Alston & Bird have released their April 24 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C. has prepared a Rider for MCAA members to include in a response to a proposal or an actual subcontracting agreement to take into account the risk to the parties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As buildings are reopening after being shut down or used less during the pandemic, there is an inherent risk to the water and air systems. MCAA has drafted a comprehensive sample letter for our contractors to download and customize as needed before sending to building owners as they prepare to re-open their buildings in the safest way.
Alston & Bird have released their April 22 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
Several great questions came out of MCAA’s Webinar #8: COVID-19 OSHA Enforcement Preparation, which was presented on April 17, 2020. See those questions and the answers provided by attorney and presenter Adele Abrams.
These uncertain times have forced many companies to focus internally and hunker down. But this is the perfect time to go on the offense and embrace creativity and innovation. A panel of past MSCA board members and service contractors lead an informative session on refocusing your service sales priorities and implementing unique and proactive sales strategies. As your business continues to face tension between generating sales during a period of extreme economic hardship and respecting the threats to life and livelihood that have altered consumer priorities, you now have a unique opportunity to re-educate your customers and reinvent your offerings.
Additional Resources:
Webinar Polling Results
Sample letter for contractors to provide to building owners as they prepare to re-open their buildings.
This webinar was recorded Tuesday, April 21, 2020.
Alston & Bird have released their April 20 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
As positive cases of COVID-19 increase around the nation there is speculation that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will increase its enforcement efforts. The agency will want to ensure that employers are making a good faith effort to help protect their workers from contracting the virus. California, which is an OSHA state-plan-state, has already started COVID-19 related enforcement actions. OSHA does not have a regulation or standard for COVID-19. However, the agency can cite and fine employers using the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970’s general duty clause, and several other generic regulations and standards. The webinar presenter is occupational safety and health attorney, and long-time MCAA friend, Adele Abrams. Adele discusses what’s anticipated, and how to prepare for it, along with the OSHA record-keeping issue involving COVID-19 cases.
Additional Resources:
This webinar was recorded Friday, April 17, 2020.
Alston & Bird have released their April 17 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
Congratulations to Bryce Danielson, one of the two recipients of the Alan O’Shea Memorial Scholarship. The Mechanical Contractors Association of New Jersey established the scholarships to honor the memory of Alan O’Shea, its former Executive Director, and memorialize his many contributions to the mechanical contracting industry.
Bryce is a sophomore from the University of Nebraska studying Construction Management. He joined the student chapter in his freshman year and has attended both the MCAA Annual Convention and the GreatFutures Forum.
“The amount of support that the mechanical contracting industry has for students like me is what has drawn me towards a future career in this industry,” Bryce said. “Whether it is through the local contractors, my local student chapter, or the national association, I feel as if there is always someone to help and support my future career.”
His local contractor mentor showed him a job site and explained how the process works, answering his questions along the way. The student chapter has provided internship and networking opportunities, along with the chance to learn new things through its monthly meetings. MCAA events have also provided networking opportunities, along with real-world experience through the Student Chapter Competition, and a chance to learn from world-class speakers and industry professionals.
Bryce has been interning for Ray Martin Company, an MCAA member, since May 2019. “I have been challenged with many tasks which include estimating and preparing bids, writing purchase orders and subcontracts, and helping with project management duties. They gave me opportunities that no other company would give a first-year intern.”
“I look forward to putting everything I have learned in college to work,” Bryce said, adding that “It’s one thing to learn about managing a large-scale project and another to actually do it. This is what I enjoy the most about mechanical contracting because almost every day is different. There is always a new problem that needs to be solved or a new project that is different than the last. I enjoy these because you always have to be quick on your feet and think of innovative ways to solve these problems to ensure the overall success of your project.
“Without my MCAA student chapter and the MCA of Omaha, I would have never been able to make the connection with Ray Martin Co. and obtain an internship that I am still doing today. Finally, MCA-Omaha has also supported me financially through different scholarships. This is a big deal to me because it allows me to stay focused on school and reassures me that the local mechanical contractors support me and all the members of our chapter.”
MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulate Bryce on this distinguished scholarship and thank the MCA of Omaha, Inc. for its commitment to supporting younger students keeping them invested in the mechanical contracting industry.
Panelists Paul Stynchcomb, CCM, PSP, CFCC, of The Ibbs Consulting Group, Professor William Ibbs, Ph.D. of The Ibbs Consulting Group and Douglas L. Patin, a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, a national construction law firm that serves mechanical trades, discuss ways to maneuver through contract clauses and analyses of various impacts that may arise due to COVID-19. The panel discusses pandemic-related subjects of contractual rights and remedies, force majeure clauses, proper and timely notice, applicable case law, impacts to the procurement chain, schedule impact analyses and potential adverse effects of the pandemic on labor productivity caused by crew disruption, absenteeism, materials and equipment unavailability and other potential effects of the pandemic.
Additional Resources:
This webinar was recorded Wednesday, April 15, 2020.
Alston & Bird have released their April 15 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show connects our contractor members with the members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.
Participating companies highlight and link to new products, product lines, services, solutions or web pages of particular interest. Here are just a few of the recent additions:
Watts Water Technologies
Time is money. And with Watts Learn & Earn program, you can earn tokens for swag in less than 10 minutes. Learn about Watts products on demand from any device, collect, and get on with your day.
The Harris Products Group
Installing gas lines at field hospitals? Harris has the medical gas distribution equipment you need – manifolds, oxygen panels, regulators – and the system design experts to help you serve these critically-needed facilities. Call 1.800.733.4041, ext 2.
Find many more smart solutions in MCAA’s Virtual Trade Show!
Visit the Smart Solutions Case Studies area of our website to learn how other mechanical contractors found their win-win with cost-saving and productivity-enhancing applications from members of MCAA’s Manufacturer/Supplier Council.
This section of our website also includes tips and ideas to help your company save money and enhance your productivity. Don’t miss it!
A panel of leading contractors discuss important strategies to help companies deal with the current coronavirus situation. Panelists will discuss the role of HVACR/plumbing companies as essential services, crucial safety issues, impact on customers, the financial realities and a number of technical recommendations for mechanical/plumbing systems.
This webinar was recorded Friday, April 10, 2020.
Alston & Bird have released their April 13 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released enforcement guidance for recording cases of COVID-19. Until further notice, OSHA will not enforce its record-keeping requirements to require employers to make work-relatedness determinations for COVID-19 cases, except where: (1) There is objective evidence that a COVID-19 case may be work-related; and (2) The evidence was reasonably available to the employer.
This year’s Student Chapter Competition project was demanding, allowing students to showcase their knowledge of mechanical contracting in a written proposal for a a real-world construction bid.
MCAA congratulates the four finalists: Ball State University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The finalists were selected from among 33 submissions. Their insight into the project and the overall quality of their proposals impressed the judges, all members of MCAA’s Career Development Committee.
Thank you to Fresh Meadow Mechanical Corporation of Fresh Meadows, New York for providing this year’s project details. The project tasked students with developing a proposal to be the prime contractor on a chiller and cooling tower replacement project in the Penn South building in New York City. The project included the completion of all plumbing, piping and HVAC, electrical, controls and any other work required to complete the project as described in the bid documents.
Ball State received their charter at the 2016 MCAA Convention. They received a Chapter of Excellence Grant in 2019, recognizing their extraordinary performance and accomplishments in maintaining interest in the mechanical contracting industry. Sherif Attallah, Associate Professor of Construction Management, is the chapter’s faculty advisor.
This was Ball State’s first year placing in the final four of the competition.
The competition team consisted of all Construction Management majors:
MSOE won last year’s Student Chapter Competition at MCAA19. The chapter previously won in 2011 and 2013.
They placed in the Final Four of the Competition in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2017. MSOE was a recipient of a 2019 Chapter of Excellence Grant. Blake Wentz, Department Chair of Civil & Architectural Engineering & Construction Management, is the chapter’s faculty advisor.
MSOE’s Competition Team:
Logan Stone is the 2020 recipient of the William A. Bianco, Jr Memorial Scholarship. Brooke Scott received the Alan P. O’Shea Memorial Scholarship in 2019.
This is Maryland’s first time back in the final four since 2014. After working on rebuilding the chapter that time, they won an Emerging Chapter Grant in 2019. Fitzgerald Walker, Academic Advisor for the Mechanical Engineering department, is in his first year as the chapter’s faculty advisor.
Meet Maryland’s competition team, all Mechanical Engineering majors:
Hailey Brennan is the 2020 Recipient of the Josam Endowed Scholarship.
Mizzou won the the Student Chapter Competition at MCAA17, and competed in the final four last year at MCAA19. The chapter’s current advisor is Lawrence Shilke, Manager Engineer of the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The competition team consists of all Mechanical Engineering majors:
Kylie Nedelka recently accepted a second summer internship with SIEMENS. Read the full story HERE.
MCAA and the John R. Gentille Foundation congratulates all of the finalists and recognizes their commitment and dedication to this year’s project. A signification amount of time and effort has been put into the competition, and thank you all the student chapters for their commitment to the MCAA GreatFutures program
Please contact Megan Walsh if you have questions about any of our student activities or the internship grants funded by the John R. Gentille Foundation (JRGF).
In a video message, UA General President Mark McManus and MCAA President Brian Helm discuss how cooperation, communication and common sense are fueling joint efforts to adapt to new working conditions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two organizations are working together and innovating to address changing conditions while at the same time protecting our workforce and our industry’s future.
Alston & Bird have released their April 10 COVID-19 update, including the latest news on emergency funding, administrative and regulatory actions, workplace and home issues, and many other topics, as well as to links to all their past updates.
The Small Business Administration (SBA), in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, intends to provide timely additional guidance to address borrower and lender questions concerning the implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), established by section 1102 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or the Act). Borrowers and lenders may rely on the guidance provided in this document as SBA’s interpretation of the CARES Act and of the Paycheck Protection Program Interim Final Rule (“PPP Interim Final Rule”). Published on April 6, 2020.
