Blogs

Construction Professionals Continuing Education In-Person Class: Key Takeaways

By Ken Lambert, CSI posted 5 days ago
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Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Ken Lambert, Director of Industry Development and Technical Services for the International Masonry Institute. He can be reached at  klambert@imiweb.org . If you have an idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the construction industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  Pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts. Recently, I attended a six-hour in-person continuing education class for my state’s Construction Supervisors license renewal. Here are some interesting takeaways from the experience: Given the past nine months of partial shutdowns, ...
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Happy 2021—Three New Year’s Resolutions to Supercharge Your Career

By Peter Kray posted 18 days ago
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Happy New Year! Here’s hoping you are comfortably celebrating the end of 2020 and looking forward to a fresh start in 2021. As we press fast forward from a year of uncertainty and upheaval to one filled with new promise and opportunity, the CSI Team wanted to suggest three key ways you can expand your professional community, supercharge your career, and hone your public image in the New Year. #1) Volunteer Giving back to your professional association is rewarding, and helps you get to know your CSI community more deeply. Not only will you gain new knowledge and skills, but you are able to share your own expertise. Besides bragging rights that your volunteerism ...
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COVID-19 and the Holidays: Timely Tips for the New Year

By Billy Mathis, FCSI, CDT posted 25 days ago
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I was reminded by a good friend and co-worker that we humans need to learn from our experiences. As he put it “Experience is THE best Teacher.” However, multigenerational remembrance is something we are not good at. If we were, the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918 should have taught the world a valuable lesson. It did for the next two or three generations, but the subsequent generations failed to heed the lessons learned back then since it hasn’t happened in their span of their collective memory. Because of this we have repeated many of the same mistakes.  With at least 50 million dead worldwide, you would think that we could at least have protocols in place ...
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College of Fellows Update – A Christmas Wish from the Chancellor

By Casey Robb, FCSI, Lifetime Member, CCPR, CDT, LEED AP, LEED GA posted 27 days ago
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As the Holiday Season is upon us, we all find ourselves reflecting on the past year and those who have helped us through the chaos. Many have suffered unprecedented difficulties. We also reflect on those who have helped shape our business in new ways to meet these challenges, to mentor others and to re-shape our professional journey. Fellowship in CSI is a significant recognition, celebrating those who serve at the highest levels, who make significant contributions in many ways…! Unfortunately, this year's Class of 2020 got the "virtual" treatment for their annual Celebration. Although it was the best possible alternative, they deserve further celebration and ...
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The Best Holiday Gifts for AECO Industry Professionals

By Peter Kray posted 28 days ago
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The CSI Community and CSI Blogs/News are your go-to resources to connect with other construction industry professionals, keep up on current events, and even share some more interesting information about yourself. In a post last week, Community Members were asked, “It's the holiday season, and presents will be exchanged. What do you think is the perfect gift for an AECO industry professional?” Read all of the replies, and share your thoughts on holiday gifts for the industry. https://www.csiresources.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?GroupId=85&MessageKey=60c5a63f-3fd3-4928-af7a-354f8a987383&CommunityKey=80c3b4dd-0d3f-4d4e-90f2-3bc6e4135dc2&tab=digestviewer&ReturnUrl=%2fbrowse%2fallrecentposts ...
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New Year, New Change Order Member Newsletter Format

By CSI Chicago Chapter posted 12-16-2020
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New Year, New Change Order Member Newsletter Format Written by: Brad Schwab, CSI CDT | CSI Chicago Chapter President Happy New Year!  CSI Chicago is looking forward to another successful year of advancing the greater Chicago area design and construction community’s knowledge of building information management, construction technology, and project delivery methods to improve facility performance while fostering relationships and promoting education.   2020 was an unprecedented year that required the Chapter to pivot quickly and increase our utilization of digital technology in all of our initiatives. 2020 pushed every committee to assess their offerings, ...
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2020 Virtual Holiday Party & Online Holiday Raffle Big Success

By Beth Winkler posted 12-07-2020
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2020 Virtual Holiday Party & Online Holiday Raffle Big Success Written by: Brad Schwab, CSI, CDT Congratulations to the CSI Chicago Social Committee for thinking out of the box and delivering a successful 2020 Virtual Holiday Party and Online Raffle.   The CSI Chicago virtual holiday party was held on Thursday, December 3, 2020 from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.  35 attendees joined the party via our new Hopin Virtual Event Platform and networked their way through a Holiday Scavenger Hunt for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card.  Member Alan Itzkowitz walked away with the $50 Amazon Gift Card.   The highlight of the evening came at the end when ...
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Shop Drawings and Submittals: Definition, Purpose, and Necessity

By Kevin O'Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT posted 12-01-2020
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Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Kevin O’Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT. If you have an   idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the AECO industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts.   This is the first in a six-part series of blog posts on shop drawings and submittals.  Forthcoming essays in the series will address: the various types of submittals, liability associated with submittal reviews; submittal review stamps; submittals with deviations from contract requirements; and delegated design submittals.   Preparing, ...
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Season’s Greetings!

By Brad Schwab, CSI, CDT posted 12-01-2020
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As you may have noticed, the holiday season is around the corner. I hope that you and your family are safe and in happy holiday spirits!  I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your hard work and dedication to our chapter’s mission during this unprecedented year. We are holding a Virtual Holiday Party via Hopin’ on Thursday, December 03, 2020, from 5 pm CST to 6:30 pm CST. Please dress in your best ugly sweater, so everyone gets into a festive mood. I hope that all our members are able to find the time to come celebrate with us and share some holiday cheer. As part of the holiday festivities, the chapter will be holding an online ...
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Two Current Threads to Follow—and Contribute to—On the CSI-Community Forum

By Peter Kray posted 11-16-2020
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The CSI Community and CSI Blogs/News are your go-to resources to connect with other construction industry professionals, keep up on current events, and even share some more interesting information about yourself. Here are two current conversations you may want to follow right now. 1) Product MasterSpec vs. BSD SpecLink vs. Arcat David Corle, Director, A+D Relations Hospitality & Design Liaison HMI Cardinal posted: Hello design professionals - First, I am so thankful for this community and the open willingness to offer insight and feedback. Thank you in advance, once again. 1. I would like to know what services are typically sourced for finding manufacturers ...
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Board Blog - From the Institute Board - October 2020

By William Sundquist, FCSI posted 11-11-2020
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Board Blog From the Institute Board (VIA Zoom – October 14 & 19, 2020) With the GSR switching from a traditional newsletter to a blog, I am thrilled to write this first GSR Board Blog! The most exciting update I would like to share with you is that Institute while our relationship with BSD has shifted again to the benefit of CSI and its members, our relationship remains strong. For further information please visit: https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/CSIRESOURCES/b00cc178-1ca0-4e36-aeae-82edcd55c99c/UploadedImages/CSI_BSD_Press_Release_Final.pdf Regarding certification, we continue to enhance our offerings and the Board is excited ...
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Let’s Build Attendee Paige Knowles Talks About How the Camp Informed Her Career

By Peter Kray posted 11-10-2020
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Paige Knowles is a recent high school graduate who studied plumbing and heating. While in school she worked as a plumbing apprentice and attended the Let’s Build Construction Camp for girls. She also competed in plumbing competitions where she won several titles. Here , Paige talks about her experience at the Let’s Build Camp, and her goal of being her own boss and spreading awareness about the skilled trades.  How did you first hear about the Let’s Build camp? - My teacher at the tech school I attended introduced the camp to me and a couple of other girls. My sister and I, along with some friends, signed up and got accepted the first year. Why ...
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5 Ways You and Your Team Can Benefit from Using Specs 101

By Matthew Fochs posted 11-02-2020
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Collaboration continues to blur the lines between traditional job roles in the construction process. Specs 101, a new 6-part virtual series brought to you by CSI, identifies the underlying elements of construction specifications and how they coordinate with other construction documentation and the different project team members who write and read them.   Specifications are no longer written only by specifiers. Specs 101 defines how anyone on the project team should write, read, and use specifications throughout the overall project.   Here, CSI Director of Learning, Practice, and Outreach Matt Fochs shares five top ways you and your team can benefit from ...
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Contractor Incentives: The Carrot vs. the Stick

By Kevin O'Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT posted 10-27-2020
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Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Kevin O’Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT. If you have an   idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the AECO industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts. A wry, old joke goes, “ The beatings will continue until morale improves .” No one enjoys being threatened before doing anything wrong, yet construction contracts do this to contractors all the time. Contract clauses intended to discourage certain actions or outcomes are common. Among these are liquidated damages and penalties for late completion, ...
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Returning to Work Part 3: Billy Mathis Asks, ‘Where do We Go from Here?”

By Billy Mathis, FCSI, CDT posted 10-26-2020
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Where do we go from here? In my previous blogs, I discussed what we did in response to the spread of the pandemic, and then to what we were looking at as the “New Norm.” In this third installment, I am going to give you some insight into the daily life of my family. Hopefully this will give you time to think about your daily life and how you will cope with the new environment. To begin with, I must tell you my family and I operate under the premise that at some point we will be exposed to the COVID-19 virus. Whether we catch it or not will depend on many variables, but we are relying on our actions and common sense to help us avoid contracting the disease for ...
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President Message: 5 Innovations CSI Chicago Should Be Thankful For This Holiday Season

By Brad Schwab, CSI, CDT posted 10-22-2020
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As we head into the holiday season during these unprecedented times, I could not be more thankful for our members, partners, and Executive Director’s dedication to our mission to advance the greater Chicago area design and construction communities knowledge of building information management, construction technology, and project delivery methods to improve facility performance while fostering relationships and promoting education.  Our plan to utilize digital technology to drive engagement and connection has not been easy, but everyone has supported the plan wholeheartedly and has not backed down from any of the challenges we have faced.  This has inspired ...
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Built to Poll: Missouri Design Firm Creates Opportunities for New Voters

By Peter Kray posted 10-21-2020
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Voting season can be stressful for everyone. But in Kansas City, Hufft, a locally based fabrication and design firm, is helping create a fun, innovative way to welcome new voters to the political process by partnering with an online restaurant platform to support free Curbside Notary events at favorite local coffee shops and eateries across the state of Missouri. Hufft co-founder Matthew Hufft said he became interested in the initiative after state legislatures passed a law to expand mail-in voting, but with a stipulation that all mail-in ballots must be notarized to count. https://hufft.com “Given the socio-economical impact of this requirement ...
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The Industry Trends in Quality Control & Quality Assurance

By Ken Lambert, CSI posted 10-16-2020
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Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Ken Lambert, Director of Industry Development and Technical Services for the International Masonry Institute. He can be reached at  klambert@imiweb.org . If you have an idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the construction industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  Pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts. Quality control and quality assurance within a construction project is not a new topic or concern, but its importance has been increasingly publicized and formalized over the last few years. Recently, I joined over 100 AECO ...
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Specifying Practices Coordinated is the Fifth “C”

By Kevin O'Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT posted 10-08-2020
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Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Kevin O’Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT. If you have an   idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the AECO industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts. A mantra of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) is that construction specifications should be consistent with “the four C’s”: clear, concise, complete, and correct. It is difficult to argue with any of those. However, I believe a fifth C is also necessary: coordinated . Perhaps the folks who came up with the four C’s intended that ...
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Stronger Together: New Class of Fellows Discuss the Importance of CSI During the Pandemic

By Peter Kray posted 09-30-2020
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The 2020 Class of Fellows, including Alan Mitchell Horne Sr., CSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT ® , AIA, LEED AP, NCARB, USGB; Elias S. Saltz, CSI, CCS, CDT®; Lee Ann M. Slattery, CSI, CDT ® , CCPR, LEED AP BD+C; Robin E. Snyder, Esq, CSI, CCS; and William Sundquist, CSI, will be honored Thursday, November 5 th , during the virtual Honors & Awards Ceremony   Here, they reflect on how being a member of the CSI Community has helped them weather the COVID-19 pandemic and how CSI members and their colleagues continue to support each other.   “During this pandemic, it’s extremely important for people to stay connected, both professionally and personally. Being a ...
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