The Contender’s Edge

Every construction project starts with a handshake and a schedule. Then the RFIs pile up, materials get delayed, schedules fall apart, and everyone starts pointing fingers.
In this episode of the Contender’s Edge Podcast, Zulq sits down with construction claims and dispute expert Richard Fogarasi to break down what actually causes construction disputes, delay claims, and project breakdowns on job sites.
Richard brings experience from both the field and the consulting world, from superintendent and project manager roles to becoming a construction delay and quantum expert working on high-level disputes across the industry.
This episode digs into:
Why most baseline schedules fail within weeks
The biggest mistakes contractors make during delays
How RFIs quietly destroy schedules
What owners and designers get wrong before construction starts
Why daily reports become legal gold later
The danger of verbal instructions on site
How subcontractors can protect themselves during disputes
Why “we’ll figure it out later” costs companies money
Contract clauses contractors ignore until it’s too late
The real reason claims fail in court
If you’re a general contractor, subcontractor, project manager, superintendent, estimator, consultant, or owner, this episode gives you practical advice that can save your company time, money, and legal headaches.
Straight talk from people who’ve lived it in the field.

If you run a construction company and think leadership is about output, this episode will challenge you.
Shaun Dawson, President of GEN-PRO, breaks down what it takes to build a company that people stay at. 
Not perks. Not talk. Genuine care for your crew.
From growing up in the business to taking over ownership, Shaun shares how leadership, health and safety, and mental health support directly impact retention, culture, and long-term growth.
Inside this episode:
→ Why employees leave leaders who don’t care
→ How real leadership shows up on and off the job site
→ The role of mental health in construction teams
→ What small and mid-size contractors get wrong about culture
→ How to build a team that stays for decades
This is for construction owners, general contractors, subcontractors, founders, and leaders who want stronger teams, better retention, and a company people are proud to work for.
Experience from the field, from a leader who cares about his people.
 
#ConstructionLeadership #GeneralContractor #ConstructionManagement #ContractorLife #ConstructionBusiness #SkilledTrades #Leadership #ConstructionCulture

Hiring in construction has become a new challenge for contractors. The talent pool has shifted, expectations around office culture and hybrid work are changing, and many companies are struggling to attract and retain the right people.
In this episode of The Contender’s Edge Podcast, Zulq Malik, founder and CEO of SMARTBUILD sits down with construction recruiters Jim DiVizio and Tania Sarracini to talk about what construction companies should understand about hiring today.
They cover:
• How the construction job market changed after COVID
• Why some contractors struggle to attract strong candidates
• What employees are looking for in construction companies today
• The impact of hybrid work and salary shifts
• Hiring mistakes that slow down recruitment
• What contractors should improve in their hiring process
 
If you run a construction company, general contractor, or development firm, this conversation gives you a clear look at what’s happening in the talent market and how to approach hiring in today’s construction industry.
 
Tania Sarracini (Owner and Recruiting Partner) - LinkedIn
email: tania@bestrecruiting.ca
Best Recruiting
Jim DiVizio (Owner and Recruiting Partner) - LinkedIn
email: Jim@bestrecruiting.ca
 
#GeneralContractor #ConstructionIndustry #ConstructionCareers #SkilledTrades #HiringStrategy

Bad schedules. Poor documentation. Risk nobody priced right.
That’s how small and mid-size construction companies lose money.
In this episode of The Contender’s Edge Podcast, we sit down with Greg Holness (FTI Consulting), a Professional Engineer and attorney with 30+ years of experience helping clients manage change, mitigate risk, and resolve construction disputes involving delay, disruption, acceleration, and lost productivity.
He has developed, analyzed, and resolved claims on public and private projects of all sizes, and has drafted and negotiated hundreds of construction and design contracts, giving him deep insight into the terms that often drive disputes.
We break down unrealistic deadlines, schedule mistakes, estimating risk, and what general contractors and subcontractors must do to protect their margins. If you run a construction company and want fewer disputes and stronger project control, this episode is for you.

In this episode of the Contenders Edge Podcast, we sit down with Robert Sheesley, known as the Blue-Collar CIO, to break down why construction software fails and how adoption actually works in the field.
We talk about technology adoption in construction, why crews resist new tools, and what leaders must do to get buy-in from blue-collar teams. This episode covers change management, construction software rollout, field worker adoption, CIO strategy, and how GCs and construction companies can introduce technology without slowing down jobsites.
If you’re a general contractor, subcontractor, construction executive, or operations leader trying to improve tech adoption, productivity, and jobsite reporting, this episode delivers practical insight from someone who’s done it across multiple blue-collar industries.

Cash flow is where most construction companies get hurt, even when jobs look profitable. In this episode of Contenders Edge, we sit down with Bryce Wisan, a CPA who has spent 15+ years inside construction accounting, to break down overbilling, revenue vs cash, and why money in the bank is not always yours. If you’re a GC or subcontractor who wants fewer surprises, better job costing, and tighter control over cash, this episode will change how you think about the numbers.
Byce is a founder of Levvigo.com #1 remote ACCOUNTING solutions for contractors company

In this episode of Contenders Edge, we sit down with Nick from Iron Shake Inc, who started working construction at 13 because he didn’t want to do chores. He shares how real jobsite experience, not shortcuts, shaped his career and how he built his construction company by showing the work on Instagram. We talk trades vs school, learning fundamentals early, and why a digital presence now decides who gets the call. If you run a GC or subcontracting business and want to grow without waiting years for referrals, this episode is worth your time.

Tech keeps trying to “fix” construction without knowing the jobsite.
Episode 1 is a real back-and-forth between a 30-year General Contractor and an AI nerd, voice notes vs forms, structure vs “say it and go,” and what actually holds up on site.
We get into the stuff you deal with every day, half-finished reports, photo dumps with no labels, getting pulled away mid-task, and trying to remember details hours later.
If you build for a living, or run the people who do, press play.
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