|
News |
ODOT Plan Reading Courses Friday, January 31 & March 13, 2020
OCA’s Chris Engle will be instructing this plan reading course once again. Before joining OCA, Chris spent 22 years with ODOT, with several years overseeing Construction in District 5. Training for this informative course covers reading, understanding and using ODOT plans. Includes sections, profiles, quantity take-offs, and relationships between components of the plans. The course is designed for someone who is just getting familiar with how to read plans. Includes lecture discussions and in-class use of plans. Class space will be limited. $125 OCA members / $150 non OCA members. Includes lunch. To register, visit our website at www.ohiocontractors.org or contact Dave Rule to register.
ODOT Announces Deadline for Entering and Acknowledging Subcontractor Payments
On December 13, ODOT posted a notice on their website that all prime contractors are expected to become compliant with the requirements of Proposal Note 31, which details prompt payment requirements. In addition, while Proposal Note 31 had only been incorporated on contracts with a DBE goal, it is now included on all ODOT let contracts. A webinar on subcontractor payment reporting will be scheduled early in 2020.
For more details, you may view the industry notice by clicking here.
OSHA Issues Temporary Enforcement Policy for Crane Operator Certifications Issued by Crane Institute Certification (CIC)
OSHA requires crane operators engaged in construction activity to be certified by an entity accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency. CIC no longer holds such accreditation. To avoid industry confusion and potential disruptions of construction projects, OSHA has issued an enforcement policy for crane operator certifications issued by CIC.
The policy explains that, although CIC-issued certifications are not compliant with OSHA’s operator certification requirement, OSHA does not intend to cite employers for operating equipment that violates that requirement if their operators, in good faith, obtained CIC-issued certifications prior to December 2, 2019, with the belief the certifications met the standard’s requirements. Until further notice, OSHA will not accept CIC certifications – including re-certifications – issued on or after December 2, 2019.
Make Sure your Team has the Communication Skills to Best Represent your Company
OCA is offering two, three-hour interactive communication workshops on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Leading the programs will be Anthony Huey, President of Reputation Management Associates, national key-note presenter and consultant to numerous construction firms. Participants have the option to attend one or both sessions, held at OCA, 1313 Dublin Rd., Columbus, 43215. Registration cost per person is $249 for one session or $399 to attend the full day. Lunch is included for all participants.
Making your message clear: speeches, presentations and meetings will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Communicating in a Crisis will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
For complete session details or to register, click here or contact Director of Chapter Development, Melanie Kitchen at [email protected]or 614-488-0724.
 |
OCA members invited to attend Ohio Laborers’ Union Workforce Development Presentations being held around the state
Ohio Laborers' Union is holding workforce development presentations around the state and would like to extend an invitation to OCA members for the dates listed below. Discussion topics are relevant to workforce development, safety, and health programs such as:
- Laborers' Health & Safety Fund
- Fair Contracting staff
- Apprenticeship standards and recruitment
- Health and Pension benefits available
Please click on the area you would like to attend for a link to register:
Ashtabula – 1/22/20
Akron – 1/28/20
Cleveland – 2/3/20
Canton – 2/18/20
Marion – 3/12/20
Feel free to contact Laborers’ Statewide Apprenticeship Coordinator, Vincent Irvin at 740-504-2707 or [email protected] with any questions about the sessions.
|
OCA Announces 2019 Safety Award Winners!
The Ohio Contractors Association (OCA) announced the winners of its annual Jerry Keller Memorial Safety Awards during the Winter Conference in Columbus on December 10th.
Winning companies were honored for demonstrating the best safety records in five (5) divisional categories based on hours worked. Presentations followed Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine’s address to the OCA group gathered for the awards breakfast.
Current national incident rates for highway construction are 3.6 for recordable injuries and 1.2 for lost time accidents. The average recordable incidence rate for OCA’s five divisional winners is only .7! Even more remarkable is the fact that the five divisional winners worked more that 5.3 million hours without suffering a single lost-time accident!
Congratulations to the following winning contractors:
Division I (Greater than 2 million hrs.)
The Shelly Company
Thornville, Ohio
Accepting: Shannon Webb
Webb
Division II (1-2 million hrs.)
Beaver Excavating Company
Canton, Ohio
Accepting: Betsy Sterling
Sterling
Division III (500k - 1 million hrs.)
The Great Lakes Construction Company
Hinckley, Ohio
Accepting: William Hocevar
Division IV (100k - 500k hrs.)
BOCA Construction Company
Norwalk, Ohio
Accepting: Aiden McDonnell and
Keith Weatherly
(BOCA also received OCA’s “Zero Incidence” award for no recordable or lost time accidents during 2019!)
Division V (50k - 100k hrs.)
Double Z Construction Company
Columbus, Ohio
Accepting: Dave Guzzo and Mike Guzzo
OCA also recognized three (3) member firms who did not qualify for the divisional awards, but who experienced zero recordable and/or lost time accidents during the year. Congratulations to the following:
A&B Asphalt Corporation
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleveland Barricading Systems
Hinckley, Ohio
J&B Steel Erectors, Inc.
Hamilton, Ohio
OCA thanks the companies who submitted entries this year and encourages all members to participate in next years safety awards program.
Attend to Year-end Legal Matters - Your Checklist -
Legally Speaking by Bob Dunlevey
2019 is coming to an end and for most of you that means the end of your fiscal year as well. Don’t let the holiday season frenzies cause you to neglect important year-end business affairs. Here is a handy checklist of some things you need to consider.
• Schedule your annual corporate meetings for shareholders and directors; give notice in accordance with your bylaws/code of regulations; set the agenda for the meeting.
• Review your corporate minute book to make sure it is up-to-date; are last year’s minutes in there and are they signed? Did the minutes call for certain actions to be taken during the year and have these items been accomplished? Do the minutes ratify corporate actions, such as contributions to benefit plans, borrowing, auto leasing and monetary distributions?
• Has there been a change in the officers, directors or shareholders? Do the corporate records reflect those changes? Do others need to be elected?
• Are there shares of stock needing to be transferred or canceled? Is your share ledger in the back of the minute book up-to-date?
• Is the statutory agent designated to receive important papers current and on file with the Secretary of State? – check the State’s website.
• Is your corporation in good standing with the State?
– check the State’s website –
Ohio – http://www.sos.state.oh.us/
West Virginia – http://www.sos.wv.gov/
Kentucky - www.sos.ky.gov
Indiana - www.in.gov/sos
• Is the corporation doing business in any other state? Is it appropriately registered and meeting the requirements to do business in those states?
• Is the annual financial report, including a balance sheet, statement of profit and loss and surplus, and an opinion of the financial position of the corporation being prepared?
• Do the corporate records verify payments of salaries versus bonuses and dividends? – the IRS can contend that payments to corporate officers or employees or shareholders are not deductible dividends and that payments to its officers who are not shareholders are not deductible – better assure the proper classification of such payments by identifying the payments as deductible compensation and consider identifying the justification
.
• If no, or nominal, dividends are to be paid, and your corporation has a large amount of accumulated earnings, do the minutes include a statement of the reasons why the earnings are being retained?
• Have you changed financial institutions during the year and not noted it within the corporate records? Are those who are authorized to sign checks still the appropriate names and are the appropriate corporate resolutions contained within the minute book?
• Have there been loans to officers or shareholders needing to be documented by minutes and promissory notes?
• Do you have a buy/sell agreement which regulates and restricts the transfer of shares so you don’t end up with an unwanted “business partner?” Have you updated the valuation information which sets the price for which shares are repurchased? Has the buy/sell agreement been amended to include new shareholders?
• Are your benefit plans, such as retirement, profit sharing, medical reimbursement, Section 125 or 401(k) plan, appropriately documented within the corporate records and in full compliance with the law? Are the summary plan descriptions you give to employees up-to-date? Are you strategizing about the impact of healthcare reform?
• Have you consulted with your CPA regarding year-end matters, such as tax incentives for such things as equipment purchases, you still may wish to take advantage of before year-end? Remember, there have been significant corporate tax changes for 2019 and beyond.
• Have you evaluated the cost of your workers’ compensation program?
Have you shopped for enrolment in a workers’ comp group that provides good savings (discounts) and effective third party administration? Have you gone online and looked at your claims history to identify your major claims? Have you met with your workers’ comp attorney to devise a plan to eliminate costly claims from your experience and reduce your premiums?
• For those key employees hired this year, do you have employment agreements in place addressing such things as non-disclosure of confidential information and non-competition? It’s not too late.
• Have you reviewed your general liability insurance and other business coverages with your agent to ensure proper, cost effective coverage?
• Are your licenses to do business in various locales current?
• Have you reviewed the exempt and non-exempt wage-hour status of your employees to ensure wages and applicable overtime are being paid properly and records maintained appropriately?
• Your personnel policies and practices may require modification – is your employee handbook up-to-date?
Dust off those corporate records and make sure that everything is ready for 2020. If you need legal assistance in your business affairs, contact Bob Dunlevey, at Taft/Law (937) 641-1743. For more information about Taft/Law, visit www.taftlaw.com.
Quick Links to On-line OCA Resources
• Current Ohio Contractor Magazine
• Safety Resources
• Labor & Employment Information
• OCA President's Commentary
 |
|
Upcoming Events |
| Click here for current events |
|
|
|
Safety Talks |
|
This email was sent to {#party.Email} because you are subscribed to the Ohio Contractors Association weekly e-Newsletter.
This email was sent by: Ohio Contractors Association, 1313 Dublin Rd, Columbus, OH 43215
|
|
|
|
|