Articles of Interest

 Rule would require contractors to send samples or hire a testing specialist  

The comment period for the EPA’s proposal to add clearance testing to the lead rule has been extended to Aug. 6.

Under the current rule, remodelers must use a white paper cloth to clean the areas where they have been working and then compare the color of the residue on the cloth to an EPA-supplied card to determine whether the lead paint dust has been removed from any painted surfaces.

Under the clearance testing rule proposed by EPA, the remodeler would be required to send samples of surfaces both in the work area and immediately outside it to testing labs or hire a certified testing specialist to examine the home.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to drop its plan to require remodelers to perform clearance testing after completing jobs in homes where they either replaced or worked around lead-painted surfaces.

The new rule adds significant liability to the remodeling firm as it makes the remodeler responsible for lead exposure issues existing in the home before any work is performed, as well as outside the area in which the renovation work has taken place. The added expenses of testing – and accompanying liability insurance – will be passed on to the homeowner, making the certified remodeler’s work more expensive, the association says in its ReNews newsletter for remodelers.

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“When disasters such as the devastating fires that destroyed wide swaths of Southern California occur, the vultures come out to further victimize people already vulnerable,” warned Tom Wheeler, President of California Contractors Network Self Insured Group. This member-owned association of licensed contractors – which represents 130 contractors with more than 25,000 workers across California – warns homeowners to beware being duped into hiring unlicensed contractors to do clean-up and repair work.

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The average construction worker is well into his 40s, and unless something changes to make the fresh-from-prom set take a sudden interest in framing and drywall, that work force is just going to keep getting older.

In an industry where retirement tends to come early and knowledge is passed down on the job, that trend presents a potentially paralyzing problem — especially as demand for workers continues to rise.

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The price of construction materials will rise by 6 percent to 8 percent nationwide in 2008, according to a recent report by Ken Simonson, an economist with the trade association Associated General Contractors, of Arlington, Va.

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A general slowdown in commercial construction, predicted to continue through 2009, already has resulted in lower pricing from subcontractors and a willingness to work second and even third shifts, contractors say.

While building owners always want construction completed faster, those in the industry say, when demand is high, contractors could charge premiums for after-hours work.

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Nonresidential construction faces a wide variance in demand, materials cost and labor availability, according to the Construction Inflation Alert released by the Associated General Contractors of America.

AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson said some growth is expected in segments such as power and energy, but other segments, such as lodging, “will slow or decline.”

“Diesel, copper and steel are among materials costs likely to accelerate, while others remain benign,” Simonson said.

In addition, the increase in diesel fuel prices –

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The Better Business Bureau received more than a quarter of a million requests for reports on general and roofing contractors and construction and remodeling services in 2006, its latest reporting year. It processed just more than 24,000 complaints. In fiscal year 2006-07, 10,498 complaints were filed through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state’s licensing body, said press secretary Alexis Antonacci. Don’t want to become a statistic? Gathered from resources at the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board, Pinellas County Consumer Services, and DBPR, here are some guidelines to make the process less painful.

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