The old adage goes, “Do something good for someone and they’ll tell 10 people. Do something bad to someone and they’ll tell 100 people.”

"It’s a drug and we’re hooked!” is what I said to my brother, Richie, about the fix I felt we got from doing the really big monster commercial and residential jobs for what we felt were lots of dollars.

There are only two types of companies I’ve ever worked with in my 18 years of being a consultant to the contracting industry.

It was working when I left!” 

“Hire willing people and provide them the skills — as opposed to hiring spoiled, experienced people with skills and behavior problems.” 

One of the most common things I see when I begin my work with a new contracting client is the resistance to train employees. 

Bad attitudes are everywhere, or so it would appear. In most cases, it is based on nothing other than your opinion. 

With every new consulting client, I begin our work by asking the following: “How are you judging your staff’s performance?”

The conversation typically goes like this: The owner tells me, “Al, I don’t know if I can get buy-in here for the operating manuals.”

I’ll admit it. I was skeptical that distance learning could be a worthwhile experience for service contractors. 

By the time you read this, most people’s New Year’s resolutions or goals will be a distant memory, and they’ll be back to doing the same things they said they weren’t going to do. 

There’s an ancient proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.

The Keltech acquisition will also begin a new partnership between Bradford White and Bradley.

No matter who you are, project management can be a challenge. 

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal recently announced Uponor North America is the 2020 Manufacturing Sustainability Award honoree recognizing the commitment to conserving water, reducing waste, improving energy efficiency and empowering labor.

Located in Louisville, Kentucky, Zoeller’s state-of-the-art training facility, the Center for Excellence, has been drawing contractors, engineers and distributors in for product training over the past five years. 

When HVAC work needs to be completed for agriculture applications in Ontario, Canada, Gleeson Plumbing & Heating has a reputation of delivering impressive results time and time again. 

The Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI) published a new technical report related to the break resistance of PEX pipe and tubing when fluid inside becomes frozen.

While forklifts were cruising the aisles of a warehouse in Grantsville, Maryland, a crew from BYCO Enterprises had to carefully retrofit that same space with 1,340 feet of gas line. 

Uponor North America launched its new Complete Polymer Solution for commercial-piping applications in the U.S. 

It’s without question that technology has improved the mechanical world around us. From my smartphone, I can instantly see the health of hundreds of our boiler plants across the country. 

Domestic hot water recirculation system design is a hot topic in our industry, for good reason. 

The demand for energy-efficient commercial appliances continues to grow — especially as government initiatives continue to promote the use of energy-efficient solutions.

The major trend in the commercial boiler market, which will continue in 2021 and beyond, is the predominance of packaged boilers installed in multiple boiler cascade systems. 

For decades, Janet Armstrong and Lloyd Davies have lived and breathed the sustainable lifestyle. Their way of life has ties to the example set by Janet’s father, who built the first solar house in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, way back in 1978.

Plumbing & Mechanical is proud to present to you the second installment of “Adventures in Plumbing & Heating,” featuring the expert advice of industry veteran Dave Yates.

Water heater manufacturer Rinnai America Corp. has been working for the last three years with a state department of corrections to upgrade the water heating systems in five prison facilities.

As natural gas rates increase and the push for more sustainable energy sources intensifies, heat pump water heaters appear poised for massive growth. States such as California and Massachusetts already have regulations prohibiting or disincentivizing gas water heaters in new construction, and New York City recently enacted similar restrictions for new construction. So, are heat pump water heaters the future of the water heating market? Maybe or maybe not — but some industry experts certainly think so.

Every industry in the United States is currently feeling the constraints of the labor shortage. Employers continue to struggle to bring in new workers and keep existing ones. Job openings far outnumber individuals looking for work — in March, there were 11.5 million jobs to fill, and not enough workers to fill them, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary. 

The commercial water heating market has options for building owners and facility managers when it comes to selecting equipment for their facilities — tank or tankless, gas models or electric — even heat pump water heaters are seeing growth in this space. So which is the most popular? Well, it all depends on who you ask.

The week includes classroom instruction, an International Apprentice Contest, certification exams and demonstrations and a graduation ceremony in which 170 will be honored for their completion of the certificate program and an additional 45 will earn associate degrees from WCC.

Best practices for designing and installing PEX to leverage the benefits of installation efficiencies, job-site safety and profitability potential.

Plumbing & Mechanical is proud to present to you the third installment of “Adventures in Plumbing & Heating,” featuring the expert advice of industry veteran Dave Yates.

Businesses don’t succeed in a vacuum — and that is true in all industries, including plumbing, HVAC and electrical contracting businesses. Thankfully, contracting business owners are not on their own and don’t have to learn to “reinvent the wheel.” There are a number of industry associations and best practice organizations available to help.

BNP Media’s Plumbing Group, which includes Plumbing & Mechanical, PM Engineer and Supply House Times, is launching our inaugural Next Gen All Star —Top 20 Under 40 contest.

I was lucky enough to be able to take a week off from work at the beginning of July. Though we attended so many family functions and get-togethers, I almost felt I needed another vacation to recover from my first vacation. Ever had one of those?

According to a Gallup study, only one in three workers in the U.S. strongly agree that they received recognition or praise for doing good work in the past seven days. At any given company, it's not uncommon for employees to feel that their best efforts are routinely ignored.

As members of Congress debate the very science behind “climate change,” there are a slew of cities — and now one state — taking matters into their own hands and enacting natural gas bans for new construction buildings.

As I write this month’s column, I’m attending Plumbing Manufacturer’s International annual Manufacturing Success conference in Louisville, Kentucky. PMI has done a great job with its programming content this year, especially with keynote presenter Andrew Winston, a corporate environmental strategist and author, who discussed how today’s companies are now expected to take a stand against the world’s social and environmental problems — and in doing so, earn a profit.

Does anybody else feel like 2022 just flew right by, or is it just me? It seems too early for Christmas decorations and music — just a few short weeks ago, Michigan was still having 70-degree weather! But ‘tis the season!

As the water receded from Lake Mead this past year, all the major news headlines focused on the human remains it revealed. Very rarely did any mention the ecosystem in crisis as trees, fish and other aquatic creatures, birds and other species are dying out as they are left out to dry.

When I first started working for Plumbing & Mechanical’s sister publication, The ACHR NEWS in 2014, I was often the only woman in the room at industry events. Those first few conferences were just a bit intimidating. In fact, it wasn’t until a HARDI annual conference that I first met other women in the industry — shout out to Colleen Keyworth, director of sales and marketing for Online-Access and immediate past president of Women in HVACR, for her immediate friendship then and for all the years since!

BNP Media’s Plumbing Group is finally settling back in after a whirlwind of travel this past month. We’ve been racking up those frequent flier miles attending NKBA’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), IMARK Plumbing, the AHR Expo and the WWETT show. While there was a ton to see at each event, for the purposes of this column, we’re going to focus on KBIS.

Last month, the Biden-Harris Administration announced it is proposing the first-ever national drinking water standard for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The proposal, if finalized, would regulate PFOA and PFOS as individual contaminants, and will regulate four other PFAS — PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX Chemicals — as a mixture.

Many of us have heard the term, ‘The Great Resignation,’ in describing the massive amount of employee turnover the last few years. In 2021, federal data shows nearly 50 million workers left their jobs for various reasons — higher pay, new career opportunities and more. With an already strained job market in the skilled trades, employee retention is more important than ever.

A few weeks back I was having a conversation with a plumbing and HVAC contracting business owner. During the beginning of our discussion, he abruptly told me, “I just use ChatGPT to do your job.”

In my years in the workforce, I’ve had jobs with amazing bosses and managers. On the flip side, I’ve also had terrible managers who made me question whether or not I wanted to stay in that organization.

Fall is conference and tradeshow season in the plumbing and HVAC world.

The construction industry is often associated with strength, resilience and tough work. However, there has been an alarming rise in mental health challenges. MCAA is taking that to heart with the first-ever public release of its suicide prevention video.