Executive Director's Report

Who, What to Bid – At the June 17 SIE, members only will discuss the GCs and Owners they bid.  Why is this an important function of ASAMW?  Ask yourself: are you bidding the jobs on which your company can best be efficient and profitable?  If not, are there others to whom you should be bidding?  These are important questions as we look at the positive outlook for future work in the DMV.  Members may click here for more information. 

Dodge reports residential, including high rise, is booming with over 100 percent more starts this April as compared to last April.  Non-residential starts are down nine percent for the month.  Year to date, residential is up 33 percent and non-residential is down 33 percent.  It will be interesting to see how the next few months compare to last year with the effects of COVID.

Executive Director's Report

Solution for Material Escalation – There is no easy solution to cover material escalation costs, but one member stated, “If you don’t ask, you won’t get it”.  The more subcontractors who ask and expect compensation by clients for material price the greater the chance that owners will respond favorably. 

This same member was able to get plywood in West Virginia for about half the asking price ($70) of what is being quoted in this area. 

Executive Director's Report

March Economic Outlook Rosy for Residential – The residential construction starts for March were 44 percent higher than at this time last year, while non-residential was 47 percent lower, indicating that the boom of high-rise apartments and condos will continue.  Thanks to Dodge Data & Analytics.

Unfortunately, owners will not typically help subcontractors deal with material escalation issues. If anyone has found a solution, please reply to this email. 

Executive Director's Report

Owners’ Panel on Subcontractor Payment: The Owners’ Panel on Subcontractor Payment attacked a difficult issue with honesty and sincerity. The four owners are interested in removing subcontractors from financing construction projects, but acknowledge this will not be easy.  Here are some points:

• Owner/bank processes make it difficult for subs to be paid on the 10^th after invoicing on the 20^th of the previous month. 
• Owners put together payment requisitions from Architects, its overhead and many other areas.  This takes close to 30 days.
• Developers/GCs have more flexibility to pay subs in fewer days. 
• Financing the subcontractor up front is a possibility, but would take a major shift in policy.  Public owners cannot pay costs that have not been validated.
• Schedules of Values are too complicated. 
• Banks need to understand the process. 
• Data is needed to prove that a job is more efficient and effective if the money flows promptly and to convince owners that withholding payment is not an incentive to subs.

The panel and the ASAMW Board will review these points and decide on the next steps.  Cindy Athey with Precision Wall Tech and another member wrote thoughtful responses to the panel’s points.  Click here to read these papers.