Author: agcnews
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…
Staying abreast of the latest developments and trends in construction law is one of the best ways to mitigate your construction company’s risk. Knowledge at your fingertips is power. ConsensusDocs publishes a monthly construction law newsletter that is one of the best resources to stay on top of your game. Sign up for free here. ConsensusDocs recently announced, in its end-of-the-year construction law newsletter wrap-up, that the construction law article that garnered the greatest attention was Negotiating Material Escalation Clauses written by Jeanne M. Harrison of the law firm Smith Currie & Hancock LLP. It isn’t surprising that price escalation shot to the top of the charts for 2021,…
As previously reported by AGC, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) includes new Buy America requirements, that could delay infrastructure projects funded by the law. The IIJA provides funding for physical infrastructure like roads, water systems, the electric grid, and more. The new and expanded Buy America requirements apply to all federally funded programs and include manufactured products, like iron and steel, and also construction materials used on projects within those programs. Federal agencies have voiced concern over whether project sponsors will be able to complete projects with these requirements as they stand and are working with AGC and other industry stakeholders…
Accepts Many AGC Recommendations On January 27, the Department of the Treasury finalized its rule for distributing $350 billion to state, local and territorial governments. These recovery funds originated from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief law, American Rescue Plan Act. AGC’s regulatory comments urged Treasury to include: 1) Expanded eligibility for infrastructure investments and related revenue streams; 2) clarification of rules and reporting requirements; and 3) increased flexibility. The final rule expands state, local, and tribal governments’ ability to use funds for capital investments and provides for more flexibility in calculating revenue loss. However, Treasury kept many construction labor-related reporting requirements for projects utilizing the funds…
On January 24, AGC, along with other transportation stakeholders, called on congressional leaders to enact a full-year fiscal year 2022 federal government funding bill that will finance all new and increased programs infrastructure investment accounts from the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In December, Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through February 18. That extension of existing funding did not include appropriation of funds for many new programs in the November passed infrastructure bill. Specifically, without a new, full-year appropriations bill, states and local governments and agencies will not be able to access the bill’s roughly…
Victory for Construction Advocacy Fund-Financed AGC Lawsuit On January 25, OSHA revoked its COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing emergency temporary standard (ETS) applicable to private businesses with 100 or more employees in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. This is a clear legal victory for AGC of America and its Construction Advocacy Fund-financed lawsuit challenging the ETS. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with AGC’s argument, among others, that OSHA overreached and exceeded its authority under the law. Although this lawsuit against OSHA is over, AGC of America continues to press forward in another Construction Advocacy Fund-financed lawsuit against the federal contractor vaccine…
AGC releases full report from its first-ever workforce summit which includes a lengthy catalog of steps firms, educators and AGC of America chapters are taking to address workforce shortages. It also includes 22 new recommendations summit participants crafted, to help overcome the recruiting, training and retention challenges behind construction workforce shortages. To learn more about the report and the 22 new recommendations, please register for the February 15 webinar on this topic. Click here to register for that event now.