CRISP
2220 Bevis St., Houston, Texas 77008

Dallas, Texas

Sheraton Downtown Phoenix

San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk
San Antonio, Texas

Registration for the CLC Leadership Development Conference, formerly known as Fall Working Weekend, is now open. This year’s event is co-hosted with the San Antonio Chapter of AGC and will take place October 23-25, 2014, at the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk. Highlights of the program include keynote speaker George "The Iceman" Gervin, former San Antonio Spurs player; Chuck Greco, Linbeck Group, LLC, and Senior Vice President of AGC of America; and a roundtable session that will allow attendees to learn best practices from CLC groups from across the country.

The ACE Mentor Program of Houston invites you to join in The Third Annual Build It Forward Event. This event brings together students involved in the ACE Mentor Program and industry-wide professionals. For more information and to learn how you can get involved, please click here.

This course covers the various types of common machinery, machine safeguards, and related OSHA regulations and procedures. Guidance is provided on the hazards associated with various types of machinery and the determination of proper machine safeguards.

By popular demand, AGC Houston is offering the OSHA 30-hour construction safety course for Spanish-speaking construction supervisors or for workers with some safety responsibility. This course provides a greater depth and variety of training on an expanded list of topics associated with workplace hazards than the 10-hour course.

New! This course covers the evaluation and reduction of noise hazards in the construction industry. Topics include OSHA Construction Noise Standards, properties of sound, noise-induced hearing loss, selection and use of hearing protection, among other topics.

This free training class focuses on preventing frequently cited construction hazards. The Focus Four Hazards in Construction are conducted as four-hour awareness training focusing on the greatest dangers of working on a construction site.

This course covers the OSHA Standards, policies and procedures in the construction industry. Topics include scope and application of the OSHA Construction Standards, construction safety and health principles, and special emphasis on those areas in construction which are most hazardous.

The management system course provides the participant the opportunity to design the core elements of a management system for environmental, risk, safety and health programs. Note: Participants must attend all three sessions.

Taught in Spanish, this free training class focuses on preventing frequently cited construction hazards. The Focus Four Hazards in Construction are conducted as four-hour awareness training focusing on the greatest dangers of working on a construction site.

This course covers the OSHA Excavation Standards and safety and health aspects of excavation and trenching with topics including practical soil mechanics and its relationship to the stability of shored and unshored slopes and walls of excavations, introduction of various types of shoring (wood timbers and hydraulic), soil classification, and use of protective systems.

We're excited to announce new AGC Houston emblem stickers available to all members!

New government data released August 1, 2014, show the uneven nature of the construction industry's recovery, as the sector added 22,000 jobs in July, but suffered a pullback in spending in June, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that uncertainty about federal funding for a range of infrastructure and construction programs is one reason for the uneven recovery. Ken Simonson, AGC Chief Economist, stated "Construction employment and spending are both rising at a moderate year-over-year clip, but there have been some setbacks." 

On Tuesday, July 22, 2014, the president signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act into law. The bill easily passed both the House and Senate in recent weeks. The legislation will reform the workforce development system, giving states greater flexibility and strengthening employer engagement.

A recent report by TRIP, a national transportation research group, recently found that the rural road fatality rate is three times higher than all other roads, while 15 percent of rural roads are in poor shape and 22 percent of rural bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, stated " ...the U.S. Department of Transportation is warning states it will begin cutting back federal funding for highway projects in August as the balance in the federal Highway Trust Fund approaches dangerously low levels."

The Construction State Law Matrix is the most comprehensive, definitive and concise publication available, covering all aspects of state laws that may affect your public or private construction project. This essential resource, for use before completing any construction contract in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, ensures compliance and enforceability under state law.

Whether it's a new smart phone or calling plan, AGC Houston members can take advantage from Verizon Wireless and National Purchasing Partnership Construction.

• NPP our members receive 22% off corporate calling plans,
• Employees receive up to an 18% discount (15% plus an additional 3% discount if enrolled in online billing) on their plans.

Balfour Beatty Construction was recently named the general contractor on one of Houston’s most talked about office buildings, the 6 Houston Center. The 30-story, 600,000-square-foot tower will feature 10- to 12-foot ceilings, a concierge floor, rooftop gardens, a fitness and conference center with seating for 150, a nine-level parking garage and a skybridge connection to 1 Houston Center/LyondellBasell Tower. Ground will break on the 6 Houston Center within the next two months and a completion date is slated for about two years after that. Congratulations and we can't wait to see the finished product!

The average total cost of risk for companies rose 2% last year, from $10.90 per $1,000 of revenue, compared with $10.70 in 2012, according to the RIMS Benchmark Survey. This measure of how much companies spend on property, casualty and workers' compensation insurance and risk management has been rising steadily for the past few years, reflecting hardening insurance conditions.

According to the Texas Comptroller's Office, the Houston area boasts the lowest school construction costs in Texas at just $135 a square foot, nearly $20 lower than the state average. The Houston region also includes three of the most prolific builders in the state—the Katy, Cypress Fairbanks and Fort Bend school districts, which have added a combined 6.7 million square feet of facilities since 2007. Efforts are being made to ensure that Houston's school construction costs continue to remain one of the lowest in the state.

Are you in the K-12 construction industry of Houston? Houston Independent School District (HISD) will be introducing an approved $1.89 billion bond, seven-year construction program to market consisting of 40 schools, three athletic facilities and numerous renovations. The objective of the Labor Compliance Program (LCP) is to build the highest quality schools safely, on time, within budget and with the best construction workers. HISD’s Labor Compliance Program (LCP) helps ensure a level playing field and protects workers by reviewing certified payrolls, monitoring job sites, interviewing workers, providing certified payroll training and sponsoring community job fairs.

It's no secret that in the upswing of the construction industry, Texas has a dire need for a skilled labor force, and there has been speculation as to the reason behind this. Issues like low wages in the home building sector and the booming oil and gas industry are causing workers to seemingly disappear. Rigzone President, Paul Caplan, stated "Oil and gas professionals today recognize the energy job market is theirs for the taking. It’s up to companies to offer the right position for the right compensation package or risk losing candidates to firms and industries competing for the same in-demand talent." 

A Houston submarket that once was predominately industrial is attracting new Class A office construction thanks to its lower costs and accessible location. The West Belt office submarket, located on Beltway 8 north of I-10 and extending just east of Highway 249, is a cost-effective alternative for companies in west Houston that need larger spaces and higher parking ratios. According to Jon Lee, Senior Vice President of CBRE's Houston office, "There are many new projects being contemplated that require preleasing to move forward. We anticipate this to continue to be a hot area in the foreseeable future."

The Houston region is expected to have 296,000 job openings in the "middle-skills" occupations within the next three years, and a new effort is being launched to fill them. In conjunction with the Greater Houston Partnership and JPMorgan & Co., the UpSkill Houston program will create seven sector-specific councils to improve coordination among the stakeholders. The seven key sectors for the Houston region are advanced manufacturing, construction, health care, oil and gas, petrochemical, ports and maritime, and utilities. AGC Houston is playing a key leadership role with GHP with the appointment of AGC Chairman Steve Mechler and Laura Bellows who were asked to co-chair the council.