Salute to Construction: The Builders' Association

Services provided by the association include plan room services, safety training and consulting, labor relations, insurance programs, government relations, education and training and networking opportunities. Members have access to these services through four locations in Springfield, Jefferson City, Columbia and Kansas City.

One of the main functions provided by the Springfield office is the plan room service, both on-site and Web-based.

This service benefits not only member subcontractors and suppliers, but all parties involved in the bidding process. Owners, architects, engineers, and general contractors have the ability to advertise and distribute project blueprints through the The Builders Association plan rooms. This arrangement ensures that plans are widely available to bidding contractors and therefore maximizes the number of qualified bids received by the owner.

With the downturn in the economy, project owners have been forced to reduce their construction budgets. This has reduced the volume of construction projects, but it also has affected the process by which plans and specifications are distributed for those projects. In the past, blueprints were widely available for a refundable deposit, with the printing costs incorporated into the owners’ budgets. Unsuccessful bidders were able to recover their deposits when returning their blueprints, and the plans could then be reused during the building process.

More recently, an increasing number of blueprints must be purchased by bidding contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and plan rooms. Not only is this an extra financial burden on struggling bidders, it often results in a tremendous amount of wasted paper. Unsuccessful bidders are now stuck with a set of plans they had to purchase, and they often have no other choice but to dispose of them after the bidding process. Due to the declining availability of plans, owners may also see fewer qualified bids on a project.

The Builders’ Association is currently working with owners, architects and bidders to find a solution to ensure plans, and specs are still readily accessible to all parties. The association’s Digital Plan Exchange service is already proving to be a successful plan distribution option for the city of Kansas City and a number of general contractors.

Other current issues affecting contractors include new health and safety training requirements. Missouri law now requires all construction employees working on publicly funded projects to complete the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10-hour training course. A new Environmental Protection Agency rule requires contractors working on projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 to be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination.

The Builders’ Association is able to satisfy these new requirements by providing both the OSHA 10-hour course and EPA lead awareness training to members. Three on-staff safety directors offer a full range of environmental, health and safety services including: job site inspections, consulting, written safety programs, weekly toolbox talks, first aid/CPR classes, and other trade-specific training.

Miles Boyer is office manager of The Builders Association Southern Division. For more information, visit www.buildersassociation.com.