| September 22, 2015
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In This Issue |
Events
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Education/
Training
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Safety
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New Members
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Membership Benefits
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AGC News
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Member News
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Here's Looking At You
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News You Can Use
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 Quick Links |
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Events |
September 29, 2015 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. CST
Planning for Tomorrow by Being Best in Class AND Innovative -
As construction firms build their projects, how much time is given to building a successful organization? With a concrete vision, firms tend to languish in the details of getting traction with their plan. In some cases, the strategy is overly laden with "hygienic factors" that focus on shoring up glaring weaknesses or broken processes, which tend to take on the appearance of the mundane and remedial.
October 7-9, 2015
St. Louis, MO
Hyatt Regency at The Arch
Register By September 8 and save $100. AGC's Construction HR and Training Professionals Conference provides two days of education and networking for HR, training and workforce development professionals in the construction industry.
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Thursday, October 15, 2015
TopGolf Houston West
Benefiting the AGC Houston Advocacy Fund. Tournament Space Is Limited. Register Here Today!
TEAM REGISTRATION - $800 - Includes four players for an hour and a half of TopGolf
SPECTATOR FEE - $100 - Includes food and beverages + entry to the tournament reception
Thank you to our generous event sponsors:
Thanks to our generous print sponsor:
Thanks to our generous scorecard sponsor:
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Get More From Your Membership! Attend the Member Orientation and Learn About the Many Benefits AGC Offers.
Whether you are a new or existing member, please join us for this free information-packed luncheon! You’ll hear from AGC Houston staff, active members and company representatives about the many benefits of AGC Houston. Lunch will be provided, and every member is welcome. Find out how you can maximize your membership and save money!
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Education/Training |
Understand how basic contracts are structured, how different types of contracts are used, and how project documentation relates to effective contracting.
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Learn how to comply with contractual obligations concerning insurance and to assure compliance of other involved parties.
Early bird pricing ends Tuesday, September 29, 2015.
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CM-BIM candidates must successfully complete the four AGC BIM Education Program courses, provide AGC with record to completion and have approved application in advance of exam.
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CM-Lean candidates must successfully complete the seven Lean Construction Education Program courses, provide AGC with record of completion and have an approved application in advance of exam administration.
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This six-session class will focus the fundamentals of construction plans and document reading. Classes are held every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for two consecutive weeks. Early bird pricing ends Wednesday, September 30, 2015.
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This course is designed to provide general guidelines aiding the construction industry in complying with various State of Texas tax laws. Early bird pricing ends Tuesday, October 6, 2015.
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Gain an awareness of how pre-project planning affects the potential success of a project and understand the different areas of planning for the construction phase of a project. Learn how Building Information Modeling (BIM), LEED®, environmental issues and lean construction are impacting the construction industry.
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Participants will learn notice deadlines and requirements for filing lien and bond claims; How to obtain forms to use for claims; How to obtain project information among many topics covered. Early bird pricing ends Tuesday, October 13, 2015.
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Safety |
This course covers the safety and health hazards associated with permit-required confined space entry recognizing of confined space hazards, identifying permit and non-permit required confined spaces, and much more.
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Course topics include recognition, evaluation and control of chemical, physical, biological and ergonomic hazards, Permissible exposure limits (PEL), OSHA health standards, respiratory protection, engineering controls, OSHA sampling protocols and strategies, and workplace health program elements.
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This course is designed for project management site supervision and field employees involved in the construction industry. Many owners are now requiring that onsite supervision obtain the 30-hour construction outreach training program as an orientation to occupational safety and health covered by OSHA 29 CFR 1926. Early bird registration ends Friday, October 2, 2015.
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This trainer course is designed for individuals interested in teaching the OSHA 10- or 30-hour General Industry Safety and Health Outreach Training Program to their employees and other interested groups.
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The AGC Bookstore has a variety of safety products ranging from basic safety brochures to OSHA regulation books for onsite construction safety. AGC also has several DVDs designed to help keep constructions workers knowledgeable about their surroundings and how to prevent accidents from happening on the jobsite. Help your construction workers' development well-rounded knowledge of what it takes to be safe at work with these safety products.
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New Members |
Higginbotham Insurance Agency
Dudley Ray
11700 Katy Frwy, Ste 1100
Houston, TX 77079
(713) 952-9990
dray@higginbotham.net
Royal Vicking Fence
Arthur Tafolla
214 York
Houston, TX 77003
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These companies have renewed their membership. Please consider contacting them for your business needs.
DistribAire, Inc.
Mark E. Sacra
P.O. Box 630409
Houston, TX 77263-0409
(713) 266-1761
msacra@distribaire.com
Environmental Remediation Services
Jerry Fields
6741 Satsuma Dr., Suite A
Houston, TX 77041
(281) 822-0000
jerry.fields@ersi-usa.com
Peak Roofing, Inc.
Kelly Paige
3451 Antoine Dr.
Houston, TX 77092
(713) 864-7325
kpaige@peakroofing.com
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Membership Benefits |
The new edition of the 2015 Fall Cornerstone has just been mailed, but you can read the digital version today!
Find out how the commercial construction industry fared during the 84th Texas Legislative Session in a recap from the AGC Texas Building Branch.
Read Linbeck Group, LLC's Veronica Delgado's article, which persuades team leaders to manage and understand employees better.
Plus, Chairman Bill Scott, III wants every member to get engaged to make the most of membership!
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An effective safety program can help keep your employees on the job, reduce your premium and earn your company dividends. CompGroup AGC was created in 1993 by various Texas members of the Associated General Contractors of America to provide a better option for workers’ compensation coverage.
Contact your insurance agent and tell them you want a CompGroup AGC quote or contact program administrator Roberts & Crow at 800-406-9614 — ask for Julie Schatz.
AGC members receive valuable discounts of up to 29% on select FedEx Express® and FedEx Ground® shipping services, up to 70% on FedEx Freight® shipping services.
There are no costs and no minimum shipping, copy or print requirements to take advantage of this great member benefit.
What are you waiting for to sign up?
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Created by a coalition of Texas construction associations, the Texas Construction Careers website lists all of the places where craft training is provided in Texas including helpful information to students, teachers and military veterans. Moreover, it maintains an excellent job bank and posts résumés.
To celebrate its first year, AGC employers can save $50 on a 30-day online job posting with this special promo code: 20MEMBER. It also applies as a 20% discount on other job posting packages. Are you among the 93 percent of Texas firms hiring? Let Texas Construction Careers help you.
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AGC News |
An overwhelming majority of construction firms report trouble finding qualified craft workers to fill key spots as demand for construction continues to rebound in many parts of the country, according to the results of an industry-wide survey of 1,358 construction firms released by AGC of America.
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On Friday September 4, AGC of America unveiled a news release suggesting that while construction unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since 2001, a serious shortage of workers is impacting the growth of the construction industry.
"The number of unemployed workers with construction experience dropped to the lowest total for August since 2001, as hiring slowed despite robust demand for construction, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned that the hiring slowdown likely has more to do with the lack of available workers in many parts of the country than it does low demand.
"The recent slowdown in construction hiring appears to reflect
difficulty in finding qualified employees rather than lack of projects needing
workers," said AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson. "The pool of
qualified construction workers will need to expand if firms are going to be
able to keep pace with rising construction demand."
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that clarifies an employer’s continuing obligation to make and maintain an accurate record of each recordable injury and illness throughout the five-year period during which the employer is required to keep the records.
"Accurate records are not simply paperwork, but have an important, in fact life-saving purpose," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "They will enable employers, employees, researchers and the government to identify and eliminate the most serious workplace hazards—ones that have already caused injuries and illnesses to occur."
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Member News |
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Here's Looking At You |
AGC Houston Construction Leadership Council members Preston Hodges, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.; Neil Byrne, Byrne Metals Corp.; Ashley Holland, Gilbane Building Co.; James Newman, Marek Brothers Systems, Inc.; and Steven Turner, Brookstone, LP headed to Pittsburgh, PA for the CLC Leadership Development Conference September 17-19.
The yearly event brings together emerging construction leaders from across the country in various construction sectors to network, learn and share.
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AGC Houston congratulates the latest class of OSHA 10-Hour participants, who completed the two-day class on Friday, September 18, 2015. Led by Director of Safety Services Kim Mason, the course is designed to provide an entry-level construction worker with general awareness on recognizing and preventing hazards on a construction site.
For more about our ongoing safety courses and to read about our safety and risk management program, click on the link below.
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News You Can Use |
AGC Houston member companies have been invited to take part in an employer compliance assistance workshop sponsored by the Department of Labor. The workshop will provide an overview of the Fair Labor Standards Act and include topics such as employer coverage, minimum wage, overtime pay, overview of "white collar" exemptions, youth employment and record-keeping requirements.
This workshop will be held at the Houston District Office located at 8701 S Gessner Dr., Ste. 1164, Houston, TX 77074 on:
Tuesday, Sept. 22 from 9 a.m. to noon
Thursday, Sept. 24 from 9 a.m. to noon
Business owners, human resources and/or payroll staff and supervisors are welcome to attend. Attendance is free but reservations are required due to limited seating. Attendance is limited to two representatives per organization. For more information and/or to RSVP please call (713) 773-5359.
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The Sam Houston State University, Department of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Technology, Engineering Technology Program will have a career fair Thursday September 24, 2015. This career fair is intended to introduce the students to potential occupational offerings and to introduce prospective employers to students of this program.
The Engineering Technology Program offers degrees in the fields of construction management, design and development, electronics, and safety management.
AGC Houston members interested in participating should contact Keith Coogler at (936) 294-1203 or via email at kcoogler@shsu.edu.
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The $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal is scheduled to be complete April 1, allowing ships carrying nearly three times the load to pass. It is the first expansion of the canal in more than 100 years. New locks, which raise and lower vessels from the canal, were finished June 10. Capital improvement projects at the Port of Houston have included spending $50 million on four new cranes that arrived in May.
The Port of Houston is expected to see a 15 percent increase in incoming cargo by 2020 and a 150 percent increase by 2030, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
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The Fort Bend County Commissioners Court has voted unanimously in favor of placing a $98.6 million facilities bond initiative on the November ballot. If approved by voters, the bond initiative will fund renovations and expansion of Fort Bend County buildings and facilities to keep up with the rapid populations growth and rising property values in the county. The largest project in the bond is a $29.2 million, 105,600 square-foot expansion of the Justice Center in Richmond.
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Many businesses around the globe are underinsured and unprepared for a number of emerging risks, states Willis Group CEO Dominic Casserley. "There's a long way to go not only in building up more resilient companies, which have more insurance," he says, "but, actually, in the middle of that, conducting advisory and brokerage activities to help them navigate a complex world."
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The increase in burdensome endorsements that limit coverage for construction defects is causing commercial general liability coverage for defects found under the statutory period to come up short. Contractors pulled into litigation years after jobs are completed also face the problem that most CGL policies use the same pool of money to insure all of a contractor's projects.
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The green building movement is growing. In Texas alone, almost 1.26 million jobs in the green building sector are projected between 2015 and 2018, according to the study.
Construction jobs for green building—projected to account for 2.3 million jobs this year—are outpacing overall construction growth in the U.S., according to a recent U.S. Green Building Council study.
The green jobs represent more than one-third construction sector jobs overall.The 2015 Green Building Economic Impact Study, prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton, finds the green building industry contributes more than $134.3 billion in labor income to Americans. Green construction will account for more than 3.3 million jobs by 2018 and generate $190.3 billion in labor earnings.
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