Godfrey Hoffman Official Blog

Godfrey-Hoffman voted “The Best of CT Law”

Maria — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:08:01 +0000

We are pleased to announce that Godfrey-Hoffman Associates has been chosen by Connecticut’s Attorneys and Law firms as one of “The Best.”

Check out our announcement in The Connecticut Law Tribune’s October 19 issue.

We are proud of this success!!!

GHA helps owner relocate home Built in the 1700s! Wow!

Maria — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:08:41 +0000

Godfrey-Hoffman has been around for a long time, but not as long as this 1700’s homestead in Guilford. Godfrey-Hoffman was hired to see if it is possible to relocate this historic structure due to it’s present location near a state highway. Improving sight line and traffic concerns are also on the front burner of this project. The project is to be headed up by “Circa 1700, Inc.” a specialist in preserving historic homes.

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY!!!!

Maria — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:04:17 +0000

Has it seemed like it’s raining every day?
Well it has.
Is it global warming?
I’ll leave that up to the experts. What we do know, is that lately the lending institutions have more requirements, FEMA required Elevation Certificates. GHA has been an expert in the preparation of not only FEMA Elevation Certificates, we also have helped our clients with LOMA (Letter of Map Amendment)applications to further reduce insurance premiums.

Federal Stimulus money makes it’s way to New Haven through the HUD Assisted Living Conversion Program.

Maria — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:25:14 +0000

Tower One-Tower East, an assisted and independent community is please to be the recipient of approximately 6 million dollars of Federal monies to add a much needed 3rd elevator to its Tower One building as well as make other improvements including creating additional new assisted living apartments.

Kanalstein Danton Associates, P.A. a New Jersey architectual firm is spearheading the operation and has chosen Godfrey-Hoffman to prepare the required surveys and site engineering drawings for this project.

Burt Lab renovations are complete !

Maria — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:45:47 +0000

Munger Construction recently completed a 26,000 s.f. addition for Steve Burt at his manufacturing facility in Hamden. Godfrey-Hoffman was instrumental in prepareing the initial survey and site planning as well as construction stakeout and As-Built mapping for this project. The big plus was that GHA was able to convince the town that by limiting the parking lot expansion strictly to what Burt Lab requires as opposed to the total the town regulations calls for was a win win for everyone. Our engineers were able to reduce the amount of asphalt, which saved the client lots of money and was also a savings to the environment by limiting the amount of impervious surface. GHA did have to prove to the town that the entire required parking was available if need be.

Chris Gagnon, P.E. joins the GHA Staff

Adam — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:50:57 +0000

Mr. Gagnon began work at Godfrey Hoffman Associates in 2009. His responsibilities include engineering design, site planning, project management and preparation of submittals to town, state and federal agencies and presentations of submittals to various agencies on behalf of his clients.

Before joining Godfrey-Hoffman Associates, Mr. Gagnon was a Senior Engineer with McFarland-Johnson Inc. located in New London, CT. While with McFarland-Johnson he managed the site/civil component of projects for clients including Indian Tribes, private universities and secondary schools and private developers. During his time at McFarland-Johnson Mr. Gagnon became well acquainted with many of the rules and regulation which are unique to the Telecommunication industry. Mr. Gagnon was the lead engineer for multiple Telecommunication facilities throughout New England. He participated in the design and permitting of various projects from the erection of new towers on raw land to the co-location of antennas on existing structures including buildings, smoke stacks or existing radio antenna towers. His responsibilities there included engineering design, project management, and preparation of submittals to town, state and federal agencies and presentations of submittals to various agencies.

Before joining McFarland-Johnson, Mr. Gagnon worked for various engineering and surveying firms in New England and Oregon. As his experience increased so did his responsibilities. He prides himself on fostering constructive relationships with both clients and the regulatory bodies responsible for reviewing his client’s projects.

Mr. Gagnon holds a Professional Engineering license for the State of Connecticut. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Union College.

“Architectural Navigation”

Adam — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:06:53 +0000

Architectural Navigation was designed to lend Quality Control to the overall construction process. It is “Surveying for the Next Generation”. Currently we use cutting edge software that will bridge the gap between Architectural and Engineering design and Sub Contractor construction. This gap increases the amount of time, money and risk to the overall project. The software allows us to locate any space in real time creating a 3D wire fame model in a .dwg (AutoCad format) and send via email the same day. This service is designed to keep Dimensional Quality Control over the length of the entire construction process from existing conditions to the construction lay out for all the trades as well as built locations. A wire BIM (Building Information Model) will be created and can be turned into a full Revit 3D Model upon request.

A typical three step process is as follows:
1.) Quality Control Surveyors conduct an “Existing Conditions” study for the building or space, before the design plans are finalized. We will then send the data collected in the field electronically to the Architect or Engineer so that they may initiate, adjust or add to the proposed or existing design.
2.) Quality Control Surveyors will “Lay-Out” for any trade by using the Architects drawing “In the Field” to mark the exact location of the Proposed Development. Our Robotic Instrument will turn to the exact location as designed so that it can be clearly defined for constructing by the Sub-Contractor. As the project is being constructed we will make numerous site visits to ensure that what has been installed is in the exact location and set at the correct elevation.
3.) Quality Control Surveyors have collected data to this point will that lead up to the Final Forensic Study a.k.a. Final “As Built”. Throughout the construction process we will locate what has been built i.e.: foundation(s), anchor bolt(s), pile(s), etc. to ensure that the location is accurate with respect to the Design. Errors or changes will be reflected in this process and recorded for final “As Constructed” documents. We can make separate as built drawings for each trade or make one model that will have all the as built location. This would be the start of BIM that we can expand to become a fully virtual 3D model.

This three step process will save the project time, money and risk by reducing costly mistakes as well as the numerous change orders that take place in today’s work environment. This in turn, reduces the risk of a project from being shut down due to unsafe working conditions. The ability of recognizing a mistake as soon as it happens and have it rectified before it turns into a major setback is optimized. Architectural Navigation is a sure bet for the design build industry.

3-D Laser Scanning & Architectural Navigation

Adam — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:06:17 +0000

“GODFREY-HOFFMAN ASSOC.” teams up with ”BENCHMARK LINE & GRADE” to offer “3-D Laser Scanning” services as well as Architectural Navigation!

Laser scanning offers an alternative to traditional survey techniques. A high speed laser scanner can capture data of complex surfaces and often inaccessible environments much quicker than other methods of surveying.

Once the site survey has been carried out, the need for a return visit is rarely necessary due to the completeness and density of the data capture.
Due to the speed of the data capture, the amount of time spent on site is massively reduced, yet the information collected is far superior to that of traditional techniques.

The laser scanner produces a ‘point cloud’ from each individual scan which can then be pieced together to produce a full 3D model of the scanned object. This complete point cloud can then be traced around to produce accurate and very detailed 2D drawings.

And can turn buildings like this…..

to this, in a matter of hours….

Then we work with the cloud to produce the drawn 2D elevations you are familiar with.

Adam Hoffman appointed to Board of Directors Tower One/Tower East

Maria — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:30:32 +0000

Congratulations to Adam Hoffman on his appointment to the Tower One/Tower East Board of Directors. “The Towers” focus is to provide older persons of varying means, high quality living arrangements and services based upon Jewish values and traditions. Adam is proud to be involved in this endeavor and looks forward to all it brings. Adam also sits on the Facilities Committee as well as the T-3 Committee. For more information about Tower One, please visit www.towerone.org

Connecticut Institute of Land Surveying (CILS) to offer seminars at GHA headquarters.

Adam — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:53:13 +0000

On Jan. 5th, 2009 the Connecticut Institute of Land Surveys will begin holding survey seminars in the lower conference room at GHA. The Institute will offer the following courses for the spring semester: Legal Principles for Boundary Determination, Title Search / Boundary Descriptions, and Practical Fundamentals.

We are happy to be able to provide CILS director Tom Evans with a venue for these seminars. GHA employee Calvin Weingart has taken classes with Tom in the past. Here is what he has to say about the classes: “This is the type of knowledge that you can gain during an evening class and apply the very next day in the field or office. It is the sort of thing a person does not always gain on the job or in a college course. The “fundamentals class” really took the mystery out of surveying for me as I have worked primarily with data collectors in the field.”

For more information regarding CILS and the classes that will be offered please click on the link below.