Building Maintenance & Construction: Tools and Maintenance Tasks

Reviewed by James Byrnes, Associate Professor, Johnson County Community College on 5/9/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

It is a good book, that often goes beyond the basic, but does not cover advanced competencies. More industrial and commercial applications would improve the text.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The accuracy is adequate, but more elaboration would be appreciated. More information on cable identification would be nice.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Text discussing building codes is easily outdated. The author did a good job of covering the fundamentals that do not change from one code cycle to the next. The electrical theory and math sections were great examples.

Clarity rating: 5

Very well organized and written with awesome pictures, videos, interactive activities and quizzes to keep students engaged.

Consistency rating: 5

Text is consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

Book is divided well into coherent chapters and sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text is very clear about the subjects covered. The text is easy to follow.

Interface rating: 5

All navigation, charts, quizzes and links to videos/content worked without flaw.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Well written and edited.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Typically not applicable in trades publications. This book is no different.

Comments

Overall this is an awesome book for what it does. The embedded resources are top notch and very helpful. The book goes beyond entry level trades education while offering a broad construction education. I wish the author had gone more in depth in the electrical sections, but that could be the subject of another book.

Reviewed by Duygu Kalan, Teaching Assistant, Colorado State University on 5/17/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the construction tools and maintenance tasks. The interactive links given as part of the books make it easy to use while presenting many pictures and videos. Although the book is designed for entry-level positions, it could be helpful for undergraduate construction management students. The safety issues while handling tools are intensely discussed in the book, which makes it an excellent introductory text for first-year students.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content of the book is accurate and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is up-to-date; however, some of the referred codes should be updated. The text provides information on the necessary updates, and it is easy to implement.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is free from jargon and easy to understand.

Consistency rating: 5

Each section of the book is consistent. Description for technical terminology is provided within the text.

Modularity rating: 5

The sections are easy to break up into small sections, and the book is entirely modular.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The organization of the book could be improved by providing Math Concepts at the beginning of the book. Some pages are left blank, and it makes it hard to follow the content. Overall, the biggest issue related to this book that I notice is that the organization.

Interface rating: 4

The book is primarily free of interface problems. However, some of the links should be updated. For some links, permission is not provided to access the content (e.g., 403 Forbidden Error).

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The book is free from grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book is not culturally offensive in any way.