11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

The General Election is November 4 - www.VoteTexas.gov

Gain an awareness of how pre-project planning affects the potential success of a project and understand the different areas of planning for the construction phase of a project. Broaden your understanding of the impact building codes, permits, reviews and inspections can have on a project. Learn how Building Information Modeling (BIM), LEED, environmental issues and lean construction are impacting the construction industry.

This session will build on the Liens and Bonds speech with an advanced discussion of liens and how they are enforced. The session will also cover a variety of payment topics such as spotting important issues in joint check agreements, the new law related to releases and the construction trust fund act.

BIM Contract Negotiation and Risk Allocation is a full-day course that examines BIM and contract terminology to determine best practices for integrating BIM use into project contracts.

Understand the types and sources of risk and how risk changes over the different phases of a project. Learn techniques for managing risk and how the scope and nature of risk management varies based on project contracting methods. Gain insight into the basics of insurance and bonding and how quality control/quality assurance plans help mitigate performance risk.

AGC Houston-Frontline Leadership is a six-session training program designed to equip new, current, or aspiring supervisors with the tools they need to effectively manage and develop their people and projects. The format consists of six, half-day modules that can be taken as stand-alone courses or as part of the series.

Completion of this course meets the requirements of OSHA Paragraph 1926.50, and participants will receive an American Heart Association Heartsaver First Aid and CPR/AED wallet card valid for two years upon course completion.

AGC Houston-Frontline Leadership is a six-session training program designed to equip new, current, or aspiring supervisors with the tools they need to effectively manage and develop their people and projects. The format consists of six, half-day modules that can be taken as stand-alone courses or as part of the series.

This class addresses the practices and procedures necessary to disable machinery or equipment, to prevent the release of hazardous energy while employees perform servicing or maintenance activities. Click here for information about the Spanish session.

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 that are most hazardous.

This course covers the use of ergonomic principles to recognize, evaluate, and control workplace conditions that cause or contribute to musculoskeletal and nerve disorder. Course topics include work physiology, anthropometry, musculoskeletal disorders, use of video display terminals, and risk factors such as vibration, temperature, material handling, repetition, and lifting and patient transfers in health care.

This course covers the OSHA standards, policies, and procedures in general industry. Topics include scope and application of the OSHA General Industry Standards, general industry principles and special emphasis on those areas in general industry that are most hazardous.

This construction 10-hour safety course covers the safety requirements as contained in 29 CFR 1926. This course is designed to provide an entry-level construction workers general awareness on recognizing and preventing hazards on a construction site.

AGC Houston and other AGC Texas chapters have joined forces to help promote careers in the commercial construction industry by launching Texasconstructioncareers.com. More than just a website that allows employers to post jobs and job seekers their resumes, the site offers a plethora of information on craft training and professional education resources, career opportunities for military veterans reentering the workforce and job fairs throughout Texas. Click here for more information about Texas ConstructionCareers.com.

In commercial construction, fabric panels systems seldom hit the radar when Fire Code compliance is considered. They usually come to light after an incident. Typically, Plan Review Departments within some major metropolitan areas focus primarily on the obvious considerations of occupancy, egress, exits, stairwells, sprinkler heads and strobes long before wall finishes and then, sometimes they are not considered or reviewed at all. The continual non-enforcement of fire ratings and testing on textiles or fabric panel systems contributes to the complacency about fire code compliance for those systems. The lack of enforcement may actually make it appear to some contractors and designers that the code is non-existent, but the code does exist.

October 29, 2014

Benefit from financial strength and superior loss control program. It is managed by a board comprised of CompGroup AGC members—general contractors and subcontractors from all parts of Texas are represented. It is a TDI-approved Workers' Compensation Purchasing Group.

Learn more about membership benefits in the CompGroup AGC, Inc. today! Contact your insurance agent or call Program Administrator Roberts & Crow at 800-406-9614 - ask for Julie Schatz.

The construction industry has been booming with the completion of some outstanding projects and it's time to show them off! Apply today for the 2015 Alliant Build America competition or the 2015 AGC in the Community competition. All member companies in good standing who meet the competition requirements are encouraged to apply and receive some well-deserved recognition for the hard work and dedication that goes into each project.

We're excited to announce new AGC Houston emblem stickers available to all members! Show your AGC pride. Contact AGC Houston today at (713) 843-3700 and get hard hat stickers while they last. They're free for members!

"The AGC Alternative," the first of its kind, nationwide private insurance exchange to serve the commercial construction industry, begins offering firms belonging to the Associated General Contractors of America quotes today.

A final rule announced September 11, 2014, requires employers to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. The rule, which also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record-keeping requirements, will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, for workplaces under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

Under the revised rule, employers will be required to notify OSHA of work-related fatalities within eight hours, and work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations or losses of an eye within 24 hours.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) released its final rule implementing Executive Order 13658 (EO), which establishes a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour for direct federal prime contractors and subcontractors at all tiers. That $10.10 minimum wage must be adjusted annually for inflation. The new minimum wage will take effect on direct federal agency contracts entered into on or after Jan. 1, 2015.

San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk
San Antonio, Texas

1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Caesar's Palace

Leadership AGC participants gathered on October 16, 2014, at Marek Brothers Systems, Inc., for the second segment of the eight-module program. This segment, titled Professional Polish: Etiquette for Success, featured special guest speaker, Sally Reynolds, MA, who covered topics that emphasize the importance of professionalism and courtesy in the working world. Hand shakes, introductions, dining etiquette, professional dress and correspondence were just some of the topics presented to the crowd during the day-long session.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration wants to overhaul its approach to reducing workplace exposure to hazardous chemicals—and the agency is asking for your help. For the next six months, OSHA will accept comments on the best ways to protect workers from illnesses caused by exposure to hazardous substances. It’s specifically asking stakeholders, including businesses, for suggestions on how to streamline risk assessment and develop alternatives to updating permissible exposure limits (PELs) for chemicals.

A $4,000 piece of equipment that can be purchased on Amazon can save construction contractors in Houston big bucks over time and improve communication with their customers. Using drones to photograph and video projects while they are underway and once they are completed are becoming the norm in Houston’s commercial real estate market. Residential realtors are also using the aerial footage to market their properties to buyers and the oil and gas industry uses drones to provide mapping for remote areas.

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.

Industry experts say two of the biggest challenges facing Houston’s construction industry are the rising cost of building materials and a strained labor market, where builders are reporting that their competitors are poaching workers from their job sites, and the challenges are predicted to continue. While costs have steadily increased since 2012, they went up significantly in Houston during the past year with high demand, labor shortages, concrete shortages, long lead times for critical components, and subcontractor fees and unavailability among the drivers of the cost surges, according to Houston-based Kirksey Architecture’s 2014 Construction Cost report.

Two Houston school districts and a college system are putting new construction bonds to the vote next month and, if passed, could collectively add $1.47 billion of construction projects to a busy market already fiercely competing for labor and materials. In November, voters served by Katy ISD and Lamar CISD as well as the Lone Start College System will consider multimillion-dollar bonds.

The increased coverage around Obamacare and the state’s strong economy has led to more people being covered under employer insurance, which has played a role in bringing the number of uninsured down. However, due to Texas' lack of a comprehensive Medicaid program, the state has seen a much larger drop in the percentage of uninsured. This will begin to affect employers, especially those who hire low-income, uninsured workers. Employer penalties for uninsured employees will start in 2015. Dr. Vivian Ho of the Baker Institute states, "If these workers aren't insured, it’s more people these employers will have to take a penalty for because it’s expected the employers should provide insurance for uninsured people."

The Texas Supreme Court recently issued a blockbuster opinion affirming the limited scope of no-damages for delay clauses. The Court recognized the traditional exceptions to the enforcement of no-damages-for-delay clauses. These include an owner’s "active interference" with a contractor "or other wrongful conduct," including "arbitrary and capricious acts." The Court reasoned that the purpose of such exceptions is to "preclude a party from insulating himself from liability for his own deliberate, wrongful conduct." No longer is there uncertainty about the applicability of the traditionally recognized exceptions to no damages clauses. Texas now falls in line with the majority of states.