In working as a commercial property manager or retail centre manager, you will frequently need to choose contractors to assist you with the maintenance management of managed property or new property to the portfolio.

When you select the correct contractors, the task of property management becomes more effective and much easier. Well-chosen maintenance contractors can become your extra set eyes and ears in the property and will help to report things of an unusual nature that you may not see.

Have a Few Contractors to Call On

It is wise to have a group of two or three contractors in each maintenance discipline. This then spreads the workload when times are busy or when some contractors cannot respond in the timeframe required. Here are some tips in handling the decisions of contractor selection and placement in your management portfolio.

1. The main maintenance disciplines that are commonly required in a commercial or retail property management portfolio are electrical, plumbing, cleaning, gardening, lifts, security, and air conditioning. As mentioned, it is wise to have two or three contractors in each of these disciplines.

2. The trades people selected should understand and show experience with the plant and equipment to be managed. Do not select trades people or contractors based solely on cost; many a property manager has found that such short cut or cheap decision backfires when you need quality and timely response. Cheap contractors and cheap parts produce poor outcomes and invariably you spend more time in repair rectification. Repair the breakdown effectively the first time; the tenants will appreciate the efficiency.

3. Choose your contractors based on their ability to respond in a timely and efficient way. When you have breakdown issues in the maintenance of a commercial or retail property, you need contractors on the spot within 2 or 3 hours. You will then require them to report back to you on the status of the problem together with an estimate on the time and cost of repair. Landlord approval may be required for the repair to continue.

4. In matters of an urgent nature, establish an understanding with the selected maintenance contractors to ensure that they respond immediately. They should also agree to take remedial steps to mitigate the loss or damage, and implement safety measures to protect members of the public and tenants within the property. It pays to discuss urgent property repair strategies with the building insurer so that your claims and loss mitigation processes comply with their insurance and risk processes and expectations.

5. Every maintenance contractor should have the necessary safety licenses and authorities to act within their trade qualification. Each year this information should be updated and supplied to you as part of the risk management procedure and controls within the property.

6. Your property management office should have an established accounts approval and payments system incorporating order numbers relative to the maintenance events. When the invoices are sent by the contractor to your office, they will make reference to the approved and issued order numbers for each issue of repair.

7. The various landlords that own the properties you manage will set levels of authority and methods of communication for maintenance problems. Some landlords will only allow you to spend up to previously agreed limits. Understand the methods of response and maintenance approvals for each landlord that you act for.

Get to know the properties that you manage and the landlords that you act for. Set the maintenance response rules for each and every property within the management portfolio. In this way you can prevent ordinary or urgent problems getting out of control. The maintenance contractors you choose will help you here.

Have you ever dreamed about building a home of your own, only to be awakened to the reality that it would cost a fortune? Perhaps you don’t want to drown in a sea of debt. There are ways to build a home of your own without breaking the bank.

For example, one of my relatives, who was visiting us in Texas after moving to Africa as a missionary with Youth With A Mission, got ahold of a book I had bought online, Homework: Handbuilt Shelter, by Lloyd Kahn. He was so inspired by the book that when he returned to Zambia, he bought a parcel of land and built a home out of a mixture of natural and man-made materials for around $1500, which is pretty impressive.

But how do you build one in N. America where land prices are so high and materials cost so much? If you do not own a piece of land, it is wise to make your dwelling portable so that you can move it as needed. Remember that here we have high prices, but we also have lots of things that people throw away or give away for free. There are also many areas where there are free materials found in nature that you can use.

If you are looking for a simple, affordable structure that is semi-portable, strong, well insulated, wind, water, and weather proof, then the yurt or ger, which is common in central Asia is the best. Most yurts and gers are designed to withstand high winds, freezing weather, rain, and cold. These have become popular in other parts of the world, and there are several places online where one can find instructions on how to build a yurt out of recycled materials, materials from nature, or store-bought materials. These are almost-free structures that any determined person could build.

The teepee of the plains Indians of N. America is another remarkable design for a portable, green shelter. The American Indians were able to stay warm in these simple structures by building a fire in the middle of the teepee. Be very careful if you build a fire inside a teepee. If the teepee cover is made out of a plastic material, it will melt when you build a fire inside it. Fire dangers and damage can be reduced if the teepee is made out of canvas and natural materials and to reduce smoke, it should be at least 12′ high, and 14-18′ is best.

Some of the indigenous tribes in N. America built wikiups to protect them from the elements. For a temporary shelter in emergency, the wikiup can’t be beat. These can be made of saplings, sticks, grass, straw, tree branches, and leaves.

Moving on to more stable structures, if you plan to build a permanent, green home, it is wise to first secure the land where the home will sit. The best place to build an affordable, handmade, green home is in a rural area. Look for an area away from major cities and highly populated towns. Building officials in farming and rural areas will be less likely to harass you over your unique home. If you get to know the locals, you may find a farmer or property owner that is willing to sell you a parcel of land. Make sure that all agreements are put on paper and signed by both parties, and that a title to the property recorded in your name with the county clerk.

Straw bale houses are a popular method for building a simple, affordable and green home. Straw bales offer great insulation. It is common to place the straw bales on a platform that supports the walls to prevent them from getting wet, and the exterior and interior walls that the bales form can be protected with a stucco or mud plaster. It is important to add structural supports in the walls between the straw bales. Certain municipalities and counties limit the use of this type of construction, so check with the local building authorities before proceeding.

Cob is another method of green building that makes use of a mixture of clay, sand, and straw to form earthen walls. Cob buildings can be made that have unique shapes and character. If you are in a city or highly regulated county, there are building code guidelines and limitations about what you are allowed to do with cob construction.

Some have built their homes underground, such as the earthship. Many green home builders have manipulated and designed the earthen walls around them as a protective sheild, as part of an insulation design, and for the “conditioned cave” effect. Properly designed underground construction provides several advantages, including energy savings, security, and less visibility. The only main drawback to underground construction is the possiblity for moisture intrusion such as is common in basements. A properly built and situated underground home can withstand hurricanes, tornadoes, and even nuclear events. Building underground is also used as a way to hide the true size of a home.

Some have built ceramic domes, using earthbag construction. Nader Khalili, an Iranian-American architect perfected this art, and presented it to the West. Earthbag or Super Adobe construction can be strong, efficient, and useful for budget construction projects.

In addition to these more direct approaches to green building, there are construction products currently being developed that make use of used, recycled, and sustainably produced materials. Some of these materials are better and safer than others. It is wise to fully investigate the production process for these materials before using them to construct your home. Some contain chemicals that may be harmful to your family’s health, so doing your homework on the manufacturing process is advised.

Whatever you desire to build, start small today and test your ideas. Remember to plan ahead, get the advice of professionals, and read up as much as possible before committing your time and finances to the project. It would also be wise to befriend several contractors who can give you advice on how to make things go forward without difficulty.

Soil is definitely the mainstay of the environment, whether in its loose soft form or in the form of rock. The following are common ways in which construction activities distract the normal form of soil, thereby shaking the environmental mechanisms that the same support.

· Mining for building materials for example stone or clay for building blocks or for cement alters the normal form of the landscape. It leads to formation of derelict landscapes, most of which cannot support the normal forms of life. Open mines are also notorious for holding surface water in pools, most of which habour a different form of life.

· Blasting as is common in rock excavation destabilizes the ground, posing the dangers of earth movement like landslides. The breakage of rock enhances the rates of weathering, thereby breaking up rock even more faster.

· Mass excavation of topsoil deprives the ground of life – supporting soil stratum.

· Creation of cess pools and soak away pits for sewage disposal lead to the intoxication of soil. Treatment ponds have a similar effect.

· Activities leading to the reduction of water available, whether surface or sub surface, leads to a reduction in soil water, thereby altering its live supporting capabilities.

· Leaving open sections of soil like is common in embankment and uncovered sections exposes soil to agents of erosion, notably rain, thereby shaping the landscape as well as moving humus rich top soil from one section to the other.

· Compaction of soil, especially on a large scale and in many layers alters the normal stratification as well as penetrability by plant roots as well as percolation by water.

· Importation of alien soils of a different kind creates an inconsistency and as such a disjoint. It also creates an anomaly in the environmental patterns in the constructed area.

As noted, soil is a very crucial part of the environment and it needs to be treated with utmost care. Hampering the normal conditions of soil amounts to a distraction in the normal flow of life in the environment. Soil is perhaps among the most crucial pillars of life. It is also among the biggest victims of the activities of construction. This makes considerations on soil conservation measures in any construction works to be very carefully thought out and implemented. It is the duty of all the stakeholders involved to work together to reach the goal of minimum soil disturbance in all the construction projects they are involved in.