In October 2010, Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing embarked on a project that would mark a time of change for the City of Dallas and its residents. Woodall Rodgers Freeway is a major highway that runs just north of Downtown Dallas directly through the city. It is a connector freeway between two other large highways. When Wodall Rodgers Freeway was constructed in 1962, highways were the most popular mode of transportation. City officials and wealthy landowners were building homes and purchasing land outside of Dallas city limits, thus making highways extremely appealing. Read more » about Klyde Warren Park: Five Acres of Waterproofing [VIDEO]

Seven Regional Qualifying Rodeos Scheduled for 2013

Crane Institute Certification (CIC) announced last month that it has renewed its partnership for the third year in a row with Maximum Capacity Media (MCM) to offer the industry the MCM-CIC Crane Operator Rodeo.  The event provides operators in North America an opportunity to showcase their skills, and is intended to increase awareness of the 2014 OSHA requirements for crane operators to be certified by type and capacity.  Debbie Dickinson, Executive Director of CIC, offered the following comments:

“This is the only crane operator recognition program of this scale in North America.  Working with Regional Qualifier Hosts in cities from coast to coast, we are able to introduce young people to crane operation as a profession, and educate local governments and businesses about the role training, experience, and certification plays in safe crane operation.”   Read more » about Crane Operator Rodeo Competition 2013-2014

After months of forward momentum, a proposed crackdown on misclassification of construction workers championed by both business and labor may have hit a serious snag.

The bill by Representative John Davis, R-Houston, would create penalties for companies that are found to be intentionally misclassifying their workers. Despite the fact that it was passed unanimously by a committee, it has yet to be placed on the calendar for a vote by the full House of Representatives. Our sources in the capitol say members of the powerful House Calendars Committee are under pressure from home builders who testified against it to keep the bill off the House floor. Make no mistake: It is crunch time for passing bills in this legislative session. Read more » about Misclassification Crackdown Stalls in Texas House

The lawmaker who had filed a bill to ban "living wage" ordinances around Texas has decided that was a bad course of action. Representative Kenneth Sheets, R-Dallas, withdrew his bill after hearing objections from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Some on the left argued it was "draconian." This is from the liberal Burnt Orange Report:

"The draconian bill was aimed at metropolitan areas such as San Antonio and Travis County, where living wage agreements are already on the books. The Austin City Council is considering one that would be added to economic incentive packages. These agreements require projects to pay a living wage to construction workers if they are receiving incentives.

Basically, Sheets doesn't think that local governments should have the control to use their tax dollars in support of their community values. Sounds just a bit like that "Big Government" Republicans are always railing against."

Our mission at Construction Citizen is straightforward: To advance a socially responsible, sustainable, value added construction industry.  Doing that is anything but simple. We are owners, contractors and craftspeople committed to this mission and we can’t do it alone. This is a community effort and we think of you, our readers, as part of that community. That’s why we’re asking you to help us highlight the good and the bad within our industry. 

To that end, we’ve launched the Construction Citizen News Tip Line. It’s an anonymous way for you to point our team in the direction with things you see happening that need to be brought to light. We understand that there are many in the industry that feel – as we do – that safety violations, misclassification of workers, bad treatment of employees, and other problems need to be rooted out. But, we also understand the need for anonymity.  If you contribute to our coverage, we promise your identity will be kept secret. We will only use your contact information to follow up with any questions our team might have. Or, you can simply leave us a news tip without your information. That might make it harder to look into things, but we’ll do our best. Read more » about Construction Citizen’s News Tip Line

In the second installment of his excellent series on the Texas construction industry, NPR Correspondent Wade Goodwyn highlights the difference between contractors who play by the rules, like Marek Brothers Systems in Houston, and companies that misclassify their employees.  The former is out front with how they do business, and the latter doesn't even want their name used on the radio or in print.

From the report:

At Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Marek's workers are building the interior for the hospital's newest wing.  Workers ride around on what are called “motorized man lifts”, which allow them to work high in the air, power tools in hand.

Baylor Hospital is the kind of client that hires Marek's companies – an owner that must have its building done to exacting specifications.  But these days that’s unusual, according to Stan Marek.   Read more » about NPR: Texas Contractors Say Playing By The Rules Doesn't Pay

On today's installment of NPR's Morning Edition, correspondent Wade Goodwyn put the microscope on the Texas construction industry and what he found was disturbing. Click here to listen to the story.

From his report:

If wage theft is a nasty cousin of slavery...there's a deeper, more fundamental sickness affecting the Texas construction industry: the misclassification of construction workers as independent contractors instead of as employees.

Focus on Re-Accreditation, Program Development, and a New Certification Category for Lift Directors

More than 30 industry stakeholders attended the annual meeting for the Crane Institute of America Certification (CIC), held March 5-7, 2013 in Lake Mary, FL.  A cross-section of experts from CIC's Governing and Advisory Committees plus several notable guests reviewed written and practical exam materials in preparation for re-accreditation with the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and application for accreditation with ANSI.

“NCCA requires re-accreditation every five years.  CIC first became accredited by NCCA in 2008.  CIC has also received preliminary application approval from ANSI and expects to add ANSI accreditations this year for mobile and tower cranes at different levels of type and capacity." - Debbie Dickinson, Executive Director of CIC.   Read more » about Crane Institute of America Certification’s Annual Meeting

This article by Representative Armando Walle, D-Houston originally appeared in the Houston Chronicle on April 1, 2013.  Reprinted with permission.

In recent years, attention has been drawn to the dangers and injustices faced by construction workers in Texas where business is booming and construction levels have rebounded to near pre-recession levels. Texas construction workers and their families are often set up for failure, dealing with dangerous work sites, poor wages, bad training and labor rights violations.

The sad fact is that Texas still leads the country in the rate of construction worker fatalities. This is unacceptable. Federal regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration provide some protections, but as a state we must make improvements to ensure safety at work sites, including adequate health and safety training and proper safety equipment for employees.

The role of workers' compensation is also particularly important for these construction workers. Workers' compensation provides a means for injured workers to pay medical bills resulting from workplace injuries and make up for lost income until they return to full employment. Workers' compensation also serves the families of workers killed on the job, providing a portion of the lost wages to surviving family members. Read more » about Texas is No. 1 in a Grim Statistic

With the Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard requiring U.S. operators to be certified by November 2014, the Crane and Rigging Conference (CRC) and Industrial Crane and Hoist Conference (ICHC) will focus on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) crane operator certification requirements.  The jointly held crane safety and management conferences will take place May 29-30 at the Indianapolis Marriott North in Indianapolis, IN.

Sponsors include the Steel Erectors Association of America (SEAA), Construction Users Roundtable (CURT), Ohio Manufacturers Association (OMA), Liebherr Group, Morrow Equipment Co, LLC, and event partner North American Crane Bureau Group (NACB).

A recent press release from Maximum Capacity Media, the conference organizer, quoted Tom Underhill, Executive Director of the SEAA who stated:

“Ongoing education is always important, but with OSHA’s November 10, 2014 deadline looming Read more » about Conferences on Crane Certification, Technology, Rigging and Safety