The aviation industry is renowned for its vastness and complexity, with different companies specializing in distinct facets of the field. Among them are aviation contract companies – businesses that provide specific aviation-related services to other companies on a contractual basis. Rapid fluctuations in demand necessitate such services as aircraft maintenance, aviation management, flight training, and perhaps less known, airspace safeguarding. This article takes an in-depth look at their critical role, focusing on airspace safeguarding Australia.

Aviation contract companies cater to a broad variety of needs, offering flexibility for airlines and other aviation-related companies. These contracted services include the provision of expert personnel such as pilots and engineers, the maintenance of aircraft to guarantee optimum performance and safety, and training services for various airlines staff. By outsourcing these tasks to specialized contract companies, airlines can maintain focus on their key capabilities – air transportation.

A less apparent but crucial service provided by these companies is airspace safeguarding. Airspace safeguarding Australia exemplifies this. The task involves designing and regulating the use of airspace around airports, with a focus on safety and efficiency. Safeguarding airspace requires the monitoring of all physical developments that could potentially affect flight paths or lead to air-traffic congestion.

With the responsibility of airspace safeguarding Australia, contracted companies have to make sure no structures pose a risk to ascending and descending aircraft, as well as to guarantee that radio waves’ pathways that aviation relies on for communication, navigation, and surveillance systems are free of interference. It’s a crucial task that requires in-depth knowledge of aviation, planning, and technology.

This focus on ensuring clear, safe flight paths is of particulate relevance to Australia, given its geographical position and vastness. Airspace safeguarding Australia thus features stringent regulations to maintain airport functionality and safety, conducted by aviation-contract companies that specialize in this service. Structures surrounding Australian airports, such as wind farms, telecommunication towers, or tall buildings, all have to comply with specific height and location limitations for this reason.

The airspace safeguarding Australia approach demonstrates how dedicating companies can work to maintain an efficient aviation environment. It allows for a thorough exploration of potential aviation hazards and the design of effective strategies to manage them. It is an approach that other countries should consider implementing, whether by government mandate or private initiative.

Reflecting on the role of aviation contract companies, it is apparent just how critical they are. Outsourcing specific tasks to these companies not only allows airlines to focus on their core activities but also ensures the highest industry standards are maintained. For instance, airspace safeguarding Australia ensures the safety of in-transit aircraft, passengers, as well as ground-based communities. The precision and accuracy in which these safeguarding measures are put in place are thanks to the specialist skills these contract companies have.

In summary, aviation contract companies form an integral part of the aviation industry, performing essential roles like training, maintenance, recruitment, and safeguarding. With the example of airspace safeguarding Australia, we see that these entities not only act as the backbone but also serve a role in advancing the industry overall. They ensure that proper safeguarding measures are put into place and operate efficiently, thereby contributing to the smooth operation of aviation activities worldwide.

By Ron Roberts

In Part 1, I showed you how to fill out page 1 of the AIA pay application (form G702). In Part 2, we are going to work through page 2 (form G703).

Go dig out your AIA pay application form again and turn to the second page. Here’s how to fill it out.

AIA Pay Application Page 2

The purpose of page 2 is to allow General Contractors to keep a close eye on your billing. As that is their purpose, they will probably ask you to break your pay request into several line items.

If they don’t, use as few breakouts as possible. This is your one opportunity to control your billing. If they request a more detailed breakout, give it to them.

Before delving into the heart of the page, allow me a moment to discuss the numbering of your pay applications. When you number your applications, number the first one “1” and count up from there.

If you have to revise a pay application, do not increase the number, just add a letter designation behind the original number. For example, if you are revising pay application number 5, make it 5R to reflect that it is a revision of number 5.

Column A – Item No.

Number your line items however you wish. Most contractors start with “1” and go from there. Some use the specification section or drawing number that the work applies to.

Column B – Description of Work

Describe the line item’s type of work (e.g. underground sanitary or first floor concrete slabs), the building, the area, or anything else that makes sense to you.

If your scope of work is large, you may wish to match this up to major activities from your estimate. Change orders are usually added as separate line items as they are approved.

Assume your first line item is for mobilization and your second line item is for pouring and finishing the first floor slabs. The rest of our example will focus on the first floor slab.

Column C – Scheduled Value

Assign a dollar value to each line. The grand total of all lines must equal your current contract sum that shows up on line 3 of page 1. Double check that before submitting the pay application.

Billing is a cat and mouse game. Be sly. Listing $30,000 for pre-construction and mobilization when you only have a couple of days of contract work and shop drawing preparation combined with taking a job trailer, a few skid steers, and some tools to the site to get started insults the GC’s intelligence.

Assume you have scheduled $60,000 for the first floor slab. Enter that in column C.

Column D – Work Completed from Previous Applications

Write down the total dollar amount you requested for this line item through your last pay application. That includes materials that you listed as Stored Materials but have now put in place. Column D does not include work completed this period nor does it include newly stored material.

Assume, that on your last application, you had listed $10,000 in column D, $5,000 in column E, and had $5,000 of Stored Materials of which $3,000 have now been put in place. On this pay application, you would list the combined total from all three items ($18,000) under column D and still have at least $2,000 of Stored Materials.

Column E – Work Completed This Period

The dollar amount of new work completed this period. Do not include materials that you installed but had already been paid for under Stored Materials. That figure goes in column D. All labor, equipment, and mark-up for the placement of those stored materials should be included as Work Completed This Period.

Assume you have completed $12,000 of work this period.

Column F – Materials Presently Stored

The total value of materials currently stored but not installed. Usually, to get paid for stored materials they have to be on site or in a bonded, secure storage facility.

Assume you bought an additional $1,000 in materials beyond what you had. Remember, you installed $3,000 worth from your last pay application’s $5,000 of Stored Materials. Column N of this application should show $3,000 ($2,000 of carry-over plus $1,000 of new material).

Column G – Total Completed and Stored to Date

Add together columns D, E, and F. This value should be the total work and materials to date. For our example that total should be $33,000.

Did you come up with that number? If not, go back and added everything up again.

Column G – % (of scheduled value)

This column is commonly referred to as Percent Complete. Divide your Total Completed and Stored to Date by the Scheduled value.

For the example, the correct value for our example would be 55% ($33,000 divided by $60,000).

Column H – Balance to Finish

Subtract the Total Completed and Stored to Date from the Scheduled Value.

For our example, the value would be $27,000 ($60,000 minus $33,000).

Column I – Retainage (held)

Multiply the prevailing retention rate (typically 10%) by the Total Completed and Stored to Date value.

Assuming 10% retention for our example, the value would be $3,300 ($33,000 times 0.1).

To finish filling out your form, total up each column and enter the value at the bottom of the column on the Grand Total line.

Whew. We’re done with pay applications.

About the Author: Ron Roberts, The Contractor’s Business Coach, teaches contractors how to turn their businesses into money making machines. To receive Ron’s FREE Contractor Best Practices Newsletter visit FilthyRichContractor.com

Source: isnare.com

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