Things To Do In SW Florida

Owning a construction business has its costs, especially with materials and labor costs rising each year. It’s important for a contractor to try and lower construction costs as much as possible in order to make a profit. Some costs are out of one’s control, but there are other costs that could be reduced, and there could be other things you didn’t even know you were spending too much money on. It’s always good to reevaluate your costs often to find places where you can save.

There’s always a way to lower costs. Below, we wanted to share with you some ways you can save and lower your construction costs.

• Do more things through automation. Automation can reduce errors and improve efficiency. Automation will help a company reduce overhead costs. It will allow your team to accomplish more tasks and at a faster pace while cutting back on the number of errors that occur. You can automate submittals, budgeting, and more.
• Invest in a document management system. There are many documents needed in the construction world and going digital will reduce administrative costs. Going digital also helps improve efficiency. The document management system can even generate reports to show you where you can cut costs
• Keep up with and get the latest technology. Mobile apps and tools can help you monitor and track time, projects, tools, equipment, and more. Through technology, you can be more efficient and lose less money and profits by keeping better track of things.

Look for ways to optimize and improve on your processes and this will ultimately help you reduce costs over time.

How to Get Your Contractor’s License

Ready to be part of the contracting industry? You’ll need a license. As a Florida contractor licensing company, we can help you get one. We have helped thousands of contractors across the United States get their contractor license. read more

You may be talented, experienced, and skilled, but if you work in the state of Florida as a contractor without a license, you could be fined and arrested on misdemeanor or felony charges. It is illegal to work as a contractor unlicensed in Florida and many other states. In fact, it is a criminal offense to work in Florida as a contractor without the proper license.

In Florida, there are nine ways you can get in trouble (or get caught) for working without a license. You only need to be caught and found guilty of one of the following to be convicted.

1. You falsely say or your company is licensed, when your/it are not.
2. You pretend to be a certificate holder or registrant of a license.
3. You present someone else’s certificate or registrations.
4. You give false or forged evidence to the Contractor Licensing Board of having a license when you don’t.
5. You use and work under a certificate or registration that has been suspended or revoked.
6. You operate a contracting business after 60 days of termination.
7. You perform work that requires a building permit without the getting a building permit.
8. You disregard or violate municipal or county ordinances related to uncertified/unregistered licenses.
9. You advertise yourself or business as an available registered contractor when you are not.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) gives contractors a certificate of competency to contractors who earn it in Florida. A registration in Florida is a registration with the DBPR in accordance with Florida statues.

If found guilty of unlicensed contracting work in Florida, a person is usually charged with a first-degree misdemeanor – penalties of up to one year of probation or prison and a $1,000 fine.

If the unlicensed contractor has been convicted before, he/she could be charged with a third-degree felony. This felony has penalties of up to five years in prison or probation and a $5,000 fine, and court-ordered restitution when the victim claims the work performed was sub-par and caused a loss of some sort due to the contractor being unlicensed. read more

The construction industry has continued to grow in recent years with more work popping up left and right. With more work, there’s more companies bidding to win jobs. Unfortunately, a construction company isn’t going to win every bid they put in, especially when there’s a lot of competition.

There are many reasons why a company can lose a construction bid. It’s important for a company to try and learn why it’s lost a bid so it can grow from its shortcomings and begin to win more bids more often.

We wanted to share with you some reasons why a company may have lost a bid at a construction job:

• The company didn’t understand the scope of work, which means the company didn’t deliver proper tasks or deadlines in the proposal. To remedy this in the future, always ask questions to clarify something about the project that you don’t understand.
• The bid price wasn’t right for the client. You don’t want to overbid, underbid, or misquote. To give the best bid, focus on accurately pricing your services/materials based on the client’s scope of work.
• The company didn’t explain costs. Construction costs continue to rise, so you may need to explain why your bid is what it is. Labor has gone up. Materials have gone up. Break down costs and explain them to the client so they won’t just dismiss your bid.
• The company didn’t show experience. Show your credentials! Your experience is proof you know what you’re doing. Show it off to the potential client. Remember, bid for projects you do have experience for, so you won’t take something on you cannot handle.
• The company had poor or mediocre references. If a potential client contents a reference, you doesn’t speak of you highly, you likely won’t win the bid. Choose quality, great references to give to the client, because clients who are anything less won’t help your cause.
• The company has a poor safety record. For the future, implement better safety protocols and plans to educate employees so less accidents and mishaps occur.
• The company left out important information. The bid must be complete. If documents and other info is missing, you likely won’t be considered.
• The company sent the bid in late. Tardiness will be a red flag for a client. If you’re late with a proposal, you may be late with everything else.

By working on the above points, you will put yourself in a position to win a better bid.

Looking to get a Contractor License?

If you want to be part of an ever-growing and changing field, we can help get you licensed. You need a contractor license to practice legally in most states.

As a Florida contractor licensing company, we have helped thousands of contractors across the United States get their contractor license. To get your contractor license, click our contractor license page to learn more or call 239-777-1028 to get started on your contractor license application. read more

Time is so important on construction jobs – so much depends on it. Problems and setbacks can pop up at any time. Fortunately, with the help of technology, some problems can be a thing of the past.  Technology and digital tools can help our construction teams be more productive and help move along the flow of a project.

Here are some ways in which technology can help boost productivity on any construction job:

• Virtual reality can help contractors see what a job will look like once it’s finished – this gives everyone a lot of insight into the project. You can see potential flaws or problems ahead of time. You can even show the client the finished project through VR. You can get changes and comments early on before you even begin construction.
• Construction project software allows everyone to be in communication throughout the entire project and to see what stage the project is in. All updates and progress are shown in real time. You can schedule meetings, post updates, check on progress, and more.
• Business information modeling software (BIM) gathers information to show a visual of the project. You can determine all your resources and time needed through this software.
• GPS technologies let contractors know how well and how much subcontractors are working so there is no need to clock in.
• There are apps with automated payroll features to easily pay workers.
• Artificial intelligence can help process data and transform it into blueprints and plans. AI can give tasks to other people if people are missing from a project, as well, so the project doesn’t get disrupted.

By using these technologies, a contractor can boost productivity and efficiency in the work place. As technology improves, our projects will have faster turnaround times.

Want to work with the latest technology in an ever-growing field? Get your contractor’s license. As a contractor licensing company, we have helped thousands of contractors get their contractor license in Florida and in other states, and we want to help you too. First you provide us with some basic info on your skills, background, testing, education, and other info. Then, we will fill out all the paperwork and submit it to the Board on your behalf to get you approved. read more

Mistakes happen – in all aspects of life. Unfortunately, in the world of business, certain mistakes can be costly. Mistakes can also trickle into other areas of a project or business and create even more mistakes or problems. With many moving parts, mistakes are basically inevitable in the construction industry. Since mistakes are unavoidable, a contractor’s best bet is to be prepared and to have plans in place for when mistakes do occur.

With a mistake-plan in place, mistakes can be addressed and fixed faster, which means the company will not lose out as much (money wise) and the project can be finished on time still.

Below, we wanted to share with you some things to have as part of your mistake-plan that will help you recover faster if you unfortunately encounter a mistake or two on a project.

• Admit to the mistake so no time is wasted on figuring out how or why it occurred. The faster you admit responsibility, the faster the problem can be fixed. If it wasn’t you or your team, figure out who made the mistake as quick as possible.
• Document all mistakes. You want to remember what the issue was so it can be avoided in the future with the same or different project.
• Be open and honest about the mistake. Let everyone on the team know about a mistake and how it will affect the project. If everyone understands the mistake, it is less likely to happen again.
• Create a schedule to fix the mistake, if it can’t be immediately fixed.
• Do a project risk assessment. You want to make sure every step was properly taken to fix the situation.

For the future, you should create policies to help avoid future mistakes. Whether you use better tools, use better technology, use more automation, or find a better way to communicate, adopt things into your business that will help lower the number of mistakes that occur. read more