Gilbane Building Co. walked away with three top honors from the Houston chapter of the American Subcontractors Association during the organization's recent Excellence In Construction awards ceremony.

The company was named General Contractor of the Year by the Houston ASA for the second consecutive year while Thomas "Gerald" Moore was honored as the chapter's project superintendent of the year.

Additionally, Gilbane's project of the Montgomery College Library and Classroom Building earned the company project of the year honors in the $5 million to $15 million category.

Texas Firms Honored With ABC Safety Awards

Five Texas companies received National Safety Excellence Awards from the Associated Builders and Contractors during the organization's recent national convention.

Award winners were selected from ABC member firms achieving platinum status in the organization's Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) program. The criteria used for selecting national safety winners included each member's self-evaluation scores, lost workday case rates and total recordable rates.

Earning awards in the heavy and industrial construction category were Pasadena-based Shamrock Farrell Inc. and Houston-based PSC Industrial Outsourcing, both of the Greater Houston Chapter, and Civil Mechanical Inc., headquartered in Clute and representing the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter.

Taking honors among specialty construction firms were Odessa-based Saulsbury Electric, an ABC member-at-large, and Brock Maintenance, headquartered in Corpus Christi and representing the Texas Gulf Coast, Coastal Bend and Greater Houston chapters.

ASA Opposing Liability Insurance Coverage Limits

The Alexandria, Va.-based American Subcontractors Association Inc. is lending its support in a Wisconsin Supreme Court case that could limit the amount of liability insurance coverage available to the construction industry.

ASA is challenging an appeals court's decision that would limit insurance coverage provided to contractors through common commercial general liability policies.

The appellate court decision says that construction defects are never covered by common CGL policy language because the language excludes "contractually assumed liabilities."

ASA is arguing that such exclusion applies to liabilities assumed by contractors with regard to third parties such as indemnity for owners and higher-tier contractors, not liabilities related to the contractor's performance.

Trio of Texas Graduates Receive ADSC Grants

Three graduates of the University of Texas were among 15 students selected for $3,000 civil engineering graduate study scholarships awarded by ADSC: the International Association of Foundation Drilling.

Rick Coffman, Wade Osborn and Scott Marr were the Texas recipients. Coffman was also named a Nolan Scholar while Marr was named a Pioneers of the Industry Scholar.

The grants are awarded to first-year graduate civil engineering students. This marks the 15th year for the grant program of the ADSC, which has now granted over 174 fellowships to deserving individuals.

Texas Groups Produce CM-At-Risk Document

The Southern Region Gulf Coast Chapter of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International and the Houston chapter of the Associated General Contractors have released a new document covering recommended practices for performing construction manager-at-risk delivery.

The collaborative document was produced to provide guidance and practice recommendations for those involved in planning and constructing K-12 educational facilities using the CM-at-risk delivery method.

Officials for both the CEFPI and AGC intend to review and update the document every two years to keep it current.

The document is available online at www.cefpi.org under the Gulf Coast Chapter as well as at www.agchouston.org under Member Resources.

AGC Attempts To Block Loss Of Tax Exemption

The Associated General Contractors of America is trying to block an Internal Revenue Service proposal that could threaten the mobile machinery tax exemption many contractors currently enjoy.

Mobile machinery is currently excluded from the IRS definition of "highway vehicle," based on the assumption that those type vehicles would make minimal use of public highways and therefore receive little benefit from the construction and maintenance of the highways.

The IRS has decided the assumption is faulty and claims mobile machinery shares in the same benefit from and causes the same damage to public highways as other highway vehicles.

The U.S. Treasury Department is scheduled to make an announcement on the proposal sometime before midyear.

PCA Publishes Pavement Cracking Research Report

The Skokie, Ill.-based Portland Cement Association recently released a new research report titled "Minimizing Cracking In Cement-Treated Materials For Improved Performance."

The report describes the causes of pavement cracking, how shrinkage cracking can be mitigated and mix design criteria that will help minimize cracking and improve performance when using soil-cement.

Extended curing of the cement base and the use of fly ash reduces drying shrinkage and creates desirable crack patterns. Drying shrinkage limits and strength limits are also recommended.

The report is available online at www.portcement.org/info_resources or by calling (800) 868-6733. Cost of the report is $16.

San Antonio ASA Office Moves To New Location
The San Antonio chapter of the American Subcontractors Association recently moved its office to a new location.

The physical and mailing address for the chapter office is now 26254 IH 10 West, Suite 115, Boerne, Texas 78006.

Three chapter members helped with refurbishing the new office space. Color Tech Painting provided a fresh look for the office while Dumas Hardware and Samuel's Glass provided the new office door.