Austin Chapter AGC Newsletter
October 19, 2010 |
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Upcoming Classes and Events
Nov. 5 Advanced Management Program (Dallas)
Nov. 5 Online Lien Management Luncheon
Nov. 17 First Aid/CPR
Nov. 18 Fall Protection
Nov. 19 Fall Protection (Spanish)
Dec. 8 Holiday Party at AT&T Conference Center
For more information and to register, visit our website upcoming events page! |
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Austin Chapter Meets with Texas Congressional Delegation in Washington, DC
In September, Austin Chapter Chairman John Dunn and President Phil Thoden attended the AGC of America National Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. As part of the meeting, Dunn and Thoden met with U.S Representatives Mike McCaul and Jack Carter who both represent districts in Austin and surrounding areas. They also met with staff of Rep. Lloyd Doggett. Last, they joined a Texas delegation of contractors to meet with U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Issues discussed include recent OSHA developments in Texas, funding for federal construction projects in the area, immigration and tax issues. Each year leaders from AGC chapters across the country gather in Washington to meet with top AGC of America staff for updates on issues impacting the construction industry. Attendees also received an economic update and overview of ongoing AGC advocacy efforts. For more information about the meeting or issues discussed, contact Phil Thoden. You can also stay on top of AGC's involvement in national issues impacting the construction industry by checking out www.agc.org. |
AGC Texas Building Branch Announces Legislative Priorities for 2011
At the September Board of Directors meeting, the AGC Texas Building Branch (TBB) announced legislative priorities for the 2011 session. The legislative interests of the Austin Chapter AGC are addressed at the Texas Capitol by the TBB. Created in 1973, the TBB serves as the legislative office for all 11 AGC building chapters in the State of Texas, including the Austin Chapter. Each building Chapter has one seat on the TBB Board of Directors. The current Austin Chapter Director is Curtis Cline.
Going into the 2011 legislative session, the TBB top 4 legislative priorities are listed below. Additional issues of importance are available on our website here. For more information contact Phil Thoden or visit www.agctbb.org.
1) School Background Checks - In 2007 the State Legislature passed legislation requiring a criminal history background check for entities contracting with a school if the employee will have continuing duties and have direct contact with students. In 2009, the legislature clarified ongoing confusion about the background checks and specified that it is the responsibility of subcontractors to run background checks on their own employees and certify to the prime contractor and the school that employees on the site are qualified employees.
In 2011, the TBB will push for a clarification for the meaning of "direct contact with students" for construction worker background checks, as well as a technical correction to the current statute.
2) Alternative Delivery Methods Consolidation - At the present time, the alternative delivery methods for public entities are spread out over four different statutes and each has slight variations. The reason for the variations is that a statute for each group of public entities was passed into law during different legislative sessions. The TBB will pursue legislation to remove the delivery methods from current location and consolidate them into one location in chapter 2267 of the Government Code. This will provide for a single consistent code to govern the procurement of commercial building construction for the state's public entities. Similar legislation was vetoed previously by Governor Perry but should not face a veto threat if passed in 2011.
3) Breach of Contract by State Agencies - Governmental agencies often enjoy sovereign immunity, which means they can't be sued for damages. The purpose of this protection is to shield government treasuries from being emptied by lawsuits. Lawmakers have recognized exceptions to this protection in the area of contracting. In 2005, the legislature passed TBB endorsed language clarifying that counties may be sued for damages and attorney's fees for breach of contract. In 2007, the Legislature clarified (and TBB supported) that cities and other local governmental entities may be sued for damages (but not attorney's fees) for breach of contract. To this day, the State of Texas may not be sued for breach of contract unless the Legislature specifically grants permission to sue the State. The only other recourse is for aggrieved parties to file an administrative action against the State that caps damages at $250,000 and does not provide a trial by jury. AGC supports legislation allowing contractors to recover damages when governmental entities (including the State) breach their contracts.
4) Indemnification - As in 2009, the TBB will work closely with the Texas Contractors Association (TCA) and its subcontractor membership on compromise legislation regarding indemnity provisions in construction contracts. Indemnity and additional insured provisions are commonly used in construction contracts to allocate risk between parties if property damage or an injury occurs on a worksite. An indemnity requires one party (e.g. a subcontractor) to hold the other party (e.g. a general contractor) harmless for a negligent act that causes damage or injury. An additional insured provision requires the party providing the indemnity to list on their insurance policy the other party. The cost of this extra insurance is passed on in the contract price.
Indemnity provisions are especially important in Texas because workers compensation law (unlike in other states) allows injured employees to sue other entities on the worksite. The indemnities/additional insured provisions result in a single party tendering a unified legal defense against an injury claim, rather than a costly and inefficient free-for-all pitting all parties against one another.
In past legislative sessions, sharp disagreement has existed between premises owners, general contractors, and subcontractors over various proposals to limit indemnity and additional inured provisions on construction contracts. In 2009, the AGC TBB, TCA and Texas Civil Justice League forged a compromise bill. Efforts to push compromise legislation on this issue are again underway for 2011.
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Early Voting Booths Open through October 29 - Two AGC Members on Ballot
Avoid long election days lines on November 2 by voting early through October 29. A list of early voting locations in Travis County is available here. Additional information including voting locations in surrounding counties is available at the Secretary of State website here.
Two AGC members are on this year's elections ballot. Paul Workman with Workman Commercial Construction is running for State Representative in District 47. Also, John Cyrier with Sabre Commercial is running for Commissioner in Caldwell County. |
Signage for New Safety Ordinance
As reported in the August newsletter, on July 29 the Austin City Council unanimously approved a new ordinance requiring regular rest break on construction sites with the Austin city limits. Under the new law that became effective immediately, employers must give employees a rest break of no less than 10 minutes for every four hours worked. the City has provided signage that must now be posted on Austin jobsites regarding the rest breaks. Download the signage (pdf document) here from our website. The Austin Chapter AGC has a long commitment to improving the safety practices of our company members. Chapter staff has spent considerable time this past year educating City of Austin staff and elected officials, as well as other industry stakeholders about our Chapter and members' efforts to improve jobsite safety. Given our safety focus, the Chapter did not oppose the new ordinance as it is common practice for our members to provide regular worker breaks. We did, however, request a delay in passing the ordinance in order for the many questions about the practical application of the new law to be answered. Regardless of our request, the ordinance was approved without delay. For more information contact Larry Connelly. |
New OSHA Area Director Meets with AGC Safety Committee
The new OSHA Area Director, Casey Perkins, attended the September meeting of the Austin Chapter AGC Safety Committee to introduce himself and get to know local contractors. 25 people attended the meeting. Mr. Perkins spoke on the major changes taking place within OSHA. He told the group that the Austin office has, in the past, been mostly complaint driven. Because of this, they are instituting "non-formal" inspection processes in order to make more time available for formal inspections. Non formal inspections may be in response to certain types of complaints and may be handled with a phone call, fax, formal letter, etc. He also discussed the ongoing emphasis on focus four areas, silica and the multi-employer citation policy. Copies of the OSHA Administrative Penalty Information Bulletin were passed out to those present. For more information contact Larry Connelly. The Chapter safety committee meets the second Tuesday of every month from 11:30a, to 1:00pm and is open to all chapter members. |
Online Lien Management System - Come Learn More at a November 5 Luncheon
The Austin Chapter AGC has been working with local company Honest Project to introducing ProClaim, a new online lien and bond claim management service. This service will help guide you through the lien and bond perfection maze. ProClaim lays out the steps for Lien and Bond claims for Private, Residential, State/Local and Federal projects based on your role for the project. ProClaim also generates the notification, claim and affidavit documents and includes the project information that you provide. AGC members save $10 per month on this new service. You are invited to learn more about ProClaim during a free luncheon at our Chapter office on Friday, November 5 from 11:30am to 1:00pm. RSVP to Toni Osberry. You can also find out more about Honest Project and ProClaim by visiting: http://www.honestproject.com/proclaimTake advantage of your AGC Austin membership discount by using the subscription code: AGCAUSTIN or registering with the following link. https://prod.honestproject.com/join?feature=ClaimManagement&coupon=AGCAUSTIN |
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