Infrastructure Guidebook
The White House has released a guidebook to the bipartisan infrastructure law for state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. The guidebook provides a summary of the programs funded in the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill. The book can be found here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/
Check out some of the Latest Billd Podcasts
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- The future of the construction industry
- Why construction workers received $28B a year
Prequalification Technology Built For and By Subcontractors
As we operate during uncertain times, Subcontractor risk management has been instrumental in maintaining the integrity of the construction supply chain. Over the next few months, the majority of the market will be requested to renew their prequalification as 2021 financial statements become available, known as The Great Expiry.
General contractors have never had this much choice in digital tools to streamline prequalification. With the rapid adoption of preconstruction technology, general contractors are following prequalification best practices regardless of insurance requirements. This further widens the technology gap, perpetuating the need for subcontractor involvement in the development of said digital tools.
To combat the increasing volume and repetitiveness of prequalification, the ASA is coordinating efforts to bring awareness and an openness to subcontractor-led prequalification to the general contracting community. With this initiative, the ASA supports the use of COMPASS, built for subcontractors to address the concerns of form fatigue, data ownership/privacy, lack of feedback and transparency. Subcontractors need only to update their information once per year through their standard 1Form, and satisfy all requests for prequalification securely.
Throughout The Great Expiry, COMPASS aims to disconnect prequalification from the project. By updating data when it is first available, subcontractors are in control and are better prepared to discuss prequalification limits with general contractors, which may result in larger contract sizes and more business opportunities.
We understand there is a cost associated with COMPASS, and believe prequalification is a benefit to our industry. The responsibility and costs should be proportionately shared across the supply chain. In this competitive environment where there is a race to the bottom, prequalification not only ensures all parties on the jobsite are capable of meeting contract obligations, but promotes quality-based selection, further protecting our margins and interests.
We stress the timing for your support is now. The co-development of prequalification technology by subcontractors and the ASA ensure all our interests and needs are addressed.
Richard Bright, Chief Operating Officer, ASA
ABOUT BESPOKE METRICS
COMPASS by Bespoke Metrics is a leading prequalification platform that supports data collection, verification and analytics across the entire construction supply chain. To learn more about Bespoke Metrics, visit https://compass.bespokemetrics.com/ or email info@compass-app.com to schedule a demo.
Educational Webinar — The Infrastructure Bill and Projections for 2022
Congress came to an agreement about the bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, passing it into law as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on November 15, 2021.
In this 30-minute webinar, Eric Vittardi, Foundation Software Market Development Manager, discussed the current state of the industry as outlined in the 2021 Construction Business Report and also discussed projections for 2022 that consider both the current state of the industry and the new Infrastructure Act. Free, but registration is required.
Executive Order: Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects
On Friday, February 4, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order: Project Labor Agreements (PLA) for Federal Construction Projects, which requires the federal government to require a project labor agreement (PLA) before awarding any “large-scale construction contract,” defined as a contract for which the estimated cost is $35 million or more. The EO’s effective date is immediate, but some delay will necessarily occur before implementation, as the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council must propose appropriate regulations by June 4, 2022, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget must issue related guidance.
The EO does not require construction companies to unionize, it only binds a federal construction contractor’s employees to the terms of a PLA. PLAs must always contain:
- guarantees against strikes, lockouts, and similar job disruptions;
- prompt, mutually binding procedures for resolving labor disputes;
- mechanisms for labor-management cooperation on “matters of mutual interest and concern, including productivity, quality of work, safety, and health”; and
- terms that fully conform to federal law, regulations, other executive orders, and Presidential Memoranda.
There are a few exceptions to the PLA requirement and the EO will not mandate a PLA if doing so would:
- Substantially reduce potential bidders,
- Otherwise be inconsistent with federal law, or
- Would result in inefficiency, such as projects of short duration and lacking complexity, only involving one craft or trade, or involving particularly specialized construction work.
A PLA will not be required based on unusual and compelling need, and other factors deemed acceptable by senior officials in federal agencies. No procedure has been announced for determining whether a project may be subject to an exception. The EO will not travel downstream to projects controlled by state and/or local governments, even if those projects receive federal funding; therefore, the EO will not affect the majority of projects that will be undertaken by state and local governments regarding the recent Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021).
