Her clothes are keeping female construction workers, firefighters and paramedics safe

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When Hurricane Harvey struck Houston in August 2017, Jane Henry, her husband and two young daughters were left stranded in their flooded home.

“Our house was wrecked. We lost our clothes and our cars,” recalls Henry.
Volunteers helped them in the immediate aftermath of the storm. “But after that we were on our own,” she said.
So for the next four months, Henry donned a pair of construction gloves and started filling up dumpsters with debris from inside and around the house.

Mike Holmes: Trends worth building on in 2019.

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When we get to the beginning of a new year, I always like to take some time to think and reflect, not only on my personal life, but on what I see happening in the building industry. As there always are, last year brought lots of changes and developments to the way we approach building. Some of these trends I hope will continue throughout 2019, but admittedly there are a few that I hope stay in 2018. Read more.

2019 Construction Technology Trends & Predications

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Across the construction industry, technology has shifted from a future ideal to a present necessity. Firms are under mounting pressure to deliver qualityprojects under tight budgets and timelines. This has led many firms torealize they must leverage technology as a means of survival in a fast-paced, competitive market. Becoming a technology- and data-driven organization, however, takes much more than simply having a desire and willingness to spend on innovation; Shifting to a tech-enabled organization requires unwavering commitment, core cultural shifts and overhauls in processes, training and resources. Read more.

Corporate Social Responsibility Guide. Download this practical guide to CSR

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Corporate Social Responsibility Guide. Download this practical guide to CSR that includes information checklists and examples on how to start. Read more.

Nova Scotia Building Permits, November 2018

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The value of building permits issued in Nova Scotia increased 13.4 per cent in November, following a (revised) increase of 12.5 per cent in October. Residential permits increased 20.9 per cent while non-residential building permits declined 6.3 per cent. Monthly results for building permits are highly volatile; the six-month moving average of residential permits trended modestly upwards through 2017 and then declined in early 2018. Residential permits have since re-established an upward trend. The non-residential permits’ six-month moving average has remained relatively flat since mid-2017. Read more.

New collaboration to better protect Canadians from the impacts of pyrrhotite in concrete

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A collaborative effort was launched between the National Research Councilof Canada (NRC), the Government of Quebec and Université Laval to find a solution to the problems stemming from the presence of pyrrhotite in concrete. Read more.

What makes tradespeople the happiest workers in the country?

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A recent report says tradespeople are among the happiest workers in the country. About one-thousand skilled trade workers took part in the survey. More than 60 per cent them said they believe they have “really accomplished something worthwhile” through their work — and their work gives them a “sense of success and achievement.” Jon Callegher is the report’s director. He says the findings are important, given the amount of time we spend at our jobs and our individual desire for meaning in life. Here he is in conversation with Up North’s Wendy Bird.

Listen here.

Canadian constructors lagging on data use: professor.

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Canada’s construction sector is seriously lagging in exploiting social media analytics and mining other data sources to improve projects, a Buildings Show workshop audience was told recently. Read more.

Construction industry embraces unlikely source of growth: shifting work off the job site

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With high-capacity gantry cranes overhead, 65,000 sq. ft. of well-lit floor space and products at various stages of completion strung out along a tidy assembly line, PCL Constructors Inc.’s Agile operation in the Toronto suburbs looks more like it’s run by a manufacturer than by one of the country’s largest construction contractors. Read more.

2018 a year of disruption and evolution for construction

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Disruption? Evolution? Either of these two words could describe the changes in the construction industry landscape in 2018. Which word it actually is likely depends where one stakes their claim within the industry itself. Read more.