AIA/AGC Joint Committee Recommends Bonds and Liens

agcstef — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:02:03 +0000

The Joint Committee of the Houston Chapters of the AGC and AIA have published an updated Recommendations paper regarding liens and bonds in Texas. Payment and performance bonds are required on most state and federal public projects. Bonds are optional on private projects. The statutory and other benefits of bonding a project are discussed, and bonds are distinguished from insurance products such as subguard insurance. The statutory benefits include freeing the project from supplier and subcontractor liens, and allowing project financing to continue. Retainage requirements on private project are eliminated. Contractor defaults are protected. But bonds do have their limitations, and do not cover every possible claim. This paper is recommended reading for all who earn their living in the Texas construction industry.

Written By: David D. Peden, Porter Hedges LLP

NLRB Proposes Mandatory Posting of NLRA (Union) Rights

agcstef — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:24:28 +0000

On December 22, 2010, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) published a proposed rule that would require all private employers covered by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) to post a notice informing employees of their section 7 rights under the Act, including their right to join a union. This requirement would be imposed on all employers (even non-union companies) covered by the NLRA. The proposed rule is consistent with President Obama’s agenda to promote private sector unionization.

The notice would be similar in form and content to the notice the Department of Labor recently approved for use by federal contractors. In addition to a hard copy of the notice, employers would be required to post the notice electronically and provide a link to the NLRB’s website, if the company typically communicates to its employees electronically. The proposed rule contains the wording to be used in the email, web page or link. Additionally, the posted notice would need to be in a language customarily spoken and understood by the employees. The NLRB will provide translations.

Failure to post the notice under the proposed rule would be treated as an unfair labor practice (ULP). An employer’s knowing failure to post the notice could be considered evidence of unlawful motive in an ULP case involving other alleged violations of the NLRA.

Should the proposed rule be adopted by the Board, legal challenges are likely. In a strongly-worded dissent, Board Member Brian Hayes argued that “the Board lacks the statutory authority to promulgate or enforce the type of rule which the petitions contemplated and which the proposed rule makes explicit. . . . “

Comments are due by February 22, 2011, and must contain the regulatory identification number (RIN): 3142—AA07. Comments may be submitted electronically through the federal eRulemaking portal or by mail or hand-delivery to: Lester A. Heltzer, Executive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, 1099 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20570.

I urge you to submit your comments opposing this proposed rule. Additionally, please consider writing your U.S. Congressman and Senators to let them know that their constituents strongly disagree with the Board’s unauthorized attempt to impose workplace rules on private sector employers.

By: G. Mark Jodon, Littler Mendelson

OSHA will require safety training to be offered in a language workers understand

agcstef — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:28:21 +0000

One of OSHA’s recent moves to increase enforcement is requiring its regional and local offices to check contractors training compliance. OSHA has directed that these offices verify that contractor employee’s are getting trained in a way or manner that they understand and comprehend. Assistant Secretary of Labor Michaels has said that “This directive conforms with Secretary Solis’ clear and urgent goal of reducing injuries and illnesses among Latino and other vulnerable workers”.

Please go to http://www.osha.gov/dep/standards-policy-statement-memo-04-28-10.html to read more about the directive and get further information on this.

BIM FAQs

agcstef — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:06:31 +0000

On September 9^th the AGC Houston BIM Task Force hosted the first in a new continuing series of casual BIM discussions known as the BIM Lounge. The Lounge is a casual get together where members of the construction community gather to enjoy some food and beverages while discussing BIM issues. In the last Lounge we had informal roaming chats while everyone enjoyed pizza and beer provided by the Lounge sponsors.

Among the most asked questions at the Lounge were:

How can you generate a detailed estimate from a BIM model?
- There are several ways to produce estimates from the BIM model. Among the most common are third party integration tools that connect the model data directly to your estimating database and take-off tools within the modeling software
Are there resources for companies who implement BIM to find each other?
- There are several user groups for the various BIM software packages. As well as trade groups such as AIA and AGC. The BIM Lounge is one of the newest and easily accessible venues to meet other companies implementing BIM
How do you justify ROI on BIM projects?
- While there are several metrics to justify BIM each project and company will measure the ROI differently. Some may measure via cost savings obtained from constructability surveys, others from time savings from coordination of the project via use of a model. How you determine your ROI is up to you. However, everyone agrees that implementing BIM in some form or fashion does result in a significant return on investment over time.

We hope you will join us at the next BIM Lounge on March 17, 2011.

By: Don Watson, Anslow Bryant Construction, Ltd.

AGC Houston Resume Posting Service

agcstef — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:47:56 +0000

There’s been much discussion in our industry regarding anticipation of an unsustainable workforce in the coming years. Because of this, AGC Houston is working diligently to change the future.

If you’re looking for qualified construction professionals, we have just the thing. Visit our list of resume summaries to view a variety of qualified professionals in the following professions:

Admin/Clerical
Assistant Project Manager
Project Manager
Safety
Superintendent
Other

Do you feel that this list is beneficial to your company when seeking new hires? Feel free to let us know if you have ideas about how to better deliver this information!

AGC Houston Members Support the Future of the Industry

agcstef — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:03:38 +0000

The generosity of AGC Houston members is astounding considering that over the past 14 years they have contributed over $219,000 in scholarships to students seeking degrees in construction-related disciplines through the Patrick J. Kiley Excellence in Leadership Scholarship program.

Approximately 70 students have benefited from this generosity and many have gone on to successful careers in the in the industry. The scholarship process is meaningful to the industry in that it is incumbent on the AGC and its members to support the future workforce of the construction industry.

The process is extremely meaningful to the students in that the financial help provided by the AGC ensures that one day they will actualize their dream of a career in construction.

Every little bit counts these days considering the rising costs of education. Many students are forced to forego, or delay, college because of the price tag. AGC Houston is proud to support the community and industry with this program. We are proud of the students who go on and support our industry and we enjoy showcasing their efforts on our website. Click here to read more about the 2010 AGC Scholars.

We like to keep in touch with our scholars. If you have a story of how the AGC Scholarship has impacted you, one of your staff or your business would you mind sharing the story?

It’s a Jungle Out There!

AGC Houston — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:08:17 +0000

Tired of attending events in the same old venues? Join AIA and AGC Houston as we come together for our Joint Annual Meeting at the Houston Zoo!

On the evening of November 9, 2010, AIA and AGC Houston will host the Joint Annual Meeting in the Reptile House at the Houston Zoo. This is sure to be a night of celebration among reptilian nature as we bid farewell to AIA Houston President, Barrie Scardino, upon her retirement.

Registration for this event is open on the AGC Houston Website. Click here if you would like to be a part of this celebration! We hope to sssssee you there!

You May Already be Doing BIM Without Realizing It!

AGC Houston — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:20:43 +0000

In our industry, the word BIM (Building Information Modeling) is used by many, yet understood by few. Most don’t understand it, know what it means, or thinks it costs too much to consider using it. Did you know, you may already be using BIM on your projects and don’t even know it?

When you think of BIM, you may think of a fancy 3D model that is used to “WOW” your clients, Models of buildings spinning around on a background of Google earth, or a virtual tour of a building with an effect that lets you fly through the building to see all the features of a project. As cool as this may look, it’s not BIM.

BIM is a Model with project information like a Structural steel fabricator that creates his shop drawings in a model with the components of that model as well as the data that tells you exactly what type of structural piece you’re working with. This includes load calculations and details information used to fabricate the piece of steel. BIM can also be an intelligent model from your mechanical subcontractor that has the mechanical equipment information tied to the object in the Model that defines exactly what that VAV box or fire damper needs to be, which then is used to prefabricate the ductwork for the field.

The problem is, if you don’t understand the concept of BIM, you won’t know to ask for the Model from your supplier or subcontractor and they may convert their model into 2D plans and submit those to the contractor for approval leaving all of the useful information lost.

You don’t have to own the newest, highest priced software and have 20 CAD Designers on staff to do BIM. You just need to understand what you partners on your project are already doing, ask how this could be used on your project, and use the information in the models to your journey in the BIM process.

By: Jeff Johnston
Tellepsen

Construction Organizations Release White Paper on IPD

AGC Houston — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:12:02 +0000

AGC of America, along with several other organizations, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Construction Owners Association of America (COAA), recently released a white paper entitled Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for Public and Private Owners. The release was timely considering the May 5^th article in Engineering News Record (ENR), Integrated-Project-Delivery Boosters Ignore Many Flashing Red Lights (subscription required). In that article a great deal of skepticism was raised towards the use of IPD.

The white paper does a good job of enlightening those who “kind of, sort of” understand what IPD is all about and how it might be utilized. According to the report, the use of IPD is based on three levels of collaboration – typical, enhanced and required – with typical being the way many owners have worked for years and required entailing the use of a multi-party contract. Enhanced is the step in between. The paper further divides the examination of IPD into two areas, IPD as a Philosophy (collaborative levels 1 and 2) and IPD as a Delivery Method (collaborative level 3).

Make sense?

If IDP is something you are interested in incorporating in your business, or just to get up to speed on what the talk is all about, I would suggest you click here.

AGC Houston Awards Top Contractors Prestigous APEX Awards

AGC Houston — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 20:47:22 +0000

The evening of Thursday, September 16, 2010 marked the ninth bi‐annual AGC Houston Chapter Awards for Project Excellence (APEX) celebration. APEX recognizes and honors firms for their excellence in construction, their valuable contributions to the community and their demonstrated commitment to skill, integrity and responsibility. Projects entered for APEX awards represent the vision, creativity and hard work of developers and owners, architects, engineers and consultants as well as general and specialty contractors.

Nearly 500 of Houston’s most influential members of the commercial construction industry attended the cocktail‐style reception held at the Corinthian in Downtown Houston.

General Contractor winners included: Vaughn Construction, Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc., Tellepsen, Linbeck Group, LLC, Tribble & Stephens Construction, LTD., SpawGlass Construction Corp., Humphries Construction Corporation, Mission Constructors, Inc., Fretz Construction Co., Sterling Structures, Inc., and Pepper‐Lawson Construction, L.P.

In the specialty contractor division, winners included: Blumenthal Sheet Metal Co., Camarata Masonry Systems, Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing, T.A.S. Commercial Concrete Construction, LLC, Cherry Companies, Letsos Company, Marek Brothers Systems, Inc. and Baker Concrete Construction, Inc.

Photos of the event can be found here. Photos of the winners can be found here.