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Miller Act applies even if contract does not contain a bonding requirement

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United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently held, in K-Con, Inc. v. Secretary of Army, that the bonding requirements under the Miller Act apply to federal government construction contracts, even when the bonding provisions were not part of the contract.

The Miller Act, as implemented at FAR 28.102-1, requires that before any contract of more than $150,000 is awarded for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public building or public work of the Federal Government, a person must furnish to the Government, performance and payment bonds, which become binding when the contract is awarded.  

The Appeals Court cited a doctrine first articulated in G. L. Christian & Assocs. v. United States, 312 F.2d 418 (popularly known as the Christian Doctrine) in arriving at this decision.

Under the Christian Doctrine, a court may insert a clause into a government contract by operation of law if:

  1. that clause is mandatory under applicable federal administrative regulations; and
  2. it expresses a significant or deeply ingrained strand of public procurement policy.

The court found that the Miller Act bonding requirements are mandatory, because FAR Sections 28.102-1 and 28.102-3 require the bonds and direct the insertion of the clauses into federal government construction contracts.  The court further found that Miller Act bonding requirements are “deeply ingrained” in public procurement policy.  The Miller Act bonding requirements were thus held to be incorporated into federal government construction contracts by operation of law, at the time the contracts were awarded, under the Christian Doctrine.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-miller-act-applies-even-if-contract-34807

Contractors charging more for construction as prices rise

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The prices contractors say they’ll charge for nonresidential construction has made the sharpest increase since 2009, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began recording them.

In October, prices jumped 2 percent from the previous month and 5 percent from the previous year, marking both the largest monthly and yearly increase on record.

An analysis of federal data by the Associated General Contractors of America suggests that costs have increased even more quickly, rising 6.6 percent year over year.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.lmtonline.com/business/real-estate/article/Contractors-charging-more-for-construction-as-13384074.php

Women are the solution to the construction industry’s labor shortage

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Megan Ross is an assistant superintendent for a large Maryland-based general contractor.  Ross, a former architecture major, had realized she’d rather build structures than design them, and is now on construction sites every day, coordinating subcontractors and monitoring the progress of jobs.

At her first position out of college, she earned a salary of over $50,000; two years later she says, “I have friends in architecture who are making half of that.”  The work is a joy, she says. “It’s one of the best careers you can have.”

Ross is part of an overlooked group that, with some assistance, could easily solve the construction industry’s labor shortage: women. Currently, women make up less than 3 percent of the construction workforce, which includes the building trades—hands-on jobs like carpentry, bricklaying, and electrical work—as well as management. If twice as many women worked in the field, the industry’s labor shortage would, according to data available from the U.S. Department of Labor, practically be wiped out.

And finding a solution to the ongoing worker shortage is crucial.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.curbed.com/2018/11/5/18065266/construction-industry-labor-shortage-women

Specialty contractors market ‘hot’

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Subcontractors on Engineering News-Record’s 2018 Top 600 Specialty Contractors list generated a total $124 billion of revenue in 2017, up 10% from 2016 and marking the seventh year in a row that earnings for this group increased.  ENR said the “hot” market subcontractors are enjoying right now should last at least another 12 to 18 months.

Mechanical, electrical and utility contractors dominated the first 10 spots on ENR’s list. Some firms are growing through acquisitions, but as the list of investors grows, so does the dollar amounts of the deals.

Although many specialty contractors are enjoying not having to beat the bushes in search of work, they still face challenges. One is the risk of taking on too much work, leaving those that overextend themselves vulnerable to cash flow, management and staffing shortfalls.  General contractors also have become competitors in some markets, choosing to control work quality and production schedules by self-performing jobs they previously subcontracted.  Meanwhile, the demand for specialty contractors has brought firms into the industry that have little or no expertise in the work they are bidding for.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/specialty-contractors-market-hot-says-enr/540698/

Billions of dollars in construction funding in FY 2019 funding bills

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On Sept. 13, Congress passed a Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 appropriations bill — which the president is expected to sign into law —t hat will provide significant amounts of funding for military construction projects through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC); hospital, medical clinic and cemetery projects through the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA); and harbor maintenance, lock, dam, levee and environmental restoration projects through the USACE Civil Works Program.

The bill provides a total of $10.3 billion for military construction projects. This is an increase of $241 million, or 2.4 percent, above the enacted FY 2018 level. The bill appropriates $1.6 billion to fund construction, operation, and maintenance of military family housing for fiscal year 2019. This is $173 million above the fiscal year 2018 level and the same as the president’s FY 2019 budget request.

Major and minor construction within the VA is funded at $1.8 billion. In addition, $2 billion is provided for infrastructure repair, with the funding allocated to major and minor construction and non-recurring maintenance. Within the infrastructure total funding, $750 million is targeted to seismic corrections at VA facilities nationwide.

Keep reading this article at: http://advocacy.agc.org/billions-of-dollars-in-construction-funding-in-fy-2019-funding-bills/

OSHA cites 5 contractors in bridge collapse, proposes $87K in fines

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Main span of FIU pedestrian bridge being moved on March 10, 2018, prior to placement on the south pier and north pylon pier.  Labels added by the NTSB.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited five contractors who had been working on the Florida International University (FIU) pedestrian bridge that collapsed March 15, killing five motorists and one worker and injuring five others. The agency has also proposed fines totaling $86,658 for the group of companies.

  • OSHA issued Figg Bridge Engineers and engineering and inspection firm Network Engineering Services one serious violation each and proposed that each firm be fined $12,934 for exposing employees to physical danger by not removing them from the bridge area when cracks were observed.
  • The agency proposed fines of $25,868 for both post-tensioning specialty contractor Structural Technologies and general contractor Munilla Construction Management and cited both companies with two serious violations each for failing to provide adequate personal fall arrest systems.
  • Finally, OSHA issued concrete formwork contractor The Structural Group of South Florida one serious violation and a proposed fine of $9,054 for also failing to provide an adequate personal fall arrest system. The worker who died, Navaro Brown, worked for Structural Technologies.

“Collectively,” said Kurt A. Petermeyer, OSHA regional administrator, “these employers failed to take appropriate action and provide the necessary protections to their employees while they were working on the bridge on the day it collapsed.” All five companies have 15 days from the receipt of the citations and notice of proposed penalties to protest, request an informal hearing or comply.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/osha-cites-5-contractors-in-fiu-bridge-collapse-proposes-fines-totaling-8/532921/

See OSHA’s Sept. 18, 2018 press release here: https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region4/09182018

See earlier article on NTSB reports here: https://gtpac.org/2018/08/23/new-ntsb-report-on-fiu-bridge-collapse-stops-shy-of-naming-a-culprit/

 

OSHA releases free silica compliance tools for contractors

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In an effort to help construction contractors comply with its new Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has released instructional videos and other free educational materials about the topic.

Some of the aids provided by the agency, Safety + Health reported, are a customizable slideshow presentation to help employers train construction workers; a short YouTube video about how to protect employees from silica dust; a video series on dust control methods for common construction tasks; and a website with answers to frequently asked questions.

The rule went into effect for the construction industry on Sept. 23, 2017, but OSHA delayed full enforcement by a month to Oct. 23, 2017, giving employers more time to comply and the agency more time to develop detailed enforcement guidelines.

The deadline for laboratory evaluation of exposure samples started on June 23, 2018.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/osha-releases-free-silica-compliance-tools-for-contractors/530864/ 

South Carolina ‘mastermind’ pleads guilty to cheating government for million-dollar contracts

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He betrayed his wife. He used friends as pawns in illegal schemes.

For years, he bilked the federal government out of tens of millions of dollars in fat federal military construction contracts meant for disabled veterans, women and African-Americans.

And on Tuesday of last week, Thomas Brock of Camden faced his reckoning.

“I find you guilty,” U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs told Brock, 61, in a sparsely attended hearing at the U.S. federal courthouse in Columbia, SC.

Brock will be sentenced in December and is free on bond until then. He could be sentenced to up to nine years in prison, assistant U.S. Attorney DeWayne Pearson said August 28th.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article217449050.html

New NTSB report on FIU bridge collapse stops shy of naming a culprit

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Mar. 15, 2018 bridge collapse in Miami Florida. (Photo: Florida International University)

On Aug. 9, the National Transportation Safety Board released the latest update on its investigation into the March 15 Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse. It still, however, isn’t ready to identify the probable cause of the structure’s failure despite photo evidence of cracks — some fissure-like — in the bridge deck and other areas, presumably that developed after the prefabricated span was set in place just a few days before the fatal incident.

The bridge was transported into position from its offsite location on March 10 to much fanfare, while its building method, accelerated bridge construction, was touted as a way to deliver such structures with minimal interruption to traffic. Five days later, the bridge collapsed onto vehicular traffic below, killing six — one bridge worker and five vehicle occupants — and injuring several others.

The collapse occurred while workers were tightening, or re-tensioning, steel rods at the bridge’s north end, including at diagonal member 11, after they were de-tensioned on the day of the move.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/new-ntsb-report-on-fiu-bridge-collapse-stops-shy-of-naming-a-culprit/530346/

See NTSB reports at:

Construction contract disputes are getting longer, more complex

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Construction contract disputes across the world are getting longer, more complex and more expensive, according to the “Global Construction Disputes Report 2018” from design and consultancy firm Arcadis.

The value of North American disputes — or total costs added to a project for the additional work being claimed — dropped for a fourth consecutive year to $19 million in 2017, compared with the $43 million global average, the report found. Meanwhile, the average length of North American disputes increased from 15.6 months in 2016 to 17.7 months last year, exceeding the global average of 14.8 months.

Contract errors and/or omissions were the top cause of disputes in North America last year, followed by poor contract administration, which was trailed by failure on the part of an owner, contractor or subcontractor to understand or comply with contractual obligations.

Social infrastructure and the public sector collectively saw the most disputes while the transportation sector saw the second most.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/report-contract-disputes-are-getting-longer-more-complex/527970/

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