2020 Excellence in Construction® Requirement Changes

 

For more than 30 years, ABC has celebrated billions of dollars of award-winning projects across the country with the Excellence in Construction® awards program.

 

EIC is one of ABC’s signature programs, which is protected through its trademark. To protect the integrity of the program and intellectual property rights of this mark, the National Business Development Committee has directed the association to require any chapters using the “Excellence in Construction” name and mark comply at a minimum with the below criteria of the national program.

 

·       Company Fatality Rule, Part A:

A company that experienced a safety-related fatality of a direct employee in the United States within the current program year is not eligible for an EIC award.

[This rule disqualifies a company.]


·       Company Fatality Rule, Part B:

A company that experienced a safety-related fatality of a direct employee in the United States during the three years before the current program year is required to provide additional information regarding action that has been taken following the fatality.

[This rule requires a company that experienced a safety-related fatality up to three years prior to submission provide details of the investigation following the fatality and demonstrate that corrective actions—procedural and cultural—have been taken to enhance the company’s overall safety practices.]


·       Project Fatality Rule:

A project that involves prime, multiprime or subcontractors with a safety-related fatality is not eligible to be considered for an EIC award.

[This rule disqualifies a project, regardless of which contractor experiences the fatality on the job.]


·       OSHA Forms:

A company that does not provide project-specific OSHA Forms 300 and 300A (personal information redacted) OR company-specific forms for the year(s) the project was under construction is not eligible for an EIC award.

[The OSHA forms substantiate the applicants’ responses to the fatality questions.]


·       Pledge:

A company that has not signed the Construction Coalition for a Drug- and Alcohol-Free Workplace pledge at drugfreeconstruction.org is not eligible for an EIC award.

[If an applying company participates in STEP, this information has been verified during the STEP application process, so the applicant can skip this question.]


·       Safety and Health Policy Manual:

A company that does not have a written safety and health policy manual is not eligible for an EIC award.

[If an applying company participates in STEP, this information has been verified during the STEP application process, so the applicant can skip this question.]

 

Our research indicates most chapters use the EIC name and follow the national criteria; however, the remaining chapters will be required to implement these changes for the 2020 awards cycle. In order to use the Excellence in Construction name and mark in 2020, the chapter must comply with the criteria above.

 

The committee respects the creativity and alternative approaches in executing the EIC program at the chapter level. It is from those efforts that future “best practices” can be developed. However, to allow our membership and our association to continue to enjoy this valuable copyright, a standardized use of the mark will be enforced. You may direct any questions to eic@abc.org.