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Education/Training
Join Tellepsen's Lana Coble, Ed.D, and Kendall Pouland for an interactive session on conceptual planning and scheduling, and incorporating risk mitigation techniques.
Ideal for Project team members who are involved in creating, updating, evaluating, reporting, or providing input in the project schedule between Pre-Construction through Construction.
Register here October 12: Texas Sales and Use Tax October 19: Texas Lien Laws October 19: Advanced Texas Lien Laws October 23-24: PMDP Module 3: Project Administration November 14: First Aid / CPR / AED Training Safety
AGC Members receive a 10% discount on all UTA OSHA-taught classes. Please call (866) 906-9190 and provide the member code (AGCHOU).
October 26: AGC Houston Safety Committee Meeting
October 22-24: OSHA 502: Update for Construction Industry Outreach Trainers
October 24-25: OSHA 503: Update for General Industry Outreach Trainers October 29: OSHA 501: Trainer Course in OSHA Standards for General Industry October 29: MGE 817: Two Day Training Pollution Prevention & WRPA October 29, November 5, 12, & 26: OSHA 30-Hour Course
Take The Course For $100 - 60% Off Normal Rate! This course provides an overview of the risk management and insurance profession from the health and safety program perspective. It is designed for project management site supervision and field employees involved in the construction industry. Free for U.S. Veterans! Contact Kim Mason for information. Registration Details Here
AGC News
Every nine minutes, someone hits a gas line, mostly due to construction-related work. Loss issues associated with damages include water and waste water. Customer satisfaction, loss of service and a $2,000 fine per incident. AGC Houston Safety Committee members heard from Jesse Torres, Damage Prevention Manager at Texas 811 about the differences between safe digging and dangerous digging with equipment used on job sites. Torres underscored the importance of contacting the Texas 811 agency to submit a location report of all the underground pipelines that exist on a site, prior to digging.
"As an excavator, it is extremely important you know where underground utility lines are located whenever digging is taking place," he stated. "Using the 811 services can be the difference between safe digging and dangerous digging with any of the equipment used on job sites. There are several options for getting underground lines marked. You can call the Lonestar 811, or use the 811 Portal to process your tickets electronically. Avoid costly damages, contact 811 before you dig!"
Once contractors receive the location report of the jobsite's underground pipes, Torres recommends that and additional work area (white lining) be marked beyond the pipeline location flags to ensure a safe excavation. Call 811 Before You Dig! Sign Up For The Texas811 Portal Today!
In 1998, the Texas Damage Prevention Law became effective, which requires excavators and demolishers to call a notification center at least 48 hours, excluding holidays and weekends before they begin their work.
Construction spending increased 0.1 percent from July to August and 5.3 percent for eight months of 2018 combined, with continued year-to-date gains for major public and private categories, according to an analysis of new government data by AGC of America. These spending figures showed strong demand in construction across the country but that growth in the construction industry still depends on contractors’ ability to find sufficient qualified workers, urging public officials to step up support for career and technical education and to allow employment-based immigration.
"Price changes for construction materials in August were mixed, but contractors are likely to be hit with additional cost increases as new tariffs take hold, as well as significant labor cost escalation," said AGC of America’s chief economist, Ken Simonson. "Prices for goods and services used in construction rose over the past year at nearly double the rate that contractors have raised their bid prices to put up new buildings."
Diesel fuel, steel, aluminum, asphalt paving mixtures and gypsum products were among the diverse products that contributed to the large year-over-year cost increases
Events
Presenting AGC Houston's First Fall Festival And Auto Show Hosted By Vets In Construction!
Saturday, October 20, 2018 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
 Join Us For The Last Member Mixer Of The Year!
We Head Back To Crisp In The Heights
REGISTER HERE
$30/person until October 19
$40/person until October 31 - $50/person at the door
Sponsorship available! Member News
 Slack & Co. Construction, Inc. announced the addition of Heath Bratton as Industrial Business Unit Leader, responsible for the growth and overall management of the company’s Petrochemical/ Industrial Construction division. For the past 20 years, Heath has managed industrial construction projects in the heavy civil arena. He holds a BS Degree from the University Of Texas at Austin.
Jennifer Jones, Slack & Co.’s first Manager of Employee Training & Recruitment, is responsible for developing and implementing a Craft Training Program for field employees that addresses their training and education needs, improves their individual work skills, and, ultimately, increases career advancement opportunities. Additionally, Jennifer’s responsible for hiring qualified employees to work on Slack & Co.’s industrial and commercial projects.
Shelli Turgeon joined the team as Director of Contract Administration/ Risk Manager. She has more than 20 years of legal, insurance, and risk management experience. Most recently she served as Corporate Risk Manager for CB&I, where her responsibilities included contract review and insurance management for projects and office locations throughout the US, Canada, Central and South America and the Middle East.
Charlie Westmoreland joined the firm as Director of Project Management. In addition to ensuring the necessary project management protocols are consistently utilized, he works closely with PM’s and APM’s to identify, avoid and/or resolve project conflicts. He has 20 years’ experience managing and estimating projects for industrial construction, oil field, and pipeline companies. Charlie holds a Construction Science degree from Texas A & M University.
News you can Use
 The start of a 17-month, $105 million renovation of the Houston Astrodome to include an underground parking garage and nine acres for commercial uses, conferences and festivals, has been shifted from October to early 2019. Harris County officials said the Astrodome, once dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World," is nearing completion of asbestos abatement.    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released a set of 53 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to provide guidance to employers and employees regarding OSHA's respirable crystalline silica standard for construction. AGC has assembled a four-page document with some of the clarifications and a PDF version of all the FAQs for members' convenience. AGC encourages its members to review all the FAQs to assist in their compliance efforts.
For more information, contact Kevin Cannon at (703)837-5410 or cannonk@agc.org or Nazia Shah at (703)837-5409 or nazia.shah@agc.org.
The Senate's passage of a spending bill that covers funding for the Occupational Health and Safety Administration would increase the agency's funding by $5 million over the current fiscal year. The bill requires House passage and a presidential signature.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has updated the National Emphasis Program (NEP) on preventing trenching and excavation collapses in response to a recent spike in trenching fatalities. The emphasis program began October 1, 2018, with a three-month period of education and prevention outreach. During this period, OSHA will continue to respond to complaints, referrals, hospitalizations, and fatalities.OSHA's NEP will increase education and enforcement efforts while its inspectors will record trenching and excavation inspections in a national reporting system, and each area OSHA office will develop outreach programs. 
Membership Benefits
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. AGC Houston
Make Your AGC Membership Work for You! We encourage all members to attend the Member Orientation to learn about the many benefits AGC offers and how to get more involved with the chapter! Register Today
Here's Looking at You
 Eighteen general and specialty contractors took home 37 Gold, Silver and Bronze APEX awards for outstanding building projects. APEX recognizes and honors firms for their excellence in design and construction, their valuable contributions to the community, and advancement to the commercial building industry. The event also honored Peter Dawson, AIA, NCARB, with the 2018 AGC Houston Master Builder Award. Dawson recently retired as Sr. Vice President of Facilities Services at Texas Children’s Hospital where, for 16 years, he held the executive leadership responsibility for Facility Planning, Design, Project Management, Facilities Operations, and Security Services.
View Reception & Gala photos here
View Award photos here
View Fun Photo Booth photos here
New Members
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