Author: admin

Preconstruction manager and construction superintendent are among the top ten best jobs of 2018, according to employment search engine Indeed. Based on salary—jobs with a baseline salary of at least $75,000—and abundance of opportunity based on growth in job postings on Indeed.com, careers in construction are on the rise.

“Last year tech roles dominated the best jobs results, but the 2018 rankings contain a wider variety of industries, with a particularly strong showing for construction and healthcare-related roles,” according to a blog post on Indeed.com.

Among the top construction-related jobs were: 

• Preconstruction manager (#5)
• Construction superintendent (#6)
• Construction estimator (#12)
• Plumbing engineer (#14)
• Project superintendent (#15)
• Construction manager (#19)
• Project architect (#20)

View the full list of “The Best Jobs in the United States: 2018.”

Powered by WPeMatico

On March 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it will begin enforcement of the final rule on occupational exposure to beryllium in general, shipyard and construction industries on May 11, 2018. According to an OSHA news release, the enforcement date was previously set for March 12, 2018, but this new timeframe aims to ensure stakeholders are aware of their obligations and compliance to the final rule.

Specifically, the OSHA memorandum for regional administrators states:

OSHA has been in extensive settlement discussions with several parties who have filed legal actions challenging the general industry standard. In order to provide additional time to conclude those negotiations, we have decided to delay enforcement of the general industry standard by 60 days until May 11, 2018. Furthermore, to ensure employers have adequate notice before OSHA begins enforcing them, as well as in the interest of uniform enforcement and clarity for employers, we have decided to also delay enforcement of the PEL and STEL in the construction and shipyard standards until May 11, 2018. No other parts of the construction and shipyard beryllium standards will be enforced without additional notice. In the interim, if an employer fails to meet the new PEL or STEL, OSHA will inform the employer of the exposure levels and offer assistance to assure understanding and compliance. No provisions of the beryllium final rule may be enforced until May 11, 2018. 

OSHA issued a final rule on beryllium exposure on Jan. 9, 2017. The construction industry was included in the final rule in an expansion of the proposed rule, which focused on general industry. The final rule points directly to the construction task of abrasive blasting operations that use slags that contain trace amounts of beryllium. More information on the final rule can be found on OSHA’s website.

On June 27, 2017, OSHA issued a proposed rule to revoke the ancillary provisions of the final rule for the construction and shipyard sectors included in the January 2017 final rule, but retain the permissible exposure limit of .2 micrograms per cubic meter of air as an eight-hour weighted average and the short-term exposure limit of 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air, which is fifteen minutes. ABC submitted comments on the proposed rule on Aug. 28, 2017, and commented as a member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition. 

According to the Trump administration’s 2017 Fall Unified Agenda for Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, OSHA plans to publish a final rule to revoke the ancillary provisions for these two sectors in September 2018. 

Powered by WPeMatico

On March 20, 2018, ABC joined leading employer organizations to form the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC). The coalition will work to strengthen and protect employment-based health care coverage and will champion solutions to protect these benefits for hardworking Americans.

“Providing quality health care benefits is a top priority for Associated Builders and Contractors and its member companies,” said ABC Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs Kristen Swearingen. “Common-sense proposals to lower costs and provide employers with more choices in health care coverage are critical components to the health care reform we need, and ABC is proud to work with the Partnership for Employer-sponsored Coverage to advance these goals for hardworking Americans.”

P4ESC has already endorsed the Bipartisan HSA Improvement Act (H.R. 5138) to expand access and increase benefit flexibility for Health Savings Accounts and the Commonsense Reporting Act (H.R. 3919/S.1908), which would streamline the Internal Revenue Service reporting process under the Affordable Care Act. 

P4ESC members include the American Hotel & Lodging Association, American Staffing Association, American Rental Association, Auto Care Association, International Franchise Association, National Association of Health Underwriters, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association, Society of American Florists and Society for Human Resource Management.

Powered by WPeMatico

Continued strength in construction resulted in a 7.3 percent January 2018 not seasonally adjusted (NSA) national construction unemployment rate, down 2.1 percent from January 2017 and the lowest national January rate on record, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released today by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Further, estimated construction unemployment rates were down in all 50 states on a year-over-year basis.

At the same time, the construction industry employed 233,000 more workers than in January 2017.

“Strong construction activity is resulting in healthy construction employment,” said Bernard M. Markstein, Ph.D., president and chief economist of Markstein Advisors, who conducted the analysis for ABC. “The analysis of January construction unemployment marks the first time that every state in the union had a lower rate than a year ago since the beginning of the estimates in 2000.”

Because these industry-specific rates are not seasonally adjusted, national and state-level unemployment rates are best evaluated on a year-over-year basis. The monthly movement of the rates still provides some information, although extra care must be used in drawing conclusions from these movements.

From the beginning of the data series through 2017, the monthly change in the national NSA construction unemployment rate from December to January has always been an increase. The rate for January 2018 was no different, increasing 1.4 percent from December. All the states had increases as well.

The Top Five States

The states with the lowest estimated NSA construction unemployment rates in order from lowest to highest were:

1. Hawaii, 4.6 percent
2. Virginia, 4.8 percent
3. Texas, 4.9 percent
4. Colorado, Georgia, South Carolina and Utah (tie), 5.2 percent

Four of the top states were in the top five in December: Colorado, Hawaii, South Carolina and Virginia.

Hawaii repeated its number-one ranking from December. It was the state’s lowest January rate since the beginning of the estimates in 2000. Note that Hawaii’s unemployment rate is a rate for construction, mining and logging combined. The data to estimate a construction unemployment rate alone are not available for either Hawaii or Delaware.

Virginia had the second lowest January rate. That was an improvement from fourth lowest in December, tied with South Carolina. This was Virginia’s second lowest January estimated rate after the 4.7 percent rate in January 2006.

Texas had the third lowest January construction unemployment rate, an improvement from tied with Georgia for seventh lowest in December, based on revised data (previously reported as tied with Georgia and South Carolina for fifth lowest rate). It was the state’s lowest January rate on record.

Colorado, Georgia, South Carolina and Utah tied for the fourth lowest rate in January. For Colorado, that was down from second lowest in December. Nonetheless, it was the state’s lowest estimated January rate on record.

For Georgia, it was up from tied with Texas for the seventh lowest rate in December based on revised data (previously reported as tied with South Carolina and Texas for the fifth lowest rate). It was also the state’s lowest estimated January rate on record.

South Carolina’s fourth lowest ranking was the same as in December (tied with Virginia) based on revised data (previously reported as tied with Georgia and Texas for the fifth lowest rate). It was also the state’s lowest estimated January rate on record.

For Utah, January’s fourth lowest ranking was an improvement from ninth lowest rate in December. It was the state’s lowest January rate since January 2007’s 2.8 percent rate.

Massachusetts, which had the third lowest rate in December, fell to the 11th lowest rate (tied with California) with a 6.1 percent estimated construction unemployment rate. Nevertheless, it was the state’s lowest January estimated unemployment rate on record.

The Bottom Five States

The states with the highest NSA construction unemployment rates in order from lowest to highest were: 

46. Illinois, 12.7 percent
47. Montana, 13.2 percent
48. Rhode Island, 13.9 percent
49. West Virginia, 14.1 percent
50. Alaska, 18.8 percent

Four of these states—Alaska, Illinois, Montana and Rhode Island—were also among the bottom five states in December.

Alaska had the highest rate in the nation for the sixth month in a row. Given that these estimates are not seasonally adjusted, a high construction unemployment rate for the state at this time of year is not surprising. On the positive side, Alaska was posted the largest drop in the country in its rate from January 2017, down 5.2 percent.

West Virginia had the second highest rate in January, compared to tied with South Dakota for seventh highest in December based on revised data (previously reported as third highest rate). This was the state’s lowest January construction unemployment rate since its 13.7 percent rate in January 2008.

Rhode Island had the third highest estimated NSA construction unemployment rate in January, compared to the second highest in December based on revised data (previously reported as fifth highest rate, tied with New Mexico). This was the state’s lowest January construction unemployment rate since its 11.3 percent rate in January 2007.

Montana had the fourth highest construction unemployment rate in January, compared to fifth highest in December based on revised data (previously reported as fourth highest rate). This was the state’s lowest January rate since the 13.1 percent in January 2008.

Illinois had the fifth highest rate in January, compared to the fourth highest rate in December based on revised data (previously reported as second highest rate). This was the state’s second lowest January rate after 2006’s 12.6 percent rate.

North Dakota, which had the third highest rate in December based on revised data (previously reported as seventh highest rate), had the eighth highest rate in January with a 10.8 percent rate.

Note on Data Revision

On March 12, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its benchmark revision of state employment data covering the period from April 2016 through December 2017 (some data prior to April 2016 were also revised). The models used to estimate state construction unemployment rates were updated incorporating the revised data. The revised data and the updated models used in the January 2018 estimates resulted in some changes to the December 2017 estimated state unemployment rates.

Some of the largest revisions in estimated state construction unemployment rates were in states with small construction workforces. For example, Alaska, although geographically the largest state, has one of the smallest numbers of employed construction workers. It also had the nation’s largest revision in its monthly estimated construction unemployment rate in February 2017, an increase of 4 percentage points over its previous (December 2017) estimate. North Dakota had a significantly higher unemployment rate in January 2017 (up 3.3 percent) and Rhode Island in March 2017 (up 3 percent) with the new estimates compared to the December 2017 estimates. 

The average change among the states (ignoring sign) was 0.3 percent, ranging from 0.9 percent (Alaska) to 0.2 percent (16 states).

View tables including: 

-Estimates of monthly 2016 and 2017 construction unemployment rates for each state using the data and the models prior to the     benchmark revisions (December 2017 estimates); 
-Estimates using the revised data and models following the benchmark revisions (January 2018 estimates); and 
-A comparison of the difference between the new and old estimates (after revisions minus prior to revisions).

To better understand the basis for calculating unemployment rates and what they measure, see the article Background on State Construction Unemployment Rates.

Powered by WPeMatico

ABC named the nation’s top craft professional and craft instructor during ABC Convention 2018 last week in Long Beach, Calif.  Richard Brown of Gaylor Electric Inc. was named 2018 Craft Professional of the Year, and William Fuller of ABC’s Greater Houston Chapter was named 2018 Craft Instructor of the Year.

“Our 2018 honorees demonstrate an uncompromising commitment to safety, professional development, the highest quality of construction and client satisfaction,” said 2018 ABC National Chair George R. Nash Jr., director of preconstruction at Branch & Associates in Herndon, Va. “Richard Brown and William Fuller are tremendous ambassadors for the merit shop construction industry through their dedication to their jobs and their communities, and ABC is thrilled to honor them.”

Each year, ABC presents the Craft Professional of the Year award to a construction craft professional who excels in his or her field while also demonstrating a commitment to safety, training and the merit shop philosophy. Brown was selected from among four finalists. Brown started his electrical career in Jamaica and later moved to the United States and completed a four-year ABC apprenticeship program, excelling as a service technician at Gaylor Electric.  He is a veteran of six mission trips to Jamaica and Panama, where he uses his skills to help build medical clinics. Brown will receive a brand new 2018 Ram Tradesman truck from the award’s exclusive sponsor, Tradesmen International, with support from FCA.

ABC presents the annual Craft Instructor of the Year Award to an instructor who possesses outstanding creativity, a positive attitude and the ability to transfer knowledge through communications skills and innovative teaching to promote lifelong learning to our future workforce. Fuller was selected from among five finalists as the instructor who best embodies merit shop ideals through superior effort and talent in his role as manager of safety and technical training at ABC Greater Houston Chapter’s Construction & Maintenance Education Foundation. He teaches multiple crafts utilizing the NCCER curriculum, including carpentry, scaffolding, rigging, crane, heavy equipment, crew leadership, boilermaking and CSST, bringing enthusiasm and passion to the classroom.  Fuller received a $10,000 cash prize from award sponsors NCCER and the Trimmer Construction Education Fund.

Brown and Fuller were honored at the Careers in Construction Awards on March 22 along with the winners of the National Craft Championships and Construction Management Competition. ABC’s convention also features the Excellence in Construction^® Awards, Contractor of the Year, National Safety Excellence Awards, National Diversity Excellence Awards, keynote speakers and education sessions for ABC members and staff from 70 chapters, technology exhibits, networking opportunities and a national board meeting.

Powered by WPeMatico

Sixteen teams of four undergraduate students from colleges and universities nationwide put their construction project leadership skills to the test during Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) annual Construction Management Competition (CMC) at ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif. Teams were assigned to manage the completion of the same mock project over two days. First, second and third place awards in five categories were presented to the winners at the Careers in Construction Awards ceremony at the convention’s conclusion on March 22.

The team from Florida International University, sponsored by the ABC Florida East Coast Chapter, won first place overall, in addition to top honors in quality control, estimating and project management. The teams’ projects were graded on their excellence in estimating, project management, safety, quality control and overall presentation.

“ABC is impressed by the outstanding work of these future construction industry leaders. The Construction Management Competition is the hallmark competition that promotes careers in construction management,” said 2018 ABC National Chair George R. Nash Jr., director of preconstruction at Branch & Associates in Herndon, Va. “In addition to providing a significant learning opportunity, the competition fosters an environment that brings out the best in each team, encourages dialogue among the students and fosters team spirit as students rise to meet this challenge.”

The project for this year’s CMC, which was sponsored by Autodesk, Construction Executive magazine, RS Means and On Center Software, was focused on the modernization of the Will Rogers Middle School Campus, including upgrades and improvements to buildings on the campus and exterior sites. The project contained abatement, demolition, roofing, finishes, specialties, related MEPF and building systems, earthwork, site utilities, hardscape and exterior improvements. In addition, the campus had to remain open and accessible during construction, so coordination with the end user and the public was part of this project’s scope.

A full list of the 2018 CMC winners is available at abc.org.

Powered by WPeMatico

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its Year in Review 2017-2018, which details the agency’s progress on achieving three objectives laid out by Administrator Scott Pruitt during the first year of the Trump administration:

1. Refocusing the agency back to its core mission 
2. Restoring power to the states through cooperative federalism 
3. Adhering to the rule of law and improving agency processes

In the report, the EPA announced that, throughout the year, officials met with more than 350 stakeholder groups. The agency highlighted the launch of the Smart Sectors program, a partnership program between EPA and regulated sectors focused on achieving better environmental outcomes, of which ABC was a participant. Mike Bellaman was quoted in the Year in Review hailing the program: “The nation’s construction industry welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with regulators to ensure that environmental protection is streamlined and cost effective. That’s the way government can help industry be more productive, create more jobs and grow the economy.”

In addition, the EPA announced that it finalized 22 deregulatory actions, which they estimate will save the American people more than $1 billion in regulatory costs. ABC supported the agency’s efforts during the deregulatory process, submitting public comments on its proposal to rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States” and its proposal to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. 

ABC appreciates the bold and timely action being taken by the EPA and appreciates the administrator’s ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and effectiveness of the EPA. ABC also looks forward to continuing to work with the agency to ensure necessary protection of the environment while supporting jobs and the energy needs of hardworking Americans and the construction industry.

Powered by WPeMatico

Overall construction input prices rose 0.7 percent in February, slightly lower than the rate set in January, according to an ABC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data released. Compared to February 2017, prices are up 5.2 percent. Nonresidential construction materials prices are also up 0.4 percent on a monthly basis and 4.9 percent compared to the same time last year.

Prices for all 11 subcategories increased year over year, and only three saw monthly declines. Crude petroleum saw the largest drop in price, falling 7.3 percent for the month, though it is up 16.6 percent on a year-over-year basis. Prices were also down for prepared asphalt, tar roofing and siding products (-4.9 percent) and nonferrous wire and cable (-2.6 percent). The largest monthly increase was in natural gas, which rose 23.5 percent in February. The rise in natural gas and drop in crude petroleum is a reversal of what was seen in January’s data.

“For the last several months, construction firms have become increasingly concerned about rising construction materials prices,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Today’s data show those concerns are warranted. A confluence of factors will likely continue to push materials prices higher in the months to come. These factors include global monetary policy, which continues to help accelerate growth in much of the world, a strong U.S. construction market and a policymaking environment that has impacted the price of softwood lumber, steel and aluminum.

“Recently enacted tariffs are making headlines, but steel prices were already rising rapidly,” said Basu. “Based on today’s report, iron and steel prices rose 7.1 percent from February 2017 to February 2018. The price of steel mill products was up 4.8 percent, while the price of softwood lumber was up 15.6 percent.

“On top of materials price increases are, of course, expanding human capital shortfalls and rising compensation costs,” said Basu. “These factors have likely moderated near-term confidence among construction firms regarding profit margin growth in the midst of a healthy economy.”

Powered by WPeMatico

On March 7, 2018, ABC was part of a coalition that sent a letter to congressional appropriators asking them to include language in the omnibus spending bill that defunds the enforcement of the “prior authorization” requirement for trade association Political Action Committees (PACs). 

Currently, Federal Election Commission regulations require a corporate member company of ABC to provide ABC PAC with prior authorization before any individual can contribute or be solicited to contribute to the PAC. In the letter, the Prior Approval Reform Coalition argues that the requirement is discriminatory “by making [association] PACs the only political committees that must first obtain exclusive permission from member corporations before soliciting eligible employees for support.”

Earlier this Congress, Representative Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) introduced the Prior Approval Reform Act, H.R. 2101, to repeal the prior approval requirement for corporate member trade association PACs.

Powered by WPeMatico

WASHINGTON, March 9 – February was the best month for construction employment gains since March 2007, according to Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) analysis of today’s employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The sector added 61,000 net new jobs on a monthly basis in February, an increase of 0.9 percent, and 254,000 net new jobs on a yearly basis, an increase of 3.7 percent.

Nonresidential construction added 35,400 net new jobs in February after adding 21,000 net new jobs in January. Although gains were widespread among all five major construction subsectors, nonresidential specialty trade contractors outperformed them all with 19,000 net new jobs.

The construction industry unemployment rate, which is available only on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, increased by half a percentage point in February and stands at 7.8 percent. Despite the month-over-month increase, which is likely attributable to seasonal factors, the industry’s unemployment rate is a full percentage point lower than at the same time one year ago. The national unemployment rate for all industries remained unchanged at 4.1 percent.

“Today’s employment report could scarcely have been better,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “In addition to a massive top-line number, construction employment surged by 61,000 net new jobs. In other words, construction was responsible for approximately one-fifth of net new job creation in February. On top of that, nonresidential construction accounted for the majority of net new construction jobs. Nonresidential construction job creation was broad based—supported by nonresidential builders, heavy and civil engineering, and specialty trade contractors alike.

“This is hardly where the good news ends,” said Basu. “Labor force participation rose and the national unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent for a fifth consecutive month. Worker compensation also expanded, but not in a way that suggests problematic inflation. While the construction industry unemployment rate increased to 7.8 percent, this is the lowest observed rate in February since BLS began tracking the industry’s unemployment rate in 2000.”

“ABC has been indicating that 2018 would represent the best year for the U.S. economy since at least 2005,” said Basu. “The February jobs report strongly implies that prediction likely will prove to be correct. Today’s numbers should fuel additional consumer and business optimism, which should set the stage for strong construction spending and lofty backlog during the months ahead. That said, broader issues regarding inflation remain, including inflation potentially generated through the imposition of trade restrictions by major world economies.” 

Powered by WPeMatico