Florida Construction Law

When hard-hatted men and women are operating forklifts and scaling skyscrapers, it’s essential for equipment to work safely and efficiently; otherwise, firms risk losing millions of dollars, not to mention human lives. Field service is vital to ensuring that neither happens. With regular maintenance and proactive repairs, field service can keep workers safe by preventing unplanned outages and keep projects on schedule by preventing downtime. Imagine that a crane malfunctions days before a frame installation is scheduled, and the project deadline is looming. Repairing the crane might take multiple days, several field service technicians, and various parts or replacements to get the machine up and running. The cost of machine downtime adds up quickly both in time and in money. Worse, crane operators were likely using the crane in the days prior to the outage, unaware of the machine’s dangerous maintenance issue. With connected technology, this scenario is entirely avoidable. Integr...

If the industry wants to beat its ongoing labor shortage, it's going to have to find new ways to attract workers outside of its normal applicant pool. Recruiting from such communities can mean reaching out to those who have historically been underrepresented in the industry, such as women and people of color. Today, women make up only 9% of total construction employment. That number decreases markedly when adjusted to account for women in leadership roles or trade positions. Part of the pipeline issue starts long before women even reach the job site, according to Donna Ricca, who began her career working as a painter for a woman-owned construction company. Negative assumptions about women's ability to perform well in the trades and a macho culture on the job are part of the problem. But events and recruitment targeted toward women could help change that. Programs like Habitat for Humanity’s National Women Build Week and those targeting girls in school could help make constr...

Rules to protect construction workers from falls remained the most commonly violated standards on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) list of most-cited violations for fiscal year 2017, which ended Sept. 30, according to Bloomberg BNA. However, the number of safety violations demonstrated a widespread decrease after years of dropping total inspection numbers. There were about 9,000 fewer inspections in fiscal year 2016 compared with fiscal year 2011. The preliminary violation numbers for last fiscal year also were calculated during a period that was three to four weeks longer than for this year's preliminary numbers. The numbers are preliminary because OSHA inspectors have up to six months following an inspection to issue citations. Construction violations were the most commonly cited, which is not surprising considering construction site visits account for about half of OSHA's inspections. Other construction fall-related violations were lad...

FONTANA, Calif. — At a steel factory dwarfed by the adjacent Auto Club Speedway, Fernando Esparza is working toward his next promotion. Esparza is a 46-year-old mechanic for Evolution Fresh, a subsidiary of Starbucks that makes juices and smoothies. He’s taking a class in industrial computing taught by a community college at a local manufacturing plant in the hope it will bump up his wages. It’s a pretty safe bet. The skills being taught here are in high demand. That’s in part because so much effort has been put into encouraging high school graduates to go to college for academic degrees rather than for training in industrial and other trades that many fields like his face worker shortages. Now California is spending $6 million on a campaign to revive the reputation of vocational education, and $200 million to improve the delivery of it. “It’s a cultural rebuild,” said Randy Emery, a welding instructor at the College of the Sequoias in California’s Central Valley. Standing in...

Contractors have many options when it comes to establishing vehicle policies for their business. They may choose to allow employees to take vehicles home or they may decide that vehicles are for business use only and must be locked in at the office each night. There is not one set policy that works for every roofing contractor, but no matter which type of policy you choose to implement, it’s important to have one in place.  Your business can be legally liable if you allow a bad driver on the road. If you fail to take reasonable steps to determine that the driver is qualified to drive one of your vehicles and he or she causes an accident, you could be liable under negligent entrustment. A negligent driver may also damage the company vehicle or incur a ticket, fine, or penalty that costs your business money and/or increases your insurance premiums. Get started by spelling out the basics of your policy, which might include: Requiring employees to have a valid driver’s license a...

After a few legal fits and starts, as well as extra time for review and input, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's new silica standard for construction is scheduled to go into effect about a month from now, on Sept. 23. What that means is contractors who engage in activities that create silica dust — that is, respirable crystalline silica — such as by cutting, grinding or blasting materials like concrete, stone and brick, must meet a stricter standard for how much of that dust workers inhale. The same goes for employers of tradespeople working around such activities. The new standard also specifies what services employers must make available to workers who are exposed to high levels of silica dust and the training required of those who are at risk. Inhaling silica dust can lead to silicosis, an curable lung disease that can be fatal if severe enough. Those with too much silica exposure can also develop lung cancer, kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmon...

Occupational injuries and illnesses are estimated to cost the United States as much as $250 billion a year. So cutting down on insurance costs in this area makes huge financial sense. In the construction industry, many companies are turning to wearable technology to better manage risks and incidents – and there are insurance benefits to be leveraged from this. Triax Technologies is one company working in construction wearable tech. The Connecticut company launched its sensor technology this year. Pete Schermerhorn, chief operating officer at Triax, said his company’s product is worn on all workers’ belts on a construction site. The sensors track all workers’ whereabouts, have an emergency locator button for accidents and injuries. “It’s a safety system for construction. If someone slips, trips, or falls on site, this sends an automatic notification [to a site supervisor] that someone has hit the ground. The system logs how high they fell, where they fell on site, and who else w...

The construction industry could become a leader in closing the gender pay gap, according to a new survey. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that nearly half of construction workers predict the gap will be less than 15 per cent by April 2018. It is currently 18.1 per cent. More than one in ten respondents said they thought that there will be no gender pay gap at all by April 2018, which marks the end of the UK Government’s mandatory gender pay reporting period. However, this positive sentiment is markedly absent in the nation’s capital, with Londoners in the construction sector predicting an average pay gap of 21 per cent Despite a positive outlook, the research found that businesses still need to do more to tackle gender inequality and sexism in the industry. Nearly a third of women surveyed said they thought sexism holds them back from pursuing senior roles in construction, whilst 38 per cent of men said their skills are better suited to the sector th...

July 18, 2017 Anyone building a new house in South Miami — or in some cases renovating existing ones — will have to install solar panels after the city commission approved a groundbreaking law Tuesday night. The measure, the first of its kind in Florida, will go into effect in two months on Sept 18. The ordinance passed 4-1 Tuesday night, with commissioner Josh Liebman dissenting. Under the rules, new residential construction would require 175 square feet of solar panel to be installed per 1,000 square feet of sunlit roof area, or 2.75 kw per 1,000 square feet of living space, whichever is less. If the house is built under existing trees, the shade may exempt it. Home renovations that replace more than 75 percent of the structure or extend the structure by more than 75 percent would also have to follow the new ordinance. South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard, a biology professor at Florida International University, has championed this measure. His entire home runs on solar a...

Finding and hiring good employees is hard enough with the lower unemployment rates the country is experiencing. Once found, retaining those key employees can be just as challenging. Losing talented employees doesn’t just affect your company’s productivity; it can also impact team morale, causing other employees to question whether the grass might be greener outside your organization. Once you have found the right person, it’s important to think about creating an environment that doesn’t have them thinking about leaving after only a short time. First, be sure to clearly spell out the benefits your company offers in employee manuals and in offer letters. Clearly define what the benefits are – such as health insurance, retirement plans, health savings accounts, etc. – and explain what the company’s contributions toward those benefits will be and what the responsibility of the employee will be. Also include information on working hours, travel, leave, time off and vacation time accrual ...

It's a frightening truth. Construction company failures are often unpredictable and, in most cases, the accounting people saw it coming. The chief financial officer of a business often plays multiple roles, including steward of the company's assets and strategist in the use of funds and credit. After 30 years researching the causes of construction-business failures and participating in the resolution of hundreds of distressed firms, I came to the conclusion that there was another role played by the CFO: ignored. The problem: When a construction CFO sounds the alarm, no one may be listening. Some CFOs are isolated or considered a necessary but unimportant function of the business. In discussing the issue with contractors, I've been told: "They don't know anything about construction." And a common response from the CFO is: "And you don't know anything about accounting or finance." A construction company has three primary functional areas: get...

The long, hot days of summer will be here before we know it. In fact, most of the United States is expected to be hotter than normal June through August 2017, according to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center. That means heat safety should be top priority in any industrial work environment. To keep your talent safe and productive, employers must educate employees and supervisors alike about the potential dangers of heat stress and heat stroke. Managing the Risk Heat stress occurs when the body in unable to regulate itself by sweating and the core body temperature rises to critical levels. Heat-related illnesses occur when the body is not able to lose enough heat generated by physical work and external heat sources. It is a medical emergency that can lead to cramps, exhaustion, stroke and in severe cases, death. In 2014, 2,630 workers suffered from heat illness and 18 died from heat stroke and related causes on the job, according to OSHA. The good news is...

The law of supply and demand is one of the basic drivers of construction economics. It is integral to cost and profit for any construction business from materials suppliers to on site labor and contractors. Labor supply is closely tied to the demand side of the curve and the supply of skilled craftsman is fast becoming an issue that will drive the cost of labor up until a solution can be found. Today we are witnessing the long-term results from those programs that encouraged more students to go to college and discouraged students from taking those courses that lead to the building trades. A recent article in one of the Houston area community newspapers pointed out just how difficult the labor supply issue is becoming in Katy located on the west side of Houston and one of the fastest growing suburbs in the region. As the article titled, “Katy’s cost of construction” reports,  “Fewer technical students, undocumented labor play role in ongoing labor shortage.” The a...

Industry now could begin to meet pent-up demand In a ruling that could stir near-dormant condo construction in Colorado, the state Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a homeowners association was wrong to sue a builder after disregarding bylaws that require binding arbitration to settle claims of construction defects. The association's key misstep, the court said in a 5-2 ruling, involved its bid to change the rules to allow litigation without getting the consent of the development's builder. "Because the unit owners did not obtain the Declarant's written consent to remove the declaration's arbitration provision, the attempted amendment was ineffective," the court majority ruled. "Consequently, the Association remains bound by the arbitration agreement..." The ruling in the case Vallagio at Iverness Residential Condo Association vs. Metropolitan Homes Inc. has potentially far-reachinf implications for both homeowners and builders. Advocates of...

The law of supply and demand is one of the basic drivers of construction economics. It is integral to cost and profit for any construction business from materials suppliers to on site labor and contractors. Labor supply is closely tied to the demand side of the curve and the supply of skilled craftsman is fast becoming an issue that will drive the cost of labor up until a solution can be found. Today we are witnessing the long-term results from those programs that encouraged more students to go to college and discouraged students from taking those courses that lead to the building trades. A recent article in one of the Houston area community newspapers pointed out just how difficult the labor supply issue is becoming in Katy located on the west side of Houston and one of the fastest growing suburbs in the region. As the article titled, " Katy's cost of construction " reports, "Fewer technical students, undocumented labor play role in ongoing labor shortage. ...