Did You Know?

Herbert Construction Company is the only foundation contractor in Georgia that uses Robotic Total Station layout instruments for residential foundations.  We use them on every footing and wall that we lay out.

Large or complex projects are very difficult to lay out using typical tape measures and string lines.  If your foundation is not laid out correctly, you’ll have problems at the framing stage and all the way through the house construction. 

By using this precise technology, we ensure that your basement foundation will be straight, square and correct.

Our robotic layout instrument ensures accuracy.

“With Herbert Construction’s Geodimeter Layout instrument, they are not relying on men laying out the foundation with tapes, which accounts for many mistakes.  Because of this, we don’t lose time because a foundation is out of square.”
—Justin Linton

Message from Doug… Little Hinges Swing Big Doors

We all have areas in our life that we’d like to change.  As New Year’s resolutions, you may have set some goals that you want to achieve in 2014.  Perhaps some of your goals look like this: 

¨    Exercise four times per week

¨    Stop bidding jobs that you aren’t heavily favored to win

¨    Be home every week night in time to eat dinner with the family

¨    Finally replace that employee that is slowing down the company

¨    Get to sleep earlier each night by putting down the TV remote, Kindle or computer

Those are all goals that can improve your life.  While big, specific goals are good, I have found that small, daily changes have the biggest impact on our lives.  John C. Maxwell says, “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.  The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”

These small daily changes are what allow you to work on the important – instead of urgent – parts of your business.  There are often too many things to do during the normal work day.  We never seem to get caught up.  By freeing up portions of your day to work “on” your business instead of “in” your business, you’ll make huge strides in achieving what you want.

In order to free up some time from your normal work day, try applying my 4-Step System for reducing your daily workload:

Step 1: Delegate

What are you doing that someone else within your company could or should be doing?  How much extra work could you get done if you hired an assistant or part-time employee?  If you are a small company with little or no staff, are there any tasks that can be outsourced? You’d be amazed at the people who are available to handle small, specific areas of your daily activities. (Check out oDesk.com or Fiverr.com for ideas).

Step 2: Systemize

Create a system for anything that regularly happens in your business.  A system can be as simple as the Foundation Checklist that we fill out before estimating any project, or as complex as a multi-step process for handling your accounts payable.  Systems get everyone on the same page and produce consistent, predictable outcomes.  Construction is full of variables and constant change.  The more you can tame that chaos into expected outcomes, the easier it will be for everyone you deal with.  My good friend and former homebuilder Jim Sessoms is exceptional at creating systems to improve businesses.

Step 3: Change

Consider changing the way you do things.  In a previous newsletter, I gave you the example of the realtor that didn’t like being a typical realtor and successfully transformed his business and life to suit his desires.  Your changes don’t have to be as radical as that to still have a big impact on your life.  If a specific type of client is more enjoyable and profitable to work with, then change your business model to attract more of that type of client.  Even small changes can change your life.

Step 4: Stop

Stop doing the task altogether.  What would happen if you simply stopped doing a specific task?  Are you sure it is absolutely necessary to the operation of your business?  Sometimes we start doing something that is important, then continue doing it long after it has become irrelevant.  Where are unnecessary redundancies?  Are two people entering the same information into different areas that could be combined?   You may be surprised to learn that nothing bad happens if you simply stop doing some tasks.

When you analyze your day and take steps to improve it, you’ll see that even small changes can have a big impact on your productivity, stress level, and happiness.  You will be much closer to achieving your goals.

To your success,

Recent Referrals

March is here! Which in Atlanta means the start of gardening season, kids’ soccer, baseball and warmer weather.  As we pack away our sweaters and try to put away our memories of the snow and ice just a short time ago, we don’t want to forget to offer special thanks to our great customers and friends who have recently referred our company:

Rick Foster, Traton Homes – Homebuilder  TratonHomes.com

Steve Cannon, Hamilton Grading – Grading Contractor  770-652-6208

Kyle Henry, Kyle V. Henry, Inc. – Homebuilder  770-560-6134

The Importance of Trade Groups

By:  Barry Herbert

All of us have extremely busy schedules.  Quite often any type of meeting, whether it’s an office meeting with co-workers or a venue miles away, is viewed as an enormous time waster.  Unfortunately, many of them are.  Trade groups or associations are often thought of in these terms.  But if you have never been active in an association related to your field, you are probably missing out on information that may not only be important, but possibly critical to your survival as a company. 

Those of you who are in a Home Building related field are blessed with numerous organizations that represent our industry. A few of the Residential Construction related trade groups representing contractors are:





NAHB – National Association of Home Builders

NAHB is known as “the voice of America’s housing industry.” It is a trade association whose primary goal is to help promote the policies that make housing a national priority.  At any given time, NAHB is working on more than 100 different issues relating to home building and the housing industry.

About one-third of NAHB’s members are home builders and/or remodelers. The others are associates working in closely related specialties such as sales and marketing, housing finance, and manufacturing and supplying building materials.  www.nahb.org


HBAG -Home Builders Association of Georgia






Builders and contractors automatically become members of Home Builders Association of Georgia and the National Association of Home Builders when they join their local HBA.
The most important benefit of membership is the Association’s involvement in the government and regulatory arenas. Its members are represented at the local, state and national levels.  Members are continually kept up to date regarding laws and regulations impacting the Home Building industry. www.hbag.org


Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association

The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association is the fifth largest local homebuilders association in the country. Builder members range from large companies to individual contractors and include developers, custom and speculative builders, multifamily builders, manufactured housing companies, residential remodelers and general contractors.

Membership in the association is not limited to builders; members represent an array of housing-related businesses and industries including t
www.atlantahomebuilders.com


NARI – National Association of the Remodeling Industry

NARI has 58 chapters nationwide and its core purpose is to advance and promote the remodeling industry’s professionalism, product and vital public purpose.  NARI members are held to a Code of Ethics that are intended to provide uniform standards and maintain the public’s trust in the remodeling industry. www.nari.org


Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

ABC is the leading voice promoting free enterprise within the construction industry. ABC promotes and defends the merit shop philosophy. This philosophy encourages open competition and a free-enterprise approach to construction based solely on merit, regardless of labor affiliation.  www.abc.org


AIA - American Institute of Architects

With nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA has been the leading professional membership association for licensed architects, emerging professionals, and allied partners since 1857.  www.aia.org


NSPE - National Society of Professional Engineers

NSPE, in partnership with the State Societies, is the organization of licensed Professional Engineers (PEs) and Engineer Interns (EIs). Through education, licensure advocacy, leadership training, multi-disciplinary networking, and outreach, NSPE enhances the image of its members and their ability to ethically and professionally practice engineering.  www.nspe.org

This is only a partial list of all associations related by residential construction. The description of each of those listed was wording obtained, at least in part, from the various associations’ websites.

Customized Information
Herbert Construction Company has for many years belonged to the Concrete Foundation Association of North America (CFA).  We send at least one person to virtually every meeting and several individuals attend many of them.  At last summer’s annual meeting, seminars were held concerning sexual harassment, the Affordable Care Act, crane safety, fall protection, marketing, a full day on the construction of concrete homes and several other topics.

Seminars at many of these meetings deal directly with problems you now have or are going to have. It’s important to attend as many of these seminars as possible.  The one you miss could contain the information required to keep you from a huge OSHA fine or even keep you out of court.  

Participation is Key
Get involved.  Most associations are constantly looking for more board members and/or committee members. The more you become involved the more you will benefit.  Most active association members will tell you that it has never cost them a penny to belong to the organization and attend the meetings, meaning they garner enough valuable information to easily pay for their dues and the trip.

At trade association meetings you can easily save more money and time from one simple idea or tip, than the time and money it took to attend.  But the trick in really gathering the most information for your time spent, is to attend the meetings and become actively involved in the networking that goes on at these meetings. 

Get to know your peers.  Go out to dinner with a few of them after the meetings or, go to the bar with them, even if you don’t drink, and ask questions and offer thoughts of your own.  At most of the association functions there are numerous people there who are not in competition with you, and will readily share their ideas or how they handled a particular problem.  Believe it or not, they have experienced many of the same problems you have. Join the associations, attend the meetings and start reaping the benefits.

rade contractors, building materials manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, lending institutions,  real estate companies, utilities,  surveyors,  title companies,  attorneys,  accountants,  engineers,  architects,  designers,  and more.

Herbert Construction Enters Two Local Projects into a National Basement Competition

Every year, the Concrete Foundations Association of North America (CFA) holds a Project of the Year contest.  Herbert Construction has won an award in this contest for the past three years.  We entered the 2014 contest with two exciting projects: a home in Paulding County built by Windsong Properties, LLC, and another in John’s Creek built by David Weekley Homes’ Custom Classics Division.  

Brian Hester is building this home located in Seven Hills for Windsong Properties, LLC. The basement is entered in the “Single Family, less than 2,000 sq. ft.” category of the national competition.

Keith Anderson of Custom Classics, a division of David Weekley Homes is building this home in River Club.  We entered this basement project for the “Single Family, 2,000-5,000 sq. ft.” category.

Experienced Builder/Superintendent Available

One of the best things about our business is the relationships we develop with our clients.  One of those long time friends of our company – an experienced builder/superintendent – is looking for their next new challenge.

If you or someone you know is looking to add a successful builder to your company, please call Doug directly at
678-859-2304.

Message From Doug...

A Time for Change

A realtor didn’t like doing the normal tasks involved with being a realtor.  He didn’t like meeting with homeowners to “sell” them on letting him list their house for them.  He didn’t like spending his weekends holding open houses. He didn’t like fielding calls in the evenings from people interested in getting information about the homes he was listing.  He liked being a realtor; he just didn’t like all of the typical tasks that came with being a realtor. 

At this point you might suggest that he had better find a different profession.  However, he decided to change his business to accommodate his desires-instead of being a slave to it.  He redesigned his business and became known as an expert at finding houses for investors who wanted rental homes for their portfolios.  The investors only wanted to communicate with him during normal business hours.  His weekends were free because he no longer had to hold open houses.  He created a niche for himself and was no longer the same as every other realtor in his area.   He completely changed his business to fit his own requirements. 

Now, you may be saying to yourself, “That’s a nice story, but I can’t change my business like he did.  My business is different.”  You know, I bet there were a lot of realtors out there that would have said the same thing about their business until they heard this guy’s story.

Let me ask you: Do you want to change the way you are doing things?

The New Year is a good time to think about what changes you need to make in your life.  It is a time for reflection upon the previous year.  It is a time for resolutions, for new beginnings.  A time for change.
Ask yourself questions about the previous year.  Did it go as you had planned?  Did you accomplish what you set out to do?  Are you in the position that you envisioned a year ago?  Answer these questions honestly.  After all, you don’t have to reveal the answers to anyone but yourself.  The answers to these questions give you instructions for what to plan for this New Year. 

If something worked really well, then you know you need to continue that – and guard against it getting dropped by the wayside.  The things that didn’t work so well for you in 2013 show you where you need to make changes.

What are you doing in your life and in your business that causes you stress, anxiety, or even mild annoyance?  What tasks do you do that you really don’t want to do?  Where are you wasting your time?  Are you spending too much time on email and social media?  Are you doing work that someone else within your company should be doing?

I have a 4-Step System for attacking these problems, which I’ll share in next month’s Newsletter. 

The New Year is the perfect time to make positive changes in your daily habits and patterns.  Once you begin to make these changes, you will see your world change as well.  You will reap the benefits of these changes.  You will be more productive, you’ll accomplish more, and you’ll be happier with your surroundings.  However, if you change nothing, nothing will change.

Happy New Year!