Construction Curiosities #62
Contracts for Contractors | BABA Final Guidance | It's too hot...
Hey! Happy Saturday! Matt here.
Welcome to the Construction Curiosities newsletter episode #62.
I’m a 90’s kid. So when I see the number 62, I think of the summer of 1998 and this video plays in my head.
IYKYK
Anyways, this newsletter is meant to make you think, smile, and give you resources to be a better construction professional.
I mentioned it last week, but I made it LinkedIn official this week and got some great interest.
If you are interested in sharing your Construction Insights/ Expertise and participating in Construction Yeti there are 3 ways:
Be a Guest on the CM Mentors Podcast
Write a Guest Article for the Construction Curiosities Newsletter.
It can be about ANYTHING construction related. The only catch it I get to sprinkle memes and gifs throughout the article.
Participate in the new Subcontractor’s Help platform, I’m building out.
If you are a subcontractor and have a story to tell or insights/ tips to share that will help the industry, let me know! I want to talk to you!
If you are a subcontractor that is looking to improve your project management processes and other business operations, let me know! I have a couple of things I want to bounce off you! I promise no sales pitch. I hope to give you more in value, than your time spent.
If any of these strike your fancy, shoot me an email at matt@constructionyeti.com & let’s chat!
Summary
This week we will look at:
One Guidance: Final BABA Guidance
One LiveStream Video: Contracts for Contractors
One Meme: When it’s too hot
One Guidance
I recall during the last State of the Union Address, President Biden stated he was going to ensure all construction materials used in federally funded infrastructure projects would be Made in the USA.
At the time I thought, “We already have the ‘Buy American Act’ and the ‘Buy America Act.’” Those look the same in name but are slightly different. I guess cause the more Acts the better! I mean those politicians gotta do something…
So now here comes the Final Guidance on Biden’s “Build America, Buy America” Act (BABA). It’s been a little while since I was doing Federal Contracting work, so I’m not sure what the difference is in the other existing Acts. But the more Acts the better!
Anyways what’s in the BABA?
You can read the Key Provisions pdf from the White House but Construction Dive did an article with the Keyest Provisions (IMHO).
Essentially:
It applies to 3 categories: iron and steel products, manufactured products and construction materials.
To qualify as Made in America, a product must be manufactured in the U.S., with 55% of the cost of its components fabricated domestically.
It applies to ALL federally funded infrastructure projects. Not just those funded by the $1.2 Infrastructure Act.
There are 3 waivers:
A public interest waiver, if applying the Act would be inconsistent with the public interest. (I see you Loop Hole)
A nonavailability waiver, when American-made products are not available in sufficient quantities or satisfactory quality
An unreasonable cost waiver, if the use of U.S. materials will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25%.
This takes effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register in the coming weeks.
So there you have it. The Infrastructure BABA in a nutshell. Hope it was as thrilling for you as it was for me.
One Live Stream Video
This week Maegan Spivey & Lien Randle hosted their 1st Live Stream in their new Contracts series. Both are a couple of Contracts experts and are creating this as a resource for those new to the industry or who needs a refresher. (Who doesn’t need a refresher every now and then???)
The first one was Very Insightful and I’m certain the rest will follow suite.
Check out this week’s livestream here:
https://www.linkedin.com/events/7089207651116470272/comments/
And be sure to follow Maegan and Lien on LinkedIn to see the rest of the series.
One Meme
It’s a race but I’m pretty sure I’m going to run out of “it’s too damn hot” memes before Texas runs out of 100 degree days. 🥵
Who is going to be the first to refer a friend and get on the Leaderboard!