Author: agcnews

Ashley Phelps is the Assistant Director of Supply Chain Management at Gilbane Building Company. With the use of Lean strategies and tactics, her focus is ensuring project teams have the capacity and capability to streamline the procurement process and enhance relationships with key business partners. Prior to her role in Supply Chain, Ashley lead Gilbane’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling Department. With a background in scheduling, she coached teams on Lean planning and scheduling techniques with an emphasis on continuous improvement. In over a decade of construction experience ranging from superintendent work to drafting, Ashley thrives on the complexities of building…

Michigan State University (MSU) is a forward-thinking public owner that uses ConsensusDocs standard construction contracts as the basis for its projects. At the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) annual conference held in Grapevine, Texas, MSU’s STEM Teaching and Learning Facility was considered “the most significant construction project of 2021” by AGC. Granger Construction Company was the Construction Manager and a signatory party on the ConsensusDocs 500 contract. Granger received the association’s top prize, Construction Risk Partners Build America Grand Award, and the award for the best construction management renovation project under $99 million. MSU utilized a ConsensusDocs 500 Standard Agreement Between an Owner…

Prices of materials and services used in new nonresidential construction leaped nearly 21 percent in April from year-ago levels, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. The association urged the Biden administration to provide relief to hard-hit employers by ending tariffs on key construction materials and reconsidering its recently proposed Buy America regulations that will make it harder for firms to find and pay for key construction materials. “Nonresidential contractors have endured twelve months of 20-percent increases in the cost of items they need to build projects,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief…

In construction, alternative project delivery methods typically refer to design-build, construction management at-risk (CM@R or CMAR), and integrated project delivery (IPD). Design-build and CM@R have been commonly used for so long that it seems strange to call them “alternatives.” IPD and design-build are more written about as a subject matter. However, CM@R is just as popular as ever, and some practitioners see CM@R as the project delivery method that delivers project schedule towards completion the fastest. Experienced practitioners of CM@R like the ability to commence construction before all the design details for the entire project are determined. In Iowa, both…

Construction employment edged up by 2,000 jobs between March and April as contractors scrambled to find workers in an increasingly tight labor market, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government data. Association leaders urged officials in Washington to address both short- and long-term worker shortages with expanded permits for foreign-born workers and support for career training and education to enable more workers to acquire the skills for high-paying construction careers. “The pause in employment gains last month most likely signifies a shortage of qualified workers, rather than any slowdown in demand for projects,”…

On April 28, the Department of Transportation (DOT) published a request for comment on proposing to issue a transitional waiver to comply with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s new Buy America requirements. Here’s what to know: AGC supports this move by the Department and will voice that during the comment period. At a time when transportation contractors are still facing historic disruptions to the material supply chain, it is self-evident that more time and collaboration among industry partners is needed to be able to meet these new requirements.

Spending on most categories of nonresidential and multifamily construction declined from February to March as contractors struggled to find enough workers and get timely deliveries of materials, according to an analysis the Associated General Contractors of America released today regarding federal spending data. Association leaders urged Washington officials to end tariffs on construction materials and widen the opportunities for gaining the skills for rewarding careers in construction. “Contractors continue to report strong demand for most types of structures, with few owners canceling or postponing planned projects,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But worker shortages and supply-chain problems, from…

DHS is ending the COVID-19 Temporary Policy for List B Identity Documents. Beginning May 1, employers will no longer be able to accept expired List B documents. DHS adopted the temporary policy in response to the difficulties many individuals experienced with renewing documents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that document-issuing authorities have reopened and/or provided alternatives to in-person renewals, DHS will end this flexibility. Starting May 1, 2022, employers must only accept unexpired List B documents. If an employee presented an expired List B document between May 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022, employers are required to update their Forms I-9…

The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it has published guidance on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are in treatment or recovery, including those who take medication to treat their OUD. The publication, “The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Opioid Crisis: Combating Discrimination Against People in Treatment or Recovery,” is intended to help people with OUD who are in treatment or recovery understand their rights under federal law and to provide guidance to entities covered by the ADA about how to comply with the law. The guidance document explains how the ADA…

The Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) has released its annual report on Union Labor Costs in Construction. The report covers trends in collectively bargained compensation in the industry, providing data analyses by region, time, and trade. It can be a valuable resource when preparing for collective bargaining negotiations, particularly when used in conjunction with CLRC’s latest Settlements Report. The report shows 55 percent of the total package rates paid in 2021 fell in the $50.01–$70.00 range, and 85 percent in the $40.01-$80.00 range. The total package covers all negotiated employer payments, including wages, fringe benefits, and such additional payments as contributions to…