The construction industry has experienced some very significant and sudden changes during the past few months that have led to dramatic changes in demand for work, availability of key construction materials, and the need for new workers. In order to better understand the impact of these changes on member firms so AGC of America can best tailor advocacy efforts and services, the association is asking members to take a few minutes to complete a workforce survey prepared by AGC and Autodesk.

 

The more data the association has to describe the scope and consequences of current labor market conditions, the more able AGC will be to educate government officials about the industry’s needs; and the more educated those officials are, the more likely they are to enact measures to help meet those needs. So, please take the survey today!

 

AGC of America is proud to announce the launch of the 2023 AGC Awards competitions! The Construction Risk Partners Build America Awards (including the Marvin M. Black Partnering Excellence category) and AGC in the Community competitions recognize the nation's most impressive construction projects ranging across the building, highway and transportation, utility infrastructure, and federal and heavy divisions; those contractors excelling in their partnering and collaborative endeavors; and the charitable contractors and chapters giving back to their communities. 

 

The AGC Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Awards recognize contractors that are champions in advancing diversity and inclusion within their workforce, subcontractor-partners, supply chain, the association, and in the communities they serve. The AGC Diverse Business of the Year competition honors an outstanding diverse AGC member-firm that is committed to achieving business success, while also contributing to the association and communities in which they work.

 

In 2018, AGC of America celebrated 100 years of serving the construction industry. While we celebrated and recognized the past it is important that we continue to look to the future to address ongoing issues affecting the industry. In this spirit, AGC decided to make the Innovation Awards an annual award to incentivize and encourage free thinkers to provide pioneering solutions to industry challenges. 

 

Apply by Monday, October 24, 2022 for full consideration. Learn more about AGC of America's awards programs at www.agc.org/awards.

 

As the world reopens and construction projects ramp up following two years of a worldwide pandemic, vehicular accidents in work zones are increasing. A recent study conducted by AGC of America and HCSS reveals that 64% of highway contractors experienced crashes into their work zones during the past year (an uptick from 60% in last year’s survey). In addition, an overwhelming majority, 97% percent, report that highway work zones are either as dangerous, or more dangerous, than they were a year ago.

 

Understanding the industry’s role with climate change has become a top priority in construction. With the federal government imposing new climate change policies and exploring limitations on high-carbon building materials, commercial contractors are looking at their carbon footprint while contributing to building improvements into the nation’s infrastructure.

 

The price of materials and services used in nonresidential construction jumped 1.1% last month, outpacing the rise in contractors’ bid prices, according to an analysis by AGC of America of government data released recently. Association officials warned that rising materials prices were having an adverse impact on a growing number of construction projects that have suddenly become more expensive.

Who’s on the hook for design defects in design-build projects?  It may not always be who you think. In this episode, Dirk Haire, co-chair of Fox Rothschild’s Construction Law Practice Group, and David Hecker, group general counsel overseeing all claims, litigation, and investigations for Kiewit Corporation, share their wealth of knowledge on design-build risk. Find out when and why contractors do not always bear the risk of design errors or omissions on a design-build project.  This episode explains design-builders’ liability standard and discusses certain types of overreach by owners that merit pushback from design-builders.

 

When you’ve got 165 employees, including 100 skilled craftsmen out in the field, handling human resources through paper processes is an inexact science. Between vacation requests, benefit enrollment forms, performance reviews, paystubs, training materials and more, the task of data entry never ends, and it’s easy for paperwork to get lost, creating more work for HR professionals and frustrating employees.

Despite the recent volatile market conditions, the construction industry remains competitive, and firms are consistently looking for that “it” factor to win more work. One of the most common analogies used in business development (BD) and the project pursuit process is the “three-legged stool”, denoting cost, time and quality. The analogy is intended to demonstrate that all three factors are weighted equally, but in this post-pandemic era when budgets and schedules fluctuate due to external factors such as a looming recession or continued supply chain issues, quality becomes the only factor that construction firms can actually control. Although quality can be a nebulous term, difficult to quantify, and certainly takes more time to establish, in the long-run, delivering quality service to clients stands to be the greatest contributor to a construction firm’s profitability.

William Dennis Nottingham, PE, a co-founder of PND Engineers, Inc. (PND), an AGC of Alaska member, died March 6, 2022. He was 84 years old. He was buried at Carter Cemetery in Carter, Montana, where he’d often donate his time and resources during retirement to maintain the cemetery’s upkeep. Born in 1937 in Fort Benton, Montana, Nottingham is one of the most influential engineers in Alaska history. He leaves behind a legacy that extends well beyond the 49th state. Enshrined in the Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame in 2015 by the Alaska Statewide Committee for Research as “The Bridge Builder,” Nottingham won the prestigious NOVA Award from the Construction Innovation Forum, Inc. in 1998 for PND’s OPEN CELL SHEET PILETM (OCSP) bulkhead technology. One of the most distinguished awards in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, the NOVA Award annually recognizes innovations proven to provide significant advances with positive, important, and revolutionary effects on construction to improve quality and reduce cost.

 

Earlier this year, AGC of America held its prestigious WTW Construction Safety Excellence Awards (CSEA) at its annual convention in Grapevine, Texas. In addition to being awarded first place in the Construction Management Division for firms with more than 700,000 work hours, Choate Construction, an Atlanta-based commercial general contracting firm, took home the Grand Prize and was named the nation’s safest construction firm.

 On Tuesday, April 26, the Associated General Contractors of Vermont (AGC/VT) hosted Vermont’s biggest hiring event at the Champlain Valley Expo, in Essex Jct. Within one week, Vermont employers extended more than 120 job offers, with more expected in the coming weeks.

The construction industry has been suffering a workforce shortage since 2008. But the Massachusetts chapter of AGC of America may have identified a solution. In August, the association will host its second annual weeklong summer externship program for guidance counselors and educators to show them the wide array of opportunity within the modern construction sector and to help them advocate for construction as a desirable career choice for their students. This year's program has already attracted nearly 80 applicants from across the region. 

 

The externship program is part of AGC MA's plan to correct misconceptions about construction, which is seen by some as an unsafe and low-paying sector. In reality, the industry has well-established and effective safety protocols and offers a wide range of well-paying jobs that require expertise in everything from virtual technologies and engineering to sustainability and energy efficiency efforts, marketing, management, and more.

Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) connects the military community — service members, military spouses, and veterans — with American businesses to create economic opportunity and a strong and diversified workforce. For details on any event, please visit the Hiring Our Heroes Calendar.