Constructions at Work

Constructions at Work PDF Author: Adele E. Goldberg
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780199268511
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
Includes selected classic and contemporary papers in four areas, this text introduces each field, providing technical background for the non-specialist and explaining the underlying connections across the disciplines.

A Pattern Language

A Pattern Language PDF Author: Christopher Alexander
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190050357
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 1216

Book Description
You can use this book to design a house for yourself with your family; you can use it to work with your neighbors to improve your town and neighborhood; you can use it to design an office, or a workshop, or a public building. And you can use it to guide you in the actual process of construction. After a ten-year silence, Christopher Alexander and his colleagues at the Center for Environmental Structure are now publishing a major statement in the form of three books which will, in their words, "lay the basis for an entirely new approach to architecture, building and planning, which will we hope replace existing ideas and practices entirely." The three books are The Timeless Way of Building, The Oregon Experiment, and this book, A Pattern Language. At the core of these books is the idea that people should design for themselves their own houses, streets, and communities. This idea may be radical (it implies a radical transformation of the architectural profession) but it comes simply from the observation that most of the wonderful places of the world were not made by architects but by the people. At the core of the books, too, is the point that in designing their environments people always rely on certain "languages," which, like the languages we speak, allow them to articulate and communicate an infinite variety of designs within a forma system which gives them coherence. This book provides a language of this kind. It will enable a person to make a design for almost any kind of building, or any part of the built environment. "Patterns," the units of this language, are answers to design problems (How high should a window sill be? How many stories should a building have? How much space in a neighborhood should be devoted to grass and trees?). More than 250 of the patterns in this pattern language are given: each consists of a problem statement, a discussion of the problem with an illustration, and a solution. As the authors say in their introduction, many of the patterns are archetypal, so deeply rooted in the nature of things that it seemly likely that they will be a part of human nature, and human action, as much in five hundred years as they are today.

Working Construction

Working Construction PDF Author: Kris Paap
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501729292
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Book Description
Kris Paap worked for nearly three years as a carpenter's apprentice on a variety of jobsites, closely observing her colleagues' habits, expressions, and attitudes. As a woman in an overwhelmingly male—and stereotypically "macho"—profession, Paap uses her experiences to reveal the ways that gender, class, and race interact in the construction industry. She shows how the stereotypes of construction workers and their overt displays of sexism, racism, physical strength, and homophobia are not "just how they are," but rather culturally and structurally mandated enactments of what it means to be a man—and a worker—in America.The significance of these worker performances is particularly clear in relation to occupational safety: when the pressures for demonstrating physical masculinity are combined with a lack of protection from firing, workers are forced to ignore safety procedures in order to prove—whether male or female—that they are "man enough" to do the job. Thus these mandated performances have real, and sometimes deadly, consequences for individuals, the entire working class, and the strength of the union movement.Paap concludes that machismo separates the white male construction workers from their natural political allies, increases their risks on the job, plays to management's interests, lowers their overall social status, and undercuts the effectiveness of their union.

Black Power at Work

Black Power at Work PDF Author: David Goldberg
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801461952
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Book Description
Black Power at Work chronicles the history of direct action campaigns to open up the construction industry to black workers in the 1960s and 1970s. The book's case studies of local movements in Brooklyn, Newark, the Bay Area, Detroit, Chicago, and Seattle show how struggles against racism in the construction industry shaped the emergence of Black Power politics outside the U.S. South. In the process, "community control" of the construction industry—especially government War on Poverty and post-rebellion urban reconstruction projects— became central to community organizing for black economic self-determination and political autonomy. The history of Black Power's community organizing tradition shines a light on more recent debates about job training and placement for unemployed, underemployed, and underrepresented workers. Politicians responded to Black Power protests at federal construction projects by creating modern affirmative action and minority set-aside programs in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but these programs relied on "voluntary" compliance by contractors and unions, government enforcement was inadequate, and they were not connected to jobs programs. Forty years later, the struggle to have construction jobs serve as a pathway out of poverty for inner city residents remains an unfinished part of the struggle for racial justice and labor union reform in the United States.

Construction Management

Construction Management PDF Author: Jason G Smith
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1439858489
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 383

Book Description
Construction projects are usually completed through the efforts of several specialty contractors that enter into performance agreements with the prime contractor. Mistakes, whether made while bidding or when executing a construction project, can be costly for the facility owner, general contractor, or subcontractor. Focused on helping the project team avoid these mistakes and run their projects more efficiently, this book describes how a prime contractor can coordinate the efforts of subcontractors and address common problems that can occur during various stages. Greater understanding of problematic aspects can assure that the full scope of the project is covered without redundancy.

Work and Labor Relations in the Construction Industry

Work and Labor Relations in the Construction Industry PDF Author: Dale Belman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429775067
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
The need for a skilled, motivated and effective workforce is fundamental to the creation of the built environment across the world. Known in so many places for a tendency to informal and casual working practices, for the sometimes abusive use of migrant labor, for gendered male employment and for a neglect of the essentials of health and safety, the industry, its managers and its workforce face multiple challenges. This book brings an international lens to address those challenges, looking particularly at the diverse ways in which answers have been found to manage safe and productive employment practices and effective employment relations within the framework of client demands for timely and cost-effective project completions. Whilst context, history and contractual frameworks may all militate against a careful attention to human resource issues this makes them even more deserving of attention. Work and Labor Relations in Construction aims to share understanding of best practice in the industries associated with construction and related activities, recognizing that effective work organization and good standards of employee relations will vary from one location to another. It acknowledges the real difficulties encountered by workers in parts of the developing world and the quest for improvement and awareness of some of the worst hazards and current practices. This book is both critical and analytical in approach and seeks to alert readers to the need for change. Aimed at addressing practical issues within the construction industry from a theoretical and empirical standpoint, it will be of value to those interested in the built environment, employment relations and human resource management.

Work-Life Balance in Construction

Work-Life Balance in Construction PDF Author: Low Sui Pheng
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811319189
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
The book presents the latest studies on the work–life balance of millennial (also known as Generation Y) building professionals in Singapore and South Korea. Its main goal is to compare and contrast the workplace attitudes of millennials, and to provide guidelines that help supervisors in the construction industry manage their employees’ expectations regarding work–life balance. Accordingly, it explains and links various principles regarding work–life conflicts, work–life enrichments and the work–life interface. Furthermore, the book introduces readers to coping strategies, a dimension that has not yet been explored substantially and has the potential to contribute significantly to the study and understanding of work–life balance. The book makes recommendations for the top management on assigning a capable leader to drive the changes in the organization, and on empowering the leader to implement effective strategies for promoting work–life balance, especially for the millennials who are now playing an increasing central role in the global construction sector.

Managing Work-Life Balance in Construction

Managing Work-Life Balance in Construction PDF Author: Helen Lingard
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134200161
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 461

Book Description
Work in the construction industry is particularly tough. It demands excessively long hours and frequent weekend work. Other characteristics are particularly marked, such as re-location, job insecurity and distinctive behavioural patterns, which negatively affect employees’ personal lives further. Work–life balance has emerged as one of the most pressing management issues in the 21st century. For construction managers dealing with traditional models of work and rigid work schedules, the issue may be especially difficult to manage, and yet the work–life balance is now recognised as an issue of strategic importance to the construction industry. It is critical to the construction industry’s continued ability to attract and retain a talented workforce, and it is also inextricably linked to organizational effectiveness and employees’ well-being. This book presents the argument for the management of work–life balance in the construction industry. It maps the changes to the workforce demographic profile and the changing expectations relating to work and personal life that occurred during the second half of the 20th century. Legal imperatives for managing work–life balance are set out. It also presents work–life balance theory and discusses the practical implications of research, along with extensive empirical data collected from the industry. Lastly, practical advice is provided about what construction organizations can and should do to manage work–life balance. This provides a unique guide to a key issue.

Construction Site Work, Site Utilities, and Substructures Databook

Construction Site Work, Site Utilities, and Substructures Databook PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781601192592
Category : Building sites
Languages : en
Pages : 615

Book Description
&Quot;This construction sourcebook from Sidney M. "Fully covering both commercial and residential construction,this source gives designers, managers, and hands-on construction pros leverage to bring every project in on time and under budget."--BOOK JACKET. Construction Site Work, Site Utilities, and Substructures Databook brings managers, designers, and hands-on construction pros exactly what's needed to pull a project together.". Levy brings you the informmation you need to locate specs and data for all kinds of underground construction equipment and systems - without poring through manuals, rooting for data, or, later, tearing out you hair over bad decisions.

Construction

Construction PDF Author: Cocoretto (Joint pseudonym)
Publisher: Wheels at Work (Us Edition)
ISBN: 9781786280831
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Invites young readers to lift the flaps to discover construction vehicles doing such jobs as pushing stones, mixing concrete, delivering bricks, and digging a hole.
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