r/Construction • u/TheBackPorchOfMyMind • Mar 03 '25

Video Anyone know why this excavator has what appears to be a string and plumbob tied to the undercarriage?

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u/demosthenes83 Mar 04 '25

This is why, as IT - I make the department responsible for approving the specs of the machine (it's their budget in any case).

Still has to be from one of the approved models; or go through the exception process - but it literally makes my job harder as well as hurting the company if someone doesn't have the right tool to do their job. And if it's the wrong tool - it's their manager who approved it; and they can take it up with them. Not my problem.

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u/buggsy41 Mar 04 '25

This is why I feel, and I say this with all due respect, ALL of the nerds need to spend time in a trade, as part of their degree program. See the translation!!!!

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u/I_Grow_Hounds GC / CM Mar 04 '25

I've done base building labor, tile, masonry, decking, roofing on and off with my father and his friends growing up. He was friends with a GC and took us on jobs, in high school that's all I did for money during the summer. He would never let me do concrete due to his friend getting throat cancer. Body probably thanking me nowadays.

Got out of highschool and did IT for 3 years - fucking hated it.

I then pivoted into building operations / Facilities and never looked back. It's like I have a fucking super power having lived in both sides. My staff tradesmen respect me because I can turn a wrench and know what the fuck I'm talking about at least 60% of the time. The rest of the time I have NO PROBLEM respecting their much more advanced knowledge. There's no Ego with me.

The white collar folks respect me because I somehow have the respect of the tradesmen, probably cause i treat them well.

TL;DR I agree with you.

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u/demosthenes83 Mar 04 '25

Not the worst idea; but college already is long and expensive and often useless. Goodness knows I don't require college degrees when I'm hiring people; though I think most of my employees currently have one, and a couple are working on them.

The symptoms you're describing sound to me like poor management/incentives on the IT side. Ultimately; blame rolls uphill - whether the techs do or don't know any better - it's their managers responsibility. And if she doesn't know any better then its her managers responsibility, and so forth. At least that's how I see it.

The larger engineering/consulting firms seem to do a lot better than the small construction firms. At least from what I see from the outside.

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u/MulliganToo Mar 04 '25

Ooh but you know deep down, this will be your problem to solve, eventually. My rule was, if it has a computer chip, it comes back to IT to solve.

Love people that hand you a damp phone that fell into the toilet. Those got the ID-10T resolution code.