Masonry Magazine October 1993 Page. 42
Construction Management Staff Salary Survey reflects the steady decline of salary increases over the past four years from the 1989 high of 5.9 percent. In all responding firms, average total compensation for the project manager classification is $65,035 with firms reporting over $250-million in revenues paying an average of $83,206, while firms doing between $5 and $25-million in construction reported an average of $62,485. Construction managers reported an average of $66,556, followed by project superintendents $54,417, project manager/estimators $48,285, superintendents $45,950, and assistant superintendents $35,510.
CRAFTSMEN INCREASE
Merit shop contractors are forecasting a 3% increase in waves for their craft employees in 1993, equal to the 1992 average increase. The largest increase (3.5%) is projected for the Great Lakes states, while the Gulf states will experience the lowest wage increases, averaging only 2.5%. The predictions are made in the 1993 edition of the PAS Merit Shop Wage and Benefit Survey which details compensation practices of more than 1,000 merit shop contractors across the U.S. Average merit shop journeyman wage (all crafts combined) is $12.29 per hour, led by block/stone masons ($15.47), boilermakers ($14.71), brick layers ($14.93), followed by electricians, structural iron-workers, millwrights, pipe-fitters and welders. Top performing journeymen average $15.09 per hour, foremen $15.57 per hour, first year apprentices $7.53 per hour, third year apprentices $10.75 per hour, and helpers $7.85 per hour.
U.S. HAS A BAD FIRE RECORD
Fire is a serious scourge and the United States doesn't enjoy a good fire record, according to a recent report in ASTM Standardization News, which points out that in 1990, the last year for which there are complete data in the U.S., fire departments were called to fight a fire every 16 seconds, for a total of well over 2-million fires. That includes 624,000 structure fires (one every 50 seconds) and 437,000 vehicle fires (one every 76 seconds). The result was a total of 5.297 fatalities (including 102 firefighters), and some $8-billion in direct property loss. This amounts to some 21 fire fatalities per million population.
RECOVERY SEARCH CONTINUES
A search for recovery has the construction industry chasing its tail, as a confidence crisis hounds an economy wrought with conflicting signals, trends defying past patterns, and lingering doubts about new federal policy. "This environment is a little murky," concedes Portland Cement Association's chief economist William D. Toal. "Many economic indicators suggest that the recovery stalled in the first quarter. Yet other signs point to unleashed growth." With economic recovery barely limping along and residential, commercial and public building down in the first quarter-Toal has moderated his outlook for 1993 and 1994 constructions, but still sees the activity picking up late this year. Weighing activity in key areas, he projects construction spending to increase by 4.5 percent this year and peak with a 6 percent gain in 1994.
GARTH W. MILLER
Garth W. Miller is the director of promotion for the Ontario Masonry Contractors Association. He joined Pilkinton Glass in 1954, and was named staff architect in 1961. He has been involved in product promotion for the Master Builders, and with the Canadian Information Corporation. A past president and fellow of Construction Specifications Canada, Miller is currently active in Canadian Architects in Industry. He's a past president of the American Concrete Institute. During World War II he served in the Navy, with training in Halifax and London. Miller is a graduate of the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Architecture degree.
JOHN MELANDER
John Melander is the Masonry Specialist for the Portland Cement Association in the Department of Engineered Structures and Codes. In the masonry industry for more than eighteen years, he was Manager of Quality Control at Riverton Corporation prior to joining PCA. He's a member of ASTM, TMS, CSI and ACI and several ASTM committees. Second Vice Chairman of Committee C12 on Mortars for Unit Masonry, and Chairman of Subcommittee C01.11 on Masonry Cement. He also serves on several ASTM C12 task groups, and is Chairman of Task Group C12.02.06 on Drying Shrinkage of Mortar. He has authored or co-authored several articles and publications on masonry and is the editor of PCA's newsletter Masonry Today.
MARIO J. CATANI
Mario J. Catani is president of Dur-O-Wal, Arlington Heights, Illinois. Before joining Dur-O-Wal as Vice President in 1982, Catani was Director of the Builders Division of the Portland Cement Association, Vice President of the Akron Brick and Block Company, a member of the faculty of Manhattan College in New York, and a partner in the firm of Cox-Catani, architects and engineers. Catani is a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Concrete Institute, a member of the Prestressed Concrete Institute, and past Chairman of the Joint ASCE/ACI Committee 530 Masonry Structures. A graduate of Manhattan College with a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, he also has a masters degree from the Newark College of Engineering.