It's a BIM New World

ABC's First Management Course

Building Information Modeling
The Next Revolution in Design and Construction Technology

Qualified Foreman
Certificate Program
Attention: Foremen, Supervisors, Crew Leaders, and Craft Professionals

This Foreman training course will give participants the core skills they need to succeed!

As a leader, your success is measured by not only your individual contribution, but also by how well you complete tasks with and through others. This 9-session highly interactive education series provides training in the skills every Foreman must have in order to achieve team collaboration and success.

Come hear prominent individuals in the world of design and construction share their insights on the practical application of BIM, its impact on the future of the building industry and the professional and legal issues that arise in a BIM new world!

Associated Builders and Contractors, McGraw-Hill Construction and Zetlin & DeChiara LL in association with AIA present:

Moderators
Michael K. DeChiara, Michael J. Vardaro, partners with Zetlin & DeChiara LLP

Panelists
Peggy Ho, PhD Candidate, LEED AP, Stanford Visiting Fellow to GSA,
National 3D-4D-BIM Program
Jessie Brewer, LEED AP, VP of James B. Pirtle Construction Co., Inc.
John S Vaci, AIA, CSI, member of the American Institute of Architects and the Construction Specification Institute
Dave Droescher, Principal, Morris Architects
Greg Arkin, CADD Centers for Florida - Autodesk 

Some of the Issues Identified Include
How can design firms successfully transition their professionals into using BIM programs?

When should this start taking place?

Will the use of BIM alter applicable standards of care?

Who will have access to the database?

Who will be responsible for managing the data that is entered?

How will the database be protected from damage from unauthorized access?

Date and Time
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Registration, Coffee and Networking
7:00am to 8:00am
Breakfast and Program - 8:00am to 11:00am

Location
Sheraton Suites
Cypress Creek Road (just West of I-95)

For more information, click here to download full flyer and registration form.

For information about this program, contact Norma Whittier at (954) 984-0075 or nwhittier@abceastflorida.com

Benefits for the Progressive Employer:
Pro-Active Solutions for Your Benefit Needs”

Please join others in business for an informal presentation at Gateway Insurance
on Wednesday, September 10th at 8:30 am
for  an informative program to help you design and implement a cost effective benefit package for your employees  assisting you with day to day administration of your policies.
 

For more information and to RSVP please call directly to
(954) 332-1873 Joe Piechura

2008 Beijing Olympics' 'Water Cube':
A Green Architectural Wonder

It looks blue, but it's green. As big, eye-catching Olympics architecture goes, nothing may be as sustainable as the Beijing National Aquatics Center, or Water Cube, the latest cutting-edge building to open on the enormous construction site that is China. Taking the structure of soap bubbles as inspiration (and mimicking nature's way of filling 3-d space most efficiently), PTW Architects and Arup gave the $200 million Cube an elegant, light-weight design: a rectangular box covered in iridescent bubble wrap.

But it does more than look cool. The 100,000 square meters of the Teflon-like translucent plastic ETFE that make up the building's bubble cladding allow in more solar heat than glass, making it easier to heat the building, and resulting in a 30 percent reduction in energy costs. That's especially important for a swimming pool, which requires an enormous amount of heating. (Though the building's ETFE was manufactured abroad, meaning more pollution in construction than would there have been with locally available materials, designers emphasize that the energy savings are substantial, equivalent to covering the roof in solar panels.)

Many people believe Water Cube to be the "fastest" Olympic pool in the world. It is 1 meter deeper than most Olympic pools. Deeper pools reduce the water disturbance, leading to faster swimmers. Coupled with the newly introduced faster Speedo LZR Racer swim suit, it is expected that many records will fall in the Beijing Olympics.

Competitive Swimming

If you have questions about how to get started getting your kids involved in competitive swimming, contact the folks at
Broward Aquatics www.eteamz.com/browardaquatic

Broward Aquatic is committed to helping children develop in the sport of swimming to their fullest potential while instilling in them the importance of Leadership, Hard Work, Duty, Honesty, and Resilience. They have 6 Different levels of swimming ranging from Pre-team, Bronze team, Silver Team, Age Group, Senior Team, Masters Program - something for everyone. Their knowledgeable coaching staff swam themselves and  coached several Olympic Gold Medal Athletes.
 

Contact Coach Rob - (954) 649-4366 - e-mail: robemary@cs.com

or Coach Larry (954) 806-6411 - e-mail: slghtedge@aol.com

  20 Days And It's Over:
  How To Lose Your Construction Lien
   By Daniel Morman, Esquire

A savvy contractor or subcontractor is generally familiar with the steps necessary to properly obtain and record a construction lien. However, most lienors do not know that a statute exists which, if properly exercised, could have their liens discharged and cancelled in twenty days.

Florida Statute § 713.21(4) provides that:

A lien properly perfected under this chapter may be discharged by any of the following methods:

(4) By an order of the circuit court of the county where the property is located, as provided in this subsection. Upon filing a complaint therefore by any interested party the clerk shall issue a summons to the lienor to show cause within 20 days why his or her lien should not be enforced by action or vacated and canceled of record. Upon failure of the lienor to show cause why his or her lien should not be enforced or the lienor's failure to commence such action before the return date of the summons the court shall forthwith order cancellation of the lien.

This applies to all liens properly filed of record – regardless of whether or not the underlying lien itself is valid. Therefore, the owner of the property, or any other person who is deemed to be an “interested party,” can arrange to have a summons issued to the lienor to show cause why the lien should not be enforced. Failure to show cause within the 20 day period will result in a discharge of the lienor’s lien. There is no allowance or an extension of time provided because of excusable neglect or failure to diligently respond.

A recent case arising out of Florida’s First District illustrates application of the statute, and holds that, for the most part, a showing of “good cause” means that the lienor must show that it is in the process of foreclosing the lien. In that case, a contractor filed a claim of lien against a property. The property owners then filed a petition with the court pursuant to Florida Statute § 713.21(4) for an order to show cause and argued that the lien was fraudulent. A summons to show cause was issued directing the lienor to show cause why the lien should not be discharged. The lienor advised the court that it was preparing a suit to enforce its lien, and the court in turn ordered the lienor to file the suit within 20 days from the date of the show cause summons. When the trial court granted an untimely motion for reconsideration filed by the lienor (i.e., a motion filed after the 20 day period expired), the property owner appealed. The appellate court ruled in favor of the property owner. It stated that the lienor “had 20 days from [the date of the summons] in which to either file an action to foreclose its lien or show cause why enforcement should not be commenced.” The court continued by stating that “absent informing the court that a lienor has already taken steps to foreclose its lien, rarely does a circumstance rise to the level of ‘good cause’ to avoid the mandatory 20-day time limit.”

One can argue that strict application of this statute is unfair to unsophisticated lienors who do not have the ability to ramp up a foreclosure proceeding in 20 days. But that argument will apparently fall on deaf ears. The moral is that lienors must act promptly when served with a summons to show cause or run the very real risk that their liens will be discharged.
 

Article Source:  

2. Create a new mail message:

Select the File menu in the upper left hand corner of the program.

Select New/Mail Message .

Type the subject heading that you use for this message.

Type the content that remains the same in the body of the message.

3. Save the message as a template.

Select File/Save As

Give the form a meaningful name such as Personnel Committee agenda.

Select Outlook Template in the Save As file type list, and select Save.

4. Close the original message - do not save it.

2. Open the template created in the steps in Creating the Template.

Select the File menu in the upper left hand corner of the program.

Select New/Choose Form

Use the arrow key to go down to the Personal Forms Library selection in the Look in dropdown menu at the top of the window. The name of the template you created should now show in the window.

Click on the name of the template and click the Open button.

3. Type the recipient into the To: field and add any desired text to the body of the message.

4. Click on Send when complete.

If using Outlook 2003, disable Word as the editing software before making the template. (Tools/Options/Mail Format) and uncheck the box next to Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages. When you are done saving the template, re-enable Word as the editing software.

   Quote of the Month

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.  ~Ovid