It’s time to change the way the construction industry communicates about mental health to reduce the stigma and ensure that individuals get the help they need. Far too often, mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, mood swings and substance abuse disorders have been cloaked in a veil of secrecy and shame. Yet these issues pose significant risks to health, well-being, safety and productivity.

According to insurance broker Holmes Murphy & Associates, the construction industry is especially vulnerable to mental health challenges because of factors ranging from financial and family pressures to workplace injuries, chronic pain and substance abuse.

Reprinted courtesy of Scott Wittkop, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Last year, spurred by a global movement to celebrate diversity and strive for social justice reforms, tens of thousands of companies—including scores of construction firms in the United States—took a look at their own business practices and made public commitments to improving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) among their workforces.

Diversity and inclusion at its most basic concept means truly accepting, supporting and including the full range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical abilities, religious or ethical values systems, national origins and political beliefs. It’s a practice that’s not just the right thing to do, it’s also good for business.

Reprinted courtesy of Lisa Robinson, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

As the nation races to vaccinate more than 320 million citizens, construction firms have been busy catching up on backlog, keeping workers safe and grappling with the complexities of construction finance during a pandemic.

The economy has bounced back much quicker than expected; however, there are still plenty of reasons for construction firms to remain vigilant and continue to implement strict financial controls as the recovery unfolds. The challenges of the past year have sharpened the business habits of contractors and financial professionals alike across the United States—proving that consistent success is achievable—if contractors are committed to seeing past the boom and taking adequate measures to streamline their bidding, contract and finance practices. Resisting bidding on unprofitable work, keeping careful records through automation and paying attention to new tax laws are just some of the methods that can ensure a contractor remains profitable for years to come.

Reprinted courtesy of Cybele Tamulonis, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

This week, the Department of Labor (DOL) repealed the Trump Administration’s independent contractor rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL has also proposed the rescission of the Trump Administration’s joint employer rule and sent a new proposed regulation to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review. Both moves signal a return to standards more likely to find an employment relationship.

It’s not every day that a project interior designer sits down with the project team to discuss construction and occupant safety. But in 2019, Keith Switzer, who heads interior design firm INTEC Group, found himself in meetings doing just that as plans took shape for a four-story office and research building in the Boston suburb of Billerica. The project’s owner, drug maker EMD Serono, was “very keen” on safety, Switzer recalls. So leaders from the project’s prime contractor, Erland Construction, and much of the project team gathered regularly in an existing building at the project site, and later sometimes in a project trailer, where the vibe was for a “roll up your sleeves effort … literally everyone at the table throwing out ideas.” Even after the pandemic shifted the meetings to the internet, the basic mission as Switzer sees it was to explore ideas where “if you did this differently, this would be a safer way of doing XYZ.”

Reprinted courtesy of Richard Korman, ENR and Scott Van Voorhis, ENR
Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com

The construction industry added 110,000 jobs in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data released recently by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry has added 931,000 jobs since April 2020, recovering 83.6% of the jobs lost during earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The construction unemployment rate fell to 8.6% in March from 9.6% in February, but it is still 1.7 percentage points higher than in March 2020. Unemployment across all industries declined from 6.2% in February to 6.0% in March.

Reprinted courtesy of ABC, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

State-funded construction projects are among the top beneficiaries of a $1.5-billion budget surplus carved up by Utah lawmakers during the 2021 legislative session that ended March 6.

While the AEC industry has largely transitioned to BIM over the last decade, it’s only been more recently where new design technologies have emerged for the built environment, further extending what’s possible with BIM. These new technologies include digital fabrication, real-time visualization, virtual and mixed reality, artificial intelligence, robotics, generative design, reality modelling, IoT and the development of digital twins. In fact, the industry is already seeing accelerated adoption of these emerging technologies out of necessity.

With the challenges of working remote coupled with project delays, the entire building industry is looking for creative ways to maximize project efficiency. What technology trends can be expected to dominate this space in 2021?

Reprinted courtesy of Chris Ruffo, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Green construction is not going anywhere but up in 2021, and reaching LEED certification is an important goal of many builders. But like anything, the devil lies in the details, and it can be a challenge for design teams and contractors to meet LEED material requirements. We spoke with Tommy Linstroth, CEO of Green Badger, a provider of cloud-based LEED documentation management services, to learn more about how the construction industry can face this challenge.

Q: What is the main hurdle to understanding LEED-compliant materials requirements?
A: One of the biggest challenges is learning about and understanding the LEED requirements. And even though they've been out for a couple of years now, following and implementing these guidelines is not common practice yet in the construction industry. There are pockets in the industry that tend to comply, but it’s still more common that they do not.

Reprinted courtesy of Tommy Linstroth, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The pandemic has accelerated vast changes in the workplace and exposed critical gaps employers and their employees face on a day-to-day basis. One of the top contenders? The challenges women face simply showing up to work.

More than 600,000 women left the U.S. workforce in September—that’s eight times more than the number of men. On top of that, one in four women is considering downshifting her career or leaving the workforce entirely.

Reprinted courtesy of Laura Beebe, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The new Sixth Street Viaduct, when completed next year, will be hard to miss. Ten pairs of continuous arches will create a sinuous profile as the 3,060-ft-long, 100-ft-wide viaduct soars over the 101 Freeway, several railroads, the LA River and the downtown Los Angeles arts district.