Author: agcnews

Construction firms are coping with a seemingly unending series of supply-chain disruptions that are compounding problems caused by record materials cost increases and pandemic-induced challenges to operations. It has never been more important for project participants to be prepared with strategies to mitigate the risk of material price escalation and delays due to material shortages — in order to preserve the feasibility and profitability of the project. On this episode, Greg Sweeso of Tarlton Corporation, Jack Mumma of Michigan State University, and Ronald Ciotti of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP share risk mitigation strategies available during the bidding, procurement, and…

NEW! ConstructorCast Episode: Material Price Escalation, Delays, and COVID-19 Construction firms are coping with a seemingly unending series of supply-chain disruptions that are compounding problems caused by record materials cost increases and pandemic-induced challenges to operations. It has never been more important for project participants to be prepared with strategies to mitigate the risk of material price escalation and delays due to material shortages — in order to preserve the feasibility and profitability of the project. On this episode, Greg Sweeso of Tarlton Corporation, Jack Mumma of Michigan State University, and Ronald Ciotti of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP share…

While traditional contracting or design-bid-build is still the most prevalent project delivery method in the United States construction market, the design-build project delivery method has risen in usage significantly over the past 20 years to become a well-established contracting vehicle by private and public owners alike for all types and sizes of construction projects. The ConsensusDocs design-build standard contract documents are some of the most used in the United States. A comparison of the ConsensusDocs design-build contracts as compared to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) can be found here. Design liability has become a…

Allston Marble graduated from the University of Nebraska-Kearney with a BS in Construction Management in 2008. Allston joined Linbeck Group in 2007 as an intern and was hired full time in 2008. At Linbeck, Allston has worked as an Intern, Engineer, Project Manager, Client Executive and now Vice President. In his current role, Allston works on various private, K-12, non-profit, cultural and higher education portfolios in Houston. Allston has been involved with the AGC since his time at Nebraska-Kearney and his local Houston AGC chapter since moving to Houston in 2008. Allston has served the AGC in various leadership roles…

Update as of August 1st, 2023: The Canadian softwood lumber tariffs have been lowered to 7.99%. Click here to find the latest rates. Read below for the original story from February 17, 2022. The Commerce Department made a preliminary determination to lower softwood lumber import tariffs from Canada from the current rate of 17.9 percent to 11.64 percent. The rate is set to take effect by August of 2022. In November of 2021, the tariff rate was doubled to 17.9 percent. Although it is difficult to quantify the impact of these tariffs on lumber prices, the price of lumber rose by 50 percent…

Allows Congress More Time to Negotiate Full-Year Bill, Including Funding for New Infrastructure Programs With funding for the federal government set to expire on February 18, the Senate is expected to pass a short-term funding agreement, also known as a “continuing resolution” (CR), this week. The CR would provide stopgap funding through March 11 and follows recent action by the House of Representatives to pass the CR on February 8. With the passage of this short-term funding agreement, Congress will have more time to strike a deal to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year. Important to those…

Construction Association Releases New Inflation Alert to Inform Owners, Officials of Cost, Supply, and Labor Challenges; Urges Federal Officials to Take Additional Steps to Ease Supply Change Disruptions Prices of construction materials jumped more than 20 percent from January 2021 to January 2022, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. The association recently posted a new edition of its Construction Inflation Alert, a report to inform project owners, officials, and others about the challenges volatile materials costs, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages posed for construction firms. “Unfortunately, there has been no letup early this year…

On February 7, AGC filed comments to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) regarding proposed regulations to implement legislation passed in 2020 called the Corporate Transparency Act. The legislation would require legal entities with fewer than 20 employees and less than $5 million in gross revenue to submit “beneficial ownership information” to FinCEN. Beneficial owners are defined in the statute as anyone who owns at least 25 percent of a company, or exercises “substantial control” over its operations. AGC opposed the Corporate Transparency Act when it was considered in Congress due to the potential for the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information—and any associated identity theft and/or cybercrime—and…

On February 10, Senators Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) introduced AGC-supported legislation to extend the employee retention tax credit (ERTC) through the end of 2021. The Senate bill mirrors AGC-supported legislation introduced in the House of Representatives last month by Reps. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.). The ERTC, created as part of the CARES Act in 2020, was extended and expanded through the end of 2021, but was subsequently ended early (on September 30, 2021) after passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which rolled back the…

Oppose Administration’s Push to Restrict New Highway Capacity In a letter from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) to governors, the duo expressed disappointment about the recent Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) policy memo on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), much like AGC did in its earlier feedback to FHWA on the guidance. The lawmakers remind governors that “the law does not include provisions that restrict or discourage certain types of projects, including projects that add highway capacity.” In addition, a group of governors also expressed their concern with the same…