Training

Updated 10/11/23

Reimbursement Policy

We encourage members of the preconstruction department to take advantage of Monadnock’s educational reimbursement policy. At the time of this writing, the policy is as follows:

Monadnock will reimburse 75% of tuition up to a maximum of $15,000 per year for courses directly job related and taken at an accredited institution. Reimbursement is upon completion of the course with a minimum grade of B+. Employees must obtain approval before registering for courses and are eligible only after one year of employment.

Especially relevant coursework may be eligible for 100% reimbursement (prior to coursework completion). We also encourage all members to bring up or suggest any training topics that might be good candidates for office-wide training sessions at the main office.  

Coursework and Certifications

Here are some potential training opportunities for members of the preconstruction department (but these are by no means the only opportunities out there):

• Certified Passive House Consultant certification through PHIUS (required)

• 10-Hour OSHA Certification (required)

• 4-Hour Scaffold User certification (required)

• 30-Hour OSHA certification (required)

• 62 Hour SST (optional)

• MEP Coursework (NYU, Pratt, Cooper Union)

• AutoCAD training (NYU, Pratt, Cooper Union)

• Revit training (NYU, Pratt, Cooper Union)

• BIM training (NYU, Pratt, Cooper Union)

• VRF training (often provided by manufacturers)

All the training above is eligible for 100% reimbursement assuming personal time is used and advanced approval from your supervisor is secured.

Scope Review Meetings

Another valuable training opportunity is attending scope review meetings conducted by Project Managers. By doing this, you can get a sense for how Project Managers look at and buy jobs. You will also hear more detailed feedback from subcontractors about how they are viewing the jobs, what aspects of the design is driving their costs, and how the building will actually get built.

It’s always best to attend the scope review meetings for projects where you completed the budget. It probably will not make sense to attend more than one scope review meeting for the same trade on the same project (Project Managers will usually conduct 2 – 6 for any given trade).  

Reading

The following is an abbreviated list of technical reading material relevant to our work.

• Technical Construction Knowledge

  • Modern Hydronic Heating by John Siegenthaler

  • Building Structures Illustrated by Francis DK Ching

  • Building Construction Illustrated by Francis D.K. Ching.

  • Placing Reinforcing Bars by the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute

  • Chapter 33 of the NYC Building Code

  • Concrete Construction by Ken Nolan

  • Interior Construction and Detailing by David Ballast

  • IPT'‘s Crane and Rigging Training Manual by Ronald Garby

  • Masonry Design and Detailing by Christine Beall

  • Trane Air Conditioning Manual by the Trane Company (out of print)

• Real Estate/Financial Literacy

  • Real Estate Finance and Investments by William Brueggeman

  • Financial Statements by Thomas Ittelson

• Periodicals

  • The Journal of Light Construction (www.jlconline.com)

• Just Good Books

  • The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

Jobsite Visits and Photos

In addition to formal training and reading, we encourage members of the preconstruction department to methodically review job-site photos (posted for most jobs daily to Procore) and to actively visit Monadnock’s jobs around the city. If deadlines for deliverables continue to be met, all are encouraged to visit jobs as often as they can--even multiple times per week. When visiting a job, it is important to notify the site superintendent in advance of your visit and to make sure Monadnock personnel know when you are on the job and when you have left.