The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) is questioning the Quebec government’s decision to bypass the usual building code development process by allowing construction of taller (more than five stories) wood buildings on the basis of a guide developed by the Régie du bâtiment du Québec and FPInnovations, a private research center dedicated to supporting the Canadian forest industry.
In partnership with the Softwood Lumber Board and the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has named U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize Competition winning teams: 130-134 Holdings LLC, for the proposed 475 West 18th residential condominium building in New York City, incorporating extensive use of wood structural elements throughout 10 levels; and, The Framework Project LLC, proposing a 12-story namesake building in Portland, Ore., constructed primarily of cross-laminated timber, and comprising of five levels of affordable housing, ground floor retail, five levels of office space, and roof top amenity space.
Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
NRMCA is accepting through October 30 abstracts for the 2016 International Concrete Sustainability Conference (2016 ICSC) scheduled for May 15-18 in Washington, D.C. Abstracts are encouraged on topics ranging from resilience and low impact development to life cycle assessment and material science as well as corporate social responsibility. Accepted abstracts, both papers and presentations, will be published online.
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In “The 2015 U.S. Transportation Construction Industry Profile,” American Road and Transportation Builders Association Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black estimates the value of public and private transportation construction and maintenance work at upwards of $275 billion, an investment generating nearly $510 billion in annual economic activity or 1.6 percent of the GDP.
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Milwaukee, has selected the HP Compliance Data Exchange (CDX) service as a preferred platform to support a materials regulatory compliance program, which assists 850-plus member companies and their suppliers meet growing global regulatory requirements—among them EU REACH, RoHS rules and Conflict Minerals reporting.
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Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s new “Training Requirements in OSHA Standards” compiles information related to mandatory safety and health training for workers.
The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, along with Associated Builders & Contractors, Associated General Contractors of America, and the National Association of Home Builders, are representing concrete and construction interests in Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO). The Washington, D.C., coalition, opposes the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rulemaking to alter Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime pay requirements with sharp salary threshold spikes.
Against precedent dating to 1984, a 3-2 National Labor Relations Board majority redefines “joint employer” in a decision favoring an International Brotherhood of Teamsters local aiming to extend representation from a recycling station bargaining unit—equipment operators and companion staff employed by the facility’s owner—to a subcontractor whose employees perform waste sorting and other related services.
Read MoreThe account here last month of an accident-prone building materials truck driver who commanded the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel’s attention pales against the outcome of a complaint NLRB Administrative Law Judge David Goldman weighed in a mid-September decision.
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