Management

WHAT DO AIRLINE tickets and life insurance premiums have in common? The cost for the identical service can vary all over the map. Two unrelated airline passengers sitting next to each other on the same flight often pay different prices for their...

IF YOU STAY in the project management profession long enough, you're going to be assigned a "dirty" job, even if that job is a cleanroom or ultrapure water system. In my career I've always sought out the difficult jobs from which others shied away...

IN LAST MONTH'S column ("Active and passive solar pre-heat systems," pg. 36 ), the final system we addressed was the closed-loop pressurized system. One of this system's major Achilles heels is the potential for exposure to...

RADIANT HEATING IS an increasingly popular option in American homes. The process of laying out properly sized and configured piping runs manually is tedious and time-consuming. Computer assistance has streamlined the process dramatically, however...

I SPENT SOME time with a fellow phc contractor whose firm has been doing new home construction for three generations. He's ready to toss in the towel and feeling pretty low. In his end of the business, $35 per hour labor charges means he can&...

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES are an acknowledged part of life in the construction industry. While people in other lines of work might be surprised that anyone would agree to a pre-set daily fee for something as minor as being late in delivering goods or...

OVER THE YEARS, this tax column has ground out more than 1,200 articles on a ton of tax subjects. But never have I heard more from readers about a subject phone calls, letters and faxes than about two topics that are sort of kiss'n cousins. The...