KANSAS and MISSOURI beneficiaries of $4.6 billion Stimulus Package unveiled by Army Corp of Engineers

All the folks who are chasing issues.....note the Army Corp of Engineers decision to spend money for both operations\maintenance ($2.1 billion) and construction ($2 billion).

MONEY WILL BE SPENT IN KANSAS AT TUTTLE CREEK ($45million) AND IN MISSOURI AT CLEARWATER LAKE ($35millon)

Subcontractor using teaspoons to perform work?

The folks at Alston & Bird LLP pointed out a decision from a Colorado court where the duty of “good faith and fair dealing” requires contractors to give timely notice to subcontractors of a reasonable workload and schedule. --- P.3d ----, 2008 WL 2522306 (Colo. App. June 26, 2008). The court reasoned without such a limit the contractor could have ordered the subcontractor “to perform its paving work at midnight using teaspoons.”

Construction materials to be fused on federal jobs

In the category of help from "the friendly feds" a new May 3 FAR proposal has been enacted to shore up the requirement that  ALL construction contractors use EPA-designated recycled materials for purchase worth more than $10,000 on government jobs. Examine FAR subpart 23.4 USE OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING RECOVERED MATERIALS via the Federal Register\Vol. 72, No. 85. (Thursday, May 3, 2007).

Contractors to reveal more about subcontractors by law?

Read this article from the Washington Business Journal courtesy of Kate Whitby with Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP:

Proposal requires federal contractors to reveal more about subcontractors

Washington Business Journal - 1:01 PM EDT Monday, May 7, 2007

by Ben Hammer

Staff Reporters

A new federal acquisition rule could soon force companies that win large government awards to disclose information about the work they subcontract.

Under the proposed pilot, businesses getting contracts worth $500 million or more for noncommercial work awarded and performed in the U.S. would need to publish details of subcontracts worth more than $1 million in a public database beginning July 1.

The rule would extend in January 2009 to all direct federal contracts worth $100,000 and subcontracts worth $25,000.

The proposed pilot program would not apply to classified contracts or commercial-item contracts as defined by current acquisition regulations. Also excluded would be contracts to provide supplies or services benefiting more than one contract. Other existing contracting regulations make it unclear whether the extended rule beginning in 2009 would include the pilot program's exemptions.

The prime contractors would be required to report the name of the subcontractor, the amount and the date of the subcontract award, a title that describes the purpose of the subcontract, the subcontractor's location and the location where the subcontractor is performing the work.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation Secretariat, which makes rules that implement federal contracting laws, is taking comments on the proposal through May 21. The disclosure rules will take effect in some form regardless under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.

The pilot is likely to apply to large construction projects in the U.S., including disaster relief work, big information technology projects and many Defense Department systems, says Emily Murphy, former chief acquisition officer at the General Services Agency. Murphy is now in private practice with D.C. law firm Miller & Chevalier.

Some people fear that disclosing the value of subcontracts would give away information small businesses have been able to hide until now.

"It is going to lead to bid shopping and bid chopping," Murphy says. "If you have the winning subcontractor's pricing disclosed, then there may be an opportunity for another small business to come in and undercut that."

The regulation could reveal the extent to which federal agencies and private companies are meeting the goals of directing almost 25 percent of direct contract dollars to small and disadvantaged businesses and 40 percent of subcontracting dollars to those businesses.

Some business owners say the new regulation could force agencies to crack down on companies that don't do enough subcontracting.

"Collect the information, but now that you have it, put some teeth into the rules and regulations you have for the large companies to utilize small and minority businesses," says Nicholas Christiansen, CEO of Eagle Technologies. "If I have to give up some pricing information to garner a little bit more of that business, so be it."

Still, Christiansen, says the disclosure rule could hurt him in commercial bidding if competitors see the Lanham security services company's prices.

All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

Folks...this can not be good....it is time to call your Congressman!

Tire Chips in construction projects in Missouri?

MISSOURI APPROVES USE OF TIRE CHIPS IN ON-SITE SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEMS

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Health and Senior Services announced that contractors can now use tire chips in on-site wastewater (sewage) treatment systems.

Under the new standards, tire chips between one-half-inch and four inches may act as a replacement for gravel or crushed-stone aggregate in on-site wastewater treatment systems. The chips act as a kind of filter, allowing microbes to handle the potentially harmful chemicals and organisms found in residential wastewater.

For questions concerning on-site wastewater treatment system installation and the substitution of tire chips for aggregate, please call your local health official or the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ On-site Sewage Program at (573) 751-6095.

Several scrap tire processors, both inside and outside of Missouri, can supply tire chips to meet the required specification. Details for all the requirements are available in the Department of Natural Resources’ fact sheet Standards for the Use of Tire Chips in On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems. The fact sheet is available on the Web at www.dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub2205.pdf.

10 Biggest Mistakes Contractors Make

Ron Roberts' article "10 Biggest Mistakes Contractors Make" is almost a shameless promotion for attorneys.........candidly his point on learning to read a contract, creating a set of standard contracts or have an attorney handle the same is excellent advise.

I will create a standardized fee for clients to review their contracts in an effort to get them into the habit of having SOMEONE review these agreements if the contractor will not. It will save money, time and anxiety down the road.

Great job, Ron!

Indemnification provisions

An indemnification provision "lesson learned"- A New Jersey Court ruled that an action by a general contractor to recover monies from a subcontractor for monies paid to the subcontractor's employee for an injury would be denied. The rule "a contract will not be construed to indemnify the indemnitee against losses resulting from its own negligence unless such an intention is expressed in unequivocal terms."  Apparently an AIA standard form does not clearly state the subcontractor will be liable. Part of the confusion is generated by an indemnity provision in the subcontractors insurance rider. Candidly, the AIA drafters must be looking at this ruling closely, as this is clearly not the result the parties could have intended by their contracts. AIA provisions should be interpreted to look at the language in terms of comparative fault.

Emergency Preparedness

At the construction symposium Spencer Fane recently conducted in Kansas City one of the sessions dealt with an emergency preparedness for contractors. My take way from the seminar.....how does a business undertake continuity with one's business if a disaster hits? Most notably communications must be the hallmark of whether or not a company will be able to go forward with their business after a disaster. One must figure out how to communicate with employees flung to the ends of the earth.......Provided their is enough insurance money available to resurrect the business.

2006 Construction Conference presented by Spencer Fane, FMI and CBIZ

Thanks to all who attended our conference.....I was touched by the positive feedback and request for more information.....a general contractor uttered "...I have been attending these for years and this is the best construction conference I have ever attended....." The conference's subject matter along with pictures of the event will be posted to this website in the days to come.

My thanks to Pat McCown of McCown Gordon Construction LLC for putting together the panel of development experts.....Jim Calcara of 360 Architects, Ned O'Connor of Waterford Properties, LLC (good to see you are doing so well) and Mike Allen of RED Development LLC.

Bill Cheatum of Zurich Surety gave us fantastic insight into the surety trends. Not often do we get the President of a surety entity to present his thoughts. Thanks, Bill!

Rita Cortes: Thanks for your insight as an attorney, general contractor and subcontractor.

Rod Eisenhauer's insight into his life as a construction litigator was very helpful...clearly he will be a huge success in his new job at Performance Contracting Group.

Larry Dolci was extremely generous with his time and talent in sharing the disaster recovery plan of KCPL. What a gentleman!

Curt Wilhelmsen of EMC Insurance Companies was willing to field my "off the cuff" questions about insurance...and did a great job! THANKS!

Ben Herman EMC Insurance: As always thanks for being willing to bring your enthusiasm for the industry to the table. Everyone should know that Ben is a wonderful advocate for the surety business and is willing to help at any construction event. Ben: you are the best.

Clearly FMI is the leader in the field in consultation services to the construction industry........Cynthia Paul's presentation clearly shows why this is...her high energy performance and charismatic presence drives contractors to be the best that they can be.

CBIZ brought so many, many diverse players to the event....employee management, employee benefit plans, tax, accounting and insurance....what can this company NOT due for the construction industry. My hats off to Dave Allison and his crew for their efforts.....Sunny Claggett, Kevin Nussbaum, Rob Kaelin.

And finally...thanks to all my compatriots at Spencer Fane. Our depth and breath of experience was clearly shown in the employment area (thanks to Dave Wing), litigation (Josh Dickinson and Phil Goodin), succession planning (Joe Price), products liability issues including water intrusion or "mold" (thanks, Kelly Campbell).....and I had to hold back our whole expertise because of time constraints!

Thanks to Kay Love, Melissa Foley, Ashley Smalley and Melynn Sight of Spencer Fane for their help and that of Brad Dixon at CBIZ.

With the comments and input from our audiences, next year will be even better!

The consulting firm FMI

Cynthia Paul of FMI spoke today at the Spencer Fane Construction seminar held at Overland Park, Kansas. Wow...what a great speaker and she really brought the crowd up to speed on what was going on in the construction industry and what to expect in the next 50 YEARS. She will be wrapping up tomorrow with information on what the best contractors are doing RIGHT NOW to be successful. Please join us to get to this valuable information.