Articles by Kristen R. Bayles

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Code literacy: the contractor's best advantage

Traditionally, code knowledge was defensive. Today, it's an offensive strategy.
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Kristen R. Bayles
March 11, 2026
Codes are expanding into areas like resilience, electrification, water quality management and long-term accountability. No longer are they static rulebooks; they’re living frameworks shaping how systems perform over decades.
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Growing without breaking the business: how mechanical contractors can scale responsibly

Project selection strategies for contractors looking to scale from Jason Richards, CEO of Foundral.
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Kristen R. Bayles
March 9, 2026

It’s tempting to chase new work without fully evaluating whether the project aligns with operation capacity or financial structure. We’ve all heard, “bigger is better,” after all. However, contractors need to establish clear criteria before pursuing additional work. That includes evaluating a few key factors.


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