On Oct. 17, the Trump Administration released its Fall 2018 Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The agenda lists upcoming rulemakings and other regulatory actions from each agency that the administration expects to publish through the end of the year and in 2019.

Construction Executive magazine won three honorable mentions in the 2018 Folio: Eddie Awards for association/nonprofit newsletter, website and profile/Q&A. CE This Week, ConstructionExec.com and Stepping Up to Serve, featuring 2018 ABC National Chair George Nash, brought the Construction Executive tally of editorial awards nearly 30 since its first issue in 2003.

ABC members and chapters have a new tool to engage college students in construction-related degree programs nationwide. A new video shows how the ABC National Student Chapter Network gives faculty members and college students real-world information and experience through membership meetings, guest speakers, internships, community service projects, fundraisers, career fairs, jobsite tours and more.

Project labor agreements are special interest schemes that end open, fair and competitive bidding on public works projects. PLAs drive up the cost of construction by reducing competition and effectively excluding merit shop contractors and their skilled employees from building projects paid for by their own tax dollars. Check out ABC’s new video below to learn more about PLAs. 

If you’ve recently been in an airport or watched either the Masters Tournament or the World Series, you’ve probably heard the terms cloud computing, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things. But what do these terms imply for someone working in the construction industry? ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman invites ABC members to educate themselves about the digital builder of the future by checking out a new book, Precision Construction, available for Kindle today, with print and audiobook versions due out shortly. Sign up 

ABC was one of 17 member organizations of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention that met recently in Washington, D.C., to collaborate on how to equip companies to better address mental health issues and reduce the risk of suicide in the construction industry. Members of the Alliance, which was classified as a 501(c)(3) public charity this summer, formed governance, fundraising, education and marketing task forces during a strategic planning session during National Suicide Prevention Month.

On Oct. 11, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a memorandum clarifying its position on workplace safety incentive programs and post-incident drug testing included in the 2016 final rule, Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses (also known as the Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule), issued under the Obama administration.  

On Oct. 10, the U.S. Senate approved the America’s Water Infrastructure Act, a waterways infrastructure bill that requires reauthorization every two years, with a bipartisan 99-1 vote. The House passed the bill earlier this year, and the president is expected to sign it into law this week. The legislation authorizes at least $9 billion for critical water infrastructure projects across America, including flood protection and drinking water improvement projects.

On Oct. 9, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced a six-month extension to its overtime and minimum wage compliance initiative, the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program. According to a WHD news release, the PAID program helps workers receive more back wages due in an expedited manner, without having to wait for lengthy investigations to conclude or court cases to resolve.

Prices for inputs to construction rose 0.3 percent in September and are 7.4 percent higher than a year ago, according to an ABC analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Overall prices for nonresidential construction inputs rose 0.4 percent, reversing last month’s downward trend. Among individual subcategories, softwood lumber prices are down 0.4 percent, yet are up 5.4 percent on a year-over-year basis. Crude petroleum and natural gas prices are both up on a monthly basis, 8.7 and 1.1 percent, respectively.