Z87+ clarification: are your eyes protected?
Safety eyewear continues to be more comfortable and user-friendly. Modern styling, good fit and designs that comply with ANSI standards are helping workers wear their glasses continuously with greater assurance of safety.

However, there has been some confusion about the Z87+ standard, says Dale Pfreim of ICS Laboratories, and a member of ANSI's Z87 Standards Committee. "The ANSI standard does not permit frame components of high impact class spectacles with removable lenses to be marked with the "+" mark, only ‘Z87’ and the manufacturer's mark. The ‘+’ mark is to be on the lens(es) only," he says.

Spectacles with non-removable lenses that meet the high impact standard are the only product where the mark "Z87+" can be contained on the frame itself, says Pfreim.

Moral of the story: Ensure that you are familiar with the ANSI standards for the markings on safety eyewear you purchase to assure worker eye protection.

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Guidance on new ‘No-Match’ rules effective Sept. 14
The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has compiled two new guides to assist its members in navigating the new rules for responding to a “no-match” letter, which is a notice from the Social Security Administration (SSA) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that an employee’s name does not match the Social Security number provided.

The new rules, which will become effective September 14, 2007, are intended to help employers ensure that their employees are legal U.S. citizens and to assist the government in identifying and punishing employers who knowingly hire illegal workers.

The first guide provides a safe-harbor procedures checklist for employers who receive either an “Employer Correction Request” (no-match letter) from SSA or a “Notice of Suspect Documents” letter from DHS’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The safe-harbor procedures are broken down into three discrete time frames and actions based on the date the letter is initially received: within 30, 90 and 93 days of the receipt of the letter.

Additionally, ABC has compiled a “DHS Safe-Harbor Procedures Questions and Answers Fact Sheet” that explains a contractor’s rights and obligations under the new “no-match” rules. The guide provides a range of information on safe-harbor procedures, including what actions a company should take after receiving a “no-match” letter, the potential penalties for not taking action and where to go for additional information.

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AAMA and FMA release installation standard
FMA/AAMA 100-07, a standard addressing window installation, has been released jointly by the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) and the Fenestration Manufacturers Association (FMA).

According to John Lewis, AAMA technical director, the 13-page document titled Standard Practice for the Installation of Windows with Flanges or Mounting Fins in Wood Frame Construction specifically addresses new construction of no more than three stories in height utilizing a membrane/drainage system.

The document also provides minimum requirements for window installation based on current best practices and applies to windows employing a mounting flange or fin that is attached and sealed to the window perimeter frame and is designed as an installation fastening appendage.

The techniques demonstrated in this document have been developed specifically to allow incidental water entering from superficial cracks, either in the cladding, window joinery or installation joints around the perimeter of the window, to drain onto the membrane drainage plane and to exit to the building exterior.

"This standard is specifically designed for installations subject to hurricane-force wind and water exposure, particularly in the coastal southeast United States, and addresses buildings that will be at high risk for water intrusion. Thus, preventative measures have been included that are above normal installation practices," Lewis adds.

The Standard Practice for the Installation of Windows with Flanges or Mounting Fins in Wood Frame Construction is available through download, CD or paper copy at a cost of $30.00 for non-members and $15.00 for members.

For copies of FMA/AAMA 100-07, visit the AAMA Online Publication Store at www.aamanet.org; call 847-303-5664; or write the American Architectural Manufacturers Association, 1827 Walden Office Square, Suite 550, Schaumburg, IL 60173.

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Big Dig disaster solely because of unstuck epoxy?
As the investigation into why ceiling panels fell last summer on the Big Dig tunnel project, a recent salvo was launched at Powers Fasteners, a company known worldwide for its epoxy and powder-actuated fastening systems.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Attorney General Martha Coakley has indicted Powers for involuntary manslaughter in the death of Boston resident Milena Del Valle, who died in the I-90 tunnel collapse last summer.

While the justice system wrangles its way through this case, you may be interested in the opinion of Harvey Silvergate, editor of the Web site Phoenix, raises some interesting perspectives on the case. Read all about it by clicking here.

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Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute announces design awards call for entries
The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) announces a call for entries for their biennial, 2008 CRSI Design Awards program. For more than 35 years, the CRSI Design Awards program has honored excellence in site-cast and conventionally reinforced concrete structures and acknowledged their designers.

The CRSI Design Awards program is open to architects, engineers and contractors—entrants may be individuals or teams. Eligible structures must be located in the United States, Canada or Mexico.

Projects must have been completed between January 1, 2004 and September 30, 2007. The fee for entering the Design Awards program is $175 per submittal. All entries must be received at CRSI by November 1, 2007.

Entries will be evaluated on aesthetics, innovation, engineering achievement, functional excellence and economy of construction. The CRSI-selected jury, comprised of architects and engineers, reserves the right to award multiple prizes in a single category.

Entries will be judged in the following categories:
  1) Residential buildings
  2) Commercial buildings
  3) Educational and healthcare facilities
  4) Public buildings
  5) Cultural and entertainment facilities
  6) Transportation Facilities
  7) Bridges

CRSI has been the recognized authority for steel reinforcement in concrete design and construction by publishing industry standards and promoting the proper use of reinforcing steel in structures. According to Bob Risser, CRSI president, “The inherently flexible properties of reinforced concrete enables professionals to express their unique vision in building and bridge projects. The CRSI Design Awards program recognizes designers for their creativity in using this great material.”

For a complete description of the CRSI Design Awards program and full contest rules, visit www.crsi.org/awards.html. All entries must be received November 1, 2007 by the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, For more information on the Design Awards program, contact Andrea Howard, Marketing Communications Manager, at 847-517-1200 x45 or ahoward@crsi.org.

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NLRB strikes down agreement to require construction contractor to sign project labor agreement
In a landmark ruling on the National Labor Relations Act and how it applies to the construction industry, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that a labor union representing construction craft workers and the owner of an upcoming project cannot lawfully agree to require the owner's construction contractor to sign a project labor agreement.

"This is extremely good news for both open shop and union contractors," said Stephen E. Sandherr, Chief Executive Officer of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). "The decision will reduce the top-down pressure on open shop contractors to change their labor policy, without regard to either their rights or their employees' preferences. It will also protect the collective bargaining process, and the union contractors committed to that process, making it far more difficult for labor unions to bypass the companies actually employing their members, and to negotiate, instead, with project owners," he added.

The case grew out of an agreement between the unions representing the construction craft workers in an area of New York and a private company that designs, owns and operates power cogeneration facilities. The unions and the owner had entered into an agreement providing that the owner would require its construction contractor to sign a project labor agreement. The NLRB found that the union "wanted a labor monopoly at a major construction site" and the owner's primary "purpose was to remove the threat of union opposition to its efforts to secure regulatory approval of its cogeneration plans."

AGC represents thousands of both open shop and union contractors, and was the only trade association to file a friend-of-the-court brief with the NLRB. AGC explained that "direct negotiations between construction unions and the employers of their members" are critical to the success of collective bargaining, and have enabled construction unions and such employers "to standardize work rules and other practices." In its decision in Glen Falls Building and Construction Trades Council, 350 NLRB No. 42 (July 31, 2007), the NLRB emphasized that the New York unions did not have a collective bargaining relationship with the project owner, as the unions represented none of the owner's employees, and the owner employed none of the union's members.

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