TWO NEW WEBINARS FOR ABC MEMBERS IN FEBRUARY ON TAXES AND BIM:In February, ABC members can receive critical tax updates and learn more about Building Information Modeling (BIM) by attending two new ABC webinars.  During the webinar “Congressional Tax Update for Contractors,” Feb. 19, 11 a.m. (ET), Robin Word, CPA, president of Word CPA Group and chairman of ABC’s Tax Advisory Group, will give ABC members information on upcoming tax legislation.  Attendees will hear about current action on Capitol Hill, as well as pending Internal Revenue Service (IRS) changes that will significantly impact the way the IRS reviews tax returns and affects certain deductions. A member of the Congressional tax committee also will present. This webinar is open to ABC members only.

ABC members that attend “BIM Basics for Contractors,” Feb. 25, 11 a.m. (ET), will hear from Laura Handler, Tocci Building Company’s director of virtual construction, about the benefits of BIM and how to implement its use in a company.  During the webinar, participants will learn about BIM-enabled coordination, schedule visualization and optimization (4-D), quantity extraction and cost engineering (5-D), and direct-from-model prefabrication and execution.

ABC MEMBER TESTIFIES AGAINST UNION FAVORITISM:ABC member Stephen Worth, president and CEO of Worth and Company, Inc., Pipersville, Pa., Jan. 21 testified at a forum in the U.S. House of Representatives that was examining the preferential treatment big labor is receiving by the Obama administration and its allies on Capitol Hill.  Led by Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), ranking member of the House Education and Labor Committee, and attended by Republican members of the committee, the forum, “A Culture of Favoritism: The Obama Administration’s Labor Agenda,” looked at how this special interest group is being rewarded for its political support at the expense of hard-working Americans.

Worth testified about union-only project labor agreements (PLAs) and how his 400 employees are excluded from construction projects, even though their own tax dollars are being used to fund the projects. “Currently, only 15.6 percent of America’s private construction workforce belongs to a union. This means PLAs discriminate against more than 8 out of 10 construction workers, including all of my employees,” said Worth.  “In an industry facing an unemployment rate of more than 20 percent, we cannot afford to give some workers jobs simply because they carry a union card while forcing merit shop employees to be without work,” said Worth.

ABC FLORIDA EAST COAST CHAPTER WINS CRANE LAWSUIT: The ABC Florida East Coast Chapter Jan. 26 won an appeal upholding a judgment that a crane safety ordinance in Miami-Dade County was unenforceable because it violated the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act.  The Florida East Coast Chapter, with support from ABC’s Construction Legal Rights Foundation and ABC of Florida, among others, filed the original lawsuit in March 2008 arguing that the Miami-Dade County ordinance was preempted by the OSH Act and that it had improperly conferred discretionary authority upon county building officials. The district court ruled in favor of ABC and the plaintiffs noting that the ordinance, and specifically the wind load standard contained in it, was not an approved safety regulation by the OSH Act.

The courts granted summary judgment in favor the plaintiffs prompting Miami-Dade County to appeal.  The county argued that the ordinance was designed to protect the public and not workers and thus didn’t fall under the OSH Act.  In a victory for ABC, the appeals court rejected this and other arguments and upheld the original permanent injunction on the crane ordinance.  

CASH PAYROLL UPDATE: On December 17, a New York contractor pleaded guilty to evading taxes of more than $1.46 million in cash payroll.  The commercial contractor cashed many of the customer checks, rather than depositing them in a bank account.  The contractor then used the cash to pay cash wages to employees.  The cash wages were not reported to the IRS and the commercial contractor also did not take out the required FICA payroll taxes.  Moreover, the owner of the commercial contractor paid cash to herself but did not report it to the IRS as income resulting in evasion of federal income tax which was due.  The sentencing is currently scheduled for March 22, 2010, and the owner of the commercial construction operation which shut down in 2007 faces a maximum prison sentence of five years on each of two counts, plus fines, and a maximum of three years of supervised release.  This development is a reminder to all construction industry contractors to avoid cash payroll systems.  Employees should be paid from the normal operating account of the construction company and all federal and state withholding taxes must be collected.  A failure to do so could result in quite a bit of time away from the business.  
                                                                                                                           By Bill Harding, Chapter Attorney

Training Classes

Management & Safety Class Schedule

FEBRUARY & MARCH 2010

OSHA 10 Hour Class

OSHA requires a competent person on all job sites.  This course ensures that your people have the necessary training to comply with OSHA standards CFR

1926.32(f) for a competent person. Training includes OSHA Construction Standards CFR 29 1926, Scaffolds, Ladders and Stairways, Housekeeping, Personal Tools, Electrical Hazards, Fall Protection, Materials Handling, Hazardous Communications and much more!

**CFR 192 OSHA Regulations Book for the Construction Industry with new steel erection standards will be available for $25.00** each for class participants.

$135.00 each attendee – Member Price/$240.00 each attendee – Non-Member Price

¨      February 18, 2010 – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – KEARNEY

¨      February 23, 2010 – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – OMAHA

¨      February 25, 2010 – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – LINCOLN

¨      March 4, 2010 - – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – LINCOLN

¨      March 11, 2010 -– 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – NORFOLK

¨      March 18, 2010 - – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – OMAHA

¨      March 24, 2010 - – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – LINCOLN

¨      March 31, 2010 - – 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – OMAHA

30 Hour OSHA Class

Federal Law requires each company have a designated trained safety coordinator.  This will give your foremen, supervisors, safety directors or safety coordinators the expertise to comply with all OSHA and State requirements.  This is an in-depth look at CFR 1926 and 1920 and NE 757 as they affect construction. Price includes study materials

$395.00 each attendee – Member Price / $595.00 each attendee –Non-Member price.

¨  February 2, 9, 16, 2010 – 7:00 – 5:30 p.m. – OMAHA

¨  March 2, 9, 16, 2010 – 7:00 – 5:30 p.m. – LINCOLN

¨   

First Aid/CPR Classes

$50.00 each attendee – Member Price/$60.00 each attendee – Non-Member

Recertification only - $40.00 each attendee – Member Price/$50.00 each attendee – Non-Member Price

¨  February 9, 2010 – 1:00 -5:00 p.m. - LINCOLN

¨  February 10, 2010 – 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. - OMAHA

¨  February 17, 2010 – 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. – KEARNEY

¨  February 24, 2010 – 7:00 – 11:00 a.m. – LINCOLN

¨  February 25, 2010 – 7:00 – 11:00 a.m. – OMAHA

¨  February 25, 2010 – 7:00 – 11:00 a.m. – OMAHA

¨  March 10, 2010 – 7:00 – 11:00 a.m. – NORFOLK

¨  March 16, 2010 – 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. – OMAHA

¨  March 18, 2010 – 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. – LINCOLN

¨  March 30, 2010 – 7:00 – 11:00 a.m. – OMAHA

Mobile Crane Safety Training

A workshop for all managers, supervisors, operators and riggers – presented by the Crane Institute of America.  Participants will learn what the crane standards  consist of.  This five day class will involve classroom time and actual hands on operation.  At the completion of the five day class applicants will have the opportunity to be certified for all three cranes.

$895.00 for first person from ABC Member Company, $825.00 for each additional person from ABC Member Company

$1,300.00 for each person from Non-Member Company

$450 for each recertification

¨  March 22 – 26,  2010 – 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. - LINCOLN

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Omaha Classes are held at the Education Center, 2602 Harney Street, Omaha

Lincoln Classes are held at the Training Center, 830 Westgate Blvd., Lincoln

PLEASE DUPLICATE THIS FORM FOR MULTIPLE CLASSES

Company:                                         Address:                                Phone:                                   Fax:               

Names (please print):                                                                       Class/Date:                            Cost:              

                                                                                                          Class/Date:                            Cost:              

                                                                                                           Class/Date:                            Cost:              

Return Registration Form and Check Payable to Associated Builders & Contractors

830 Westgate Blvd., Lincoln, NE  68528    FAX 402-477-4522

Email-debh@abcnebraska.org