All posts by dean

About dean

Metal building erector and contractor in South Florida since 1985. Owner of Commercial Metal Building Services Corp. and Tailgate Technology. Pushing the boundaries of available technology to complement the best metal building erection crews in the business.

Swiping Your Cash

Since beginning the process of developing an iPhone application for documenting construction field time sheets, I began regularly discussing, with fellow contractors, how they record time on the jobsite. I get varied responses ranging from scattered notes in legal pads to sophisticated ID and Chip swiping systems. Some have actually told me that they do not keep or record time at all. Most recently another erector told me that he uses one of the key systems whereby the employees scan their key into a reader at the jobsite and all their payroll hours are remotely collected with time and location data.

It is a tempting proposition. Assemble an army of drones, slap a GPS chip on them, send them out daily and start billing your customers for their time. Every business minded tradesman’s dream. Continue reading Swiping Your Cash

Documenting Equipment Inspections

It’s So Hard

One of the most tedious and generally neglected field documentation responsibilities on a construction site is equipment inspection documentation. OSHA 1926.601(b)(14) states:

All vehicles in use shall be checked at the beginning of each shift to assure that the following parts, equipment, and accessories are in safe operating condition and free of apparent damage that could cause failure while in use:…”

Continue reading Documenting Equipment Inspections

Harder than it should be

Field Documentation

Field documentation of a construction crew is a daunting challenge. Every contractor I’ve ever discussed this with has had the same defeatist attitude. They’ll shake their heads, throw up their arms and say it’s a lost cause. Worse are those that don’t even give  it much thought, not worth the trouble I suppose is what they believe. Continue reading Harder than it should be

CrewKeeper 1.13

Another new version uploaded, you can get it here.

This is mostly bug fixes and still working out some kinks as a result of changes in the new iOS7 update.

The app has a completely different look. While I was quite settled with its appearance in iOS6, this lighter styling is growing on me. I think that it suits the iOS7 aesthetic and is an improvement overall.