In the July/August issue of AGC's Constructor magazine, "After the Fall" examines the difficulties in the private sector construction market, and how members are finding new opportunities in the public arena.

To read the article, please click here. Return to Top

AGC of America has transformed the Construction Marketing Committee into the Construction Marketing Forum.  This new forum will provide opportunities for AGC members and Chapter staff to be informed of and participate in the association’s initiatives related to construction marketing issues and best practices. 

The inaugural Construction Marketing Forum Steering Committee will be chaired by Rick Andritsch of VJS Construction Services.  The Steering Committee also includes 11 other members representing a diverse group of AGC’s membership, including AGC Chapters.

Unlike the old committee structure, AGC members do not have to be appointed to the Forum.  They simply request to be added.  In the near future members will be able to go sign-up via their online AGC profile, but in the meantime please email Mike Stark at starkm@agc.org to be added to the Forum.  All AGC members and Chapter staff are eligible and encouraged to participate at all levels of the Forum.  Recently the Project Delivery Committee completed a similar transition to a Forum.

If you have any questions about the Forum, please contact Mike Stark, Senior Director, Building Division at starkm@agc.org or (703) 837-5365. Return to Top

 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new "guidance" materials on the practices a contractor "should" follow when conducting the renovation, repair and/or abatement of buildings that have polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-containing caulk. Contractors responsible for such activities also must clearly understand the regulatory requirements, and are encouraged to consult the EPA or environmental professionals experienced with PCB cleanup activities.

EPA has learned that caulk containing PCBs was used in many buildings, including schools, during building construction, renovation or repair from the 1950s through the late 1970s. PCBs are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which gives EPA the authority to develop, implement and enforce rules concerning the use, manufacture, cleanup and disposal of PCBs.  Note that EPA does not address worker health and safety or workplace exposure; such matters are regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The PCB regulations (40 CFR Part 302 and Part 761 can be found at http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov under "Title 40 - Protection of the Environment") define the "generator" as being responsible managing PCB wastes. The "generator" is considered the party that owns the material. For most construction projects, multiple parties will be involved; all may be liable if the PCB-related requirements are not followed.  Currently, EPA is conducting research on how the public is exposed to PCBs in caulk and on the best approaches for reducing exposure and potential risks associated with PCBs in caulk.  Earlier this year, EPA published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) that proposes measures to more strictly regulate PCBs and accelerate the phase-out of PCB equipment and other uses that are currently authorized.

For more information on PCBs, including cleanup requirements, sources of PCBs, and EPA resources and future rule-making, please click here or contact Leah Pilconis at pilconisl@agc.org. Return to Top

Check out Architectural Record's overview of ten new commercial projects in their Building Types Study.  Each profile offers a summary of the project, as well as photos and specifications. Analysis of more building types, including healthcare facilities, schools, offices and museums is available here.

The Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) is gearing up for its 2010 National Conference at the Buena Vista Palace in Orlando, Fla. on November 8-10, 2010.  This conference marks CURT's 10^th anniversary representing construction owners.

The CURT National Conference will examine where the industry is headed economically, as well as the best opportunities for recovery and growth in the near future; unveil aggressive plans for global growth through International CURT; promote productivity improvements in an industry that has been generally reluctant to change; and facilitate an understanding of how energy is driving major construction projects around the world and pushing owner companies to change their own energy profiles to save money and demonstrate their corporate citizenship.

For more information or to register for the CURT 2010 National Conference, please visit www.curt.org.

October 19, 2010 · 1:00 - 2:30pm ET

Every state has unique laws that impact your ability to bid, contract, perform and get paid on a construction project.  Learn how to systematically navigate through state construction laws, including new legislation, as well as the legislative outlook going forward.  Even if you have previously worked in a state, the annual legislative process creates the real possibility of changes on critical topics such as licensing qualifications, project delivery, procurement selection and immigration verification.

Valuable key topics addressed in this webinar include:

• Potential issues to investigate when considering any project including payment terms, liens, indemnification;
• A specific checklist to "prequalify your project" to manage risks by examining the nature of the project, the participants and the contract documents; and
• Using the AGC State Law Matrix as a tool to assist you with the risk identification process.

Registration:  $49 for members and non-members.  To register, please click here.

For more information, contact Megan McGarvey at (703) 837-5369 or mcgarveym@agc.org.

Qualifications Based Selection of Contractors was released in 2009 by the AGC Project Delivery Committee. Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) is a procurement method in which the final criteria for selection are qualifications and demonstrated competence without consideration of price/cost until contract negotiation.

QBS of contractors is emerging as one response to the demands of the current marketplace, wherein owners are increasingly seeking collaborative early contractor involvement.  This white paper explores the trend of QBS of contractors, discusses QBS benefits and challenges, considers how QBS works with various project delivery systems and offers owner suggestions for QBS best practices.

Qualifications Based Selection of Contractors was developed by the QBS Working Group of the AGC Project Delivery Committee and can be found at www.agc.org/projectdelivery, or by clicking here.

The trouble for construction loans is far from over.  According to USA Today, the percentage of non-current construction loans was at an all-time high of 17 percent last March.  The Congressional Oversight Panel claims that these loans have the highest likelihood of default and are having the most issues with vacancies and cash-flow.

Described as the "riskiest commercial real estate loan product" by Deutsche Bank, construction loans became extremely popular between the first quarters of 2003 and 2008, particularly with small and mid-size banks.  These potentially lucrative loans became extremely easy to get and many in-experienced developers were easily approved.  More than ten percent of assets of banks not ranking in the top 1,000 were construction loans, compared to only two percent of assets of banks in the top ten.

Experts predict that construction loans will rebound in time.  Federal regulators encourage banks to work with borrowers and wait out the recession with the hope that eventually an improvement in the overall economy will allow existing borrowers or other parties to pump cash into the troubled loans.

For the entire article from USA Today, please click here.

Summer construction spending was generally down, reported Reed Construction Data.  Spending decreases in both June and July should be followed by a slight pickup in August based on an increase of 19,000 construction jobs.  Specifically, nonresidential spending also dropped in June and July and a small decline is predicted for the rest of the year.  Heavy construction increased in June and July, but is also expected to weaken during the remainder of 2010.

Significant declines in overall spending are not expected, but the construction industry is likely to struggle until 2011.  A spending drop of over ten percent is predicted for 2010, while Standard & Poor's Ratings estimates that spending will decline 14 percent.  Construction is expected to slightly recover and stabilize in 2011, although no major growth is expected until 2012, when the employment market improves.  Since the construction market has had more delay than usual, the industry should expand faster than the rest of the general economy once the recovery is in progress.

For more information and a construction spending forecast chart, please click here.

For Standard & Poor's estimate from The Wall Street Journal, please click here.

Detailed information on nonresidential building construction spending can be found here.  A breakdown of heavy construction spending can be found here.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation Councils have released the final version of the rule governing the Buy American provisions for direct-federal procurements under the Recovery Act. While this rule does not govern the federally-assisted work done through grants and loans (like those administered by the DOT and the SRFs), it does provide a preview of what to expect from those forthcoming regulations.

AGC, in its comments on the interim rule, asked that the federal rule and the federally-assisted rules have the closest possible alignment to minimize the burden on contractors, and the government said "the Councils agree and note that the final rule was developed in close coordination with OMB grant officials." The rule does however concede that the two cannot be completely in sync because the Buy American Act of 1933 (which forms the basis of the rule) does not apply to grants, financial assistance, and loans. Furthermore, trade agreements do not apply uniformly.

One clarification that AGC expects to be carried into the OMB guidance is the proclamation that in cases where there are mixed Recovery Act and non-Recovery Act funds, and the Recovery funds are not segregated by line item, the law requires the mixed-fund contracts to be treated as if they were entirely funded by the Recovery Act. AGC will continue to watch for the OMB guidance for federally-assisted work and will analyze and disseminate it when it arrives.

Click here to read the final rule for federal contractors

For more information on the interim rule for federally-assisted work or other AGC analysis on Buy American, visit http://www.agc.org/buyamerican.

For more information, contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org.