January 20 2023

NEWS FLASH

NJ Legislation


On January 5th, 2023, Governor Murphy signed A573, expediting the construction inspection process. The bill codifies a three-day construction inspection turnaround and allows for third party inspection if the local officials cannot complete the inspection within three days of the requested date. The bill also provides local governments with several avenues to make their inspection process more timely.


In addition to the bill signing, Governor Murphy, along with Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, announced the awarding of investments of more than $19 million for affordable housing projects across the state.

 

Governor Murphy said “Today’s bill signing will speed up the construction permitting process, making sure that developers are able to complete their projects without delay. The over $19 million investment will aid in the completion of 79 affordable housing units across our state.”


Read the Office of the Governor’s Press Release. A573 can be found here here.

NJ Labor Department Issues Stop-Work Orders on School Construction Projects


“In recent years, NJDOL has identified an alarming trend of unregistered contractors and worker exploitation at school construction projects,” said Joseph Petrecca, Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Wage and Hour and Contract Compliance. “We’re working closely with our partners in education at the state and local levels to ensure they are informed of their obligations under the law – not only to protect workers from being taken advantage of, but also to safeguard upstanding employers from being edged out by unfair competition at workers’ expense.”


In the past several months stop-work orders were issued to contractors on school projects for wage violations, misclassifying employees, failure to register and carry workers compensation, and hiring unregistered contractors. The stop-work orders were issued to contractors on the projects below:


  • Roosevelt Elementary School – Marcal Const. Group
  • Franklin Elementary School – Marcal Const. Group
  • Belleville High School - HESP Solar, LLC and Patriot Iron Works
  • Dunellen School - Bismark Const. Corp. and Concrete Solutions NJ, LLC 

CONSTRUCTION DATA

Construction Economy Closes Year with Positive Outlook for 2023 Despite Economic Uncertainty


Dodge Construction Network recently published its year-end report summarizing the key trends and insights gained across the construction landscape, while also giving insight into what to expect in 2023. Download the report here.

Key Points:

  • Manufacturing, life sciences, data centers, healthcare, infrastructure, and multifamily stood out as key winners
  • Comparatively, single family, office, and K-12 construction languished, showing slow progress
  • The rise in sustainable construction and the rapid adoption of innovative technologies to drive efficiency remain leading trends heading into 2023

INDUSTRY NEWS

Top 10 Causes of Construction Claims Some of the top 10 causes of construction claims or disputes according to a recent Cruz insight report are change in scope, contract management and interpretation issues, unforeseen physical conditions, and design issues.


ConstructionDive’s “The Dotted Line” explains the major legal issues of the year.


Construction Remains one of Country’s Deadliest Industries Construction continues to be one of the deadliest industries in the U.S., with 986 construction workers dying on the job last year. The “Fatal Four” continue to kill more construction workers than other causes combined.


2022 Embodied Carbon Policy—A Year in Review The Carbon Leadership Forum compiled a list of policies enacted in 2022. Many International, Federal, State and Regional policies were passed addressing embodied carbon reductions in the building and infrastructure sector.  Embodied carbon and resiliency were hot topics this past year and will likely continue to be in 2023.


Straight Facts about Concrete Masonry Checkoff Assessments The Inaugural CMU Checkoff Board were sworn into office in November by representatives of the Department of Commerce.  Assessments of $.01 for every concrete block sold (more than $100 million to invest in promoting the block industry in the first decade) will begin April 1, 2023.

WE'RE GROWING!!

Welcome Aboard to Our New Contractor Member:

 

Baumgardner Finishings Company, LLC dba Palermo-BFC

207 W. Parkway Drive | Egg Harbor Twp., NJ 08234 | tel (609) 484-8348

Michael Miller, Division Manager (609) 515-5655

Andrew Baumgardner, Owner/Operation Manager (609) 287-2707

James Baumgardner, Owner/CFO (609) 287-1280

Visit our website Membership Page under Membership Directory tab for a company profile of Baumgardner Finishings Company, LLC dba Palermo-BFC, or any other Association Member, by selecting the Contractor, Associate, or Architect and Engineer category.

IMI / IMTEF

The Next Webinar is Being Held on January 24, 2022 from 12:00-1:00 pm for 1 LU/HSW and is Being Presented by Dan Sitman, Director of Industry Development and Technical Services, IMI

 

What Non-Engineers Need to Know About Structural Masonry


Other Upcoming LU/HSW Webinars:


Structural Fundamentals: Masonry Movement Joints - February 1st

Structural Stabilization of Historic Masonry Buildings - February 21st

Storm Shelter Design Using Masonry - March 1st

Masonry Movement Joints - March 7th

Brick Replacement & Restoration - March 21st


Visit IMI's website for more AIA Accredited Programs.

Virtual Program Exclusively for BAC Signatory Contractors


Demystifying GSA Work On February 9 and 23, 2023 learn how to bid and win work with the GSA, whose work, even during economic downturns, remains steady. A former commissioner of GSA Public Building Service (now with Gensler), and several BAC contractors who have worked with GSA, will share their first-hand experience.  

Instructor Certification Program (ICP)


This fall, 19 BAC members graduated from IMI/IMTEF’s Instructor Certification Program (ICP). ICP instructors make it possible for BAC members to receive the industry’s highest quality training, ensuring they are highly skilled, safe, and high performing. Read more here.

DID YOU KNOW?

The indented center Face of a Brick is called the “FROG” and originates from the ancient Egyptian custom of creating hollows in their Nile-clay bricks. In the 1930's brick factories began imprinting their logo or stamp onto the "FROG", giving each factory a unique identification and these bricks are now sought after by collectors and historians.

From the late 1700’s to mid-1900’s the Hudson River Brick Industry was one of the largest manufacturing industries of NY State, producing hundreds of millions of bricks. The Haverstraw, NY Brick Museum was established in 1995 to collect artifacts and preserve the history of the brick industry of the North Rockland County area.

We've Moved! 3242 Route 206, Suite 10 | Bordentown, NJ 08505 | tel (609) 324-1140 | fax (609) 324-1138

Dedicated to promoting Masonry Design and

Union Construction throughout the State of New Jersey

Visit our website www.mcofnj.org for more information.