Author: agcnews
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…
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…