The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), recently announced an extension of the Form I-9 flexibilities first announced in March 2020 and updated in March 2021. On February 18, 2022, President Biden issued a notice on the continuation of the state of the National Emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic (“COVID-19”). Due to the continued safety precautions related to COVID-19, DHS will extend the updated flexibilities until October 31, 2022.
AGC of America’s Union Contractors Committee will hold its next quarterly virtual meeting on June 21, 2022, at 3:00 p.m. EASTERN Daylight Time. All interested AGC members and chapter staff are invited. The meeting is not open to nonmembers. The agenda will include updates from AGC staff and an open discussion of labor relations matters.
Join us Wednesday, May 25 at 1:30 PM EDT
The AGC annual convention included a session entitled “Who’s on the Hook for Design Defects in Design-Build Projects.” Fox Rothschild’s Dirk Haire, Les Synder of Infrastructure Construction Brightline West, and David Hecker of Kiewit presented. Attendees crowded into a standing-only room because more and more builders are facing design liability, especially design-builders on large infrastructure projects. The presentation highlighted how some owners abuse the submittal process on design-build jobs to make changes without compensating the builder with more time, money, or both. One project took a sample of owner comments and extrapolated that just one project generated over 15,000 submittals and generated over 110,000 comments of “concern” or “preference.”
Michigan State University (MSU) is a forward-thinking public owner that uses ConsensusDocs standard construction contracts as the basis for its projects. At the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) annual conference held in Grapevine, Texas, MSU's STEM Teaching and Learning Facility was considered “the most significant construction project of 2021” by AGC. Granger Construction Company was the Construction Manager and a signatory party on the ConsensusDocs 500 contract. Granger received the association's top prize, Construction Risk Partners Build America Grand Award, and the award for the best construction management renovation project under $99 million.
Prices of materials and services used in new nonresidential construction leaped nearly 21 percent in April from year-ago levels, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. The association urged the Biden administration to provide relief to hard-hit employers by ending tariffs on key construction materials and reconsidering its recently proposed Buy America regulations that will make it harder for firms to find and pay for key construction materials.