Contractor Community – July 2022
Welcome E-Sub
Welcome E-Sub as a returning Sponsor! Gain peace of mind on your projects with field-communication and document-management solutions built specifically for trade contractors. Their development and customer success teams have partnered with clients from every trade to protect and grow their businesses by providing them with a platform to capture, deliver and analyze jobsite documents, time, purchase orders, submittals, and correspondence, from any device or location.
Executives and project managers have the ability to access real-time information, approve requests and change orders, update project forecasts, and securely store data all in a single place. With eSUB, subcontractors can more quickly and confidently react to spiraling costs, productivity issues, legal actions, and long-term reputational risks. All at a fraction of their typical insurance costs or project losses.
Member Benefits
While this educational journal is free to all, there is SO MUCH MORE to being an ASA member. ASA appreciates every single member company (and the people behind it) that stands with us every year as ASA members. Together we are able to amplify the voice of our industry to support what matters to us all. ASA is dedicated to helping all of its members network locally and grow globally to help everyone succeed together!
In the ASA InfoHub, members have access to MEMBERS ONLY resources that help you negotiate contracts, navigate regulatory hurdles, and find the current government issues and statuses. In addition to the InfoHub, ASA members have access to the ASAdvantage program, where members receive discounts and benefits from companies such as UPS, Skechers, National Purchasing Partners, SESCO Management Consultants….If I list them all, you’ll fall asleep!
Renew now, while you’re thinking of it. Thank you for renewing your membership – and welcome new members at ANY TIME! We look forward to thriving together!
New Price Escalation Member Resource in InfoHub!
ASA has released a new contract language resource document addressing the much requested issue of price escalation. Lee Brumitt, of Dysart Taylor Cotter McMonigle & Brumitt, PC, produced and supplied the resource for the Association. It is now an accepted reality of construction that certain products and materials specified for a project may be permanently or temporarily unavailable due to shortages of workers or component materials at the manufacturer or in the shipping and distribution channels. A subcontractor has little to no control over the specification and availability of materials, and the limited supply of materials and other pressures have caused unabated inflation in the cost. The purpose of the Addendum is to establish a base price for materials and provide a mechanism for the Subcontractor to obtain reimbursement for increases in the price of materials.
Please make sure to check it out today and put this valuable tool in your contract arsenal!
OSHA Initiative on Trenching and Excavation Safety
In keeping with its National Emphasis Program for excavations, OSHA compliance officers will perform more than 1,000 trench inspections nationwide where they may stop by, and inspect, any excavation site during their daily duties. To stress the dangers of disregarding federal workplace safety requirements for trenching and excavation work, OSHA enforcement staff will consider every available tool at the agency’s disposal. These actions will place additional emphasis on how agency officials evaluate penalties for trenching and excavation related incidents, including criminal referrals for federal or state prosecution to hold employers and others accountable when their actions or inactions kill workers or put their lives at risk.
For more information on OSHA’s enhances enforcement initiative related to trenching and excavation, please refer to the Press Release. OSHA’s trenching and excavation webpage provides additional information on trenching hazards and solutions, including an alert, poster, compliance directive, quick card, and safety video. OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program, a free and confidential health and safety consulting program for small- and medium-sized businesses, will assist employers in developing strategic approaches for addressing trench-related illnesses and injuries in workplaces.
Upcoming Webinars from SESCO
ASA is proud to announce the latest lineup of webinars available through SESCO Management Consultants. Check out their upcoming listing in this issue. [Angela, please put link] SESCO is just one of the many member benefits available through your ASA membership. To learn more about this and all of the benefits waiting for you, click here.
ASA Opposes the Expansion of the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) Credit and Loss-Limitation Rules
ASA joined over 130 organizations in a letter to House and Senate Leadership opposing the expansion of the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) Credit and the loss-limitation rules. These two tax increases being considered by Congress would fall entirely on small, individually, and family-owned, closely-held businesses. More specifically, expanding the 3.8 percent NIIT to individuals and families who actively participate in their business, and by limiting the ability of small, individually, and family-owned businesses to fully deduct their losses during an economic downturn by expanding and extending the so-called “excess business loss limitation” for “noncorporate taxpayers” would increase revenues by more than $400 billion over ten years.
Per the letter, “while expanding the NIIT is sometimes characterized as closing a tax loophole and that it would increase Medicare funding, neither of these claims are true. When the NIIT was created as part of the Affordable Care Act, it was meant to apply to investment income only. The business income of small, individually, and family-owned firms where the owners ran the business was specifically exempted. This exemption was intentional and in no way constitutes a loophole. Moreover, the revenue raised by the NIIT does not fund Medicare. As the NIIT initially was adopted as part of a reconciliation bill, attributing the funds of this new tax to the Hospital Insurance trust fund would have violated the Byrd Rule. That is why the NIIT did not fund Medicare when it was adopted in 2010, and why attributing the revenues raised by its expansion to Medicare likely violates the Byrd Rule too. Expanding the 3.8 percent NIIT represents nothing more than an eleven percent increase in the rates imposed on family-owned businesses. Based on Treasury data, we estimate up to 1 million small and family-owned businesses, representing over half of all pass-through business activity, would be at risk of having their rates increased under this policy. This small business tax hike would hurt the ability of businesses that survived the worst global pandemic in a century to remain viable in the coming months.”
Billd’s National Subcontractor Market Report: How Labor Shortages & Market Volatility are Impacting Subcontractors
The second annual National Subcontractor Market Report provides industry insights and
trends based on an in-depth survey of contractors conducted in February of 2022.
This report examines how macroeconomic conditions impacted contractors in 2021 and how this has shaped their outlook on 2022.
