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| Preface: What you can learn from this book | |
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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Do you have what it takes? | |
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| Essential traits | |
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| Initiative | |
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| Passion | |
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| Stress tolerance | |
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| Reliability (follow-through) | |
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| Willingness to work while others play | |
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| Unyielding positive attitude | |
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| Mental toughness | |
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| Attention to detail | |
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| Sense of urgency | |
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| Self-control | |
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| Thirst for knowledge | |
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| Ability to get along with others | |
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| Your role as owner of your construction firm | |
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| Leadership (Setting the course) | |
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| Vision to reality: The required path | |
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| Leaders and managers are different from each other | |
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| Tame the ego | |
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| Leadership in times of uncertainty | |
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| Manager vs owner/shareholder | |
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| The entrepreneur mindset | |
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| Managing risk | |
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| Establishing your corporate culture | |
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| Striving for excellence | |
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| Hiring the right people | |
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| Knowing your industry | |
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| Coordinating resources | |
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| Keeping in touch | |
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| Being there | |
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| Identifying objectives | |
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| Measuring results | |
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| Marketing | |
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| Little habits with big payoffs | |
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| Getting involved | |
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| Sales, marketing and business development | |
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| Marketing materials | |
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| Publicity | |
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| Proposals and presentations | |
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| Staying ahead of the pack | |
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| Impressions | |
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| New customers vs old | |
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| Reaching out | |
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| Data mining | |
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| Creating customer loyalty | |
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| Budget | |
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| Quality | |
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| Relationships | |
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| Schedule | |
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| Business considerations | |
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| The corporation | |
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| Capital equipment | |
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| Purchasing | |
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| Collection | |
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| Dealing with the IRS | |
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| Contractor failure | |
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| Controlling your finances | |
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| Working capital | |
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| Projecting cash needs | |
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| Understanding financial statements | |
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| Dishonest employees | |
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| Where is the money? | |
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| Bidding | |
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| Qualifying to bid | |
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| Approach to bidding | |
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| Pricing | |
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| Cost databank | |
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| Pre-bid site inspection | |
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| Warranty considerations | |
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| Compiling your bid proposal | |
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| Reverse bidding/auction | |
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| Building it | |
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| Registration and licensing | |
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| Environmental studies | |
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| Subcontracting the work | |
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| Photographs | |
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| Pre-construction meetings | |
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| Before you start a project | |
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| Project overhead/general conditions expense | |
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| Managing project overhead/general conditions cost | |
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| Warranties | |
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| Mechanic's liens | |
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| Lien waivers | |
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| Closing out the project | |
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| Accounting and record keeping | |
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| Certified public accountant | |
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| Audited financial statements | |
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| Bookkeeper | |
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| Cash vs accrual accounting procedures | |
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| Percentage of completion vs completed contract reporting | |
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| Percentage of completion method | |
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| Completed contract method | |
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| General and administrative expense | |
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| Fixed vs controllable G&A expense | |
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| Cost accounting | |
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| Financial statements | |
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| The income statement | |
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| The balance sheet | |
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| Reports | |
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| Billings | |
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| State sales tax | |
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| Contract terms and conditions | |
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| Types of agreement | |
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| Requirements for a binding agreement | |
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| A few generalizations about contracts | |
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| Know the project owner | |
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| Getting paid | |
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| Commencement/completion dates | |
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| Owner delay | |
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| Contractor delay | |
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| Changes in the work | |
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| Constructive change | |
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| Differing conditions (Changed conditions) | |
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| What to do upon discovering differing conditions | |
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| Insurance | |
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| Indemnification | |
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| Warranty obligations | |
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| Limitation of liability | |
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| Governing law | |
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| Dispute resolution | |
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| Contract termination by the owner | |
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| You and your employees | |
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| Who are the "right" people? | |
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| Hiring the "right" people | |
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| Good hiring practices | |
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| The interview | |
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| New employee orientation | |
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| Non-compete non-disclose agreement | |
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| Managing employees for the long term | |
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| Relationships | |
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| Autonomy | |
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| Recognition | |
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| Employee's return on investment | |
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| Employee incentive plans | |
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| Benefits packages | |
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| Trust | |
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| Work/life balance | |
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| Work fulfillment | |
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| Training | |
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| Job security | |
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| Internal conflict | |
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| Openness and communication | |
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| Responsibility vs job description | |
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| Evaluating employee performance | |
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| Employee termination | |
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| Conducting the termination meeting | |
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| Employee handbook | |
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| Professional employer organizations | |
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| You and your subcontractors | |
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| Independent contractor or employee? | |
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| Subcontractor qualification checklist | |
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| The contractor-subcontractor agreement: Special considerations | |
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| Pass-through or flow-down clause | |
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| Scope of work | |
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| Work as directed | |
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| Changes to the subcontract | |
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| Conditions for payment to subcontractor | |
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| Pay-if-paid | |
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| Delay damages | |
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| Retainage | |
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| Calculation of payment amount | |
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| Terms for final payment | |
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| Indemnity | |
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| Termination for convenience | |
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| Subcontractor default | |
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| Notice of default | |
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| Cure | |
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| Contractor alternatives | |
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| Continuation of performance | |
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| Dispute resolution | |
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| Termination of subcontract | |
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| Merger | |
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| Banking and finance | |
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| Your business plan | |
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| Sources of financing | |
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| Borrowing criteria | |
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| Managing credit | |
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| Insurance and bonds | |
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| Insurance | |
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| Worker's compensation insurance | |
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| Employer's liability insurance | |
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| All-risk builder's risk insurance | |
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| Commercial general liability insurance | |
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| When a loss occurs | |
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| Insurance administration | |
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| Certificates of insurance | |
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| Waiver of subrogation | |
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| Construction surety bonds | |
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| Specializing in chain store construction | |
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| Improved profit potential | |
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| Continuing relationships | |
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| Chain operators favor niche contractors | |
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| Fewer parties in the mix | |
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| Reliable cost database | |
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| Reduced risk | |
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| So why are so many contractors missing out on the chain store niche? | |
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| A note about the construction industry as a whole | |
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| If you're just getting started... | |
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| Useful Web site links | |
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| Regional cross reference of construction-related organizations | |
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| Potential questions for interviewing job applicants | |
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| Glossary | |
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| References | |
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| Index | |