. Consumer demand is expected to refocus attention on distri-bution centers. Retail construction may lean toward renovation rather than new construction. Healthcare construction, while higher than it has historically been, might decline a bit, and education con-struction indicates “a positive direction.” Supporting many of Brewis’ predic-tions, Basu regaled the crowd with his witty and informed presentation on what’s ahead for the construction indus-

try, offering insights into what specifical-ly drives each sector and what it means for construction in 2105. After the presentations and a draw-ing for an Apple Watch, more than 300 attendees took advantage of networking time during happy hour before attend-ing presentations by the Young Con-structors Council. –mjm

Speakers Cliff Brewis and Anirban Basu

Ryan: I’m too impatient – no patience at all when people move slow. I want to get something done.Lance: I’m thinking about my answer … (to his brother, Ryan) What do you think?Ryan: I don’t think you’re very patient ei-ther.

Ryan and Lance Halfmann,ConScape Inc.

(Clearing his throat) That; what I just did. I do it all of the time. Allergies.

John Clark, USA Renovations

My most annoying trait is pacing, espe-cially when I’m on the phone. I probably pace 15 miles a day on the phone. I can’t not do it; it’s impossible! I have an office, and it’s kind of cramped. I’m sure my em-ployees get annoyed when I invade their personal space, just ricocheting off the walls when I’m on the phone. I can’t help it, and it’s irritating, that’s all I can say!

Cody Shook,Precision Flow Engineering

My husband Aaron teases me that there is only 24 hours in a day, because I try to cram so much into those 24 hours!

Renee Gilmore,Firemans Contractors Inc.

My most annoying trait is that I am al-ways talking on the phone with clients, so it is annoying to the office staff as they hover around me waiting their turns to talk to me and then get interrupted with more clients’ calls.

AJ Rodriguez, Castro Roofing

My most annoying trait is that I expect everyone to work as hard as I do when they’re here! I have some youngsters here who are dragging their feet!

Fabian Grimaldo, All-Tex Supply Inc.

My most annoying trait is that I repeat myself a lot! It’s like I feel I’m not clarify-ing myself and someone says, “You’ve al-ready said that!” I tend to over-explain.

Kim Cogbill, Perma-Pier

My most annoying trait is that I talk too much! You could say I’m a Chatty Cathy, except they named me Elizabeth!

Elizabeth Dahlgren,Lane Gorman Trubitt

My most annoying trait probably is that I am a workaholic, since I get here at 6 a.m.! I expect everyone else to be a work-aholic too!

Mark LeMay, JQ

Co-workers have told me I whistle too much! I used to work in an open office with cubicles, and whenever I would start whistling, my office mate would grab his stress ball and throw it at me. That was the nicest thing he threw; sometimes it would be something a bit harder! Some people either really like whistling or really don’t.

Ted Sena, SpawGlass Contractors


A Seiko watch was the perfect parting gift for administrative assistant Julie Meeks when the time came to retire after nearly 16 years at Frank W. Neal & Associates Inc.

Meeks (center) was presented with the watch by Jane and Frank Neal at the company’s Christmas party Dec. 21. Meeks, a member of the Society for Design Administration’s

(SDA) Fort Worth Chapter, will continue to head up Canstruction as she has for the past decade and plans to travel with her parents, spend time with her five grandkids and

looks forward to the summer birth of her sixth grandchild. –mjm

Submitted to Construction News

It’s time

L-R: 2014 AIA Dallas president Lisa Lamkin AIA “passed the hat” to incoming president Bob Bullis AIA at the association’s holiday party Dec. 4. The hat, signed by past

presidents, is adorned with a dime store tiara to honor female presidents who have held the position. Bullis will sign the hat when he passes it to current president-elect Zaida

Basora FAIA in December. –mjm Photo courtesy of WJN PHOTO

Submitted to Construction News

Glad hatters

It’s a dig day for Gerardo Haros of Fort Worth directional boring companyHaros Brothers Co. Haros has a “hole” lot of work to do on a White

Settlement Road development project. –mjm

He digs his workConstruction News ON LOCATION

Accolades were carved out for natu-ral stone craftsmanship leaders at the North Texas Stone Fabricators

Association’s second annual awards gala. More than 150 people attended the event, held Jan. 16 at Arlington Hall at Lee Park and coordinated by Elliott Fischer, IMC Stone Collection. In addition to the awards gala, a highlight of the evening was “Cocktails for the Cure”; Curb Appeal Renovations’ Robin Burrill, president of American So-ciety of Interior Designers’ Texas chapter, was honored, with all event proceeds do-nated in her honor to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Wes Cooper, Choice Fabricated Stone and Cooper Excavation, was also honored at the event with a lifetime achievement award. –mjm

Rock stars

Additional winners:

Light Commercial Honorable Mention: Stone-TecProject: Lobby of Hunt OilArchitect/Designer: Judy Pesek ASID, GenslerSuppliers: Stone-Tec

Artistic Design Honorable Mention: The Granite ShopProject: Rufford CourtArchitect/Designer: Joanie Wyll ASID, Joanie Wyll & Associates Interior DesignSuppliers: The Granite Shop

Light Commercial: 1st Place:A&A Granite and Limestone

Project: Highland Park Courthouse Main EntryArchitect/Designer: Larry Boerder AIA

Suppliers: Continental Cut Stone

Artistic Design: 1st PlaceThe Granite Shop

Project: Mulhouse Gallery FloorArchitect/Designer: Alana Villanueva ASID,

Avid AssociatesSuppliers: The Granite Shop

L-R: NTSFA president Bobby Gladu con-gratulates Wes Cooper on receiving a

lifetime achievement award.

L-R: Robin Burrill, TEXAS ASID chapter president, and NTSFA president

Bobby Gladu.

Residential Design Features:1st Place: The Granite ShopProject: Gaywood FireplaceArchitect/Designer: Tracy Rasor ASID, Dallas Design GroupSuppliers: IMC Stone Collections

Honorable Mention: A&A Granite and LimestoneProject: Honey Onyx BarSuppliers: IMC Stone Collections

Residential Kitchens:1st Place: Choice StoneProject: Montgomery ResidenceArchitect/Designer: John YoungSuppliers: IMC Stone Collections, Levan-tina

Honorable Mention: Active GraniteProject: Koerth KitchenArchitect/Designer: Judy KoerthSuppliers: Expo Stone

Residential Baths:1st Place: The Granite ShopProject: Woodfin BathArchitect/Designer: Tracy Rasor ASID, Dallas Design GroupSuppliers: The Granite Shop

Honorable Mention: The Granite ShopProject: Hamilton Powder VanityArchitect Designer: Alana Villanueva ASID, AVID AssociatesSuppliers: The Granite Shop

Craftsman Award: Jesus Bustos, Artistic Design, The Granite Shop (Mulhouse Gal-lery Floor)


Construction Safety

Cultural transformation:Establishing safety aseveryone’s core value

Chris Williams, Safety DirectorAssociated Builders & Contractors Inc.Arlington, VA

Consider these two safety vision statements:- “On every project, at all times, safety is our top priority.”- “We make NO compromise with respect to morality, ethics, or safety. If a de-

sign or work practice is perceived to be unsafe, we do not proceed until the issue is resolved.”

Both sound great on the surface - “at all times, safety is our top priority” and “we make NO compromise”. Yet, they re-flect two distinctly different safety cul-tures, which show in their overall safety performance. Consider that, for the company where safety is a priority, their Total Re-cordable Incidence Rate (TRIR) is a full two times the national average for a con-struction company of their size and work type. The TRIR for the company that doesn’t compromise on safety, and won’t proceed until safety issues are resolved? 0.20. That’s 95% below the industry aver-age. The simple reason behind why com-pany A and company B have such vastly different safety numbers lies in how leadership and, as an extension, their employees, perceive safety. When safety is perceived as a priority, it means that

other priorities - schedules, cost over-runs, etc. - can move ahead of safety. When safety is a priority, the emphasis on performing work safely, every single time, without exception, lags or is shunned completely. A safety climate is established - one that changes constant-ly and one where safety is important only when things are going well. A true world-class safety culture - one where a near-miss, let alone an inci-dent, is considered as a failure to be rem-edied immediately and learned from to prevent it from occurring again - places safety as its core value, upon which every decision, big or small, is based. The foundation of that culture is leadership’s uncompromising commit-ment to achieving a zero-incident jobsite and unwillingness to waver from safety as their core value. The structure of a world-class safety culture comes from the total belief, by ev-

ery employee, that not only is every inci-dent preventable, but that each employ-ee is responsible to their safety and the safety of those around them. Sounds great in theory, but what about when you have 150 employees on five different jobsites and superinten-dents with three distinctly different lead-ership styles? Or, how about, as with Company B (where they don’t compro-mise on safety and won’t perform the task until it’s completely safe), with 4,000 employees worldwide? Transforming your culture isn’t as difficult as you may think. Again, it all starts with the CEO and senior leader-ship’s commitment to sending every em-ployee home in the same, or better, con-dition than which they arrived, and ex-hibiting that commitment to all employ-ees. That causes a trickle-down effect - regional managers and superintendents see this commitment to safety as the core value and, regardless of leadership style, begin to use it with their crews. Focus re-wards not on the number of hours worked without a lost-time incident, but individuals who stopped work when they recognized a hazard or who helped a fel-low employee safely tie off. In short, ev-eryone is responsible for - and account-able to - each other. Take the Alcoa example; when Paul O’Neill (who would later become Trea-sury Secretary under President George W. Bush) took over as CEO in 1987, he stated unequivocally that his core value was a zero-injury workplace. He needed to change the culture.

Because of O’Neill, the automatic routine at Alcoa became that, for any in-jury, the unit president had to report it to the CEO directly within 24 hours and present a plan to ensure that the type of injury never occurred again. If you em-braced the system, you were promoted. Floor employees became supervisors; su-pervisors became directors; directors be-came vice presidents - if they committed to zero injuries and embraced the routine of making sure you learned everything possible from them to prevent them in the future. What happened next was astonish-ing - not only did Alcoa’s safety program change from reactive to proactive, but its entire culture shifted - the keystone safe-ty habits O’Neill instituted built new cor-porate habits that streamlined the com-pany’s manufacturing process and in-creased profits (and employee salaries). Transforming a safety culture from one where safety is a priority to one where safety is THE core value doesn’t have to be difficult; it just takes commit-ment and instilling the importance that each team member not only performs their duties safely, but also watches out for their coworkers. It’s about creating a sense of family, building relationships among our employees so that everyone understands that safety isn’t about the individual, but the people and our fami-lies that we work and live with. It’s an in-terdependent effort, and one that, as we’ve seen in the examples above, can be achieved no matter the company’s size. –cw

Safety records affect profits

Kraig Kyle, CSP, CHST, CHSP, Vice PresidentCORE Safety GroupIrving, TX

How does construction safety impact a company? With over $55 billion spent annually in disabling workplace injuries and illnesses, workplace safety prac-

tices have a tremendous impact, both morally and financially, on organizations within the construction industry. In today’s competitive market, organizations are seeing prof-it margins shrink and are seeking ways to reduce cost and improve their bottom line.

Our clients have recognized that, by implementing an effective zero accident culture, they have been able to influence their worker’s compensation premiums, reduce turnover and related overhead cost, ultimately increasing profitability, and creating a differentiator between them and their competitors.

How important is a good safety record in the construction industry? A good safety record is not only cru-

cial in remaining profitable, but also in remaining competitive. The majority of construction projects are bid versus ne-gotiated, and when you consider that la-bor cost makes up approximately 40% of all construction cost, worker’s compensa-tion premiums between contractors can vary by as much 2% of the construction value. Bearing in mind that most con-struction companies are fortunate to make 5% OH&P on most projects, 2% be-comes a major factor in whether or not a

company can contend with their compet-itors. Additionally, with changes to indem-nification law and adjustments being made to insurance endorsements, more owners and general contractors are mov-ing to wrap-up insurance programs to eliminate cross litigation and also take ad-vantage of the financial benefits of run-ning a safe project. Accordingly, they are establishing stringent pre-qualification safety require-ments and are taking a closer look at the safety culture of contractors before issu-ing contracts.

What are ways to reduce risk? There are numerous ways to identify and reduce risk, but we like to start off by conducting an assessment of our clients’ safety management and loss control practices. The assessment focuses on a variety of measurements that not only identifies and evaluates areas of non-compliance and risk, but also determines if their current program policies are be-ing effectively implemented or even practical. Additionally, the assessment provides a benchmark for how the orga-nization is performing as compared to federal regulations and best manage-

ment practices commonly used within the industry. We can then use this assess-ment to determine the best approach to-wards reducing their exposures.

Does an increase in the volume of con-struction affect safety? The construction industry is current-ly booming across many portions of the United States and abroad, which is great news. However, construction organiza-tions are now faced with another chal-lenge; finding enough skilled workers to keep up with industry demands. This brings forth concerns and risk for em-ployers who may hire employees with less experience and lack the time neces-sary to train employees on critical safety procedures. Additionally, enforcing safety re-quirements can become a challenge for employers. In scenarios where disciplin-ary action would typically call for sus-pending or removing the individual, the lack of skilled labor to replace that indi-vidual can make this decision much more difficult, particularly when faced with completion deadlines. CORE Safety Group is a safety consult-ing group with an emphasis on providing safety and loss control services to the con-struction industry. –mjm

Total Costof Accident 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%

Profit Margins

$1,000 $5,000 $10,000 $25,000 $100,000

$100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000 $2,500,000 $10,000,000

$50,000 $250,000 $500,000 $1,250,000 $5,000,000

$33,000 $167,000 $333,000 $833,000 $3,333,000

$25,000 $125,000 $250,000 $625,000 $2,500,000

$20,000 $100,000 $200,000 $500,000 $2,000,000


Construction Safety

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Construction Education

Partners in safety

Jon Marek,Account Manager

andCasey Wenzel,

Regional ManagerMEMCO

San Antonio and Houston, TX

Safety on the job is always a priority. If you’re a contractor, every employee’s safety is your responsibility. But what happens when your employee comes from a staff-

ing company? The answer is that his or her safety and job-specific training is still your responsibility; however, you have a partner in the employee-protection process.

Marek Wenzel

Marek Employment Management Company, known as MEMCO, provides skilled tradesmen/semi-skilled workers and unskilled labor for a wide variety of commercial construction companies. Along with local OSHA representative Raul Carrillo, Jon Marek, manager for MEMCO in San Antonio, helped establish a partnership between MEMCO and OSHA through the safety administra-tion’s alliance program. Marek cites excerpts from a docu-ment available at OSHA’s website, “Rec-ommended Practices: Protecting Tempo-rary Workers” with guidelines for the re-sponsibilities regarding a contractor and staffing company:

“Staffing agencies should provide general safety and health training appli-cable to different occupational settings, and the host employers provide specific training tailored to the particular hazards at their workplaces.”

“Host employers should provide tem-porary workers with safety training that is identical or equivalent to that provided to the host employers’ own employees per-forming the same or similar work.”

“Staffing agencies need not become experts on specific workplace hazards, but should determine what conditions exist at the worksite, what hazards may

be encountered, and how to best ensure protection for the temporary workers.”

“The supervising employer is re-quired to set up a method for employees to report work-related injuries and ill-nesses promptly and must inform each employee how to report work-related in-juries and illnesses.”

While the staffing company is the primary employer on paper, the contrac-tor client is still the supervising employer. Marek, who believes most injuries are preventable, equates MEMCO’s role to being like an HR and risk management team. In this joint-venture employment structure, when an employee is injured on the job, MEMCO will respond to the injury, specifically MEMCO employees Marek and David Musquiz, who both have their OSHA 30. They act as the em-ployee rep, and they will handle the inju-ry for their client. MEMCO and their client each records the injury. To promote safety in the industry, MEMCO’s San Antonio facility recently added a classroom where they have al-ready hosted OSHA training classes. Marek explains the goal is to have a vari-ety of inexpensive training opportunities throughout the year. He notes that this gives associations such as the Hispanic Contractors Association (HCA) and Amer-ican Subcontractors Association (ASA) an

additional location to hold their OSHA/Educational classes. Some of MEMCO’s clients don’t have a facility to do their in-house training, and they will now be able to use the new classroom. Regarding the benefits of the alli-ance with OSHA, Casey Wenzel, MEMCO’s Houston-based regional manager, ex-plains, “Establishing a personal relation-ship with the local OSHA representative gives us great access to information, and having a relationship with OSHA prior to a jobsite inspection, we already have a rapport. So, there is a comfort level, and this is a great benefit to our customers, who are ultimately the responsible party. “It’s all about cooperation. Construc-tion is obviously a high-risk industry, and there are a lot of misconceptions out there with regard to responsibility of temporary employees’ safety on a job-site. Regardless of whether the employee is permanent or temporary, that employ-ee is the responsibility of the supervising contractor – and as a staffing company, it’s our responsibility to make sure our customers are providing the appropriate training and equipment, and to help pro-vide guidance when needed. “Ultimately, the safety of our em-ployees depends on our customer. If we can help our customers establish a safer worksite, we can help keep costs down, keep breadwinners providing for their family, and hopefully better the industry as a whole.” –mh

Never let your guard down

Francisco “Paco” Guajardo, Safety Director,Millard Drywall & Acoustical ConstructionAustin, TX

What sparked your interest to work as a safety director, Paco?

I worked for many years as a superin-tendent. During that time I got to see my share of accidents that happen to mostly Hispanic workers. At that time there was very little training specifically done for our Spanish speaking workers. Even now, Spanish workers are more vulnerable if they can’t understand safe-ty instructions. When I was offered the job as safety director for Millard Drywall & Acoustical Construction, I jumped at the opportuni-ty. Vice President Jim Millard was enthu-siastic and committed to implementing a better safety program that would make a difference for his employees.

What are your daily responsibilities as safety director? I am responsible for promoting and

managing our company’s safety pro-gram. I spend a good amount of my time doing site visits making sure our crews are protected from any risk of injury.

What is rewarding about your job to-day? I get a lot of support from my admin-istration. What a big difference that makes when I need to request spending on safety equipment. Our crews are very receptive to my site visit. They know I am there looking out for their safety. I tell them, “the way you left for family and home this morn-ing, that’s the way I want you to return – safe and sound.” I really enjoy getting up in the morn-ing and going to work. I feel like I make a difference.

How have you seen construction safe-ty improve over the years? I have noticed more training tools and many of these written in different languages, which reflects our diversity in our work force. Even some of our suppli-ers offer safety training.

What are the major risks in construc-tion? We all know that the construction in-dustry accounts for the largest number of fatalities due to falls, electrocutions … the list goes on. So it’s extremely important to drive home to our workers that safety always comes first. Never let your guard down!

Does Millard Drywall & Acoustical Construction have construction safety classes? Yes, we recently had a fall protection class. The class took place because, as a growing company, we felt the need for our workers to have continuing educa-tion on fall protection as a part of our safety program. All of our workers are re-quired to have a working knowledge of safe use of fall protection equipment and systems.

What did the foreman learn during the

class? All of our foremen had to wear their harnesses in order for the trainer to ob-serve and show if the harness user was wearing it properly. The foremen were then lifted off the ground enough to have their feet dan-gling, using a large metal tripod and were taught how to adjust the leg straps of the harness to be able to sit properly in the harness to wait to be rescued. This is key because if at the event a person falls and has a harness and does not adjust the leg straps properly, that person is only left with 15-20 minutes to be rescued. Whereas a person who properly re-adjusts the harness to be sitting on it in-stead of dangling is given more time, two hours of rescue time. When sitting in the harness, you are allowed more blood flow to the legs, where in hanging the leg straps of the harness cut off blood flow and because of that it does not circulate to the rest of the body properly.

What is on the horizon for construc-tion safety? I believe we are going in the right di-rection. There is more online training on different safety subjects, but you cannot ever replace a classroom setting. –ab


Association CalendarContent submitted by Associations to Construction News

AIA - DallasAmerican Institute of Architects

Feb. 18: AIA/CSI UTA Building Science EXPO, UTA School of Architecture, 601W. Nedderman Dr., Arlington, 12:30-9pm

AIA - Fort WorthAmerican Institute of Architects


APWAAmerican Public Works Association

Feb. 8-10: Texas Annual Public Works Short Course 2015 Conference, New Braunfels Civic and Conference Center, Courtyard New Braunfels River Village.

ASCEAmerican Society of Civil Engineers

Feb. 7: 90th Anniversary Casino Night Celebration, Brookhaven Country Club, 3333 Golfing Green Drive, Dallas, 6:30-11pmFeb. 24: 8th Annual TSPE E-Week Awards Luncheon, Plano Centre, 2000 East Spring Creek, Plano, 11:30am-1:30 pm

ASA North TexasAmerican Subcontractors Association

Feb. 12: ASA/TEXO Top Golf Tourna-ment, Top Golf at the Colony, 3760 Blair Oaks Drive, 6-9pm.Feb. 26: Monthly lunch meeting, Las Co-linas Country Club, 11:30 am for BPI Meet-ing, 12 pm lunch and program.

ASSEAmerican Society of Safety Engineers

Feb. 23: 42nd Annual Professional Devel-opment Conference of the Southwest Chapter, T. Boone Pickens Training and Conference Center, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Dallas.

CFMAConstruction Financial Mgmt Assn.

Feb. 19: Membership meeting, Hackber-ry Country Club, 1901 West Royal Lane, Irving, 11:30am

CSI – DallasConstruction Specifications Institute


CSI – Fort WorthConstruction Specifications Institute


ICRI - NTInt’l Concrete Repair Institute

Feb. 12: Membership meeting, The new Dave and Buster’s, 9450 N. Central Ex-pressway, Dallas, 11am

NARINat’l Assn. of the Remodeling Industry

Feb. 10: Meeting, Arizona Tile, 2701 Re-gent Blvd. #100, DFW Airport, 6-8pm

NAWIC - DallasNat’l Assn. of Women in Construction

Feb. 16: Dinner meeting, MCM Elegante Hotel, 2330 West Northwest Highway, Dallas, 5pm networking, 5:30pm registra-tion, 6pm dinner and program

NTRCAN. Tx Roofing Contractors Assn.

Feb. 14: Annual Awards Banquet, Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas, 221 E. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving, 6-11pm

PMI – DallasProject Management Institute

Feb. 12: Dinner meeting, Crowne Plaza North Dallas/Addison, 14315 Midway Road, Addison, 6:30pm

RHCARegional Hispanic Contractors Assn.

Feb. 27: 8th Annual Pillar Awards Break-fast, Omni Dallas Hotel, 555 South Lamar Street, Dallas, 7-9:30am

TEXOThe Construction Association

Feb. 9-10: ABC Legislative DayFeb. 12: ASA/TEXO Top Golf Tourna-ment, Top Golf at the Colony, 3760 Blair Oaks Drive, 6-9pm

TSPE - Fort WorthTexas Society of Professional Engineers

Feb. 17: E-Week Banquet, Ridglea Coun-try Club, 3700 Bernie Anderson Avenue, Fort Worth, 12-2pm

3010 LBJ Freeway, Suite 920, Dallas, TX 75234-2750

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Driven to pourConstruction News JOB SIGHT

Cowtown Redi Mix Concrete workers show good form as they pour a Fort Worth Baptist Church’s driveway, one of many projects that are part of a two-mile swath of

development on Rosedale St. near Texas Wesleyan University. Cowtown Concrete paving foreman Billy Hawkins and Fort Worth general contractor Jackson Construction oversee the project, which will be completed in March. –mjm

Tan paint, perhaps?Construction News JOB SIGHT

Painter Chris Carroll of Lewis Painting in Euless prepares to put another coat ona canopy above a tanning salon on 7th Street in Fort Worth. –mjm

TEPCO Contract Glazing’s apprentice glazer Luis Tristan waves from his perch at the Park Hill Surgery Center in Fort Worth. The 55,000-sf building, which also

includes office space, will open in February. Adolfson & Peterson serves as general contractor on the project. –mjm

TEP-topConstruction News JOB SIGHT


continued from Page 1 — Check our new website

continued from Page 1 — Up on the roof

Archi-toy-cture

continued from Page 1 — West was best

“It worked out well,” Lance says. “We’re able to buy material in bulk. The guys can come here and get stuff rather than making a run to a supply store. We can also do maintenance on our own equipment here. This is the best thing we’ve ever done.” The consolidation of the office and yard has financially streamlined the op-

eration as well. “We’re not throwing away money on rent,“ says Ryan. “And, we’ll have some-thing to sell in the future.” Commercial concrete contractor Con-Scape Inc. specializes in industrial and ma-chine pits and architectural, decorative and stamped concrete. –mjm

Adults squealed, “I used to play with one just like that!” Teens with “can you believe they played with that?”

looks on their faces whipped out cell phones to take photos. Children played at tables in the “construction zone,” building the next Guggenheim out of wooden blocks or LEGOS. All ages learned how ar-chitecture has influenced childhood at “Come Play @DCFA: Building Toys.” Hosted Jan. 17 at the American Insti-tute of Architecture’s Dallas Center for Architecture, visitors examined a toy timeline showing how our fantasies have been built throughout time. On display were vintage and modern toys, including the familiar Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Erector Sets and Barbie Dream Houses, as well as the unfamiliar Eames House of Cards, AstroBrite and Girder and Panel Sets. –mjm

James A. Ruff of LEMCO Construction Services, seen here with a K’NEX ferris wheel,was a docent at the event.

A ‘construction zone’ was designated for kids to build using wooden blocks and LEGOS.

would be putting on them.” Once the building was deemed structurally sound, the parking lot was constructed. In 2006 and again in 2010, Speed Fab-Crete had performed this task on buildings adjacent to the BMW dealer-ship, connecting the two buildings with skybridges and outfitting the first with a ramp. A skybridge now also connects the BMW dealership’s rooftop parking lot to these two neighboring buildings, result-ing in the three buildings being connect-ed by bridges. The dealership is now able to drive a car up the first building’s ramp and end up parking it at the BMW dealer-ship. With function in place, form was the focus; dealership owner John Chase envi-sioned the addition of a European-in-spired clock tower. Architectural firm Cal-lahan & Freeman designed the 43-ft. tall tower with an analog clock that could be illuminated at night. “Basically, it’s a steel structure that is mounted to the top of the building. We built the structural steel skeleton of the clock and then put a stucco veneer on it,” Hanzik says. “We thought it was a neat ar-chitectural feature.” Despite extensive construction, the dealership remained open. “Fortunately, there are a lot of back streets there and we were able to stage the majority of this project coming off the back of the building,” Hanzik says. “That’s how we stayed out of Autobahn’s way most of the time. The only time we couldn’t was when we had a big crane out there and had to clear cars out and move people around. But, other than the

noise they’d occasionally hear, we were pretty much out of their way. They de-serve kudos for being able to work around our construction without missing a beat.” Hanzik also commends Autobahn Motor Group for seeking out an efficient way to increase their square footage. “I think they’re good stewards of the land,” he says. “They could have bought more land, tore down buildings to put down big parking lots if they wanted to, but they were conscientious of the look of the dealership and of the neighbor-hood. This was an opportunity to utilize existing space and be creative in their uti-lization.” The six-month, 26,250-sf project was completed in December 2014. The rela-tionship between Speed Fab-Crete and Autobahn Motor Group, however, was far from finished. “About the time we finished it up, Mr. Chase called me and said, ‘Hey, we have two buildings left that don’t have roof parking; we’d better start looking at them!’” Hanzik says with a laugh. “So now we’re looking at the adjacent Volvo and the Jaguar dealerships. “It was a fun project,” Hanzik contin-ues. “I feel privileged to work for the Au-tobahn Motor Group and I just really ap-preciate their knowledge of construction and input. We’re a great team and it’s a wonderful relationship.” Fort Worth-based Speed Fab-Crete is a design/build general contractor and pre-cast concrete manufacturer. –mjm

And speaking of searching, don’t worry – we’ve included a nice search function that will allow you to find exact-ly that story or photo you remember see-ing, but can’t quite remember when, in one of our local editions.

So, jump in and start exploring. Let us know what you think. As always, con-tact us with your questions, comments and suggestions – you can find that infor-mation under the “contact us” tab right at the top.

A 78-year old veteran whose roof was on the verge of collapse and an elderly disabled woman whose

unlivable home was plagued with leaks both started 2015 with safer homes, thanks to a yearly tradition started by lo-cal roofers. Members of the North Texas Roofing Contractors Association (NTRCA), working with Midwest Roofing Contrac-

New year, new roofs

tors Association and Rebuilding Together, donated materials, labor and funds to put new roofs on the two South Dallas homes. The NTRCA annually adopts homes to re-roof as part of the association’s yearly community project; this year’s project was led by AJ Huckaby, NTRCA presi-dent-elect and owner of Springtree Roof-ing and Restoration. –mjm

This home was one of two adopted by the NTRCA for a much-needed roof makeover.


The guest list was easy. So was choos-ing the party food. What wasn’t so simple was finding a way to get the

birthday boy, Clem Lesch, PCL Contract Bonding Agency, to his surprise 70th birthday party at the Knights of Colum-bus Hall in Farmers Branch. This came up, then that, leaving some to wonder aloud if Lesch would have to be told about the scheme just to get him there. Finally, a friend called him

Surprise!

L-R: SureTec’s John Knox ribs PCL’s Clem Lesch about an old report card from the

birthday boy’s childhood.

L-R: Striland Construction’s Gina Strieker, PCL’s Pauline Lesch and Striland

Construction’s Traci Strieker

L-R: Tri Dal Ltd. Rick Muller, PCL’s Eric Lesch with Tri Dal Ltd.’s Tim Mullkin and Doug McNabb

L-R: PCL’s Lisa Borhaug, Trenae Donovanand Jennifer Picchi

pleading that he had a crisis only Lesch could solve, and could they meet for a drink at the hall to discuss it? Ever the pal, Lesch came to the res-cue, and, unwittingly, to a party where more than 50 of his friends, clients and family were waiting to give him the sur-prise of his life. –mjm

Toyota has officially moved to Plano, where on Jan. 20, a 2015 TRD Pro Series Tundrawas rigged with a plow to break ground on the site of Toyota’s $350 million campus.

The North American headquarters, which will be stationed at the intersection of Headquarters Drive and Palomino Crossing, will be designed by architect Corgan

Associates and overseen by developer KDC and project manager JLL. –mjm

They’ve moved forward!

Make a wish!


Every day is Valentine’s Day for these construction couples who love working together! One couple has only just begun, others have a few years under their belts, and some have celebrated milestone anniver-saries, but all of them show how to make love work! –mjm

Office romance

Jackie and Steve HumphreyHumphrey & Associates

Married 53 years

“Steve commissioned this painting by well-known Texas artist James Spurlock to celebrate our 53rd wedding

anniversary,” says Jackie

Humphrey. “All of these pictures were taken since

we’ve been in business except

the wedding picture. In fact,

the Hawaii picture was at an ABC

Convention and the lower right ski picture was with

the Dallas Ski Club in Snowmass, CO on a trip with an architect friend.”

Bobby and Diana TutorTutor Electrical Service

Married 31 years

Melissa and Eric LeschPCL Contract Bonding Agency

Married 15 years

Willie and Elva FonsecaWillie’s Stone Supply

Married 17 years

Casey (Potter Concrete) andTony Troxclair (Buyers Barricades)

Newlyweds

Steve and Shelba Buyers

Buyers BarricadesMarried 11 years

Aaron and Renee GilmoreFiremans Contractors

Married 19 years

Gretchen and Charles HalfmannConScape Inc.

Married 47 years

Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News February 2016

Documents

Transcript of Dallas/Fort Worth Construction News February 2016