Author: agcnews

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today announced two six-month pilot programs that expand opportunities for parties to voluntarily resolve charges through mediation and increase the effectiveness of the conciliation process. Mediation Pilot Mediation is a voluntary, informal, and confidential way to resolve disputes with the help of a neutral mediator who is trained to help people discuss their differences. The EEOC’s ACT (Access, Categories, Time) Mediation pilot, which began on July 6, 2020, expands the categories of charges eligible for mediation and, generally, allows for mediation throughout an investigation. Currently, only certain categories of charges are referred to…

The United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently announced significant steps to streamline optional-use forms that workers can use to request and employers can use to coordinate leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). WHD also published a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register seeking the public’s feedback on the law’s administration and use. WHD’s new forms are intended to be simpler and easier for employees, employers, leave administrators and healthcare providers to understand and use. Revised with substantial public input, the forms include more questions that users can answer by checking a response box and…

On July 8, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs began to consider funding legislation for fiscal year (FY) 2021. The bill provides a total of $10.1 billion for military construction projects, roughly $1.5 billion below the FY 2020 enacted levels. The VA portion of the bill funded major and minor construction within the VA at $1.8 billion, an increase of $139 million above the FY 2020. This amount includes $1.4 billion for Major Construction and $400 million for Minor Construction. House Democratic leadership has stated that it wants all twelve funding bills to be passed by the end…

On July 8, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) passed legislation to fund related programs for fiscal year (FY) 2021. If enacted, this measure would provide significantly increased funding for surface transportation programs consistent with levels offered in the recent House passed INVEST in America Act. In addition, the bill would provide funding for economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, including an additional $3 billion for the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program and $3 billion for grant and facility upgrade programs through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This measure will now…

Chris has worked in the construction industry for over 25 years in various marketing, business development and public relations positions. In 2008, Chris founded Atlas Marketing to tell stories for people who build things.  The agency, based in Pittsburgh, specializes in marketing, social media, digital development, crisis communications, public relations and marketing strategy.  Since inception, the agency has worked hard to simplify the complex stories of labor organizations, government agencies, general contractors, specialty contractors and statewide industry associations. In addition to being a member of the AGC BD Forum, Chris is co-host of the Building PA Podcast, a podcast that showcases the construction industry…

Twice a year the Administration updates its Unified Agenda with projected timelines for rulemakings and other actions. The spring agenda, released June 30, 2020, shows some delay in movement on key water programs that AGC has been tracking due to their relevance to the construction industry. AGC summarizes these developments below. Army Corps of Engineers Council on Environmental Quality Environmental Protection Agency Although not on the spring agenda, U.S. EPA is working on reissuance of the Multi-Sector General Permit for stormwater discharges from industrial activities—completion expected for 2020. U.S. EPA also will begin the process for reissuing its Construction General…

Together, AGC of America and its Michigan Chapter have extended the association’s long string of successful efforts to establish that the commercial general liability insurance (CGL) policy sold to construction contractors across the United States does provide coverage for property damage resulting from unexpected and unintended defects in a subcontractor’s workmanship (unless one of the policy’s specific exclusions applies). On June 29, 2020, the Michigan Supreme Court became the latest of many state supreme courts to agree that such damage is an “occurrence.” Since 2007, AGC of America has won similar victories in conjunction with its chapters in the supreme…

The weather is consistently rated as one of the most frequent and harmful causes of construction project delays. Weather-related claims are also a frequent source of dispute between contractors and project owners. On this episode, Athenium Analytics explains how contractors, their risk management departments, and even their insurance carriers can use hyper-local forecasts as well as historical weather data to manage and mitigate delays, lost weather days, and onsite damages from natural hazards. Tool for Contractors:Protect your team, materials and timeline against weather-related risks. GaugeConstruction is the cloud-based weather analytics dashboard for the construction and business sectors, delivering short-term, long-term…

On July 1, the House Armed Services Committee overwhelmingly passed (56-0) H.R. 6395, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. In addition, on July 2, the Senate is set to vote on it’s version of the FY2021 NDAA (S.4049). AGC has provided feedback to both chambers on provisions important to federal construction contractors. The House Armed Services Committee debated and adopted hundreds of amendments to the bill. The House bill contains a host of procurement and environment provisions, particularly relating to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, important to construction contractors. Two provisions would have particular impact on federal construction contractors: 1) An…

On July 1, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure investment bill—the largest and broadest federal investment in the nation’s infrastructure ever. Among the investment included in the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2) is more than $500 billion for transportation construction, $130 billion for school construction, and $75 billion for water infrastructure construction. The bill, however, also includes certain untenable policies added during the largely partisan legislative process. Those policies are highly unlikely to advance through the Republican-controlled Senate, which will not consider this infrastructure package, or be enacted given President Trump’s veto threat. The Senate is more likely to consider…