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F E A T U R E S

8 Culture of CARE

Learn why your company should pledge its commitment to becoming a more inclusive workplace.

17 Vuja De: Opportunity in Crisis

Learn how successful implementation of an Executive Order for private plan review and inspections became law.

18 Amendments to Georgia’s Lien Law

10 Workforce Development: Celebrating our 15-Year History

The AGC Georgia team took a trip down memory lane to catalogue and celebrate the history of our workforce development initiatives that partner contractor members with local construction programs.

Passage of Senate Bill 315 is a lesson in how the legislative process is supposed to work.

20 And the Awards Go to…

AGC Georgia applauds this year’s award winners who exemplified excellence.

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PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2020/ GGC-B0220/1156

It was a huge disappointment for me, as for many of you as well, that because of the pandemic we couldn’t come together at the Annual Convention this past June to celebrate our members and the association’s successes over the past year. As contractors, we certainly know firsthand the importance of adapting and overcoming hurdles to get the job done. We’ve proven that as an organization and an industry, we are well equipped for the challenge of the days ahead.

As I mentioned when accepting the president’s gavel in June, I attended my first AGC Georgia meeting in 1989 only one year after I founded C.D. Moody Construction. I wasn’t just in awe of the industry giants in that room; I was scared to death. As one of the only African-American contractors in our membership, I wasn’t sure of the reception I would receive. Needless to say, they made me feel so welcome, and many members that I met that day have since become lifelong friends, confidants and partners.

During my time as president, my goal is to inspire young people to join our incredible industry. Over the past few years, AGC Georgia and so many of our members have worked side-by side to share our industry’s amazing story. I look forward to building on that message by taking every chance I get to talk with young people and share that dreams can come true, but that doesn’t mean they come easy. They need to understand it takes hard work, honesty and always doing it the right way – which means they will need to pick themselves up when they get knocked down. I firmly believe that with determination and passion, anyone can be successful in construction.

While I want to bring more and more people into our industry, I am also very passionate about taking care of those we already have inside our community. None of us have had to adapt like we have in recent months. I know we have to focus on what we need to do to keep our businesses moving forward. But, I also think it’s incredibly important for us to focus on our mental health. I’d like to encourage my fellow members to rely on your faith, take care of those around you at home and at work and find the silver linings in everything. I’ve challenged the AGC Georgia team to make sure they consistently seek a work-life balance and remember that spending time with

C. David Moody, Jr. Chief Executive Officer C.D. Moody Construction Co., Inc. 2020-2021 President AGC Georgia

loved ones is so important. These principles have helped me lead my company these last few months and help me through tough times.

Our new board met virtually a few weeks ago, and I’m looking forward to seeing many of them in mid-October at The Cloister for our next meeting that is in conjunction with the Fall Leadership Conference. I appreciate the AGC Georgia team working to find ways for members to gather. The Young Leadership Program has also been working hard to find ways to engage with members. In September, they hosted the association’s largest charity golf tournament in history – over 300 golfers on three courses with five shotgun starts. Their innovative thinking and determination during these trying times are a great example of the amazing volunteers we have engaged with AGC Georgia.

Since we weren’t able to celebrate together at the Annual Convention this year, I encourage you to read page 20 as we offer our congratulations to companies and individuals who were recognized.

I am thankful to be your President and still pinch myself when I think back to that first meeting I attended. Having been raised in the 1960s, as a young man, I never envisioned I’d be able to achieve all that I’ve accomplished in my past 30 years. It still excites me to visit jobsites and see a project come to life. I hope to inspire others to see what I see – this is a great industry.

We’ve proven that as an organization and an industry, we are well equipped for the challenge of the days ahead.

COMMIT TO A MORE INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE

By Autumn Cafiero Giusti

Earlier this year, AGC of America rolled out the Culture of CARE initiative. It’s a program that challenges companies to take a visible step to make sure their workplaces are free from harassment, hazing and bullying. CARE stands for Commit, Attract, Retain and Empower.

From there, the initiative provides tools and resources such as a model HR policy, suicide prevention info, training materials, jobsite posters and more. These help companies talk to their employees, subcontractors, owners and partners about how they can create that environment.

“We want to make sure companies know this is a continuous effort that requires a dedicated and ongoing commitment to maintaining a diverse, safe, welcoming and inclusive culture,” says Brynn Huneke, director of diversity and inclusion and member engagement, AGC of America.

The association officially launched the nationwide initiative in Las Vegas during its annual convention this past March but delayed the widespread rollout until May because of COVID-19. What those behind the initiative didn’t anticipate was how appropriate their timing would be, given the historic national discussions that unfolded this summer.

In just a few months since the rollout of the program, the number of companies taking the pledge has tripled – from 100 in May to nearly 400 in early October, with

more companies taking the pledge every day.

“So far, we are very pleased with the positive response we’ve received to Culture of CARE,” Huneke says.

For the past few years, AGC of America has been working to develop a diversity and inclusion program it could implement on the national level. They ended up looking to the AGC of Washington and its Culture of CARE program. It launched on the state level in the spring of 2018.

On the national level, the Culture of CARE pledge is open to all companies in the construction industry, not just AGC members. “Beyond being the right thing to do, building an inclusive culture that allows employees to thrive is a competitive advantage for recruitment and retention efforts,” Huneke says, adding that the benefits of inclusivity include increased employee productivity, a safer work environment and more innovation.“If you want the best and brightest as a part of your company, make sure they are coming to work every day in an environment where they feel valued, respected and heard.”

Members of AGC Georgia’s Young Leadership Program are in the beginning stages of working to get more involved in this national effort and bring programming to local members. Over the past weeks, AGC Georgia has enjoyed promoting the names of firms that take the pledge through its e-newsletter, The Forum, and on its social media platforms.

Thank you to our Culture of CARE early adopters:

• American Global

• Augusta Industrial Services

• Barnsley Construction Group

• The Beck Group

• Bobby Taylor Painting Holdings, Inc.

• Brent Darnell International

• Caddell Construction Co.

• Carroll Daniel Construction

• Collins and Arnold Construction Company, LLC

• Crane Industry Services, Inc.

• Delta Metals, Inc.

• Fastenal

• Gilbane Building Company

• Juneau Construction Co.

• McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

• MetroPower

• New South Construction Co.

• Performance Contracting Group

• Turner Construction Company

AGC Georgia member firms are encouraged to take the Culture of CARE pledge. Visit https://buildculture.org.

Members wanting to get more engaged in the discussion are encouraged to reach out to Machell Harper, director of member services and liaison to the YLP. ■

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

CELEBRATING OUR 15-YEAR HISTORY

The AGC Georgia team took a trip down memory lane to catalogue and celebrate the history of our workforce development initiatives that partner contractor members with local construction programs. We’ve traveled a long way since the first discussions began in 2006, and none of our successes would have been possible without many members working together to take ownership of their regional offerings. We are proud to showcase the initial discussions, partnerships and events hosted by AGC Georgia and our members that were the seeds to our student construction competitions known today as Skills Challenges. These programs have become a nationwide model for exponentially growing high school students’ interest in construction careers.

2019 Skills Challenge Totals

• Competing schools: 81

• Student Competitors: 742

• Total Contributions by Sponsors: $200,000+

• Sponsoring Firms: 236

It all began simply enough.

In August 2006, AGC Georgia hosted a series of Members First meetings around the state to educate members on ways to get involved in workforce development. AGC Georgia CEO Mike Dunham and CEFGA Executive Director Scott Shelar crisscrossed the state along with AGC Georgia’s Member Development Specialist Bill Chambless to launch the two organizations’ new workforce awareness efforts. It became obvious after these regional meetings that a “one-size-fits-all” approach wouldn’t work. Each region had unique opportunities and members in those areas who wanted to initiate their own grassroots efforts to jump start workforce development.

It’s often said that when the industry peaks, everyone needs workers to fill the pipeline. When the industry is stable, workforce is not an issue. During these early meetings, AGC Georgia and CEFGA encouraged contractors to think about the benefits of creating initiatives that would keep filling the skilled talent pipeline,

regardless of economic conditions or workforce demands.

Less than a month after the August 2006 meetings, Central Georgia Workforce Development Alliance (WDA) held its first gathering at the Macon Chamber of Commerce. Dunham facilitated a meeting with more than 30 member firms in attendance.

All of the subsequent alliances have worked diligently to adopt and develop relationships with high school construction teachers to provide materials for schools’ construction labs. In addition, professionals with all types of responsibilities, from the executive level to skilled talent, visit classrooms to share their career journey. Engaged firms also conduct mock interviews with students to help them become job ready and serve on their school’s construction advisory committees.

This is just the tip of the spear on ways contractors can make big differences in the caliber of their local construction programs. As time has passed and other regional WDAs were formed, the idea sharing between

the alliances has been very powerful. Fifteen years later, AGC Georgia is considered a leader among its sister chapters and enjoys sharing best practices developed by our grassroots member efforts.

“One common denominator between each alliance is that AGC Georgia members took ownership of the alliances and events that followed to make it their own,” said Dunham. “We always knew it would become a success once we could share our vision for the incredible impact it would have on the future of the construction industry workforce.”

Central Georgia Workforce Development Alliance

• Established: 2006

• First Careers in Construction

Fair: 2008

• First Central Georgia/Southern

Crescent Skills Challenge: 2016

In the beginning, Alliance leaders – Dave Cyr from Parrish Construction Group, Charlie Garbutt from Garbutt Construction Company

and Chris Sheridan, Jr. from Sheridan Construction – each contributed $5,000 toward the creation of an Alliance fund.

These leaders, along with executives from Piedmont Construction Group, initiated meetings with Bibb County Board of Education Superintendent Sharon Patterson to educate her on the importance of creating a construction curriculum for schools. After discussions, a new construction program was started at Macon’s Southwest High School. MetroPower’s Tony Varamo joined the group, and they met with the school superintendent at Lamar County to halt the shutdown of that district’s construction program.

The initial Alliance funds donated by the general contractors covered the necessary materials for high school programs, charter buses to transport students to construction-related events and purchased a $500 gift card for each instructor who achieved CEFGA accreditation for their program.

In 2008, each of the firms that originally donated to the Alliance fund made another contribution of $2,000 to sustain momentum. They also hosted the Central Georgia WDA’s

inaugural Careers in Construction Fair at Central Georgia Technical College.

The Alliance targeted middle and high school students for its daylong event. Construction industry vendors set up booths, while some provided hands-on experiences for students and, most importantly, introduced them to the world of construction.

The industry has stepped up whenever there has been a need. All-State Electric delivered a load of electrical supplies to Lamar County, Greene & Associates provided plumbing supplies to several programs and many others have helped.

At an Alliance meeting, a Putnam County instructor mentioned his students could not afford the safety boots needed to compete in an upcoming Skills Challenge event. Sheridan coordinated the purchase of boots for every welding student with Alliance funds. In return, the instructors have built items needed to host Skills Challenges. In 2019, Mary Persons High School instructor DJ Hurm and his students built a large stage in sections that will be used annually at the Central Georgia/ Southern Crescent Skills Challenge awards ceremony.

With more than 14 years of a successful partnership between AGC Georgia members and academic leaders in the region, the Central Georgia WDA is still going strong. Their early work became a blueprint for other alliances.

Students at Spalding High School participate in a panel discussion with three veteran construction jobsite field professionals to learn about their career paths.

Camden County celebrates winning the Construction Cup at the 2019 Central Georgia/ Southern Crescent Skills Challenge. All stakeholders in the event were appreciative of Mary Persons High School students for volunteering to build the stage for the annual gathering.

Southwest Georgia Workforce Development Alliance

• Established: 2006

• First Careers in Construction Fair: 2007

• First South+Southwest Skills Challenge Event: 2017

Organized in late 2006, Southwest Georgia held the state’s first Careers in Construction event at Albany Technical College in September 2007. The leaders, which included Pellicano Construction, LRA and MetroPower, organized the industry to fund and participate in the inaugural event. In addition, the Alliance was the first to add a small-scale mock skills competi tion in 2011. This type of competition would plant the seed for the larger Skills Challenges hosted today.

Members of the Alliance also serve on construction program advisory committees at various schools in the region. Companies such as MetroPower and A. West Enterprise actively recruit students from these programs to enroll in apprenticeship programs.

In recent days, members are support ing the new program at Commodore Conyers College & Career Academy (4C) in Albany. The program has had to host classes in a makeshift lab with

little space. With this Alliance’s support, renovations are underway for a new, fully equipped lab scheduled to open in the fall of 2020. In addition, 4C students are now regulars at the annual South+Southwest

the table with the superintendent and other school administrators in 2018. Early County now has a construction program, and they participated in the 2019 South+Southwest Skills Challenge.

East Georgia Workforce Development Alliance

• Established: 2012

• First East Georgia Skills Challenge: 2013

Scott Clark with R.W. Allen Construction started this region’s Alliance in 2012 by bringing together classroom instructors and learning what they needed from the industry. He was integral in providing materials, hosting jobsite visits and serving as a sounding board for the instructors to help them build their curriculum to make students job ready.

After a short time, Clark wanted to expand the mission when learning about a small-scale student competition in Central Georgia that was led by Dean Cutler, the East Laurens High

In just the third year of hosting a Skills Challenge in Moultrie, the regional event now has the most student competitors of all regions. The 2019 event coordinated events for 250 competitors.

Trey Anderson takes students with Early County on a jobsite tour.

brainstormed and created the first-ever full-scale Skills Challenge. Through the regional partnership of R.W. Allen and GoldMech, the inaugural East Georgia challenge was hosted at the Augusta Fairgrounds in November 2013.

Clark continues to use Skills

more to the region’s schools. With the success of raising funds to host each Skills Challenge, he started hand-delivering a $500 check from the AGC Georgia Foundation to each school that participated. As of the 2019 Skills Challenge, the Foundation check to each school has grown to $2,000.

Southern Crescent Workforce Development Alliance

• Established: 2015

• First Central Georgia/ Southern Crescent Skills Challenge: 2016

After attending the 2015 East Georgia Skills Challenge, Joe Tuggle from Swofford Construction brought the idea back to this Alliance and decided to join forces with Central Georgia WDA. Under the leadership of Sheridan Construction and Swofford Construction, the first Central Georgia/Southern Crescent Skills Challenge was held in November 2016 at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds in Griffin.

After three years, the Alliance outgrew the space and moved their Skills Challenge to Macon. Tuggle jokingly marks the years by the number of attendees fed at each event. The first year was 300, second was 425, third was 520 and this past year had more than 600.

This region’s activity does not end with Skills Challenges. Tuggle has organized industry panel groups at schools and secured donations of numerous construction materials to programs around the region.

Scott Clark with R.W. Allen and Ben McGhee with Gold Mech visit the construction program at East Laurens High School to present an AGC Georgia Foundation check to help the program purchase materials for lab projects.

CEFGA and AGC Georgia representatives, along with Joe Tuggle, meet with Henry County education leaders to discover ways industry can become more involved with the district’s construction curriculum.

Henry County’s Academy for Advanced Studies metals program was out of steel to do lab projects. Tuggle made a call to his supplier, and a trailer load of donated material was delivered. He did the same with the school’s construction program. Recently, Tuggle joined AGC Georgia and CEFGA staff to visit with school administrators who were concerned about budget cuts and the impact that could have on the programs. The school’s leadership also wanted the industry’s input on how best to pursue NCCER accreditation. Students in this program attended their first Skills Challenge event in 2019.

South Georgia Workforce Development Alliance

• Established: 2007

• First Careers in Construction Fair: 2011

• First South+Southwest Skills Challenge event: 2017

Early leaders for the South Georgia WDA Careers in Construction Fair included ACE Electric, Valdosta Mechanical and True North Construction Group. ACE Electric has continued to be a champion throughout the

years, including regions outside of the Valdosta area, and has provided great leadership for the newer Southeast alliance.

This Alliance reorganized in November 2016 and is now called the

South+Southwest WDA under the leadership of JCI Contractors. During the initial meeting held in a JCI jobsite trailer, the seed was planted for a Skills Challenge event. In 2017, the Alliance held its inaugural event at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie.

In the first year, 17 high schools, 162 competitors and 70 student observers attended the event that raised $22,750 in sponsorship dollars. Just two years later those numbers increased to 24 high schools, 250 competitors and 150 student observers with more than $38,000 in contributions.

Tulsa Welding School, based in Jacksonville, manages the welding competition for this region’s competition. The South+Southwest Alliance is also fortunate to have members that go above and beyond. TTL, MetroPower, ACE Electric and A. West Enterprise attend almost every meeting and do the hard work onsite to make this event possible, as well as set up their own booths, help with registration and provide competition judges.

Leaders from the South+Southwest Workforce Development Alliance meet at JCI Contractors to plan the annual Skills Challenge.

Construction teachers participate in Camp T & I each summer to fine tune their skills. Industry professionals help lead the workshops to make sure teachers are using current best practices in their curriculum.

West Central Georgia Workforce Development Alliance

• Established: 2010

Led by Batson-Cook and MetroPower/ Columbus Power, this Alliance has stepped up to partner with construction programs in the region. Several of the programs participated in the 2019 Central Georgia/Southern Crescent Skills Challenge. Columbus is slated as a potential Skills Challenge site in the future.

Batson-Cook and MetroPower have also been big supporters of Camp T&I (Trade & Industrial), which is one of the best training opportunities for high school construction teachers. The camp is held every June.

In recent years, Harris County reached out to CEFGA to discuss

reopening its program that had shut down several years earlier. The county sought assurance that the industry would support it. AGC Georgia and CEFGA met several times with the superintendent and principal to start a program, and several firms helped search to hire their instructor. In just a short amount of time, the program had competitors in the 2019 Central Georgia/Southern Crescent and South+Southwest Skills Challenges.

Northeast Georgia Workforce Development Alliance

• Established: 2016

• First Northeast Skills Challenge: 2017

In 2015 and 2016, Lanier College & Career Academy construction teacher

Rodney Presley joined with several peers to organize a small competition exclusively for Hall County students. Carroll Daniel Construction provided support and funding for this event since it was before the region’s Alliance was organized. The core group of instructors began to grow, calling themselves the Mountain Men, as word spread about the student competitions. They embraced the opportunity to connect with both AGC Georgia leadership and DOE representatives to share best practices and helped grow their program’s curriculum. A formal Alliance between regional industry representatives and construction educators was formed in 2016 after a kick-off meeting hosted by AGC Georgia and Carroll Daniel Construction.

Roswell High School students join their instructor to accept the Overall Winner Banner and Construction Cup from Carroll Daniel Construction’s Landon Boyd at the 2019 Northeast Georgia Skills Challenge.

Representatives with the construction industry meet with Harris County School’s leadership to re-establish their construction program.

In 2017, Bowen & Watson joined Carroll Daniel Construction to host the region’s first Skills Challenge event in Gainesville. It hosted 100 student competitors from 13 high schools and another 200 students observers. The industry provided nearly $19,000 to the AGC Georgia Foundation to go toward hosting the challenge.

Northwest Georgia Workforce Development Alliance

Established: 2018

First Skills Challenge: 2019

After seeing the success of regions around the state hosting their own Skills Challenges, Chris Britton of Brasfield & Gorrie and Dan Baker of Duffey Southeast joined their resources to host the first Northwest Georgia Workforce Development Alliance Skills Challenge in the fall of 2019 at the Polk County College and Career Academy. In the first year, 75 students from 11 schools competed. More than 75 student observers also attended the event to learn more about careers in construction and learn what it takes to become competitors in future years. This region also raised more than $31,000 in sponsorships. After event expenses, a portion of the proceeds were given to the participating schools.

Southeast Georgia Workforce Development Alliance

• Established: 2014

• First Skills Challenge: Planned for 2021

Early alliance members included Marchese Construction, Elkins Construction, Mock Plumbing and Bonitz of Georgia. A lot of work has been done through the years supporting existing high school construction programs and working with Chatham and Effingham to start/restart additional programs. Planning is underway for Marchese Construction, Choate Construction, West Construction and ACE Electric to host the area’s first Skills Challenge in Savannah in 2021. ■

Joe Marchese presents at an elementary school Career Day. He kept the student’s attention by showing them fun technology used on construction jobsites. It’s important for contractors to get involved with students as young as kindergarten.

Four students represent their school in the TeamWorks competition at the 2019 Northwest Georgia Skills Challenge.

Bowen & Watson hosted a jobsite tour for students from Stephens County High School.

VUJA DE: OPPORTUNITY IN CRISIS

By Mark Woodall, AGC Georgia’s Director of Governmental Affairs

Since 1996, I’ve had the pleasure of traveling the state to meet with members and provide a behind-the-scenes report on the year’s legislative session. In many ways, the 2020 Session was like no other in history.

We all know what Déjà vu is –you’ve experienced something before. However, no one has ever experienced the likes of the 2020 Session and that’s why it’s been coined the Vuja De Session.

AGC Georgia was on its way to having another respectable year under the Gold Dome when COVID-19 shut everything down on March 13, including the General Assembly. On June 15, Governor Kemp asked legislators to return to pass the only constitutionally required legislation each year, a balanced budget. In the interim, Georgia was dealing with a patchwork of local ordinances and laws regarding business and government shutdowns.

In 2019, we initiated and passed changes to our Private Plan Review and Inspection Law, but the 2019 legislative changes did not address projects exempt from using private providers. As local governments began sending their building department

staff home in mid-March, AGC Georgia sought assistance from Governor Kemp to address the problem.

Even with construction being broadly recognized as an essential industry by the federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) guidelines, some municipalities were sending building officials home due to the pandemic. This meant construction inspections were not being provided.

After AGC Georgia’s initial request for assistance, Governor Kemp issued two Executive Orders on this topic which were critical to keeping construction moving forward in Georgia.

1. Immediate Use of Private Providers for Plan Review & Inspectors without the wait time recognized in the law

2. Allowed use of Private Plan Review & Inspections on projects that at the time were not eligible under the law

During the shutdown, the use of the Private Plan Review and Inspections for ALL projects was wildly successful on projects such as hospitals, airports and high rises. The dye had been cast; the construction industry wanted this option to become permanent law.

A small group including ACEC Georgia, AGC Georgia, BOMA Georgia, Georgia Apartment Association, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and Norfolk Southern led the charge when the General Assembly reconvened by identifying legislative vehicles that could be amended to include language making Governor Kemp’s Executive Order law moving forward. We also reached out to friends in local government, Georgia Municipal Association and Association County Commissioners of Georgia, to let them know what was being considered.

The best fit for our intended needs was Senate Bill 377. This legislation was introduced by the Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshal’s offices to amend guidelines for elevator inspections. When we explained our need to the agency leadership and to the bill’s sponsors, Senator Burt Jones and Representative Eddie Lumsden, they offered their support to amending the bill to include our private provider language to SB 377.

With the original bill already passing the full Senate, it was to be heard in the House Insurance Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Lumsden. During his presentation, he offered the amendment and it passed out of committee. With his great explanation before House colleagues, SB 377 passed that body, as well. Any legislation amended by one body after being approved by the other has to bounce back to the original body for an agree. The Senate approved the amended bill and Governor Kemp signed it into law on June 30, 2020 with Act 406.

The moral of the story: There truly is opportunity in crisis. You just need to look for it.

To read the full version of SB 377, please visit: https://bit.ly/3eKObrL. ■

ISTOCK.COM/MARK_KA

AMENDMENTS TO GEORGIA’S LIEN LAW A Lesson in How the Legislative Process is Supposed to Work

By Mark S. Woodall, AGC Georgia’s Director of Governmental Affairs

In the fall of 2019, AGC Georgia’s good friend state Senator Lindsey Tippins reached out to us concerning a negative court decision impacting Georgia’s Lien Law. When Sen. Tippins is not at the Capitol serving the 37th District (Marietta), he’s tending to his private job as owner of AGC Georgia member firm, Tippins Contracting Company.

He asked if AGC Georgia would help him address the negative outcome of the 2019 Georgia Court of Appeals case, ALA Construction Services, LLC v. Controlled Access, Inc. The case interpreted the existing lien law in a way that alarmed many in the construction industry, including those who serve on our association’s Legislative Committee. The committee agreed the issue needed to be addressed and created a task force to craft a legislative remedy. The following members joined me on the task force – Legislative Committee Chair Jim Cooper with Cooper & Company, Rilo Stephens with Eckardt Group and three seasoned construction attorneys familiar

with Georgia’s Lien Law, Mark Cobb with Cobb Law Group, Gregg Joy with Smith, Currie & Hancock as our Lien Law Task Force Chair, and Fielder Martin with Baker Donelson.

The group met multiple times to hash out what needed to be addressed as a result of the court decision, and they also focused on cleaning up the Lien Law forms to make them easier to read. The group’s work product was later endorsed by the AGC Georgia Board of Directors.

Following the board’s endorsement, Sen. Tippins was invited to meet with the task force to learn about our proposed legislative remedy. He was appreciative of the detailed work and asked for one change – to move the timeline for filing a Notice of Nonpayment from 60 to 90 days to match the time frame for filing a lien. He believed many small firms thought they had 90 days under the old law, and this change would eliminate confusion.

After AGC Georgia finalized the proposed language, Sen. Tippins worked

with Senate members to secure 47 co-sponsors on what became Senate Bill 315. In the meantime, AGC Georgia secured the support of more than 20 construction groups and general business organizations, including the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business. It was tremendously helpful to have these groups’ support as we successfully worked SB 315 through the legislative process.

The Bill passed the Senate and House without a single negative vote in each body. This is a testament to the impressive presentation on the subject matter before the full Senate and House by Sen. Tippins and our House sponsor, Rep. Dale Washburn of Macon. Legislators saw this proposal as fair and reasonable and that it maintained the integrity of the lien law while also allowing contracting parties to bring action for breach of contract.

AGC Georgia believes all parties failing to provide the required Lien Law forms and notices within the statutory requirements should lose their right to

(Left photo) Mark Woodall, AGC Georgia, and Senator Lindsey Tippins (Right photo) Woodall; Rep. Dale Washburn; and Lee Lemke, Georgia Specialty Contractors, celebrate passage of SB 315 with unanimous support from both the Senate and the House.

lien the property. However, construction providers who successfully perform per the terms of their respective contracts ought not to be precluded from bringing an action for breach of contract, simply because they failed to submit a timely Lien Notice.

Industry leaders feel the lien waiver and release forms were intended to address only the waiver of lien and payment bond rights. However, in 2019, the Georgia Court of Appeals, held that statutory lien waivers and releases can also waive breach of contract claims. In the previously mentioned case, a subcontractor executed two statutory interim lien waivers and releases, but did not receive payment from the contractor within 60 days. The subcontractor did not file an affidavit of nonpayment or claim of lien to withdraw the waivers within 60 days of signing the waivers as required by statute and the prescribed waiver forms.

The Georgia Court of Appeals held that wording in the waiver statute that if the waiver was not properly withdrawn “you shall be conclusively deemed to have been paid in full the amount stated above, even if you have not actually received such payment, 60 days after the date stated” meant that the failure to withdraw the waiver within 60 days constituted legal acknowledgement that the payment had been made for all purposes, not just for purposes of the party’s lien and bond rights, even if the pay ment had not been made.

Senate Bill 315 reverses the expanded effect of the statutory waivers and releases declared by this 2019 Georgia Court of Appeals decision. The bill revises Georgia Code §44-14-366 to state specifically that the statutory waivers and releases only relate to waiver of lien and labor or material bond rights, not any other rights or remedies of the lien claimant. This legislation also revises the title of the interim and final waivers to clarify the forms relate to only lien and payment bond rights.

The time for a claimant to file an affidavit of nonpayment to withdraw the waiver would be increased from 60 days to 90 days in recognition that payments can take more than 60 days and to be consistent with the length of time allowed for filing a claim of lien.

The filing and mailing of an affidavit of nonpayment would be the only way to withdraw a waiver and release. The filing of a claim of lien would no

The waiver and release forms would no longer need to be in boldface capital letters. The law would still require waiver and release forms to be in 12-point font. This change eliminates a common complaint about the requirement for boldface, capitalized formatting of waivers and releases.

Senate Bill 315 changes will become effective on January 1, 2021. Until then, the existing waiver and release forms and law will remain in effect.

AND THE GO TO...

Each year, the AGC Georgia team looks forward to recognizing member accomplishments during our Annual Convention. This year’s event was planned for June 11-14, 2020, at the Omni Amelia Island Resort but was cancelled due to the pandemic. While we promoted award winners this past summer, we are proud to also offer this look back.

• Balfour Beatty*

• Batson-Cook Construction****

• The Beck Group**

• BM&K Construction, Inc.*

• Brasfield & Gorrie**

• Brent Scarbrough & Company***

• Kajima Building & Design Group, Inc.*

• Leapley Construction*

• Magnum Contracting, LLC*

• Marek Interior Systems, Inc.*

• Martin Concrete Construction*

The AGC Build Georgia Awards celebrate construction excellence. Winning projects represent the best the construction industry has to offer by both general contractors and specialty contractors. Award submittals must demonstrate their ability to meet the following criteria:

1) Exceptional project safety performance; 2) Overcoming the challenges of a difficult project; 3) Innovation in construction techniques and materials; 4) Excellence in project management and scheduling; and

5) Dedication to client service and customer care.

Member firms have an opportunity to compete in several different categories depending on the size of their firm, the type of project delivery method used, the type of construction and contract amount of the project. Asterisks denote firm’s number of winning projects.

• Builders 2020*

• Carroll Daniel Construction******

• Choate Construction Company**

• Cooper & Company General Contractors*

• Cork Howard Construction**

• Derucki Construction Company*

• Duffey Southeast Construction*

• Eckardt Group*

• FS 360, LLC*

• Garbutt Construction Company*****

• Gay Construction Company*

• Gilbane Building Company*

• Green Heart Enterprises*

• Harrison Contracting Company, Inc.*

• Hogan Construction Group*

• Holder Construction Company**

• J.M. Wilkerson Construction Co., Inc.*

• JCI General Contractors, Inc.**

• JTVS Builders, Inc.*

• Juneau Construction Company*

• McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.****

• MetroPower, Inc.*

• Metro Waterproofing, Inc.*

• New South Construction Company****

• Nix-Fowler Constructors, Inc.**

• Parrish Construction Group**

• Piedmont Construction Group**

• Precision Concrete Construction, Inc.*

• RA-LIN and Associates, Inc.**

• rand* construction corporation*

• R. K. Redding Construction, Inc.**

• R.W. Allen Construction, LLC*

• Sheridan Construction**

• Speir and Associates Electrical Contractors, Inc.*

• Sports Turf Company, Inc.*

• Trident Construction Group*

• Van Winkle Construction*

• Warren Associates, Inc.***

• WWPS, LLC*

• Young Contracting/SE, Inc.*

R. K. Redding Construction Founder & CEO Randall Redding was named the 2020 recipient of the prestigious Skill, Integrity & Responsibility (SIR) Award. AGC Georgia bestows this honor annually to recognize individuals for a lifetime of exemplary service and substantial contributions to the construction industry, his community and the AGC organization.

A video tribute honor Redding was presented to the membership during AGC Georgia’s virtual Annual Meeting that was held on Friday, June 12.

Each year the YLP honors a member who was integral to the program’s success. Laura Young with Young Contracting/SE, Inc. was surprised with this honor during the 2020 virtual Annual Meeting.

She has been a loyal member of YLP for many years, and as during her time on governing Council, she was instrumental in the group’s professional development programming.

Contractor members are encouraged to participate in both the AGC of America NASA safety program and the AGC Georgia corporate safety awards. Our local awards are given based on corporate safety statistics member firms provide to the NASA program. Awards presented in the summer of 2020 were based on safety data from calendar year 2019.

AGC of America recognized the following AGC Georgia contractors in their NASA program’s prestigious category of Zero Incidence Rate for calendar year 2019. To compete against contractors from across the country, a firm must submit their data for a minimum of three consecutive years.

• R. W. Allen, LLC

• Anderson Construction Company

• Carroll Daniel Construction Company

• Duffey Southeast, Inc.

• Gay Construction Company

• Ben B. Gordy Construction Co., Inc.

• Headley Construction Corporation

• Hogan Construction Group, LLC

• Holder Construction Group, LLC

• Kajima Building & Design Group, Inc.

• Leapley Construction

• Lusk & Company, Inc.

• New South Construction Co., Inc.

• Nix-Fowler Constructors, Inc.

• Pond

• Precision Electrical Contractors, Inc.

• RA-LIN and Associates

• REI – Ragan Enterprises, Inc.

• Renfroe Construction Co., LLC

• Sheridan Construction

• Swofford Construction, Inc.

• Warren Associates, Inc.

• Young Contracting/SE, Inc. For having an incidence rate that is 25% below the average for contractors in their division, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. earned special recognition from AGC of America. The following members earned an AGC Georgia award for zero lost workdays in 2019.

• Alston Construction Company, LLC

• Augusta Industrial Services, Inc.

• Balfour Beatty Construction

• Cooper & Company General Contractors, Inc.

• JE Dunn Construction

• Dynamic Commercial Painting

• FS 360, LLC

• Garbutt Construction Company

• C.A. Murren and Sons Company, Inc

• Pellicano Construction

• Randolph Williamson

• Tebarco Mechanical Corporation

• United Contractor Services, LLC

• West Construction Company

Gregg Joy with Smith, Currie & Hancock was recognized as Volunteer of the Year for serving as chair of the Lien Law Taskforce. Gregg and the group’s members spent hours crafting language for legislation that would address a negative court decision. Governor Kemp signed SB 315 into law on August 5 and it included the amendments presented by AGC Georgia’s taskforce. ■

Randall Redding (left) was presented the 2020 SIR Award by Brian Daniel, AGC Georgia’s 2019-2020 President.

*Represents AGC Georgia member firms