BTEA PUNCHLIST
Crane Alert

Manitowoc Crane Care has learned that certain #58 boom section, #59A mast sections and #59 Luffing jib sections on certain cranes, MAX-ERs and luffing jibs may have cords with non-conforming wall thickness which could impact the structural integrity of cranes incorporating these sections.  They are requesting your immediate assistance in shutting down cranes with these sections to measure, identify and replace those sections which were manufactured with non-conforming chord wall thickness.

An Inspection Report has been prepared for each of the cranes which identify the weldment and manufacturing order (MO) numbers for the sections which may incorporate chords with non-conforming wall thickness.  Please contact the BTEA to obtain the documents of the Inspection Report.
BTEA Launches M/WBE Initiative

The BTEA has recently launched an initiative designed to assist union affiliated contractors who are “Minority/Women Business Enterprises (M/WBE).  This initiative known as the “Minority and Women Contractor Opportunity Program” (MWCOP), will join the M/WBE’s together with mentors in a process designed to increase the professional competence and economic vitality of those firms emphasizing education, sound business practices and networking.  There are currently 14 M/WBE firms enrolled in the program with a goal of 20 enrollees by October, 2008. 

The program’s first two educational seminars featuring the topics “Be a Project Leader” and “Improving Construction Productivity”, were recently delivered by the FMI Corporation at Cooper Union.  A total of eight more seminars will held for enrollees through June, 2009.  MWCOP is being funded in large part through a grant from the Consortium for Worker Education.  For more information on MWCOP, please contact BTEA Senior Vice President, Henry Kita or Program Director Dorothy Pentzke at 212-704-9745.
Mayor Bloomberg Puts Forward New Reform

Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on July 28, 2008 several reforms designed to increase competition to build the City’s infrastructure and drive the cost of City construction down.
The BTEA, working with the entire construction industry, has been advocating these reforms for several years.  The BTEA and many of its contractors met several times with the Mayor’s Construction Cost Study Group and its consultant to discuss and make recommendations that would reduce costs to the City’s capital programs.

The reforms announced include:

1. Allowing Damages for Delays Caused by the City:
  1. The Construction Cost Study Group found that as a result, many contractors will not bid on City work.  To test this finding, over the next 3 years, the City will bid-out 23 percent of construction contracts greater than $1 million with a provision that allows contractors to collect damages for certain delays they can prove result from the City’s actions.  The Capital Cost Containment Task Force will track the number of bidders, on-time performance and costs of these projects against projects that are bid-out using the current contract structure to assess the impact of this reform.
2. Early Project Scoping Program:
  1. Many City projects come in late and over budget because they were not properly scoped and estimated prior to budget approval.  This fiscal year, $20 million in expense funding has been allocated to develop preliminary project scoping and cost estimating.  Projects with unclear scopes, new or unusual technical challenges, or complex regulatory issues will undergo 4 to 12 week scope development and cost estimating exercises, with the assistance of outside consultants, to enable the City to identify true costs and less expensive alternatives prior to capital commitment.  The program will include: Parks Department’s Bronx Regatta Greenway, Fire Department’s EMS Midtown West Stationhouse, Transportation Department’s Staten Island Ferry Slip Racks, Transportation Department’s New Street Material Pallet, Transportation Department’s Bus Rapid Transit System, Police Department’s 66th and 70th Precinct Stationhouses and Police Department’s Barbour Adam Dock.
3. Expediting Change Order Processing:
  1. The current average time to process a change order – an agreement to alter a contract – on a City project is over 300 days.  The City is streamlining its procedures to reduce change-order processing time by 50 percent – to 150 days or less – for changes caused by unforeseen field conditions, and will institute measures to hold agencies accountable for failing to meet this target.  By reducing change order processing times projects will be completed more quickly, contractors will get paid more quickly, and it is hoped that more contractors will bid on City projects and thus drive down costs.
4. Operationalizing Wicks Laws and Pre-qualification Process Reform:
  1. This past spring, the City succeeded in persuading the State Legislature to enact several key construction law reforms.  The first is raising threshold for triggering the Wicks Law mandate.  City agencies will now be able to bid out smaller projects, such as comfort station construction and library renovations, using a more efficient single contract structure which is expected to save $200 million over the next 10 years.  The second reform amended state law to permit the City to pre-qualify construction contractors, so that bidding can be focused on those whose experience, skills and compliance track records ensure that the resulting projects come in on-time and on-budget.  For construction projects built under Project Labor Agreements, Wicks will be waived completely.
Safety Legislation Status

The industry has reached agreement with the city administration and City Council on two safety legislative initiatives:  Intro 783-A Concrete Safety Managers and Intro 790-A Site Specific Safety Plans.  These bills are scheduled to be voted on and adopted by the City Council on August 14, 2008.  Industry representatives were successful in having language it considered very onerous removed from these bills and having language included which was favorable to industry practices.  As soon as final copies of the bills are attainable, we will provide you with them.

The BTEA and city officials will now begin discussing two additional safety legislative proposals – Intro 794-A involving Tower Crane Training and Intro 796-A regarding Tower Crane Protocols.  The BTEA has asked for and received from its members comments on proposed changes to these bills.  These bills are also scheduled to be adopted by the City Council on August 14, 2008 pending agreement.  The BTEA will keep you informed as to the status of those discussions.