On March 17-20, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) held a series of public hearings on Crane and Derricks in Construction.Several AGC members provided testimony including Art Daniel (AR Daniel Construction Services, Inc.), Mitch White (Manson Construction), Randy Rogers (Williams Brothers Construction), and Richard Voorhees (Weeks Marine, Inc.).For more information on the history of the Crane and Derricks in Construction proposed rule and AGC's comments during the C-DAC process or the SBREFA panel, click here.  Also, visit AGC Advocacy to review regulations and comments submitted by AGC on Safety and Health regulations throughout the year.Previous AGC Safety and Health Newsletter articles related to the same topic:AGC Comments and Requests Public Hearings on Proposed Crane and Derricks StandardOSHA Grants Extension for Public Comments on Crane and DerricksOSHA Publishes Crane and Derricks Proposal

In 2012 a new law will require federal, state, and local governments to withhold three percent from all payments for goods and services as a guard against possible business tax evasion.  Withholding applies to the total contract, not to the net revenue generated from a project.     Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators today and strongly urge them to pass a full permanent repeal of the three percent withholding tax.  Click here for more information and to quickly and easily send a letter to your elected leaders regarding this important issue.  To view the letter AGC of America recently sent to members of Congress to encourage permanent repeal of three percent withholding on government contracts, please click here.

AGC of America and the National Association of State Facilities Administrators (NASFA) have collaborated on research regarding state-by-state information on Construction Management At-Risk (CM At-Risk, CM@R, CM/GC, GC/CM, CMc).  This ongoing project seeks to compile data from every state on CM At-Risk in five areas: state building construction, K-12, higher education, local government, and horizontal non-building Department of Transportation projects.  A clickable map detailing the results and overview PDF can be found linked on the AGC Project Delivery webpage or by clicking here.If you have any questions, updates or edits regarding this project please contact Cassia Griffin at griffinc@agc.org or (703) 837-5408.

June 10-13, 2009Registration is now open for the AGC Building Contractors Conference, June 10-13, 2009 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.  Join top building construction professionals, owners, specialty contractors, and service & supply companies as they discuss the current market, the challenges it presents and the innovative solutions implemented by industry-leading firms. Planned program highlights & topics for the AGC Building Contractors Conference include:Guiding your firm through tough economic times,How owners plan to address their construction needs in this market,Creative service offerings that customers need in a tight economy,The best ways to "right size" your staff,Best practices and important topics such as BIM, Green Construction and Integrated Project Delivery, andNetworking opportunities including a luncheon, evening receptions, and golf tournament.For more information and to register, visit www.agc.org/homestead.  Sponsorship opportunities are still available.

Last week the U.S. Department of Education announced that $44 billion for states and schools is now available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  This funding includes $32.6 billion under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which is two-thirds of the total dollars in the fund.  The remaining funds will be released later in the year.  A state-by-state breakdown on this initial release of funds can be found here.  Detailed information on education funding in the stimulus package can be found here.   A state-by-state breakdown of total State Fiscal Stabilization Fund allocations can be found here on page 11.Details on stimulus funding for school construction, modernization, renovation and repair can be found in Section V (pages 33-37) of the Department of Education's "Guidance on the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program."  The Department's "School Modernization" page can be found here. Visit www.agc.org/stimulus for detailed information regarding the stimulus.For more information contact Mike Stark at starkm@agc.org or (703) 837-5365.

June 10-13, 2009, Hot Springs, Va.Register today for the AGC Building Contractors Conference, June 10-13 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.  Join top building construction professionals, owners, specialty contractors and service & supply companies as they discuss the current market, the challenges it presents and the innovative solutions that industry-leading firms are implementing. Planned program highlights & topics for the AGC Building Contractors Conference include:Guiding your firm through tough economic times,How owners plan to address their construction needs in this market,Creative service offerings that customers need in a tight economy,The best ways to "right size" your staff,Best practices and important topics such as BIM, Green Construction, and Integrated Project Delivery, andNetworking opportunities including a luncheon, evening receptions, and a golf tournament.Interested in sponsoring the AGC Building Contractors Conference and showcasing your firm before owners and leaders of this market?  Click here for available sponsorship opportunities!For more information and to register, visit www.agc.org/homestead. 

AGC of America is a proud cosponsor of the 4th Annual Airport Project Delivery Systems Summit on June 3-4, 2009 in Savannah, Georgia.  If you are involved in airport construction, you won't want to miss this important event, presented by AGC of America, Airports Council International-NA, and the Airport Consultants Council.  For more information about the Summit and to register, please click here.

Join us May 28-29 for the Spring 2009 AGC BIMForum in Dallas, TX.  The Spring BIMForum will be an assembly of some of the nation's leading Architects, Engineers, Builders and Owners for a two-day program focused on BIM and the bottom line. Topics to be covered include: The economy of BIM - What is the current state? What savings already exist? How can you increase efficiency?Measuring and optimizing first cost, cost to complete and life-cycle costs.Owner's perspective on BIM and how to achieve goals through scenario-based planning design and budgeting. Who should attend: Architects, engineers, contractors, lawyers, academics, specialty contractors and anyone on the cutting edge of construction!  Click here to for more information and to register.

South Dakota became the first state to adopt an innovative set of consensus contract documents that could reduce both cost and risk of public construction.  Governor Mike Rounds has signed legislation authorizing the use of template contracting documents on March 12, 2009.  Rather than draft contracts from scratch, the state can use ConsensusDOCS as a template to save time and money.Larry P. Zikmund, president and CEO of the South Dakota Building Chapter of the Associated General Contractor commented that "these equitable contract terms will assure that everyone involved - the taxpayer, the user of the buildings, and the builders - will benefit from a fair contract."  The South Dakota Building Chapter and the AGC of South Dakota, Highway-Heavy-Utility Chapter worked closely with AGC national in successfully advocating for the legislation.  The new South Dakota law, known as HB 1212, was sponsored by Representative Charles M. Turbiville and Senator Kathy Miles, and establishes the terms and conditions in the ConsensusDOCS standard contracts as a pre-approved option for any construction project funded by the South Dakota government.  Zikmund notes that South Dakota's legislative action is likely to lead other states looking to save money on construction projects to follow suit.ConsensusDOCS are a library of already-drafted contract documents that are available for use in setting terms between an owner of a project and their contractors.  The documents were created by a broad coalition of more than 20 leading construction organizations, including the Associated General Contractors of America.  Click here for more information about ConsensusDOCS.  AGC members receive a 20% discount on all ConsensusDOCS purchases.

At AGC's 90th Annual Convention, Michael Kenig, Vice Chair of Holder Construction in Atlanta, Ga., became chairman of the AGC Building Division. Dirk Elsperman of Tarlton Corp. in St. Louis, Mo., completed his term at the Convention. Mike is a member of the AGC Executive Board, recently served as Division Vice Chairman, previously led the Project Delivery Committee and has been involved in numerous AGC and industry initiatives throughout his career. Paul Hoffman, President of Hoffman, LLC in Appleton, Wis., was elected as Division Vice Chair.Other AGC Building Division leadership changes include:Rick Andritsch, VJS Construction Services, Pewaukee, Wis., chair, Construction Marketing Committee.Steve Kimball, Kimball Construction Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., chair, Industry Liaison Committee.Doug Maibach, Barton Malow Co., Southfield, Mich., chair, Project Delivery Committee.A special thank you to Dirk Elsperman, Terry Wooding, Chuck Greco and Mike Kenig for their service to AGC. For more information about the Building Division, including information about the upcoming Building Contractors Conference, June 10-13 in Hot Springs, Va., please visit www.agc.org/building.