Why would an independent contractor who was paid 60% of the money to start think that he can submit an unfinished job to a lady and think she should be happy?
I had been fixing my garage. Before granting the work to commence, I asked him for the invoice then told him I will go to make a price survey to compare. He was informed and expressed no issue with it. On considering that his cost was lower, I didn't argue with him to reduce his cost for materials and labour. During the course of the job I started noticing him trying to wiggle his way out of proper submission but was demanding for full pay before he completes. At start I asked him politely then seeing his blatant disrespect I turned around and became difficult/bitchy in order for him to realise that my smiling at start shouldn't be taken as being soft.
In managing people I don't see the need to be a dog but when they ride on it I become a wolf. Don't men realise that I have hard men in my family who would whoop me for being soft because I choose to be kind? As much as I don't give a rats about how satisfied they are with my performance it also disturbs me and I am willing to give them a hard run in return. :) Maybe what didn't help him was that I worked for 2 years at Strabag and with Germans. It sure sucks to be a contractor to an educated person. There are standards there that one needs to be aware of. During the period of my working, I had seen what turns a perfectly good plan into crap.
Ministers of works and housing reps would slice down the initial design into half the standard and size to keep in their pockets, then the company pays the price by being called substandard without a thought to a fact that if they don't agree to the ministries demands they wouldn't be awarded the next allocation. GB company still does works. Why' is there no healthy competitive market in Africa? Don't we realise that without competition the economy becomes dull? Engineering and architectural students have no jobs and are in bank booths crying away while simple constructive ideas are needed to fuel tourism etc and retainer-ship for the entertainment industry to flourish. Entertainment is for most part a youth based environment with the same engineers supporting it from the tech side. I mean come on people where is the benefit to monopoly and education being corrupted?
I hate beurocrasy "pen pushing" as its same as corruption due to the lack of leadership within the technical units in universities for every industry.
We are who we are and we become what the surround sound demands of us women on a private and social level too.
The construction industry is about developing and maintenance "trying to be simplistic here." Women handle the maintenance and the guys the rough works, as a lot of men seldom understand what overall aesthetics "comfort" is all about. Why? Most Men have short attention span, most women are diligent and meticulous. 😎 First of all to maintain is to brand a piece and considering the cost of materials and time due to space allocation.
Construction Cleanup service, that's how the idea was identified initially. For equal opportunities to arise there is a need for division of labour and not from the stand point of what women and men can or can not do. After all I have met men who can't or don't want to fix bulbs and women who enjoy doing woodworks.
We need roads but it doesn't have to be tarred only, this can be done using stones and bricks from the earth moving that takes place during big construction projects, which on the long run is easier to maintain in reference to replacing potholes than wasting time getting the paving equipments. Of course I understand that to design and construct isn't a days job but for now maintenance culture needs to be imbedded and students need to go to the fields of future works in areas where "maintenance" is needed and start analysing and developing solutions, just like we do by breaking down ideas and after identifying locations that need the concepts.
So should one start by helping home based cleanups of rubble then progress to the cites because hey in construction there are opportunities, as left overs from previous jobs/projects are recycled for new designs.
As Africans we are terrible with maintenance and those who get into a territory get affected by that attitude. Those who weren't previously inattentive become like us too, unless we don't mind being called names by those who think they are smarter.
Recycling of construction based leftovers is a mess too. Most small construction companies don't have employees to handle delivery demands. They only get casual labour when they get a contract and that'll be it. Some are not even office based. How to help them? The government could have a network of workers that are released when needed. This way a small unit of educated youth can hire a set team of specialised workforce instead of the government giving finance allocations that may take time for them to get to work immediately. It's ridiculous that a government doesn't have a census of different professionals in any area of specialty that can be called when needed. Isn't that what a university is? Do "leaders" measure people based on head count or should they be counting and measuring the professionals they have?
For the most part In Africa we build our own houses and we don't have an organised method for it. I have no problem with building my own house or space but the industry ministries shouldn't be bugging me with approvals but be called to site to guide me rather than looking for what to do themselves out of my needs.
Construction is about materials, labour and planning so having a permanent office isn't always a wise option, maybe helping out by having containers that are rented for the duration of the project sounds more sensible? Offices made of containers? Or easily mountable solutions? Those who are into shipping have access to containers and can offer them under lease when shopping season is on standstill. Considering that now with trade being inconsistent as before loads of containers are empty. There are flats made out of containers so to make a mobile office isn't a new thing. Earlier we had mentioned trailers.
Knowing basics in IT helps structuring and Organising skills to develop, just as doctors are also good at building houses because they understand the principles of structure based on the knowledge of the body structure, they may need project management orientation should there be a need to ease the bottle neck in the medical industry. Medical based students also work on construction sites should there be any injuries as well as security services are needed in hard core areas.
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