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The Proposed Standard. On July 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published their proposed standard addressing heat illness in outdoor and indoor settings. The proposal codifies many of the heat safety practices the construction industry already uses to protect workers. Those measures, which broadly fall into the categories of water, rest, shade, and training, were crafted by contractors as part of their general duty obligations to protect workers from hazards associated with high temperatures. However, OSHA has not addressed the disparate impacts of heat in various parts of the country. The impacts on worker safety of a 90°F day in Mississippi are different than a 90°F day in Alaska. The final version of the rule should take into account regional differences in weather patterns.

In May 2024, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.), along with the Republican members of the Committee, created 10 "Republican Tax Teams" to explore different aspects of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Many elements of this legislation, which was the most comprehensive rewrite of the federal tax code in over 30 years, have either already expired, or will expire in 2025. Included in these expiring provisions are a number of provisions that are particularly important to the construction industry, including the ability to fully deduct the cost of new and used equipment in the year it is purchased ("full expensing"), the increased exemption level for the estate tax, and the so-called "qualified business income deduction," also known as the "section 199A deduction."

A Texas federal judge has struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent rule banning post-separation non-compete agreements nationwide. The ban was originally slated to go into effect on September 4th, but employers can now continue to maintain non-competes as their state laws allow.

With the addition of two new federal bid protests, �ԹϺ����� is aware that four �ԹϺ�����-member construction firms have now filed federal bid protests objecting to project solicitations that require a project labor agreement (PLA). All four protests have led the government to voluntarily suspend the contract awards for the procurements while the protests are still pending. As reported recently in this article, the protests utilize a legal theory that �ԹϺ����� helped create with outside counsel at Fox Rothschild. All four protests are pending before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

On August 2, 2024, �ԹϺ����� of America filed an amicus brief in a case concerning the scope of the "building and construction industry" exemption from multiemployer pension fund withdrawal liability under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The case, Walker Specialty Construction, Inc. v. Construction Industry & Laborers Joint Pension Trust for Southern Nevada et al. is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The brief supports Walker Specialty Construction’s (Walker) argument that demolition and abatement work fall within the exemption.

Dispute Review Boards (DRBs) help avoid and resolve disputes. ConsensusDocs is offering an upcoming webinar on Dispute Review Boards (DRBs). All �ԹϺ����� members receive a discount. Learn how DRBs enhance project success and how you can use DRBs to create a “claim-free zone.” You will also learn critical practice pointers on how to set up a DRB to maximize its effectiveness. Register here.

When choosing between the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and ConsensusDocs design-build contract documents, owners and contractors must understand how each will yield vastly different results on critical issues such as managing timely and sufficient design services. Both ConsensusDocs and the AIA publish coordinated families of standard design-build contract documents. This article explores why ConsensusDocs offers more balanced provisions that better protect design-builders and owners, making it a more favorable choice for managing design services effectively.

Here is the background. The Inflation Reduction Act empowered the federal agencies to explore the use of construction materials that have a lower embodied carbon (lower emissions associated with their life cycle). On August 7, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a new carbon labeling program for construction materials. �ԹϺ����� provided feedback earlier this year on the draft.

With the addition of two new federal bid protests, �ԹϺ����� is aware that four �ԹϺ�����-member construction firms have now filed federal bid protests objecting to project solicitations that require a project labor agreement (PLA). All four protests have led the government to voluntarily suspend the contract awards for the procurements while the protests are still pending. As reported recently in this article, the protests utilize a legal theory that �ԹϺ����� helped create with outside counsel at Fox Rothschild. All four protests are pending before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.