Blog

How to Prepare Job Sites for Winter Weather As the Michigan weather transitions to fall and then winter, it’s time to prepare construction sites and equipment for upcoming inclement weather. Freezing rain, ice, and snow can all lead to delays, damage, and injuries on job sites. If you take the time to prepare your...

Strategies for Rising Material Costs in 2021 With many articles from Bloomberg, Forbes, Reuters, and other organizations reporting rising costs in construction materials around the United States this year, general contractors, home builders and project managers alike are attempting to find solutions to cover costs...

The Green Building Industry: How The Construction Industry Can Benefit from This Growing Market In late April, President Biden announced his decision to rejoin the Paris climate agreement in addition to cutting the U.S.’s carbon emissions by 50-52 percent of its 2005 levels by 2030, nearly doubling President...

Navigating the Construction Industry Post-COVID-19: Trends and Tips With new construction industry trends that have recently emerged from months of reduced or even nonexistent workloads, the pandemic has taught all how to think outside the box and be more online-based when it comes to getting the job done. As the...

How To Prevent MIOSHA Fines (UPDATED) The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (MIOSHA) role is to assure that there are safe and healthy working conditions for workers in Michigan. They enforce occupational safety and health standards which employers are expected to live up to.  When an...

Building Season is Here - But Are You Ready For it? You and your business may have had a long, cold winter, but the busy spring and summer building months are now upon us! Before you launch headfirst into a slew of scheduled projects, now is the time to give your business a little TLC - and make sure you’re...

5 Ways to Differentiate Your Contracting Business MichiganBuildersLicense.com CEO Derek Woryn recently appeared on the Michigan Contractors Show with host Tom Bartholomew and shared some words of wisdom for those interested in becoming licensed contractors in the state of Michigan. Listen to "Episode 12 - featuring...

6 Contracting and Continuing Competency Tips From the Godfather of Builder’s Licensing, Sid Woryn In case you may have missed it, our very own lead instructor, and what we like to refer to as “The Godfather” of the building and licensing industry, Sid Woryn, recently sat down with podcaster and former...

A New Year gives the opportunity to adapt to changing circumstances. With work being slower right now, it’s the perfect time to build up other areas of the business. Here are 3 things you can do right now to set your business up for success in 2021. Build The Process To increase overall profitability, improve...

Hunting season means something a little different to each hunter and for many Michiganders fall is a very special time of the year. Hundreds of thousands of hunters will take to the Michigan woods later this week at the start of Michigan's regular firearm deer season. Hunting contributes $2.3 billion to the Michigan...

In order to protect Michigan’s workforce and workplaces, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) has been working with businesses across the state on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Following several inspections, MIOSHA issued the first round of COVID-19 “general duty”...

October is the last month of fair weather in Michigan. By this time, gone are the long warm summer days of August and September boating on the Great Lakes. The leaves have already changed and fall steadily progresses. As building constructors, building projects naturally stall during this time when fewer clients...

In September, the Bureau of Construction Codes (BCC) posted an important update that you need to be aware of… From the BCC: “Effective October 1, 2020, a BCC team member may issue a citation to a person that is licensed under 1980 PA 299, or 2016 PA 407, or required to hold a license or certificate under these...

  3 Steps to Winning Jobs Over Your Competitors We asked our Lead Instructor Sid what it takes to win a job over competitors and here’s what he had to say. The most important thing is to be professional. As a contractor, our industry is known for being unprofessional, not answering the phone, not getting back...

We asked our instructor Jason (a former MIOSHA Inspector) this question and here was his response:  One of the questions that I commonly get as a former MIOSHA construction safety consultant is, "What can I as a builder do to prepare for a MIOSHA inspection?" Over the course of the next few minutes, we're going to...

We asked our lead instructor Sid this question and here was his response: How do you not let change orders eat away at your profit? Well, there should be ... If there were the 10 commandments of what to do to run a business that would probably be in the top 3, change orders. The very first thing you can do by not...

  We asked our lead instructor Sid this question and here was his response: When we're hiring an employee again, you know there's companies or sources we can go to that we're looking for. Ideally, I hate to admit this, ideally what I prefer to do is steal a good employee from another company and offer more money....

  How To Beat MIOSHA Without Having To Pay A Fine? We asked our lead instructor Sid this question and here was his response: That is an interesting question because we have to sometimes consider the source of who's asking that. That's like asking, "After I get stopped for speeding, how can I beat a speeding...

We asked our lead instructor Sid this question and here was his response: STEP 1 – Ask them in Let's start from scratch. You need to hire, let's use, for example, you need to hire a framing crew. You've been informed that ABC Framing is a good crew. Okay? So we call them in and ask them, we'd like to interview...

We asked our lead instructor Sid this question and here was his response: Sid, what is the best way to resolve construction disputes? All right. We first have to make sure it's an actual construction dispute. A lot of times it may not really be related to construction. It may be an entirely emotional situation...

At Michigan Builders License we are always looking for topics that may interest you. Having a home survival kit at the ready would be a great idea these days. Check out this article from Survival Life that will go through all the items you may need in a survival situtation and how you can build your emergency...

We asked our lead instructor Sid, about what are some common mistakers to avoid and this is what he had to say... A couple of common mistakes that we're seeing out there. As some of you know, I get involved in a lot of lawsuits and similar cases dealing with homeowners, contractors and MIOSHA. Common mistakes that...

We asked out lead instructor Sid, about ways we could limit MIOSHA fines and this is what he had to say...   MIOSHA finds this has been going back and forth. The State of Michigan MIOSHA by law is required to meet the same penalties as federal MIOSHA and this was not done. In fact, it's created us some problems...

    We asked our lead instructor Sid this question and here was his response:   The next question that I've been asked is about building growth, and I comment on this in my 60 hour as well as in my other classes. One of the things that has been tremendously successful, I hear pros and cons about it, but we...

We asked our lead instructor Sid this question and here was his response: I'm in the field nearly every day like you guys are. In fact, I had to take a moment to take care of this for you before I go out to a job site. One of the things I want you to be aware of is be prepared for spring. And last year you guys...