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Hourigan of Richmond, Virginia, a member of ABC’s Virginia Chapter, has been awarded Accredited Quality Contractor status by ABC.

The AQC program recognizes and honors construction firms that document their commitment to excellence in five key areas of corporate responsibility: quality, safety, craft and management education, talent management and diversity and community relations.  A company that meets the criteria set forth in the program and has earned STEP Gold, Platinum or Diamond status in ABC’s safety management system is formally designated an Accredited Quality Contractor.    

Companies that achieve the AQC credential receive:

• Wide recognition within the industry and business community and with the public
• Authorization to use AQC language in bid documents
• Permission to use the AQC logo on letterhead, business cards and jobsite signs
• Access to AQC marketing materials such as hard hat stickers, membership plaques, etc.
• Recognition in FindContractors.com, ABC’s search tool to identify fellow ABC members by company name, chapter, CSI and NAICS codes and other designations
• Points on ABC National Excellence in Construction® award submissions
• Mention in the December issue of ABC’s magazine, Construction Executive
• Eligibility for ABC’s Top Performers lists

For more information, visit abc.org/aqc or contact aqc@abc.org. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 30, 2020.

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On Oct. 13, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards issued a proposed rule to provide additional information to labor organization members and the public about the financial activities of labor organizations under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.

According to a DOL news release, the proposal, officially titled Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports: LM Form Revisions, would revise Form LM-2, which labor organizations use to report their financial conditions and operations. Additionally, the proposal would introduce a new enhanced LM-2 Long Form for labor organizations with annual receipts of $8,000,000 or more.

Additional information on Form LM-2 and the LMRDA can be found on the DOL website.

The public can submit written comments on this proposed rule on or before Dec. 14, 2020. The ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace plans to submit comments on the DOL proposal.

ABC will continue to provide updates on this rulemaking in Newsline.

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ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu reports on the construction backlog, which fell to 7.5 months in September, and on the Construction Confidence Index. 

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On Sept. 28,  the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued a press release stating it launched a hotline and email address to receive and investigate complaints under existing Executive Order 11246 as well as Executive Order 13950, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping, issued on Sept. 22 by President Trump.

The order states, “It shall be the policy of the United States not to promote race or sex stereotyping or scapegoating in the federal workforce or in the uniformed services, and not to allow grant funds to be used for these purposes. In addition, federal contractors will not be permitted to inculcate such views in their employees.”

The order enables employees to file complaints alleging that a federal contractor is “utilizing training programs in violation of the contractor’s obligations under those orders.” Learn more in the DOL press release.  

In addition, on Oct. 7, the OFCCP issued FAQs related to Executive Order 13950. ABC general counsel Littler Mendelson P.C. wrote an analysis of the OFCCP FAQs, stating, “The new FAQs offer limited additional guidance to federal contractors. As a practical matter, federal contractors that provide diversity and inclusion training to their employees—either internally or by use of outside vendors—should consider reviewing their materials and training to ensure that they do not inadvertently violate the order.  For many, their training may already be compliant.” To learn more, read the Littler analysis.

The new OFCCP Complaint Hotline to Combat Race and Sex Stereotyping can be reached at (202) 343-2008 or via email at OFCCPComplaintHotline@dol.gov.

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ABC has announced the winners of the 2019 Association Excellence Awards, which annually recognizes chapter achievements in membership growth and retention, STEP participation and more. The CEO Award, which recognizes top performance in progress towards strategic goals and balanced scorecard metrics, went to the ABC Pelican Chapter.

The ABC Western Washington Chapter won the STEP Chairman’s Award for the highest percentage of contractor members achieving STEP Diamond or Platinum status, and the Greater Houston Chapter won the AQC Award for the most AQC members.

ABC chapters have continued to excel in increasing contractor membership. They maintained a overall retention rate of 87%, and four out of eight regions experienced major growth. Three dozen of ABC’s 69 chapters honored for growing membership.

See the complete list of winning chapters, including: 

• Outstanding Membership Retention Awards – presented to chapters that achieved 90% or higher retention in 2019
• Membership Growth Awards – chapters that ended 2019 with more members than they had in 2018
• Membership Goal Awards – chapters that hit their 2019 goal for number of members
• Charles A. Mullan Awards – Named in honor of ABC founder Charles Mullan, the Mullan Award celebrates one chapter in each of 10 divisions with highest national dues revenue growth over previous year.

Chapters must also achieve net membership growth in order to win in their division.

• STEP Awards recognize the chapters with the highest member STEP participation in each region.

In lieu of an in-person awards program, which would have been presented at ABC Convention 2020, all chapter winners were mailed plaques and were recognized in this congratulatory video from 2019 Chair Tony Rader.

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On Thursday, Oct. 8, ABC will continue its Election Briefing Series with an exclusive Mountain West and Pacific region update. It will be followed by a national update from and the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Thursday, Oct. 22.

Registration is now open for all of these upcoming events, so make sure to register today.

These updates are a part of the ABC Election Update Series, which is powered by the Free Enterprise Alliance. It is reserved for ABC members and registration is free of charge thanks to our generous sponsors.

Please contact Melanie Pfeiffenberger, ABC National director of political affairs, for more information at pfeiffenberger@abc.org.

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued new frequently asked questions and answers regarding the need to report employees’ in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities resulting from work-related cases of the coronavirus. The FAQs help employers apply the agency’s existing injury and illness recording and reporting requirements to COVID-19.

FAQs on Reporting:

1. How do I report the fatality or in-patient hospitalization of an employee with a confirmed, work-related case of COVID-19?
2. An employee has been hospitalized with a work-related, confirmed case of COVID-19.  Do I need to report this in-patient hospitalization to OSHA?
3. An employee has died of a work-related, confirmed case of COVID-19. Do I need to report this fatality to OSHA?

For information on recording cases of COVID-19, see OSHA’s revised enforcement guidance. ABC’s general counsel, Littler Mendelson P.C., also published an analysis on new FAQ’s on the Littler website. 

Visit OSHA’s coronavirus webpage for updates.

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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued new frequently asked questions and answers regarding the need to report employees’ in-patient hospitalizations and fatalities resulting from work-related cases of the coronavirus. The FAQs help employers apply the agency’s existing injury and illness recording and reporting requirements to COVID-19.

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ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu reports on construction employment, which added 26,000 jobs on net in September, according to an ABC analysis of data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

To learn more visit abc.org/economics.

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Effective Sept. 30, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will begin enforcement of the ancillary requirements of its standards for occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds in the construction and shipyard sectors.

According to an OSHA memorandum, the agency will assist employers that are making good faith efforts to meet the ancillary requirements of the revised final Beryllium construction and shipyard standards during the first 45 days of enforcement. Additionally, proposed citations related to inspections conducted within the 45-day timeframe will require National Office review prior to issuance. However, this good faith policy does not apply to compliance with the eight-hour permissible exposure limit and short-term (15-minute) exposure limit in the 2017 final rule issued at the end of the Obama administration.

More information on the beryllium standards for the construction and shipyard sectors can be found on the OSHA website.

As part of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, ABC has been heavily involved in OSHA’s rulemaking efforts over the last several years in an attempt to limit the application of the original rule within the construction industry. In addition to submitting comment letters throughout various rulemakings, ABC, along with the National Association of Home Builders and the Mason Contractors Association of America, filed a settlement with OSHA on Aug. 25 to effectively narrow the scope of the 2017 beryllium final rule.

Read more about ABC’s actions in the beryllium regulatory pr

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