McGraw-Hill-AGC Agreement/ABC Targets Amendment 34/NAWIC Scholarship

McGraw-Hill Construction and the Associated General Contractors of America have created a new partnership to publish AGC's Constructor magazine nationwide.

McGraw-Hill Construction - North America's leading provider of construction information and intelligence - will publish AGC's Constructor magazine, membership directory and buyers' guide.

"We are excited about our new partnership to publish this fine group of products for AGC members and other industry professionals," said James McGraw IV, group publisher for McGraw-Hill Construction. "We are committed to providing high-quality information to the industry. Working with AGC, a respected industry leader, helps us achieve that goal."

AGC Chief Executive Officer Stephen Sandherr said the partnership will help the association better serve its membership and the industry.

"Our choice to select McGraw-Hill as our partner in publishing Constructor, our membership directory and buyers' guide is a perfect fit that will enable us to enhance the quality of news and information we provide members and the industry," he said.

As part of the plan, AGC and McGraw-Hill Construction have set up an editorial advisory board that includes AGC officers and McGraw-Hill editorial and business leaders.

ABC Board Urges Defeat of Amendment 34

The board of directors for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors voted in August to oppose Amendment 34, which will go before voters on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Board members said the amendment is "too extreme" and, if passed, "is certain to lead to a dramatic rise in lawsuits for construction-related problems, whether the work was done by professionals or private individuals."

In 2003 the Colorado General Assembly adopted landmark reform legislation not only to protect homeowners against construction defects but also to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits filed.

The ABC board said that Amendment 34 - proposed in reaction to the 2003 legislation - is so extreme that homeowners, commercial building owners and anyone involved with a home or commercial building project could potentially be targeted for no-limits lawsuits.

"Amendment 34 fundamentally overturns the current system of laws that encourages parties to make an honest and timely attempt at resolving differences about construction disputes before seeking litigation," said the board. "It seeks to force lawsuits and litigation as the first and only step in resolving disagreements over commercial or private construction matters."

NAWIC Western Colorado Chapter Awards 2004 Scholarship

Judy Cady was the recipient of the Western Colorado Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction's 2004 scholarship, awarded annually to a young woman pursuing an education in the construction industry.

Cady is enrolled in the AutoCad program at Mesa State College's United Technical Education Campus in Grand Junction.

The association plans to move into a permanent home later this fall.

CRMC/CRPA Moves into New Office

The Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association/Colorado Rock Products Association relocated its office to 6855 S. Havana St., Suite 540, Centennial. The move was effective Monday, Aug. 23.

Civil Engineers Call for Comment on Three Industry Standards

The Environmental Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers will hold a public comment period on revisions to three urban subsurface drainage standards.

The standards - "Guidelines for Operation and Maintenance of Urban Subsurface Drainage," "Guidelines for Installation of Urban Subsurface Drainage" and "Guidelines for Design of Urban Subsurface Drainage" - cover site analysis, system configuration, filters and envelopes, hydraulics and hydrology, structural considerations, materials, site inspection, excavation, installation, safety, inspection of materials, equipment and construction of urban subsurface drainage.

The public comment period for the proposed revisions is Oct. 1 through Nov. 15. It's one of the final stages of the consensus standards development process and will be conducted using ASCE's Web-based balloting system.

The EWRI Urban Drainage standards committee will review and address all responses submitted during the public comment period.

Anyone who wishes to participate in the public comment period on revisions to three urban subsurface drainage standards should contact Eileen Boeing - the American Society of Civil Engineers' standards coordinator - at eboeing@asce.org.

Specify in the e-mail the standard on which you wish to comment.

ABC Selects Sprint as New Communications Partner

The Associated Builders and Contractors recently announced a multiyear, communications services agreement with Sprint, a global, integrated communications provider serving more than 26 million customers.

The agreement enables ABC and its 80 chapters to give member firms full access to discount pricing on a variety of Sprint products and services.

ASLA Shares Security Design Information Online

The American Society of Landscape Architects has posted on its Web site the complete abstracts from its summer security design symposium in Chicago.

"We want this information to reach public officials and employees, law enforcement professionals, developers, business owners and other key decision makers so they will have more tools at their disposal to plan for our long-term security," said Nancy Somerville, executive vice president of ASLA. "There are ways to secure our cities that won't turn them into armed camps."

The conference - "Safe Spaces: Designing for Security and Civic Values" - featured many of the nation's leading experts in security planning and design who contributed abstracts of their presentations for the publication.

The abstracts contain practical information and case studies demonstrating risk assessment, planning, construction methods and materials, and policy tools for determining appropriate responses.

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