Philadelphia Area Labor Management Committee
BUILT-RITE Construction Industry Program

BUILT-RITE: The Construction Alliance of Proven Quality

BUILT-RITE is an alliance of contractors, unions and construction users specializing in high quality, cost-effective construction in the Delaware Valley since 1982. The BUILT-RITE program includes worksite and industry-based components: the goal is to improve outcomes on specific construction projects, as well as to strengthen the competitiveness of BUILT-RITE members in the construction industry.

BUILT-RITE’S inclusive communication process invests everyone concerned in the success of the project. From pre-job planning to worksite tool box meetings, BUILT-RITE delivers high-quality cost effective construction.

Typical Results
  • On-time, on-budget completion
  • Significantly lower injury rates
  • Reduced redo work
  • Elimination of work stoppages caused by jurisdictional disputes
  • Improved relations among contractors, unions, and construction users
I.  BUILT-RITE at the Worksite
At the worksite level BUILT-RITE functions to accomplish several purposes:
  1.  Constant communication among user, contractor and work and their representatives
  2.  Project Monitoring and Tracking
  3.  Information Gathering and Dissemination
  4.  Improvement of Work Project Quality, Safety and Productivity
The primary vehicle of the BUILT-RITE program is a worksite communication structure comprised of several levels of participants with operational or line responsibilities. Groupings of individual journeymen with first line supervisors in Tool Box Meetings comprise the first worksite communications level. Following Tool Box Meetings are Productivity Committees which are attended by project supervision or mid-management personnel as well as foremen and stewards who run tool box meetings and business agents from representative project unions. A third level above the mid-management group is a senior management and union steering or policy committee tracking overall project progress and adherence to other broad goals established on behalf of the project. The frequency of worksite meetings is determined by the size and schedule of each individual project.
II.  BUILT-RITE at the Community Level
As it operates at a community level, BUILT-RITE functions to accomplish the following purposes:
  1.  Improved relations among union, contractor, and owner construction communities
  2.  Development of industrywide improvements in quality, productivity and safety
  3.  Networking of common interests among user, union and contractor stakeholders
  4.  Development and adoption of new standards of industry health and safety programs
  5.  Networking with other industry associations at local, state, and national levels for the continuance of improvements in the construction industry among union, contractor and owner participants
  6.  Occasional lobbying for matters of common interest and concern to the construction industry and its unions
  7.  Information dissemination for ideas generated through BUILT-RITE task forces and worksite programs
The primary vehicle for the implementation of the communitywide BUILT-RITE effort are standing task forces of user, contactor and union member representatives of those communities from the Delaware Valley. The cover the following subject matters:
  1. Productivity and Cost Effectiveness
  2. Health and Safety
  3. Program Development and Public Information
  4. Petrochemical Industry specialty construction
Finally, BUILT-RITE sponsors updating BUILT-RITE Best Practices covering such topics as:
  1. Avoidance of jurisdictional disputes
  2. Contemporary issues facing labor and management in construction
  3. Measuring and achieving quality goals
  4. Users’ responsibilities for project safety