Price escalation and supply chain disruptions continue as top issues in construction. Getting a price escalation clause that adjusts prices and payments up or down based on an objective index like the ConsensusDocs 200.1 standard price escalation clause is the fairest and best way to combat this problematic issue. However, there is not a magic bullet or one-size-fits-all approach on this issue 鈥 it is an all-of-the-above approach. The early procurement of supplies is a common-sense approach that subcontractors, general contractors, and even owners employ to keep projects running on budget and on time. However, early procurement of supplies raises another issue: how do we account for storing these materials?
Employers that test workers for COVID-19 should review their policies to ensure they comply with updated guidelines released July 12 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In prior guidance, the EEOC broadly allowed employers to screen workers for COVID-19 without running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) due to the state of the pandemic. In revised guidelines, however, the agency said the employers may continue to administer viral tests as a condition of entering a worksite, so long as they can show that the testing practices are job-related and consistent with business necessity. The update 鈥渕akes clear that going forward employers will need to assess whether current pandemic circumstances and individual workplace circumstances justify viral screening testing of employees to prevent workplace transmission of COVID-19,鈥 the EEOC said.
In its latest Settlements Report, the 澳门六合彩开奖预测-supported Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) advises that construction-industry collective bargaining agreements settled from January through June of 2022 provide an average increase in wages and benefits of 3.6 percent or $2.17 in the first contract year. Along with the written report, CLRC has released a four-minute video highlighting key findings.
The Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) has developed a new customized report titled Contractor鈥檚 Cost Conundrum designed to explain some of the difficult economic and staffing challenges faced by contractors.
Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), as amended by the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA), a company incurs withdrawal liability when it withdraws from a multiemployer pension plan. In its recent decision in United Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension Plan v. Energy West Mining Co., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that this liability must be calculated using an interest rate that is based on the anticipated future rate of return on the fund鈥檚 investment asset portfolio. The D.C. Circuit joins the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (KY, MI, OH, TN) in arriving at this conclusion.
Survey closes August 12
On June 30, 澳门六合彩开奖预测 along with more than 60 organizations took issue with OSHA鈥檚 proposed rule to expand the scope and revise the provisions of its 鈥淚mproved Tracking of Workplace Injury and Illness鈥 regulation. If finalized as proposed, the rule will require construction firms with 100 or more employees to electronically submit their OSHA Form 300 (log of work-related injuries and illnesses), OSHA Form 300A (summary of work-related injuries and illnesses), and OSHA Form 301 (injury and illness incident report) on an annual basis. For construction firms with 20 鈥 100 employees, the rule will require the annual submission of their OSHA Form 300A (summary of work-related injuries and illnesses).
We have all heard the expression death by a thousand cuts. Listen to the just-released 澳门六合彩开奖预测 ConstructorCast and hear about a design-build construction project that had over 88,000 cuts. These cuts came in the form of owner comments on the contractor鈥檚 submittals that typically expressed an owner 鈥減reference鈥 that was not necessarily a contractual requirement. Just trying to parse out the nature of the owner鈥檚 comments, the design-builder estimated it cost the company 49 person-years! Comments stating a preference were four times more likely than comments indicating something 鈥渘on-compliant.鈥 Some ENR top 75 firms have left the design-build market amidst this 鈥渕idlife crisis鈥 of risk.
The construction industry added 13,000 jobs in June as the number of jobseekers with construction experience plunged to a record low for the month according to an analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the industry would likely have added even more jobs in June had it not been for the shortage of available workers.