OSHA inspectors and city building officials are usually the people that can make life pretty uncomfortable for construction companies, but it’s a whole different story when the FBI comes calling. A new stadium for the Double-A minor league baseball team, the Hartford Yard Goats, was supposed to open before the 2016 season, but delays and cost overruns have pushed that opening well into 2017. Now, the FBI is investigating, according to the Hartford Courant.
Originally budgeted for $56 million of taxpayer dollars, the new stadium’s budget later ballooned to $63 million and now stands at $71 million. The cost increased, along with the overall delays, eventually lead to the firing of the project’s original developers in mid-2016. Since then, FBI agents have been contacting people with knowledge of the project, the Courant reported.
The mayor of Hartford told the Courant that the investigation was prompted by his administration and is focused on the the original developer. Anonymous sources elaborated to the Courant that as much as $8 to $12 million may still be outstanding to subcontractors.
The developer, on the other hand, believes the company was wrongfully terminated and the fees due are under dispute and the outcome will be decided by a judge. Several lawsuits have also been filed, both by and against the developer.
It’s never a good situation when a company gets fired and when a slew of lawsuits are filed, but it will be interesting to see how the FBI’s involvement will take it further.
Full Story: FBI Launches Probe Into Dunkin' Donuts Park Construction Payments | Hartford Courant
After being enforced for a little over 2 years, the 2018 beryllium standards for construction are being revised to clarify the administration’s standards, and simplify and improve compliance, after pushback from industry groups. This move was also announced in the recently released Spring 2020 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions from the White House.
Even though the means to prevent trench collapses is pretty simple, dozens of construction workers continue to be killed by them every year. A few weeks ago, The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) held a webinar on trenching and excavation hazards, the reduction of which is has been OSHA’s priority goal since 2018.
Well, we’re in uncharted territory, to say the least. The coronavirus has placed major limitations on how many businesses can function, including construction. The state of Pennsylvania has shut down all construction sites, and so has the City of Boston, but most other states have deemed construction as “essential,” allowing projects to continue.
In April 2019, a tower crane disassembly turned deadly when it suddenly toppled into a Seattle, WA street below, killing two ironworkers and 2 others that were crushed by the falling crane while sitting in their cars. With the hopes of a tragedy like this never happening again, state lawmakers have proposed new legislation for crane procedures.
New York City is home to a large number of the United States’ tall and supertall buildings, many of which are wrapped in window glazing. All of those buildings come at a cost, though, as unsuspecting birds crash into these “invisible” buildings and die – by the millions – each year. A new law in NYC would help to reduce that number.
The following is a guest post by Justin Gitelman
Among common setbacks in the construction industry, nonpayment is a contractor’s worst nightmare. When calling, sending emails, submitting a preliminary notice, and other measures don’t yield any positive results, you may be left with no choice but to file a mechanics lien.
You and your company may be fearful of an unexpected OSHA inspection, but it’s important to know the procedures just in case one happens. The US Department of Labor has recently released a video of the general steps of an OSHA investigation.
For nearly 3 years, an update to the overtime pay rule was held up in court battles, but we may finally have a resolution. The update sought to increase the minimum salary threshold of workers that are exempt from being paid overtime pay for any overs worked over the traditional 40 hour work week.
One of the toughest things to deal with on any project can be the relationships between owner and general contractor or the general contractor and subcontractor. In the worst case scenarios, tensions between those relationships can sometimes lead to one of those parties packing up their tools and walking off the job before it’s complete. But that action may make the situation a little hairier than you might expect, if you don’t do it the right way.