UMCA News
JOIN US FOR THE ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT THIS JUNE!
Mark your calendars and join us for the Utah Mechanical Contractors Annual Golf Tournament held this year on June 29th at Wasatch Mountain State Park. We will be playing the Mountain Course this year. Shotgun start is at 2:00pm with check-in at 1:00pm. The $75 registration fee includes the greens fee, cart, dinner, and awards ceremony. Registration deadline for this event ends on June 19th. You can download the registration form here and the sponsorship form here.
BRETT W. CHRISTIANSEN ELECTED TO MCAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Inc. (MCAA) elected Brett W. Christiansen to its Board of Directors during the association’s annual convention in Scottsdale, Arizona. Brett is the president of Palmer-Christiansen Company, Inc., Brett has been very active in the association on both a local and national level. At the local level he has served on the UMCA Labor-Management Committee, Government Affairs Committee, and the MCA Student Chapter Committee. Brett also serves as a trustee on both the Health & Welfare and Pension Trust Funds. At the national level, he is chairman of the Career Development Committee, a position he has held for two years. He has been a member of the Career Development Committee for seven years. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Council for Construction Education. The UMCA is honored to have Brett represent our industry on a national level.
UMCA/USC LEGISLATIVE WRAP-UP, WRITTEN BY JOHN L. YOUNG OF YOUNG, HOFFMAN & ENSOR
The Utah Subcontractors Council sponsored Senate Bill 230, which was carried by Senator Curtis Bramble, with Rep. Kevin Garn carrying the bill in the House. The bill amended certain provisions of the State Construction Registry in an attempt to obtain meaningful financial information near the end of a project regarding the Owner, Gen. Contractor and Subcontractors on projects in excess of $500,000 in value. The bill provides for the Owner/Contractor to file a Notice of Intent to seek Final Completion of a Project (usually a permanent certificate of occupancy) in the SCR at least 45 days before filing the request for final completion. Within 20 days following the Notice of Intent, subcontractors and suppliers must file a notice in the SCR of the remaining amounts under their respective contracts to complete the project. Within 10 days thereafter, any contractor, subcontractor or supplier who feels insecure about whether the Owner/contractor, etc. has sufficient funds dedicated to completion of the project may file a Demand for Adequate Assurance with the Owner, Contractor or Subcontractor with whom that person has a contract, demanding a statement of the financial commitment, including dedicated funds, for completion of the project. If the response to the Demand for Adequate Assurance is insufficient, the bill provides for immediate right to seek relief in Court, which includes remedies that require posting of sufficient financial assets (Bonds, letter of credit, property, etc.) to complete the work of that contract. The bill passed this session, but was amended at the last hour by Rep. Mike Morely to make the filing of Notice of Intent voluntary rather than mandatory. This amendment was apparently a mistake and Rep. Morley, Rep. Garn and Sen. Bramble have committed to correct this to a mandatory provision. The effective date of the bill is October 1, 2009.
The following Bills were tracked during the 2009 session of the Utah Legislature by the Utah Subcontractors Council;
H.B. 15 Career and Technical Education Amendments. Passed. This bill re-defined “Career and technical education” to mean organized educational programs offering sequences of courses or skill sets directly related to preparing individuals for paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging occupations that generally do not require a baccalaureate or advanced degree. It further prohibited the governing board from conducting any feasibility studies or any other act relating to trying to merge any of the Applied Technology Colleges with any institution of higher education. The bill other wise made technical corrections, modified board membership and made changes to the Salt Community College’s School of Applied Technology.
H.B. 39 Utah Injured Worker Reemployment Act. Passed. This bill is intended to monitor the state’s and employer’s capacity to assist injured workers in returning to the work force by evaluating voluntary efforts of employers. The bill establishes a reporting system and procedures for requiring quarterly reports regarding the progress of injured workers in returning to the work place.
H.B. 117 Mechanical Contracting licensing provisions. This bill was pulled and sent Interim committee for further study. This bill would affect the HVAC mechanical technician-to-apprentice ratio, creates a new HVAC Technician Licensing Board and modifies membership on the Construction Services Commission. The progress of this proposal will be monitored by the USC in Interim committee.
H.B. 154 State Construction Registry Amendments. Passed. This bill made minor technical changes to the SCR and further clarified the standard building permit system.
H.B. 249 Continuing Education for Contractors Amendments. Defeated. This bill would have repealed certain core education requirements for licensed contractors as well as penalties for failure to complete core education requirements.
H.B. 266 Wrongful Lien Amendments. Passed. This bill made minor technical changes to definitions of record title holders of real property subject to a wrongful lien.
H.B. 271 Workers’ Compensation – Uninsured Employer’s Fund. Passed. This bill modified collection practices for monies required to be deposited into the Uninsured Employers’ Fund. The bill authorizes penalties for employer’s who fail to produce payroll records for inspection ($100) with the penalty being deposited into the Uninsured Employers’ Fund. It otherwise makes technical changes.
H.B. 318 Construction Trades Licensing Amendments. Failed. This bill would have required a contractor or subcontractor to holds construction payment in trust and pay each subcontractor/supplier for work and goods supplied on the project with whom the contractor or subcontractor had a contract.
H.B. 327 Building Inspector Amendments. Passed. This bill requires a local regulator that issues a single-family residential building permit application to include in the application or attach to the building permit a notice stating Decisions relative to this application are subject to review by a chief administrator and appeal under the International Residential Code.
H.B. 331 Health Insurance Coverage in State Contracts. Passed. This bill requires state entities to require a contractor who contracts with the state entity to offer the contractor’s employees qualified health insurance coverage during the duration of the contract where the contract is in the amount of $500,000 or greater.
H.B. 394 Uniform Building Code Commission Amendments. Defeated. This bill would have changed the membership on the Building Code Commission by deleting the Fire Official, adding 4 general contractors, deleting the DFCM member, and having one electrical contractor and one plumbing contractor and one member of the public.
H.B. 409 Education Building Projects Zoning Exemption Amendments. Defeated. This bill would have narrowed the scope of a prohibition against county and municipal land use requirements so that it applies only to structures used in the process of providing instruction to pupils, and would not have included other structures such as service buildings
S.B. 15 Workers’ Compensation Premium Assessment and Related Funding. Passed. This bill named the “Eddie P. Mayne Workplace Safety and Occupational Health Funding Program” and modified the purposes for which monies may be appropriated from the Workplace Safety Account.
S.B. 90 Metal Theft Amendments and Penalties. Passed. This bill provides that a defendant is liable for restitution damages caused in the course of committing or attempting to commit a theft of a regulated metal, and that the victim may also bring a civil action for damages. The bill includes copper, brass, aluminum, bronze, lead, zinc, and nickel as regulated metals and includes catalytic convertors as a suspect metal item and requires dealers that purchase such metals in amounts in excess of $100 to pay by means other than cash.
S.B. 93 Building Authorities. Passed. This bill repealed obsolete provisions relating to municipal building authorities.
S.B. 163 Construction Trade Exemption. Passed. This bill provides that electrical and plumbing work done within a six month period on a
building project with a value of less than $3,000 must be done by a licensed
electrical or plumbing contractor if the project involves an electrical or plumbing system; and provides that the electrical or plumbing work may be done by a licensed journeyman electrician or plumber if the project involves a component of an electrical or plumbing system such as a faucet, toilet, fixture, device, outlet, or electrical switch.
S.B. 211 Building Code Amendments. Passed. This bill modifies the powers and duties of the Uniform Building Code Commission, including:
authorizing the commission to recommend building codes to the Legislature for adoption.
THE UMCA CONTRIBUTES $10,000 TO THE MCERF
The UMCA recently contributed $10,000 to the Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF). The check was presented at the MCAA convention to newly installed MCERF President Jack Wilhelmi. On hand to present the check from the UMCA was President Hal Hansen, Past President Frank Moss, UMCA member and MCAA board member Brett Christiansen, and Executive Vice President, Robert Bergman.
The UMCA board of directors budget the contribution to “give back” to MCAA for the vital industry research and educational programs the UMCA has enjoyed and utilized over the last several years. The National Education Initiative (NEI) has been a great resource for the UMCA and had provided unmeasurable results and education for many UMCA members.
GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL REQUIRING MAJOR STATE CONTRACTORS TO PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) signed a bill (H.B. 331) March 11 requiring construction companies and other firms to provide health insurance to employees when they enter into large contracts with the state. The bill requires companies that enter into state contracts of more than $1.5 million for prime contracts or more than $750,000 for subcontracts to provide health care coverage to employees. It applies to contracts entered into after July 1, 2009. The benefits in the health insurance plans offered to contractors' employees must be the actuarial equivalent of the average health maintenance organization in the marketplace.
National Headlines
GSA OUTLINES PLANS FOR STIMULUS SPENDING
A presentation by the U.S. General Services Administration outlining its plans for facility construction and renovations with funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009-the stimulus spending package-was released recently. The purpose of this program is to "create and save jobs, increase domestic renewable energy capacity, invest in infrastructure with long-term economic benefits, stabilize state and local government budgets and assist those most impacted by the recession." GSA proposes four types of projects: new construction, full and partial building modernizations; limited scope projects; and small projects. Plans call for the transformation of federal buildings into high-performance green buildings at a cost of $4.3 billion. Full and partial building modernizations are expected to use $3.2 billion in federal stimulus funds, limited scope projects (i.e., installation of photovoltaic and wind energy systems, green roofs, energy-efficient lighting, advanced metering) will get $807 million in funds and small projects will use $299 million.
FAR ISSUES INTERIM "BUY AMERICA" REGULATIONS
Interim Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), which lay out the construction project "Buy America" provisions that were in the stimulus spending bill, took effect on April 23, 2009. The requirements, which stemmed from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, call for American-made iron, steel and equipment for stimulus-funded projects. The rules also explain the procedures for applying for exceptions if compliance would increase the overall project cost by more than 25%. For equipment, there is no requirement that parts be made in America, only that the final manufacturing/assembly occur in the U.S.
Read more...Latest News
- GSA OUTLINES PLANS FOR STIMULUS SPENDING
- FAR ISSUES INTERIM "BUY AMERICA" REGULATIONS
- JOIN US FOR THE ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT THIS JUNE!
- BRETT W. CHRISTIANSEN ELECTED TO MCAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
- UMCA/USC LEGISLATIVE WRAP-UP, WRITTEN BY JOHN L. YOUNG OF YOUNG, HOFFMAN & ENSOR
- THE UMCA CONTRIBUTES $10,000 TO THE MCERF
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