Ira Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ is a great song, but not one construction managers tend to sing with any conviction. That’s because summer, frankly, can be a complete nightmare.
For one thing, even getting away for a break is hit-and-miss in a pressurised project environment. Those left manning the ship face one crisis after another as tradesmen disappear without notice, European suppliers shut down for a month and colleagues escape beyond network coverage with crucial information locked in their heads. All the programme gains predicted due to good weather vanish faster than cheap flights to Barcelona.

If you do get away, the pressure can be even more intense, though of a different sort. Having not laid eyes on Dad/Mum since Christmas, the family expects you to switch from workaholic to life-of-the-party by the time you hit the bar in departures... and remember all of their names!

But there is hope. In our summer special we offer some advice on clearing your head for a well-deserved break, and Bovis divisional director Julian Daniel describes how he learned to enjoy his family. As Ira penned…

One of these mornin’s
you goin’ to rise up singin’
Then you’ll spread yo’ wings
an’ you’ll take the sky

Calm hand at the helm
A warm welcome to President-Elect Colin Busby, who last month took the helm from Stuart Henderson as the CIOB’s chief statesman. In his inaugural interview (page 14), he strikes a distinctly cautious note for someone who, as chair of the Major Contractor’s Group, rounded on everyone from the Ministry of Defence to the Health and Safety Executive. But this is good in times of flux.

Source

Construction Manager