The Sweet Spot Lead paint rules hurting the good guys The EPA’s LRRP lead paint rules put us, as an industry, in an awkward place. We have a rule that is, by all accounts, increasing the...
Quality Management Writing a successful NHQA application The NHQA application document is not simply the method of applying for the NHQA, it is an excellent overview of your business and a key...
Quality Management Addressing a NHQA feedback report: opportunities for improvement Receiving a NHQA feedback report can result in a freeze due the amount of Opportunities for Improvement (OFI’s) reported, but remember even...
Quality Management Before AND after: NHQA site visits Making the cut for a National Housing Quality Award (NHQA) site visit is a major achievement, however, quite naturally many are anxious...
blog_entry Quality Management Systems (QMS) A Quality Management System or QMS refers to what an organization does to manage its processes, or activities, so that its products or...
The Sweet Spot Home ownership still goal for majority of Americans: N.Y. Times Poll Almost 90 percent of Americans think owning a home is still an important part of the American dream, despite the current housing market.That...
Lean Design Lean Design principle #1 The concept of lean architectural design is often misunderstood. Elimination of design- induced waste in both product and process is the...
Lean Design Brownies, muffins and dollars I must admit, as an architect involved heavily in the home building business for the last 20 years I have never come across the concept of ...
Lean Design Is Lean Design the bigfoot of the architectural world? “I thought I saw it once. Rooms designed in twelve foot dimensions, footing dimensions in 24” increments. Sheetrock scraps wouldn’t fill a...
Quality Management ROI evidence of Baldrige impact: The foundation of the NHQA This year 69 organizations have applied for the nation's highest recognition for organizational performance excellence the Malcom Baldrige...
Great Solutions for Builders 3 reasons why NHQ Award winners are faring better than most builders Last month, the Professional Builder editorial team hosted judges for our annual National Housing Quality Awards program, which for the past...
The Sweet Spot Harrell Remodeling named one of Inc.'s top workplaces Congratulations go out to Iris Harrell and her Mountain View, Calif., remodeling company.Harrell Remodeling was recently named by Inc....
Quality Management Focusing on operational efficiencies: Team Charter Document as a key tool The 2011 Housing Giants Ranking Report shows that the Housing Giants are taking advantage of this slow period to focus on what they see is...
The Sweet Spot Best remodeling market since 2004? So I don't know what to make of this one, posted earlier today on HousingZone: BuildFax Remodeling Index Shows Top April on Record.I&...
Quality Management Quality Management System Impact on High Performance Home Builders The impact of quality management on home builders is dramatic. For example of builders that used the National Housing Quality Award criteria...
The Sweet Spot Video: 530 foot drop from a helicopter and the drill survives Got to spend some time over at the Bosch headquarters yesterday. To show off the toughness of their new line of drills, they dropped two of...
Quality Management The Quality Life Cycle The Quality Life Cycle allows for the characterization and visualization of the various complex stages and dynamics of quality. Here's how to put it work in your company
The Sweet Spot Blog: Harsh reality of lead paint rules All the remodelers out there who thought that the EPA RRP lead paint rules weren’t going to be enforced may want to think again. The...
Quality Management Project effectiveness & efficiency tool There are many ways to determine how successful a process or project is. These methods normally involve detailed metrics and may include...
The Sweet Spot Video: NAHB Boards, Lead Paint & More Lead paint continues to be getting a lot of buzz, what with the NAHB's lawsuit against EPA, the first fine coming down last week and...
Great Solutions for Builders Blog: Is a lot shortage looming? At a time when the housing industry is facing a severe glut of inventory, depressed real-estate values, tighter lending standards, and a...
Quality Management The quality journey. The starting point and paths to the future. As the broad range of topics discussed in this blog clearly shows, Quality Management involves a wide range of issues. Perhaps the National...
The Sweet Spot Video: Lead paint violation goes viral - $150,000 fine for remodeler POSTED 5/19/2011So for all those remodelers who thought there was no reason to follow the EPA's lead RRP rules?Yeah, you might want to...
Quality Management Prioritizing Improvement Projects We all have a long list of improvement projects we would like to work on. The problem is picking which to focus on now and which to leave...
Great Solutions for Builders Blog: Investors still eying housing market While we’ve spent the better part of the past four years analyzing just how dramatically the housing market has changed during the...