Author: agcnews

AGC of America released the February edition of its Construction Inflation Alert. This document is intended to inform project owners, government officials, and the public about the extreme cost increases and supply-chains disruptions affecting construction. The current version of the Alert can be accessed by visiting AGC Construction Inflation Alert | Associated General Contractors of America. For more information or questions, contact Ken Simonson at ken.simonson@agc.org or (202) 329-9671.

Contractors Association Prepares Updated Construction Inflation Alert as Tight Labor Market, Soaring Materials Costs, and Supply Chain Disruptions Threaten to Delay Projects and Undercut Further Job Gains Construction employment dipped by 5,000 jobs between December and January even though hourly pay rose at a record pace in the past year, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. Association officials said future job gains are at risk from several factors that are slowing projects, as detailed in the Construction Inflation Alert that it will post on February 7. “Contractors are struggling to fill positions…

Needless Executive Order Contradicts Viewpoints of Career Federal Procurement Officials, Who Saw No Benefit to PLAs in 99.4 Percent of Projects, Will Undermine Existing Collective Bargaining Agreements The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement today in response to President Biden’s new executive order seeking to impose project labor agreements on many federal construction projects: “It is hard to explain why the President would choose to impose government mandated project labor agreements to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. Construction workers are among some of the highest paid workers in…

Full-year Bill Would Include Funding for New Infrastructure Programs After passing a short-term three-week extension of government funding in February, Congress is again faced with an impending deadline to fund the government by March 11. This gives lawmakers a week to finalize and pass a full fiscal year (FY) 2022 funding package that would set new spending levels for the year after multiple continuations of funding at prior year levels. It is important that Congress meets this deadline to authorize new and increased funding for programs included in the November-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. On March 2, AGC and other…

Guidebook will assist state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments On January 31, the White House released the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (or Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) Guidebook to help state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments unlock the benefits from the bipartisan infrastructure law. It is intended to be a one-stop-shop for the law and all of the programs included in the legislation. As a reminder, the U.S. Department of Transportation also launched its own website for the bipartisan infrastructure law. Included on that site are state by state fact sheets, which were recently updated, that highlight how the law will benefit communities across the country.…

On January 26, AGC of America, along with its Construction Industry Safety Coalition Partners, responded to OSHA on its first regulatory step towards establishing a federal heat standard for indoor and outdoor work, a rule with the potential to have far-reaching impacts on the construction industry. While the proposal issued by OSHA lacked actual, draft regulatory language, and was presented in a series of questions, AGC’s responses took the opportunity to highlight proactive efforts the industry has taken, confusion surrounding existing state standards, and the impracticality of an 80-degree trigger threshold for such a standard from the perspective of the wide array…

At the recent AGC conference, one of the concerns that stood out is the design liability faced by construction companies. It is one of the most important risk management issues faced by general contractors today. Design liability concerns are not limited to just design-build projects. It is a hot-button issue for builders because the line between an architect’s responsibility to create sufficient design documents and a builder’s responsibility to execute the means, methods, and techniques is increasingly blurry. Problems arise when owners, design professionals, and builders point fingers, rather than truly collaborate, and communicate. While construction technologies used to assemble…

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas and Sioux Falls, S.D. Score the Largest 12-Month Increases; Nassau County-Suffolk County, N.Y. and Evansville, Ind.-Ky. Experience the Worst Year-over-Year Declines Construction employment increased in nearly two out of three U.S. metro areas in 2021, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of new government employment data. Yet association officials noted that labor shortages likely kept many firms from adding even more workers. “Construction employment topped year-earlier levels in almost two-thirds of metros for the past few months,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But contractors in many areas say they would have hired…

ConsensusDocs recently presented a webinar entitled “Managing Subcontractor Default, Bankruptcy, and Owner Insolvency in a Recovering Post Covid-19 Construction Economy.” The webinar, moderated by Phil Beck, a partner in the law firm Smith, Currie, and Hancock LLP, highlighted several steps that construction professionals can proactively take to protect themselves and their projects’ success. ConsensusDocs standard agreements such as the ConsensusDocs 200 prime agreement allow a builder to request and receive project financial information before construction begins as well as during construction. Owners may wonder what kind of questions might be asked of them. ConsensusDocs, which is a Coalition of more than 40…

Construction spending increased in December compared to both November and a year ago thanks to growing demand for residential construction, according to an analysis of federal spending data the Associated General Contractors of America released today. Association officials noted, however, that spending on private nonresidential construction was flat for the month and down compared to a year ago while public sector construction spending fell for both the month and the year. “Demand for new housing remains strong, while demand for nonresidential projects has been variable and most types of public sector investments in construction are declining,” said Ken Simonson, the…