Georgia Contractor Nov-Dec 2012

THE VOICE OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OF GEORGIA

The Georgia

CONTRACTOR Volume 8, Issue 6

COMPLETE STREETS POLICY STORY ON page 6

November | December 2012

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The Georgia Contractor

Letter from the Editor

ADVERTISEMENTS

November | December 2012

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Dear Readers~

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Engineered Restorations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

012 is coming rapidly to an end. It has not been a particularly good year for the construction industry.

Yes, here and there we hear some sounds of improvements, but frankly it is a laboriously difficult time for both transportation and industrial/ commercial construction. One thing is constant, however, and that is our will to manage in difficult times.

The election is behind us, and we would have liked a more definitive direction, but we did not get that—both Houses of Congress and the White House are divided as ever. What is next we do not know, except that the healthcare law will become effective and it will remain as controversial as it has been from the beginning.

GPTQ has been reorganized, and in October a new charter was signed by GDOT, The American Council of Engineering Companies of Georgia, and the Georgia Highway Contractors Association. It has all of the elements of becoming a successful working relationship between all parties concerned: work cooperatively; provide a forum to facilitate exchange of best field practices; improve products and processes; recognize quality achievement; and improve long-term performance and durability. It is a welcome move to see government and industry work together for the common good.

The Georgia Contractor will become the Official Publication for the CEFGA/SkillsUSA Careers in Construction Expo in March of next year. We are determined to make it the best issue ever. Go Build Georgia is now a regular presence, and with our circulation reaching many more readers than ever, including chambers of commerce, libraries, and the Technical College System of Georgia, you will find advertising in The Georgia Contractor effective and profitable.

This issue contains many interesting articles; we hope you enjoy all and pick up some ideas that might be helpful to your business.

Georgia Construction Aggregate Association . . . . . . 10 Georgia Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover Georgia Utilities Protection Center Inc. . . . . . Back Cover Greater Traffic Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Independent Electrical Contractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 JAT Consulting Services Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Prime Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 RHD Utility Locating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 RS&H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Silt-Saver Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 United Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover Wiregrass Georgia Technical College . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

R. Petersen-Frey Editor-in-Chief v

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On The Cover

The Georgia Contractor www.thegeorgiacontractor.com

Managing Editor R. Petersen-Frey (770) 521-8877 Art Director Pamela Petersen-Frey (770) 521-8877

The Georgia Contractor is published bi-monthly on a calendar year basis. It is a magaCOMPLETE STREETS Complete Streets is a growing national initiative to improve the design and operation of roadways, particularly those in urban and suburban settings, to accommodate and encourage safe access for all users— motorists, transit riders, cyclists and pedestrians.

See the story on page 6

zine designed around the construction industry associations and their members. It is supported by associations and their members. Executive, editorial, circulation, and advertising offices: 1154 Lower Birmingham Road, Canton, Georgia 30115 • Phone: (770) 521-8877 • Fax: (770) 521-0406 e-mail: rfrey@a4inc.com. Send address changes to your association and/or to A4 Inc.

Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of any of the associations or publisher nor do they accept responsibility for errors of content “Gort! Klaatu Borada nikto.”

or omission and, as a matter of policy, neither do they endorse products or advertisements appearing herein. Parts of this magazine may be reproduced with the written consent of the publisher.

A4 INC. (770) 521 8877 USE A COMPANY YOU CAN TRUST WITH YOUR TRANSLATION PROJECT, because a little mistake in another language can have unpleasant results.

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The Georgia Contractor

The Georgia

Contractor 6

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Complete Streets Policy

Fringe Benefits & the Davis Bacon Act

a state of mind

9 March 21-22, 2013: 7,000+ Georgia Students to Learn about Careers in Construction, Design, and

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Compliance: Four Must-dos

22 Recommendations for Characterizing RAS

Energy at CareerExpo in Atlanta

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Lessons Learned: Mechanically Stabi-

GPTQ Re-Chartered for the Future

lized Earth/Segmental Retaining Walls

12 Savannah Harbor Expansion Program

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a regional project with national impact

Contractors Save with Fringe Pay Pension Plans

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15 Reaching Out to Georgia’s Veterans

26 Will Construction in the Peach State

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Still Be the Pits?

Go Build Georgia Partners with Other State Agencies to Reach Veterans

28 Georgia Contractor News

18 Construction & Engineering Fair

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Captures Attention of Hundreds of

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Students

Mandatory Commissioning for All Buildings Proposed for Green Building Standards

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Complete Streets Policy

By Gerald Ross | Chief Engineer & Russell McMurry | Director of Engineering | Georgia Department of Transportation

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The Georgia Contractor

hen the Georgia Department of Transportation presented its newly-adopted Complete Streets Policy at a conference of bicycling enthusiasts last month, some may have viewed it as a seminal moment—a wondrous epiphany at the former State Highway Department.

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a state of mind November | December 2012

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For those of us who work at Georgia DOT though—on the concepts, design, engineering, and implementation of improvements to the state’s transportation infrastructure— it was more the formalization of a continuing evolution in our thinking and our work.

A public declaration grounded not in buzzwords or overnight trends, but in the foundation of the department’s maturing, inclusive philosophy of transportation planning.

Complete Streets is a growing national initiative to improve the design and operation of roadways, particularly those in urban and suburban settings, to accommodate and encourage safe access for all users – motorists, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians.

We worked with a broad array of local governments, our transportation partner agencies, and pedestrian and cycling advocacy groups to develop Georgia DOT’s policy —now formalized in some 30 pages of definitions, standards, and guidelines in our design manual.

Complete Streets is more than pages in a manual however. It is confirmation of an ever-changing culture; an acknowledgement that our transportation system can be more—should be more—than its least common denominator; a recognition that the straightest route between two points may not be everyone’s desired route. Complete Streets is a state of mind. The Georgia Department of Transportation is the proud keeper of a 20,000-mile highway system considered among the nation’s best. But we know it can be more. More inviting. More accommodating. More holistic. Complete Streets is the department’s commitment to make it more, or perhaps better stated, to continue making it more.

Many of the goals and precepts of Complete Streets already are keystones of existing Georgia DOT initiatives—our emphasis on context sensitive designs, our financial underwriting of the Clean Air Campaign and community transit programs, our Scenic Byways, Transportation Enhancement and Safe Routes to Schools programs, our aggressive Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. And our construction program. In the north Georgia community of Braselton, a department rerout8

ing project was to include a bike lane and a sidewalk on either side of the roadway. But in talking—and listening—to the community, we learned they preferred multi-use trails on both sides; we revised our plans and built trails. An $11 million project currently underway on Buford Highway—a busy Atlanta arterial highway with heavy localized pedestrian traffic—embodies all that is Complete Streets with sidewalks, pedestrian countdown timers at crosswalks, hybrid pedestrian beacons, and a raised cen-

ter median to serve as a pedestrian refuge.

Complete Streets is not an aspiration for the Georgia DOT; it is the way we go about our business every day. For the foreseeable future, that business likely will remain centered around the highway system. Ten million Georgians depend on it.

But it can be a more complete system. And we are a different, wiser department now— we no longer see our mission as highways always; rather highways all ways. v

The Georgia Contractor

March 21-22, 2013: 7,000+ Georgia Students to Learn About Careers in Construction, Design, and Energy at CareerExpo in Atlanta

By Scott Shelar | Executive Director | CEFGA he Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA) will hold its 9th annual CareerExpo March 2122, 2013, at the Georgia International Convention Center (2000 Convention Center Concourse). More than 7,000 students from across Georgia will attend the event, the state’s largest youth workforce development event for the construction industry.

Students will explore interactive exhibits that demonstrate the scope of the industry and learn about specific career paths by meeting building professionals, trade association representatives, and educators from hundreds of organizations across the state including Holder Construction Company, Perkins + Will, Georgia Power, Georgia Tech, Southern Polytechnic, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Georgia, the Associated General Contractors of Georgia, and many more.

The sights, sounds, and equipment of a real construction site will make the Expo an interactive educational experience.

“Our goal is to encourage students to explore and pursue careers in construction, design, and energy,” said Scott Shelar, executive director of the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA).

The CareerExpo covers an area the size of six football fields and is divided into distinct career pathways, including:

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The World of Energy and Industrial Construction Understand how the lights actually switch on. Explore how energy is created, transmitted, and distributed.

The World of Electrical Contracting Learn how electricity flows through a building and what it takes to install the infrastructure to make it happen.

The World of Mechanical Contracting Lots of water flows in and out of a working building. Learn what it takes to install the piping to keep the water flowing.

The World of Architecture and Engineering Learn about smart design and technology, including Building Information Modeling (BIM) and how it’s used to design today’s buildings.

The World of Utility Contracting and Heavy Equipment Operations Before a building is built, the land must be cleared and a whole network of trenches and piping put in place. Learn what it takes and operate the actual equipment used in this industry.

The World of Construction Management and Green Building Discover how choices in design, material selection, and construction impact the environment and operating efficiencies.

The World of Tile Contracting and Finishes It’s the first thing you notice when you walk into a building. The walls. The floors.

Learn about the precision involved in

November | December 2012

applying paint and setting tile in this exciting World.

“Through hands-on activities at the CareerExpo, students will learn about specific careers and understand the skills, education, and training necessary for employment in the construction industry,” said Shelar.

Who Will Attend • More than 7,000 middle, high school, and college students from across Georgia.

• Professionals from more than 300 companies.

• Teachers from 180 high school construction training programs and 27 technical colleges.

• Representatives from technical college, university, and apprenticeship programs.

SkillsUSA In conjunction with the CareerExpo, 2,000+ high school and technical college students from across the state will compete 9

in more than 100 leadership and skills competitions at the 2013 SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference.

CareerExpo Participants Participating Companies and Organizations: Brasfield & Gorrie, Holder Construction Co., Perkins + Will, New South Construction Co., PCL Industrial Construction Co., Pyramid Masonry, ABC of Georgia, AGC of Georgia, GUCA, Goodman, Independent Electrical Contractors, Atlanta Electrical Contractors Association, Masonry Association of Georgia, American Institute of Architects, Georgia Power, Georgia Energy and Industrial Construction Consortium, OSHA, U.S. Green Building Council Georgia Chapter, Superior Plumbing, Mechanical Contractors Association, McKenney’s, Technical College System of Georgia, Southern Polytechnic and Georgia Tech. More information, including a list of all 300+ participating companies from last year’s event, may be accessed online at www.cefga.org. v

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The Georgia Contractor

GPTQ Re-Chartered for the Future

By Russell McMurray | Director, Division of Engineering | Georgia DOT In the transportation industry, there is outstanding opportunity for partnering and cooperation. Especially in today’s economy, partnering for cost- and time-efficiencies is a demonstration of prudent customer service and taxpayer stewardship, and a way to encourage streamlining and innovation for quality project delivery.

With that in mind, it is great news that the charter for the Georgia Partnership for Transportation Quality (GPTQ) was recently signed by the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Georgia (ACEC/G), the Georgia Highway Contractors Association (GHCA), and the Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT).

Readers familiar with GPTQ activities in the early years of this decade may have assumed that the initiative just went dormant, another sign of the tight economy.

Rather, as with many things in this day and time, a change in how we do things was in order and this applies to GPTQ. In the early 1990s, Georgia DOT began the Georgia Quality Initiative (GQI), a reflection of the National Quality Initiative that most state DOTs embraced. Transportation-wise, it was a very different day.

The focus was on construction quality with a heavy emphasis on constructability issues and materials. Obviously, focus on these items required more focus on preliminary engineering activities to achieve the best results possible in construction phase.

There were many opportunities for partnering across engineering and construction phases to produce a better transportation product, on-time and on-budget.

By 2004, the GPTQ name came into effect as the national effort under FHWA became the National Partnership for Highway Quality (NPHQ). Many initiatives and great successes were achieved! All the while, Georgia DOT was evolving, including adapting to declining workforce levels, funding challenges, and re-organized offices and functions. For example, the newly formed Division of Engineering includes November | December 2012

the offices of Road Design, Bridge Design, and Design Policy and Support, and more recently, the department added the offices of Innovative Program Delivery and Office of Program Delivery.

There are some new faces, but the common goals of the three GPTQ chartering entities have remained constant on behalf of the traveling public. Even without the traditional GPTQ Workshop held each December that showcased the results of year-long task force activities, formal and informal deliberations have continued and yielded many new practices and procedures that make our respective and collective roles in transportation project delivery easier and better. By the end of the decade, NPHQ was sunset by FHWA and a year later, GPTQ was sunset.

In October 2012, GPTQ was reorganized under a new charter with an official charter-signing ceremony held at Georgia DOT. Our goals are to: • Work cooperatively to deliver the transportation program efficiently with a focus on quality.

• Provide a forum to facilitate the exchange of best in field practices.

• Continuously improve GDOT’s products, processes, and projects.

• Recognize and showcase quality achievement by the Partnership and their members.

• Improve long-term performance and durability of Georgia’s transportation system.

One of the most fundamental and critical elements of the GPTQ effort over the years has been communication. There has been much hard work through committees and sub-committees, and without effective communication, we wouldn’t have been successful. I’ve been involved in GPTQ activities for several years, and I like to think that the three groups communicate better and differently than we did back in the 1990s.

Today, we are certainly more accessible to each other—only an e-mail, text, tweet, or call away; organizationally, a lot more ‘horizontal’ than ever before; and the need to collaborate is a driving force. As we move forward, communication will be more critical than ever. All parties are in agreement to work efficiently, keep lines of communication open, to focus on the critical areas, and make effective use of all of our limited resources.

I look forward to ACEC/G, GHCA, and Georgia DOT continuing to build on the foundation of partnership through GPTQ. v 11

Savannah Harbor Expansion Program a regional project with national impact

By Pamela Little, PE | EcoWise Civil Design & Consulting Inc.

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The Georgia Contractor

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n October 26, the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Jo-Ellen Darcy signed the long-awaited Record of Decision for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) to proceed from the evaluation phase into the construction phase. More than 12 years have passed since the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began its official studies into deepening the Savannah Harbor to accommodate the larger Post-Panamax ships expected to bring cargo to the United States following the Panama Canal expansion.

In August 2012, the Corps issued the final Chief of Engineers Report on the project with a recommendation to dredge the harbor to a 47-foot depth adding five feet to the current 42-foot depth. The report was released just one month after President Obama named the project to the We Can’t Wait initiative for expediting infrastructure projects expected to have exceptional regional and national benefits.

The importance of the SHEP to the regional and national economies was emphasized at the October 30, 2012, State of the Ports Luncheon hosted by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, where Governor Nathan Deal called the Port of Savannah, “an economic driver for the state of Georgia.” A delegation of individuals from Georgia, including Gov. Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, has been working to ensure federal funding will be available for the project. Geographical and political boundaries have been put aside to ensure the success of the expansion and to help it move forward.

The total cost of the project has been estimated at $652 million. The cost will be shared between the federal government and the non-federal sponsor, the Georgia Department of Transportation November | December 2012

(GDOT). A Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) will be drafted to define the terms and responsibilities of the Corps and GDOT. The PPA and an authorization from Congress for the budgeted cost of the project are the final two steps in a long, involved process to authorize the expansion.

Congress conditionally authorized the SHEP in 1999 with the ‘unique’ requirement that the Corps consult with the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce and the Administrator of EPA and gain their approval on the selected improvement plan as well as the associated mitigation plan before entering the construction phase. This is the only Corps deepening project to require such an approval.

If the project is fully funded by Congress each year per the recommendations in the project plan, it is expected to be complete by the end of 2017. It is expected to take only four years to build the project that was conceptualized in the late 1990s.

Over its 50-year lifecycle, the expansion is expected to reduce shipping costs by $174 million per year for US companies; thereby lowering costs for imported goods purchased by consumers. This project has a 5.5:1 benefit-to-cost ratio, meaning that for every $1 spent on the project, the country is expected to earn a return of $5.50. Positive effects from the project are expected as far west as Dallas and as far north as Illinois.

USACE Savannah District Commander and District Engineer, Col. Jeffrey Hall, said the project, “… will create jobs and improve the nation’s waterways as well as our nation’s global competitiveness.”

By increasing the depth of the harbor just five feet, the port will be able to accommodate over 78 percent more cargo per shipment. Today, the largest shipments the harbor receives are approximately 4,600 twenty-foot equivalent containers (TEUs). Once the project is complete, it is expected to be able to receive up to 8,200 TEUs on a single carrier.

With so many economic benefits expected from the project, it may be surprising that approval for the project took so long. When asked, Col. Hall indicated that the study period was appropriate for this particular project and was necessary to find the right balance between economic benefit and environmental impacts. He added that in the future, similar feasibility studies could be reduced by narrowing the scope of the project from the beginning and applying SMART— Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Risk Informed, and Timely - criteria to the project goals.

The extensive study period and paperwork generated for the project influenced a new goal to reduce Corps studies to a maximum of three years and $3 million. When lined up side-by-side on a conference room table, the study documents, including sixty-four (64) engineering studies conducted on the SHEP, take up twelve feet in length. These studies also took over a decade and over $46 million to complete.

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The results of such extensive studies are impressive. Just less than half of the budget for the project will be spent to evaluate, monitor, and mitigate environmental impacts. The feasibility studies also involved consultation with other agencies

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such as the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) and GDOT to determine, what, if any, improvements were on their schedules to address growth whether the harbor was deepened or not. As a result of the feasibility studies, USACE Savannah District,

Chief of the Planning Division, Bill Bailey indicated, “We don’t believe the harbor deepening will cause any additional landside improvements to be needed.”

As for the approximately $306 million to be spent on mitigation and evaluation, the following are all included in the project scope: construction of a new fish bypass around New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam in Augusta; acquisition and preservation of 2,245 acres of wetlands; installation of an oxygen injection system to compensate for potentially lower levels of dissolved oxygen in the water; construction of a raw water storage impoundment for the city of Savannah’s industrial and domestic water treatment facilities; recovery, documentation, and curate of the Civil War ironclad CSS Georgia; as well as environmental monitoring beginning prior to construction and ending ten years after construction to determine the extent of effects from the project.

The extensive studies provide both the Corps and the public with a high degree of confidence in the findings to manage the impacts and find solutions for the challenges. The actual deepening will be accomplished through a combination of hopper dredging and cutter-head dredging methods, with dredge material deposition in both EPA-approved ocean-dredged material disposal sites and existing and approved land-side confined disposal facilities.

The SHEP is expected to provide great benefits to the nation and to the states of Georgia and South Carolina. The Port of Savannah, including Garden City Terminal and Ocean Terminal, serves up to 44 percent of the US population. Access for exportation of goods grown or made in the Southeast is expected to improve and benefit the regional economy. A study has shown that the state’s deepwater ports already support 352,146 jobs throughout Georgia. On top of these benefits, the port already brings in $1.4 billion in state taxes and $4.5 billion in federal taxes. As imports and exports increase, these numbers are expected to continue to grow. v The Georgia Contractor

REACHING OUT to Georgia’s Veterans

By Tricia Pridemore | Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development As the granddaughter of a Korean War Veteran, I appreciate the sacrifice and commitment our troops give forth as they fight for our country. Saluting our nation’s heroes for the sacrifice that they and their families go through to preserve our nation’s freedom is the responsibility of Americans.

In the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development, we honor our troops by granting them priority in Georgia’s workforce system. Although the federal government requires veterans to receive priority through federal workforce programs, the State Workforce Investment Board has deemed them a priority for Georgia as well.

“To further ensure that Georgia remains one of the most veteran-friendly states in the country, the State Workforce Investment Board established the policy that the highest priority for WIA services will be given to eligible veterans and eligible spouses of veterans.”

Of the hundreds of Georgia companies our office meets with, they all consistently

Tricia Pridemore

November | December 2012

want employees with a strong work ethic and fundamental life skills. This training is a way of life for American vets regardless which branch of service they hail. Veterans possess strong leadership and teamwork skills, as well as the discipline to finish a day’s work with quality and precision.

Through Go Build Georgia, GOWD is working tirelessly to recruit men and women into the skilled trades. The men and women who are returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are the most qualified candidates to immediately place in the 16,500 openings we have coming available in the next year.

To make transitioning back into civilian life as seamless as possible, GOWD launched the Operation: Workforce portal, on November 8. This portal is designed to be a gateway into veteran’s jobs programs and services. This portal is linking Georgia companies directly with our heroes seeking employment. This has essentially created an online one-stop shop for Veterans seeking employment.

Among Governor Deal’s charge to encourage veteran’s employment, he implemented the Hire a Georgia Veteran Campaign. This campaign presents a call to action for Georgia employers to focus on

enhanced hiring opportunities for veterans, guardsmen, and reservists. The pledge commitment also encourages increased priority for interview opportunities.

Georgia is fortunate to have leadership across the state that understands the importance of taking care of our Veterans. It’s truly encouraging to see state agencies working together to make a smooth transition back into the civilian lifestyle and workforce a possibility for Georgia’s veterans.v

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Go Build Georgia Partners with Other State Agencies to Reach Veterans

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n November 8, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development and the Georgia Department of Labor hosted a Georgia Jobs for Veterans Breakfast and Career Expo at the Georgia World Congress Center.

The breakfast included employers and elected officials from all across the state ready to extend a hand to the veterans in need. The audience heard from Governor Nathan Deal, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, Executive Director Tricia Pridemore, Commissioner Mark Butler, and other state leaders on the importance of employing those who have served our state in service.

The expo included employers meet and greet sessions with the job seekers to give the employers a chance to review the veteran’s resumes and applications. Employers also had the option to conduct on-the-spot interviews with job seekers they saw fit to fill their open positions. The expo included an isolated area for these interviews to take place. A computer lab was available for any veteran to prepare and edit their resume before speaking with an employer. Also, GDOL provided workshops throughout the event such as ‘How to Use Social Media in Your Job Search,’ ‘Interviewing Tips and Strategies,’ and ‘Resume Preparation.’

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 773,337 veterans called Georgia home in 2011. As of September 2012, 39,000 of those 773,337 are classified in the working age group which is ages 18-64 and are currently unemployed. Furthermore, there are an expected 80,000 Veterans to enter Georgia’s workforce in the next few years.

With these statistics, GOWD knew it was time to take action. The State Workforce Investment Board voted to grant vet16

By The Go Build Team

erans priority of service in Georgia’s workforce system. Essentially this means that veterans and their spouses will receive the first priority for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) services if they are eligible.

Georgia has been one of four states selected to participate in a pilot program with US Department of Labor and the Department of the Army to develop a national model for reemployment strategies for veterans and UCX claimants. This multi-agency effort will help to bridge employment gaps in Georgia and uncover ways that we can better share data with the military and key stakeholders to get veterans more quickly into the workforce.

Problems veterans face while transitioning back into civilian life include, but are not limited to: skills translation, negative stereotypes, and acclimation to the tra-

ditional work environment. Georgia is home to strong leaders who are committed to putting our veterans back to work so they can support their families.

Agencies such as Department of Veterans Service, Georgia Department of Labor, and many more provide transition services for our returning vets.

The next charge that Governor Deal and the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development have implemented is the Hire a Georgia Veteran campaign. The state has asked that Georgia employers take a pledge to enhance hiring opportunities for veterans, guardsmen, and reservists. The pledge asks companies to give veteran’s applying for open positions the courtesy of an interview or follow up. Essentially, if companies are looking for dedicated workers, give Georgia’s heroes a chance.

The Georgia Contractor

Employment is not only crucial for a veteran to be able to support his or her family, but is important for their overall wellness. These men and women have served our country, now they are back and need to support their families. Meaningful employment will give these men and women a chance to plant their feet back on American soil and continue to strive for success.

With the jobs available through Go Build Georgia, these veterans are the perfect candidates. The program is not only focused on our high school students learning the value of these careers, but all unemployed Georgians to move the needle on the state’s jobless rate.

The final piece of GOWD’s mission to employ Georgia’s heroes is the Operation: Workforce web portal. This portal will host the employer pledge, a geographical listing of veteran-friendly employers, and a military crosswalk that converts military occupations to civilian occupations. This portal will provide an easily assessable location for veterans to seek employment resources.

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Coming to the aid of veterans is where the state of Georgia must step up. It is a call to

action: if an employer has jobs available these are great, qualified candidates. v

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Construction & Engineering Fair

captures attention of hundreds of students

How do you get a middle school or high school student interested in a career they never considered before? Give them the chance to actually try it! Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, along with the Workforce Alliance Group of the Associated General Contractors of Georgia Inc. (AGC Georgia,) held the first of many events to do just that. On October 4, the college hosted the 2012 Careers in Construction and Engineering Fair on their Valdosta Campus for middle and high school students from several South Georgia counties.

Similar events have been held in North Georgia and in the Albany area, but this was the first of its kind in the greater Valdosta area.

students compete to complete the DOT bridge build 18

The Georgia Contractor

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he event was designed to attract the attention of workers and leaders of the future. The construction and engineering industries are forecasting the need for thousands of new employees in the next few years. One reason for this is the current aging workforce, and the fact that many of these have already or will be retiring soon.

While the economy slowed down the industry for several years, that is changing, and these industries are seeing a fast recovery.

The college and more than 15 local and state construction related vendors hoped to create an environment to attract the attention of hundreds of future potential employees.

The fair was a half day event that featured many types of activities all showcasing different types of careers in the construction or engineering fields. Approximately 360 middle school and high school students from Brooks, Ben Hill, Berrien, Cook, Echols, Irwin, and Lowndes counties, along with several area home school students, participated in the day’s activities that included a lot of hands-on participation. As the students arrived, they were ushered into an auditorium to receive instructions on the flow of activities, and an overview of the programs Wiregrass Georgia Technical College offers in the construction and engineering fields. After that, they moved outside to begin exploring.

One of the first activities the students encountered was a demonstration by Georgia Auto Sprinklers. They watched as a fire broke out in a contained space causing the sprinkler system to activate along with some special effect sounds that kept the students on their toes.

The small fire raised the temperature to 150 degrees which caused a bulb, set as a fusible link, to break and allow the discharge of water. The students were enthralled with the process that caused the sprinklers to work. After that, the students spread out and worked through all types of interactive activities from vendors representing all aspects of the construction and engineering industry.

November | December 2012

The Department of Transportation provided the DOT Bridge Build where teams of four competed for the best time in taking apart and rebuilding a replica of a bridge.

The competitive spirit of the students soon made this one of the most popular activities as they raced to get the best time.

At the end of the day, the school team that had the best time was awarded $500 worth of equipment to be used in their school’s construction related program. A team of four young men from Brooks County High School made up the winning team.

Another exciting activity involved heavy machinery. United Rentals of Valdosta provided two types of lift equipment, including a Sky Jack. Students who saw workers on top of this type of equipment thought it looked like fun, but soon learned that there was a lot more to its operation than meets the eye. Working with a United Rental employee, they guided the machinery up and across part of the parking lot.

Yancey Brothers Company, a Caterpillar dealer, provided a 2012 Caterpillar 140M2 Motor Grader that soon became a hit not only with the students but several teachers as well.

Habitat for Humanity conducted a shed building event on site. Students grabbed their hard hats and helped put up walls, lay subfloors, and work on the roof.

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College electrical students completed the wiring on the shed that was ultimately donated to the Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Foundation South.

The shed will be auctioned off at a later date to help raise funds to provide more events like the Careers in Construction and Engineering Fair.

Home Depot provided students the chance to get a little messy, with paint. Students used their creativity to try out different types of paint on a wall. In the end, several were able to take home their creations.

Wiregrass drafting, electrical systems, industrial systems, air conditioning systems, and welding programs also provided activities in their classrooms that showed students how exciting and rewarding careers in those fields could be.

Georgia Power tested the students’ strength while also demonstrating the difference between the regular light bulbs and the CFL bulbs. Students hand cranked a generator to provide power to light the bulbs. The demonstration provided a physical example of the amount of energy used for the old version of light bulbs compared to the new CLF bulbs. Harris Surveying caught the interest of many by showing off land survey maps of the local area and discussing careers in the field.

The fair was designed to show students the many types of careers available in the industry and also educational paths one can take to achieve those careers. Southern Polytechnic State University showed students the educational tracks they could take beginning in high school, moving into programs at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, and then completing their four year degree or higher at Southern Poly under an articulation agreement providing a seamless education opportunity.

At the end of the event, students were excited about the career possibilities available, and the vendors left with high hopes for the future of their industry and the talent that will soon be heading their way.

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College is a two year technical college offering programs in air conditioning technology, industrial systems technology, electrical systems technology, welding and joining technology, mechanical and architectural drafting, machine tool technology, and a new construction management associate degree.

Wiregrass also offers a true two plus two articulation agreement with Southern Polytechnic State University in the areas of mechanical and electrical engineering. This agreement allows students to transfer up to 62 academic credit hours taken at Wiregrass to Southern Polytechnic towards completing a bachelor degree.

To find out more visit www.wiregrass.edu. v 19

Fringe Benefits & the Davis Bacon Act Compliance: Four Must-dos

By Niel Dawson | Executive Director | IEC Association ne of the trickiest areas of compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act are fringe benefits, which when administered correctly can save a lot of money, or cost you a lot if you get it wrong. From what can be included, to when to pay, how to pay, not to mention, how much to pay are all landmines, or gold-mines, if done properly.

Let’s assume you are signed up with a registered apprenticeship program with the US Dept. of Labor (or state apprenticeship council) like the one IEC Atlanta/Georgia operates. With that in mind, let’s review four strategies to assure you are in compliance.

1) First and foremost ~ READ YOUR CONTRACT. As we all know, the ‘Contract is King!’ You must also read the apprenticeship program standards, which may specify the amount of fringe benefits to be paid apprentices while in the registered program. If the standards are silent, then the full amount published in the contract must be paid. On the other hand, if the contract is silent on this issue, then it is permissible to pay apprentices whatever the program apprenticeship standards specify. If both the standards and the contract specifies the a fringe amount, or some other percentage, then the contract would overrule the apprenticeship program standards.

This is critical! Read the contract and the standards carefully! (For more information on this go to http://www.doleta.gov/OA/bul06/Bull etin_2006-05A_Fringe-Benefits.pdf ) 2) Know your current fringe amount in hourly rate format. If a contract specifies $8.67/hour be paid in fringe, then don’t automatically pay that out! Calculate each of the fringe amounts you pay into an hourly rate and then deduct that from the specified rate.

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included as long as it is not contingent upon a passing grade. A fringe can only be included if it is given without a contingency. Other items that can be included are life insurance and pension plans that you pay for.

Finally, don’t forget to include any paid time off such as vacation, holiday or sick time.

Example: if you pay 50 percent of the health insurance premium at $200/mth, then the annual amount would be 200 x 12, or $2,400. Convert this to an hourly rate (2,400 / 2,080 work hours per year) = $1.15/hour. Continue with all your benefits, total and deduct this from the $8.67 to determine what additional (if any) you are required to pay. Now that you know how to calculate a fringe as an hourly amount, what can be included?

3) Know What Can Be Included in Fringe. Bottom line, anything that you choose to provide for an employee can normally be included in the calculation of the fringe.

Those items you cannot include are: taxes, workers comp, unemployment, and any other state or local mandated taxes, fees or regulated costs required under law. There are a few that can go either way depending upon how you treat them. For example, if you pay for the cost of the apprenticeship program or other schooling, this can be

4) Contributions to a Retirement Type Account. This may be the trickiest, but extremely advantageous and should be administered by a qualified broker or fringe benefits group that specializes in DB work. Instead of setting up a retirement plan, you can always just add the additional fringe amount to the hourly rate, but doing this will automatically cost you the additional taxes (FICA, SUTA, Comp, Unemployment, etc…) in addition to the rate, which on average can be five percent!

Then, there’s overtime, which must be paid at time and a half on the hourly rate, which will cost an additional 50 percent of the fringe, plus taxes. Payments to the retirement account must be made at least quarterly, and if invested wisely during the quarter, can also make you some money! Next, by contributing into an employee’s retirement plan, it allows owners and key employees to contribute more for their own retirement due to strict IRS rules.

There are more advantages, but are beyond the scope of this article—contact a specialist to set one up for you. But please don’t ignore this tip if you are going to be competitive in your bids.

As a disclaimer, I highly recommend you have your fringe benefits calculations reviewed by a specialist or attorney, as there are ever-changing regulations in this arena. v The Georgia Contractor

Recommendations for Characterizing RAS he use of recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) in asphalt mixes is on the rise. A recent survey conducted

by NAPA showed that RAS use increased by more than 50 percent from 2009 to 2010. Nationwide, 1.1 million tons of RAS were recycled into asphalt mixes in 2010, conserving more than 200,000 tons of virgin asphalt binder.

Based on a composite of average 2010 asphalt price indices published by 11 state DOTs, this translates into savings of approximately $100 million. While reducing material costs for asphalt mixes is a driving factor in the use of RAS, it also makes sense environmentally. In addition to conserving raw materials, using RAS in asphalt paving mixes resolves waste disposal issues and reduces the amount of shingles dumped in landfills.

RAS contains asphalt binder, organic fibers or fiberglass, mineral aggregate, and mineral filler. RAS is available from two distinct sources: manufacturing waste (MW) and post-consumer (PC) waste. PC or tear-off shingles are removed from houses or buildings during reroofing and typically contain higher asphalt contents due to weathering of the surface granules.

Exposure to the sun over time also oxidizes the asphalt binder, producing a stiffening effect. The asphalt binder present in MW shingles has been aged due to the airblown production process but is less stiff than PC RAS binder.

Many state agencies limit the amount of RAS in asphalt mixes—typically five percent or less by weight of the aggregate.

Other states are beginning to move toward specifications that limit the percentage of recycled binder. In either case, successful RAS mixes depend on correct processing and handling of the RAS material. Mixes containing RAS must also be properly designed in order to be cost effective and to ensure good mix performance. An integral part of mix design is characterizing the RAS components.

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Processing and Handling RAS Shingles must be processed, or ground, before being used in asphalt paving mixes.

Deleterious materials such as nails, wood, and other debris should be removed prior to grinding. These contaminants are more often present in PC than MW shingles.

However, the grinding process is typically easier for PC shingles, since the asphalt has been further aged and is more brittle than in MW shingles. As heat accumulates during grinding, the asphalt in MW shingles becomes more plastic, making it difficult to achieve a uniformly ground product.

The current specification (AASHTO MP 15-09 Use of Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles as an Additive in Hot-Mix Asphalt) states that RAS should be ground such that 100 percent passes the 12.5-mm (½-inch) sieve. However, many contractors have found it beneficial to heave a finer grind of RAS, such as a 3/8-inch top size. A finer grind ensures maximum economic benefit by increasing the amount of usable asphalt and also improves mat placement and quality. RAS particles should be ground to a uniform size to facilitate good blending during production.

MW and PC shingles should be stockpiled separately since the characteristics of each are very different. Other stockpile concerns include the following: • Adequate drainage of stockpiles is imperative, because water is often added during the grinding process. Also consider covering RAS stockpiles to prevent precipitation from increasing the moisture content. Higher moisture contents mean higher temperatures during plant runs because the moisture must be dried out of the RAS before the binder can be heated sufficiently.

• Prevent agglomeration of the shingle particles while stockpiled. This can be accomplished by blending RAS with an acceptable fine aggregate source or with RAP (at a ratio of 75/25 or 80/20 percent, with RAS being the lower percentage). When blending RAS with other materials, it is imperative that the blend be consistent throughout the stockpile.

Otherwise, the variations in the stockpile will lead to variations in the produced asphalt mix.

If binder properties are being assessed, labThe Georgia Contractor

oratory samples of RAS material should be dried with a fan. Otherwise, RAS samples may be oven dried at 110째C; however, this method may further stiffen RAS binder.

RAS Asphalt RAS binders are stiffer and have different rheological properties than virgin or modified binders since they are air-blown during shingle production. PC RAS binder is also stiffer than MW due to further aging on roofs.

ignition of other RAS material components.

Thus, a material-specific asphalt correction factor must be determined in order to account for this material loss. Developing an asphalt correction factor for RAS is difficult, however, due to the uncertain composition of RAS.

In the absence of an appropriate ignition oven correction factor, chemical extraction should be used to determine RAS asphalt content. With same-source RAS, comparisons should be made between the asphalt contents determined by chemical extraction and ignition oven to determine their relative closeness. v

Asphalt Content The current standard for RAS mix designs (AASHTO PP 53-09 Design Considerations When Using Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles in New Hot-Mix Asphalt) require that the asphalt content of RAS samples be determined using chemical extraction methods. However, both agencies and contractors desire to minimize the use of solvent extractions due to the hazardous chemicals involved.

The ignition oven method (AASHTO T 308) is a popular alternative for determining the asphalt content of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), but some organizations are reluctant to use this method with RAS. In addition to burning off asphalt, the excessive heat of the ignition oven can cause aggregate breakdown or the

November | December 2012

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Mechanically Stabilized Earth/Segmental Retaining Walls Observations & Lessons from the School of Experience By ECS Corporate Services LLC. echanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) is simply soil that is internally reinforced. For the better part of human existence, cultures around the world have constructed ‘reinforced’ earth systems.

Materials such as branches and straw have been used in the construction of crude mud and brick structures and roadways. Archaeological discoveries in Asia have identified the use of wood sticks to reinforce earthen embankments for at least 1,000 years. In terms of using mechanically stabilized or reinforced earth from an ‘engineering’ perspective, history traces its use to 16th century France.

History of MSE Engineering and Construction ~ The modern science of MSE in retaining wall applications is also credited to the French, having first been used in commercial applications in the 1960’s. After nearly a decade of use in Europe, the first mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall (MSEW) in the United States was constructed in 1971 for a California roadway project.

The majority of the MSEW projects in the United States through the mid-1980s were transportation related. Thereafter, MSE use expanded tremendously to solve topographic challenges in commercial land development. Owners have always had the need to create more useable acreage, but the area of land and quantity of earth needed to create conventional earth slopes became increasingly costly. MSE systems allow owners the opportunity to increase available buildable land areas using flexible, durable, and cost effective earth retention systems.

Advantages of MSE Systems ~ When most of us think of MSE, we think of Segmental Retaining Walls (SRWs). SRWs were developed in the 1980s and gained wide acceptance in commercial applications because of their many advantages. SRWs provide designers with the flexibility to create ‘buildable’ land in areas otherwise pre24

senting development challenges. SRWs are aesthetically appealing using dry stacked masonry blocks that come in many shapes and finishes.

Typical soil reinforcement consists of polymer geosynthetics commonly known as geogrids. SRWs are relatively flexible and can accommodate some movement without collapse, particularly during earthquakes. SRWs are erected using dry stacked construction techniques that facilitate relatively easy and rapid installation. SRWs utilize soil materials, often from onsite sources, as part of the wall system which is a less expensive alternative to concrete and steel. Because the SRW units are made solely of aggregate and cementitious materials, they are very durable and environmentally friendly. Typical SRW production can range from about 400 square feet per day to about 1,000 square feet per day depending upon manpower and equipment resources.

Segmental Retaining Walls vs. Reinforced Soil Slopes ~ Another application of MSE to accommodate site development and increase available buildable land includes reinforced steepened soil slopes (RSSs). RSS are distinguished from SRWs as their inclination is shallower than 70 degrees, whereas SRWs are considered for all inclinations greater than 70 degrees.

RSS may utilize various facing options but typically have either a wrapped or formed face that can be vegetated. SRW heights in the United States are now approaching 100 feet, while RSS construction is nearing 300 vertical feet.

MSE Design Considerations ~ Regardless of the MSE alternative selected for a project, thorough evaluation and integrated design approach is essential to the satisfactory longterm performance of the MSE system.

When it comes to the design of MSE systems, careful coordination by the MSE designer with the members of the design team, particularly the civil and geotechnical

engineers, is essential to a successful project.

The phrase too often seen in land development documents is ‘Wall by Others’ without concern for design and constructability challenges.

The design of MSE systems is not mutually exclusive of other design disciplines and must be fully integrated between applicable consultants. Lack of coordination and lack of continuity of design consultants throughout the design and construction process has resulted in performance problems on some MSE projects.

Such problems can be avoided by placing the same emphasis on MSE design as is placed on building structures. During the past three decades many advances have been made to establish consistent and reliable MSE design practice.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) have championed best practices approaches for the design and construction of MSE systems.

MSE Cost Considerations: Lastly, and perhaps the driving force in the use of and technological advances of MSE and SRW construction is their overall economic value when compared to conventional earth retaining structures such as cast-in-place concrete walls. Cost advantages ranging from 25 to 60 percent can be realized when compared to cast-in-place concrete or other structural wall systems. v The Georgia Contractor

Contractors Save with Fringe Pay Pension Plans

By J. Zane Smith Sr. | Vice President/Founding Partner | BENECO ontractors are always looking for an edge to win a bid. For federal jobs, the required fringe benefit pay can cost big bucks in taxes, unemployment, and payroll fees. But diverting fringe pay into a DOL-approved, bona fide benefit and pension plan can give employees real benefits, while making that money tax-exempt!

The ARRA (American Recovery & Reinvestment Act) has made more construction jobs available during these hard economic times; however, the result is unusually high numbers of contractors bidding for these jobs. At the same time, state and federal agencies have intensified compliance efforts, increasing the likelihood of undergoing an audit when working an ARRA job.

Contractors tend to pay the fringe benefits as additional cash wages, believing it’s the easiest way to comply with the law (Davis Bacon Act). However, allocating this money to a bona fide benefit plan, such as a Pension or Health and Welfare Trust, can result in significant cost savings.

When the fringe portion of the prevailing wage is used to pay for hourly workers’ benefits, this amount is not subject to payroll costs (labor burden) including FICA, federal and state unemployment taxes, Workers Compensation, and General Liability insurance. Although there can be variances in certain rates, this labor burden typically represents an additional cost to the contractor of 25-35 percent on each dollar paid as cash wages.

The key to keeping that 25-35 percent in the bank is the use of an approved and compliant plan, where the contractor is not serving as trustee or fiduciary, and where the plan complies with all prevailing wage laws and regulations. Here is an example of how it can work.

Sample Calculation Assume the Acme Construction Co. has 15 employees doing prevailing wage work.

November | December 2012

These employees work approximately 1,000 hours per person, per year. The fringe benefit amount above the base rate is $8/hour, and the labor burden (FICA, Unemployment taxes, Workers Comp, and General Liability) is 25 percent when paying fringe dollars as cash wages, saving the contractor

BENECO supports clients during audits at no additional cost, and will work to bring them back into compliance.

Having a business partner that specializes in prevailing wage projects is an easy and very cost effective way to bid more competitively on new federal job opportu-

15 employees X 1,000 hours = 15,000 Total Hours 15,000 hours X $8.00 (Fringe) = $120,000 in Fringe Benefit Pay $120,000 X 25% (Labor Burden) = $30,000 Acme Construction Co. Savings

between eight-ten percent on total project labor costs!

The number of bids submitted for public works projects has increased dramatically, which means greater competition for new jobs. The number of contractors registered with the Central Contractor Registry (U.S. Federal Government database), has grown significantly in the past two years.

Anecdotally, we have heard that the number of contractors bidding on state and local government jobs is two to three times the amount seen a year ago. If your competitors are using a bona fide benefit plan—and you’re not—you’re at a disadvantage.

Traditional benefit plan providers often struggle with prevailing wage benefits due to the seasonal nature of construction work.

A company like BENECO that specializes in this industry can easily ‘turn off ’ contributions to the plan when the job finishes, and resume them when the next prevailing wage job starts. BENECO also offers a unique ‘hour banking’ program, which enables benefits to continue uninterrupted for hourly workers during slow times or layoffs, and at no cost to the employer. In addition, benefits are tracked on an hourly basis, specially designed for contractors’ convenience, to make payroll and reporting simplified.

Traditional plan providers can only offer benefits with premiums on a monthly basis, forcing contractors to manually calculate and adjust premiums themselves. Plus,

nities, and ease concerns about unintentionally falling out of compliance. Using a firm that understands federal and state regulations, is familiar with recordkeeping requirements, and offers a full complement of benefits to allocate the full fringe amount can give contractors the advantage needed to compete in an increasingly crowded bidding environment.

About the Author J. Zane Smith is a founding Partner and Sr. Vice President of BENECO with offices in San Antonio, Texas, and Scottsdale, Arizona. Since 1989, Zane has worked closely with various state and federal departments of labor regarding the procedures and regulations involving contractor’s ability to save labor burden costs and bid more competitively using the proprietary systems that BENECO has developed as a Department of Labor and IRS approved plan; compliant with the Davis Bacon Act of 1931 (C.F.R. 29), Service Contract Act, all state prevailing wage laws, and ERISA. He speaks regularly to trade associations and conducts seminars concerning these issues and how they relate to contractors. With more than 2,000 contractors using the BENECO plan in over 40 states, BENECO is the nationwide leader in the construction industry relating to contractors who perform on projects involving municipal, state, and federal prevailing wages. zsmith@beneco.com v 25

Will Construction in the Peach State Still Be the Pits?

By Ken Simonson | Chief Economist | AGC of America

Construction activity in Georgia has now tumbled for nearly six years in a row. Will the industry finally achieve an upturn in 2013?

Nationally, both construction spending and employment bottomed out in early 2011. The upturn since then has been fragile and fragmentary, but both figures seem to have moved definitively higher.

Specifically, construction spending climbed 12 percent from its low point in January 2011 through August 2012. As of September, employment was also up from a February 2011 low, but only by one percent. Nevertheless, most indicators suggest construction spending will continue to rise in 2013, which virtually dictates an increase in construction employment in the coming months.

In contrast, Georgia has yet to experience any turnaround. Construction employment in the state topped out at 224,000, seasonally adjusted, in March 2007, nearly a year after the national peak.

(Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique to remove normal weather- and holiday-related variations to allow valid comparisons of different months.) By September 2012, employment in Georgia had fallen 38 percent to 138,700—a far steeper drop than the 29 percent decline that occurred nationwide between April 2006 and February 2011. Totals for the third quarter of 2012 were the lowest since early 1994.

In the last year alone, from September 2011 to September 2012, another 4,400 construction jobs disappeared in Georgia.

That 3.1 percent decline placed Georgia 34th out of 50 states plus the District of Columbia in the rate of construction employment growth over that period.

There has been a small pickup in building construction employment— employees of homebuilders and nonresidential building general contractors.

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Ken Simonson Employment in this subcategory rose three percent, not seasonally adjusted, from September 2011 to September 2012. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which posts employment data, does not seasonally adjust industry subcategories; such data can be meaningfully compared only for the same month in different years, not across months.) Nevertheless, the September 2012 total of 33,000 is down by more than a third from the high of 50,400 set six years before.

Employment among heavy and civil engineering contractors slipped another two percent in the last 12 months, to 21,100 in September 2012. That was 40 percent lower than in the peak September, in 2006.

Specialty trade contractors, the largest construction subcategory, also have shed workers for six consecutive years. Employment fell 37 percent from September 2006 until September 2012. The latest count, 86,800, was six percent less than a year earlier.

The story is similar in all three metro areas for which BLS posts data: not seasonally adjusted construction employment in September maxed out in 2006 and has fall-

en by a cumulative 37 percent in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metro area, 29 percent in the Augusta-Richmond county area (which includes two counties in South Carolina) and 43 percent in the Savannah area.

The only bright spot has been in the Chattanooga metro area, which lies largely in Tennessee but also includes Catoosa, Dade, and Walker counties in Georgia. Construction employment there rose by 1,300 jobs in the past 12 months, or 15 percent—the third strongest increase of any metro area. Even in the Chattanooga area, however, construction employment was 1,600 jobs or 14 percent below the crest in September 2006. (For all of these metros except Atlanta, BLS combines mining and logging with construction to avoid disclosing data about industries with few employers.)

As for construction spending, there are no government figures by state. But Reed Construction Data, which collects data on project starts, reported on October 30 that the value of all starts in the first three quarters of 2012 was up 35 percent from the same period in 2011. Residential starts shot up 60 percent, nonresidential building starts rose 34 percent, and civil engineering starts increased five percent. Such a large increment in starts should translate into more jobs in 2013.

Will ’13 bring better luck to Georgia contractors? Based on recent national trends and surveys, there is some reason for optimism. But improvement will be far from universal.

Total construction spending climbed a modest 6.5 percent from August 2011 to August 2012, the Census Bureau reported on October 1. Private residential spending was up 18 percent, propelled by a 45 percent leap in multifamily construction, 21 percent growth in single-family, and an 11 percent gain in improvements (additions and major renovations to existing houses and apartments). Private nonresidential The Georgia Contractor

spending grew 7.2 percent but has cooled in recent months. Public construction, which has been tapering off since the beginning of 2011, fell 3.5 percent over the latest 12 months.

Georgia has had some of the worst residential problems—nearly vacant condo buildings, large-scale foreclosures and delinquencies on single-family houses, and the highest rate of bank failures of any state.

But there are signs that 2013 may be better.

House prices on homes financed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae in Georgia climbed 4.0 percent from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. That was a full point better than the national rate of appreciation and 14th-best out of 50 states plus D.C. In the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metro area, appreciation reached 6.3 percent.

The major drivers for private nonresidential construction have been power and energy projects, which rose 12 percent; manufacturing, up six percent; and two smaller components: lodging, with a 34 percent rebound, and education (mainly private colleges and universities), up 22 percent.

Nationally, the power and energy market has been—and will continue to be— boosted by oil and gas drilling in shale and other formations. In Georgia, which does not have good drilling prospects, the ‘shale gale’ will nevertheless add to employment through demand for new natural gas-fired power plants to replace increasing uneconomic coal-fired plants. Meanwhile, ongoing construction at the Vogtle nuclear plant site should help lift power construction activity in 2013.

Georgia has attracted a significant share of manufacturing in recent years and should continue to do so. In a survey of corporate economists released on October 29 by the National Association for Business Economics, 27 percent of the 44 respondents said they expect their firms will increase spending on structures in the next 12 months, vs. ten percent who expect a decrease. Industrial Information Resources reported on October 26, “Looking ahead to planned expenditures for 2013, we see the November | December 2012

[industrial manufacturing] industry poised to begin the year with a solid base of project activity, but much will depend on factors not yet in play, most significantly how the November elections turn out.” The firm defines industrial manufacturing as durable and nondurable goods manufacturing, plus “infrastructures (i.e. port facilities, light rail transit, and distribution warehouses).”

One driver of construction in 2012 and 2013 is the expansion of the Panama Canal. Savannah, like other east and gulf coast ports, will be investing heavily to attract ‘post-Panamax’ ships that can carry 15,000 containers—nearly four times the number that can squeeze through the canal’s current locks. To be ready requires dredging, extension of piers and wharves, much larger storage and marshalling yards, improved road and rail connections, and more warehouse capacity both around the port and inland.

The outlook for office and retail construction remains less promising. Total private sector employment nationally has risen by four million from its low point but is still more than four million below the pre-recession high, meaning there is still a lot of vacant office space. Even companies that are expanding are leasing an average of 30 percent less space per employee than in 2007, according to one national commercial realestate firm. That means there is likely to be relatively more spending on office renovations and less on new office construction in 2013. Similarly, retailers are fitting into smaller spaces abandoned by competitors, rather than building new big-box stores or shopping centers.

Public construction still has a bleak outlook, both nationally and in Georgia.

Georgia benefited from federal spending on military bases such as Fort Benning, following the recommendations of the Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, Commission of 2005. However, most of that spending, as well as projects funded by the ‘stimulus legislation’—the 2009 Recovery Act—wrapped up in 2011. Since then, federal construction spending has been shrinking, with deeper cuts likely in 2013.

Local government construction spend-

ing is also waning. The decline in house prices has shrunk the property-tax base of many local agencies and school districts.

The slowdown in population growth in Georgia from an average of 1.7 percent per year last decade to 1.1 percent between July 2010 and July 2011 also cut into demand for new schools.

State revenues have risen for ten straight quarters, according to an October 25 report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government. In the latest period, covering the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012, tax revenues in Georgia increased 4.8 percent, slightly faster than the 3.2 percent rate for all 50 states. But Georgia, like most states, still has not made up for the huge revenue losses of the recession or the added demands to cover Medicaid, underfunded public employee pension and retiree health care plans, and income security programs for an elevated unemployment rate. Therefore, state spending on construction is unlikely to pick up in 2013.

Putting all of these pieces together, it appears Georgia, like the nation as a whole, will experience a rise in construction spending in 2013, powered by a double-digit recovery in residential construction and selective improvements in private nonresidential construction that will be enough to offset a continued slump in public spending. Construction employment will also rise in the Peach State but conditions will be far from peachy. v

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Georgia

NewsContractor

The Beck Group CEO Peter Beck Announces Succession Plan To Transition CEO Role

By End Of 2012 Century-old provider of commercial real estate services will transition CEO role in anticipation of next phase of company’s growth. Current Eastern Division Director and company veteran, Fred Perpall, named CEO.

Fred Perpall

ment to its employees and customers.

“Our goal is to position ourselves for growth at the beginning of our next century,” said Peter Beck. “We believe that promoting leaders with most of their careers ahead of them ensures the vitality and success of the firm. I look forward to working collaboratively with Fred for many years.”

In his new role, Perpall will lead the company in continuing to integrate multiple building disciplines and leveraging innovative technologies to deliver superior value to customers.

“Peter and I have enjoyed a great working relationship for the past 13 years,” said Perpall. “I look forward to our continued partnership as we build upon the past and create a bright future for the firm.” v Strategic Planning Pays Off with New Columbus Apprenticeship Program Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC)

The Beck Group announced today that CEO Peter Beck has chosen his successor, effective January 1, 2013. Beck will assume the position of executive chairman focusing on marketing, strategy and international operations. Fred Perpall, who most recently served as The Beck Group’s director of Eastern Division operations, has been named the new CEO. Perpall, age 38, will serve as just the fifth CEO in The Beck Group’s 100-year history. Marking the first step in a multiyear transition, Perpall’s appointment carries on the firm’s tradition of promoting CEOs in their mid-30s. The Beck Group’s transition strategy allows new CEOs to work in partnership with their predecessors for a decade or more, enhancing the firm’s culture that reflects an obsessive commit28

Georgia Chapter has worked diligently behind the scenes revamping the 1st year Columbus Apprenticeship program. Planning was in process over a year to overhaul and create a new and improved program.

The new program began September 11th at the professional institution of the Turner Center with 21 apprentices representing six IEC member companies.

IEC offers improved quality instruc-

tion by having direct control on how it operates. In the past, many processes were outsourced through Columbus Tech, which resulted in extra steps to getting started, and not much control over the scheduling or instructors. Columbus Tech is an admiral institution, but the connection to the needs of IEC contractors lies with IEC. IEC had a few ideas on how to do things differently to best suit the needs of its members.

IEC’s new Columbus program adds a smoother process to register, schedules to meet the needs of contractors, and instructor supervision to ensure the IEC curriculum is provided in the most productive way. IEC’s first year Columbus Apprenticeship program is IEC directed, with the interest of IEC members in mind.

IEC is a trade association for merit shop electrical contractors. IEC offers a wide array of training programs for apprentices and experienced electricians, personnel referral including loan/borrow programs, and provides a broad range of informational resources for electrical contractors in Atlanta and Georgia. v IEC Recognized by National IEC Atlanta Chapter was recognized by IEC National as the ‘2012 Apprenticeship Chapter of the Year’ during the 2012 National Convention and Expo in Ft. Worth, Texas. This is a very prestigious award as only one chapter is selected out of the 60 nationwide for this honor each year!

The nature of this award is based upon the following criteria: the percentage of member companies participating in the apprenticeship program, use of innovative recruiting methods, and quality of student programs and services. Other factors include how well the chapter creates an IEC ComThe Georgia Contractor

munity, student grade point averages and retention rates, as well as participation on local and national committees and instructor performance regarding certifications and training that make a direct impact on education quality.

Training Director, Todd Hawkins said, “It is with great pleasure that IEC Atlanta was acknowledged as the ”2012 Apprenticeship Chapter of the Year” knowing that it was the efforts and hard work of contractor members, instructors, and staff that made it possible.”

Interested in becoming a member of IEC? Contact our office at (770) 2429277 for more information on the benefits of IEC. IEC is a trade association for merit shop electrical contractors. IEC offers a wide array of training programs for apprentices and experienced electricians, personnel referral including loan/borrow programs, and provides a broad range of informational resources for electrical contractors in Atlanta and Georgia. For additional information on training or membership, contact Niel Dawson, Executive Director at (770) 242-9277 or go to www.iecatlanta.org

Bobby Tutor of Ft. Worth is the IEC National President and Janet Martin of Denver is on the Awards Committee. Todd Hawkins is holding the plaque. v McCarthy Helps Build Legacy of Care at Winn Army Community Hospital Building firm extends work on government healthcare project The Winn Army Community Hospital in Ft. Stewart, Georgia, opened in 1983 and is part of a healthcare legacy that has served soldiers, military retirees, and their November | December 2012

families since December 3, 1940. To continue their record of outstanding medical care and commitment to the local army community, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, www.sas.usace. army.mil, has selected McCarthy Building Companies Inc. to extend its current involvement on the medical campus by awarding the builder the hospital’s second phase of renovations.

The $38 million, four-year project consists of a 43,000-square-foot addition and 55,000 square feet of renovated medical space, including an emergency department (ED), a nutritional department, outpatient ancillary, and administrative departments. With the new renovations, the ED and Family Medical Clinic will double in size, providing additional capacity needed to serve patients. An expanded laboratory blood draw area and additional pharmacy access windows will reduce wait times and further enhance the patient experience.

“The expansion of our medical capability and services we provide is an exciting undertaking,” said Col. Ronald Place, commander of Winn Army Community Hospital. “Our end goal is to give soldiers, military retirees, and their families the best care possible; and this project will provide our patients with the most advanced medical services in one central location.”

Currently, McCarthy is working on Phase I, a $23 million clinical renovation, including a 65,000-square-foot addition and 1,000-square-foot alteration to the hospital.

With the Phase II addition and reno-

vations, the targeted LEED Silver hospital will be able to serve the 16,000 patients (active duty, family members, and retirees) within the region who are currently being sent to network providers. The project also provides a local economic benefit through the hiring of local construction workers to support the expanded and updated facility.

“Being selected for a second time by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah is an honor for McCarthy,” said Kevin Kuntz, president of McCarthy’s Southeast Division. “We look forward to furthering our partnership with the Army Corps team and to building an advanced facility to serve our military heroes and their families.”

The project architect is Leo A. Daly.

Completion of the expansion and renovation is scheduled for October 2016. Rendering courtesy Leo A. Daly v

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Mandatory Commissioning for All Buildings Proposed for Green Building Standard ommissioning for all buildings designed and built under a green building standard from ASHRAE, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) would become mandatory under a new proposal open for public input.

ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1-2011, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides a design standard for those who strive for high performance buildings. It covers key topical areas of site sustainability, water-use efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and the building’s impact on the atmosphere, materials, and resources.

Proposed addendum p would remove the ‘Acceptance Testing’ provision (Section 10.3.1.1Building Acceptance Testing) for small buildings. The proposed addendum is open for public review from Oct. 19-Nov. 18, 2012. To comment on the proposed changes or for more information, visit www.ashrae.org/publicreviews.

Currently the standard implies that when a building area is less than 5,000 square feet, it is considered to have simple building systems, and thus requires a reduced level of commissioning effort, referred to as Acceptance Testing, according to Jeff Ross-Bain, a member of the Standard 189.1 committee. However, building area does not relate to complexity as many buildings less than 5,000 square feet can be complex.

Under the proposed addendum, building commissioning per Section 10.3.1.2 becomes mandatory for all buildings that are designed and built under the requirements of the standard.

“Commissioning is a robust and well supported discipline with established guidelines (ASHRAE and others), a long history 30

of use and with many practitioners,” he said. “The commissioning process is one that adapts to the specific attributes of a given building. A ‘simple’ building would only require ‘simple’ commissioning regardless of size.”

Ross-Bain noted that ‘Acceptance Testing’ is not a universally defined activity nor does there appear to be specific instructions or guidelines within the industry detailing how this activity is formally completed.

Also, a review of the mandatory requirements of Standard 189.1 could be interpreted as producing a relatively complex building (i.e. consumption measurement, on-site renewable energy, daylighting control, outdoor air delivery monitoring, economizers, condensate recovery, etc.), which requires a higher degree of commissioning activity.

Finally, under the current ‘Acceptance Testing’ section, Standard 189.1 would not meet the minimum commissioning prerequisite of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which requires all buildings to undergo the commissioning process.

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a building technology society with more than 50,000 members worldwide. The Society and its members focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration, and sustainability within the industry. Through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education, ASHRAE shapes tomorrow’s built environment today. v

The Georgia Contractor