October 23, 2026 · 8 min
Price the Warranty Callback Before You Sell the Job
77% more in warranty claims paid by M/I Homes in nine months, while its set-aside per home held near $2,625. Price the callback when you sell the job.
October 16, 2026 · 8 min
Write the Price Escalation Clause on the Line That Moves
Energy inputs to home building rose 13.0% in September while softwood lumber fell 2.0%. Tie a price escalation clause to the BLS index for the line that moves.
October 9, 2026 · 8 min
Ten Small Injuries Can Raise Your Comp Mod More Than One Big One
Ten $5,000 injuries produce a much higher workers' comp mod than one $50,000 injury, in NCCI's own example. Why frequency weighs more, and what to check.
October 2, 2026 · 7 min
The Email That Changes a Vendor's Bank Account
$3.05 billion in business email compromise losses were reported to the FBI in 2025. The control for the vendor bank-change version is one call, to the right number.
September 25, 2026 · 6 min
One Month Is Not a Trend: Read the Margin Before You Act
6.4% was August's rise in new home sales, and Census can't tell it from zero (±19.5%). Read the margin before you hire, cut a price or order on one month.
September 18, 2026 · 8 min
The Custom Premium Is the Widest Since 2011
Custom homes started in 2025 ran $171 a square foot against $152 for spec, lot excluded — a 12.6% premium. In four of nine census divisions it runs the other way.
September 11, 2026 · 6 min
What to Write Down Before You Automate Anything
84% of the practitioners RAND interviewed blamed a leadership failure, not the technology. What to write down before you automate, and where to stop.
September 4, 2026 · 6 min
The Back-Office Jobs AI Is Good At, and the Ones It Isn't
Construction runs 8.9% AI adoption, off bank records not a survey. A randomized trial of 6,000 workers found three back-office tasks and three answers.
August 28, 2026 · 6 min
Teach or Build: When to Train Your Team vs. Buy It Done
Training your own people or hiring it done: the trial where training backfired, a buy-vs-build number that half retracts itself, and no honest market rate.
August 21, 2026 · 6 min
The AI Punch List: Rank by Payback, Not by Hype
I went looking for an independent payback figure for AI in construction and found none. Here is how to rank your own list on your own numbers instead.
August 18, 2026 · 7 min
Get in Your Helicopter: Work On the Job, Not Just In It
You can't direct a fire from inside the trench. How owners buy back altitude on their own business — and where AI actually earns a seat in the cockpit.
August 13, 2026 · 5 min
Where AI Actually Pays Off in a Business That Builds Things
A contractor's test for finding the AI work that returns money in 90 days — and the arithmetic to prove it before you spend a dollar.
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