Risk Management WebEd and Podcast Recordings

The construction industry technology landscape is changing rapidly and it can be difficult to keep up. Join us as we discuss the technology that matters and can help you win more work both during the project pursuit phase and the operations phase. This webinar will address these points and enable you to:

• Identify technology that can help improve your preconstruction process
• Determine what questions to ask during project discovery that can help identify the right technology for the project
• Partner with project stakeholders to fund the cost of technology on projects

In fall 2020, the Department of Defense (DOD) will being mandating Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) for any company that does business with DOD, as part of the “go/no go” in all DOD solicitations. DOD intends for CMMC to become the “unified cybersecurity standard” for all its contractors. This differs from previous cybersecurity mandates because CMMC will require defense contractors, including subcontractors, to obtain a third-party certification to be eligible for contract award. During this webinar the speakers will: review the basic components and understanding of the new cybersecurity rule; discuss the potential impact to current and future federal contractors; review the steps federal contractors need to take to become compliant.

NOTE: See related webinar below - New FAR And DFARS Cybersecurity Requirements For Federal Contractors - What You Need to Know.

This WebEd covers best practices for risk management in the construction industry, including discussions regarding how to bid on, contract for and manage projects; select, contract with and oversee subcontractors and suppliers; administer warranties and manage internal office procedures so as to best minimize risk to you and your business. Topics include business entity formation; what provisions to include and exclude in contracts and subcontracts; how risk is shifted from general contractors to subcontractors and suppliers; insurance and bonding; payment provisions, draw schedules and liens; warranty administration and customer service; as well as dispute resolution and remedies.

Each phase of a construction project poses its unique set of challenges and exposures. Discovering contamination on the construction site, creating a pollution release on the job, or mismanagement of waste being disposed of offsite are all scenarios that can derail a project. Understanding potential pollution pitfalls upfront can impact the success of a project in terms of staying on budget and meeting timelines. This session is designed to help environmental managers and risk managers recognize the various pollution exposure they may face throughout the construction life cycle, provoke questions they should be asking of the owner/developer, and suggest mechanisms with which they can manage pollution risk either via insurance, their contracts or best practices. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: Describe potential pollution exposures associated with a jobsite; Know what questions they should be asking an owner/developer during the bid process; Understand coverage provided by a Contractor’s Pollution Liability policy; Understand the general value and shortcomings of indemnification, additional insured, and limitation of liability provisions in a contract.

Construction contracts: with so much at stake, could you be overlooking crucial details that must be read between the lines? Important duties are implied in construction contracts without being expressed in the words of the contracts. These implied duties arise from federal, state and local statutory laws; regulations imposed by federal, state and local agencies; and the common law jurisprudence of the various states. Failure to recognize these duties or to correctly interpret their significance when they are recognized exposes a contractor to uncovered risk. This webinar will identify the most common implied contractual duties, set out the contractual obligations that they create and compare and contrast key expressions within ConsensusDocs 200 and AIA A201 General Conditions.

Construction contractors need to know where and how to find insurance coverage for the commercial use of drones, whether they are flying such drones themselves or outsourcing that task. Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies are unlikely to provide the required coverage and stand-alone aviation policies are really intended for manned aircraft. This WebEd will address the various endorsements that can extend a contractor’s CGL policy to provide coverage for at least any bodily or personal injuries, or property damages, arising out of drone operations. It will also address the insurance industry’s larger reaction to the commercial use of drones. Changing gears, this program will then identify the key terms and conditions that a contractor needs to include in any contract for drone services. The bottom line is that such a contract may or may not provide meaningful protection from liability for drone operations, depending on its terms and conditions!

Federal agencies now mandate minimum cybersecurity requirements for companies that do business with the federal government. Federal agencies now require federal contractors to implement new security control requirements and ensure sensitive federal information remains confidential when stored in any nonfederal electronic system. It began in 2016 with FAR 52.204-21 (Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems). It continues with DFARS 252.204-7012 (Safeguarding Covered Defense Information & Cyber Incident Reporting), which is mandatory for all Department of Defense contracts as of Dec. 31, 2017. This WebEd will give an overview of the new cybersecurity requirements for contractors who contract with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies, highlight the FAR and DFARS provisions that give this new rule teeth, and explore the potential impacts of compliance failure for federal contractors.

UPDATE: See AGC article published 6/20/19, “First False Claims Act Case Under New Cybersecurity Requirements; Fear of More Lawsuits Against Federal Contractors to Come.”

UPDATE: See AGC article published 2/6/2020, “Final Version of Mandatory Cybersecurity Requirements for Defense Contractors Released” and related webinar above Cybersecurity – New Mandatory Requirements for Defense Contractors.

Success and survival requires general contractors to walk a fine line between their risk and liability to the owner and their subcontractors and suppliers. When subcontractor claims and disputes arise, a general contractor’s dual obligations create liability exposure. This webinar will reveal critical subcontract language and specific approaches for project documentation that avoid an unwinnable war on pass-through claims. Attendees will learn key strategies to avoid battling the owner and the subcontractor on the same issue at the same time, including the specific challenges of pass-thru claims on federal, state and local government contracts.

• Understand critical subcontract language necessary to mitigate the risk of a two-front war
• Learn approaches to manage and succeed with pass-through claims on federal, state and local government contracts
• Gain strategies to handle and balance risk and liability with owners, subcontractors and suppliers

Any business relying on IT infrastructure in the delivery of their operations faces a serious, real, and unavoidable cyber risk. Construction companies are no different from other businesses as the industry continues to adopt ‘smart’ systems and increasingly leverage technology in all facets of construction.

Cyber-attacks and failure of IT systems are among the biggest concerns of construction executives globally as revealed in the Willis Towers Watson Construction Risk Index. The risks to construction companies are as complex as they are varied. From network outages to the Internet of Things (IoT), the cyber risk landscape is ever changing. This webinar will define and discuss the cyber risks facing construction companies today. Additionally, a practical approach will also be presented on how to understand the various cyber risks facing your construction company and determine the appropriate solutions to manage those risks.

Join AGC and Athenium Analytics to discuss why weather risk management should be an important part of your construction planning process. Mike Bennett, VP of Sales and Product Strategies at Athenium Analytics (and former meteorologist), will discuss the impact of weather on construction projects and demo the new GaugeConstruction tool designed to help you plan with confidence. GaugeConstruction was developed in conjunction with several industry partners and provides the first online tool dedicated to construction-based weather management, forecasting and analytics. Learn how GaugeConstruction can help you predict lost weather days, create hyper-local weather reports and protect your bottom line from unexpected weather delays.

This session will focus on the bonds that many general contractors continue to consider the best way to guarantee their subcontractors’ performance. In recent years, as construction projects have increased in size and owners have tightened schedules, shifted risk and increased their liquidated damages for any unexcused delays, some have questioned whether subcontractor bonds can continue to meet contractors’ business needs. This session will explore the bond forms and business practices that both promise and suggest that the answer is “yes.” As the speakers will explain, bond forms can authorize a significant measure of self-help without depriving sureties of their opportunity to investigate.

The construction industry faces immense challenges—present and future—when it comes to developing, recruiting and retaining a fully-trained and skilled workforce. Construction contractors across the nation face worker shortages and an insufficient workforce development pipeline. How are contractors dealing with shortages? Where are they finding workers for today? How are they developing workers for tomorrow? How may technology disrupt the construction workforce? What’s government doing to help address (or worsen) these problems?  During this WebEd, you will hear answers to these questions and our panel of speakers will:

• Review the results of the 2018 AGC Construction Workforce Survey supported by AutoDesk, detailing national, regional and state workforce data;
• Highlight workforce development specific initiatives and best practices construction contractors are currently undertaking to meet their labor needs;
• Discuss several new technologies that may change aspects of construction delivery for some markets; and
• Evaluate recently enacted and pending federal legislation and regulations concerning career and technical education, immigration reform, and apprenticeships.

We live in a visual world, and with the demand to photo-document projects along with the overwhelming amount of photos and tech you might accumulate per project, how do you move beyond image capture of projects to actionable progress and productivity? In this webinar, our panel of speakers will share how you can drive action from the inside out on your project. By combining internal imaging and documentation of a project, along with external video and image capture, you can create seamless project views to inform decisions and drive action for your project teams, trades on the jobs, and timelines.

We’ll cover processes, best practices, and how to put these into action - along with covering some of the coolest tech that's available and easy to adopt.