Austin AGC Monthly News Update

Celebrating 75 Years of Promoting & Protecting Austin's Commercial Construction Industry!

June 2021 - Monthly News Update

AGC Priority Bills Signed by Governor

All three major construction bills backed by AGC Texas Building Branch have been signed by Governor Abbott.

Fora full discussion on these and other new laws, the TBB will host a legislative update meeting July 27-29 at the JW Marriott in San Antonio. There is no convention this year, but this alternative event will still be a great way to get up to speed on these new law changes and network with construction colleagues from around Texas. A tentative agenda can be reviewed here. Information from this conference will be shared with membership as soon as it becomes available.

The AGC priority legislation accomplishes the following:

Limit contractor liability for design defects (Senate Bill 219)

Allow school districts to adopt uniform general conditions (UCG's) for k-12 building construction (Senate Bill 338)

Shorten the time that public building owners can sue for defects (statute of repose) on public work (House Bill 3069).

Design Defect Liability

Senate Bill 219 is sponsored by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) and Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano). The bill places new limits on contractor liability related to design defects and outlines a contractor’s duty to disclose such defects. This bill takes effect September 1, 2021.

Click here to read the text of SB 219.

Uniform General Conditions

Senate Bill 338 is sponsored by Sen. Beverly Powell (D-Burleson) and Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville). The legislation amends the Education Code to authorize a public school district to adopt uniform general conditions to be incorporated in all district building construction contracts.

The bill passed unanimously in the Senate last month on a 30-0 vote and cleared the House 136-8. The new law is effective beginning June 7, 2021.

Click here to read the text of SB 338.

Statute of Repose

House Bill 3069 is sponsored by Rep. Justin Holland (R-Rockwell) and Sen. Hughes. The bill shortens the time public building owners can sue for defects (statute of repose) from 10 years with a two-year tail to eight years with a one-year tail for public projects. Building owners have an additional year (instead of an additional two years) to sue for defects discovered in the last year. Under previous law, alleged defects had to be found within 10 years of the building’s completion, and building owners got an additional two years to sue for defects discovered in the tenth year.

The new law took effect June 14, 2021.

Click here to read the text of HB 3069.

Also changes to lien law were approved by the legislature and signed into law effective for projects starting in January 2022. We will have a full update for you soon on those changes as well.

Contact Phil Thoden with any questions.

SBA to Withdraw Loan Necessity Questionnaire in Wake of AGC Lawsuit

The Small Business Administration (SBA) intends to withdraw the “Loan Necessity Questionnaire” that has heavily burdened and delayed all applications for forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $2 million or more. AGC sued SBA last December for developing the form entirely in secret, and without public input, and for using the form to change the de facto requirements for the forgiveness of such loans. During lawsuit settlement negotiations, AGC learned of SBA’s decision to withdraw the questionnaire. Recently, AGC has also received an exceptionally large number of reports about SBA approving these loans for forgiveness. This is excellent news for the thousands of AGC members who accepted such loans in good faith in order to keep their people working.

Networking Events Up and Running Again!

With Austin fully opened back up after COVID the Austin AGC is excited to get back to hosting fun networking events for the local construction industry! Be sure to mark you calendar and register (if currently available) for our big events still to come in 2021! For questions or sponsorship opportunities still available, contact Toni Osberry.

Top Golf - August 4

CLC Leadership Forum - August 18

CLC Sporting Clay Shoot - September 23

BBQ Cook Off and Rodeo (tentative) - November 19/20

Holiday Party - December 7

Behind the Construction Fence with Rogers-O'Brien and Hill & Wilkinson

The Austin AGC continues going "Behind the Construction Fence" to hear from folks on the jobsite about their work in commercial construction, how they started, and why they love it! So far we've posted videos about safety professionals and drone operators. Also this month we visited jobsites with both Rogers-O'Brien Construction and Hill & Wilkinson General Contractors.

Do you have some great team members on your jobsites you'd like the Austin AGC to interview and feature? Contact Phil Thoden for more information.

June in Austin AGC History

In the June installment of This Month in Austin AGC History during our 75th anniversary, we take a look at our first year in 1946 when the Houston AGC formally agreed to transfer counties under their jurisdiction to the Austin AGC, thereby paving the way for our Chapter to become officially chartered by the AGC of America. That document continues to hand proudly in our office today. he Chapter President at the time was Jamie Odom who started J.M. Odom Construction as was a prolific builder of many Austin projects that continue to have a positive impact on our community today.

Click here for the June update, or here here for all the history articles so far in 2021.

We are compiling these monthly features into a 75th anniversary magazine to be published in December. Contact Phil Thoden if you'd like to sponsor or advertise this historical document!