On March 30, 2022, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) announced the first-ever national standards for “clean” concrete and asphalt that apply to all new GSA-funded projects using more than 10 cubic yards of concrete or asphalt. Acting in furtherance of the directives set forth in Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through
With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the federal government invested approximately $25 billion in green building, and became a key market driver in the construction industry. State and local governments have also adopted new green building regulations. But green building projects raise new risks and liabilities. For example:
Notwithstanding any other
My last post warned that subcontractors on Federal construction projects should be alert to whether the Government designated the prime contract as a “commercial items’ contract, rather than a construction contract. Agencies often assume that in a “commercial items” contract — even if the contract is for purchase of construction-related services — the prime contractor
Federal agencies love green building certification. According to the United States Green Building Council, 14 federal agencies have implemented initiatives supporting LEED certification, a type of green building rating system.
I had never quite understood why federal agencies were so focused on green building certification for new construction projects. That was, until I read this:
Subcontractors seeking a piece of the Federal construction spending (pdf) boom beware: you can find yourself with no easy options to collect from a nonpaying prime, if the prime contract — the one you thought was a construction contract — is actually a “commercial items” contract, and the prime contractor did not get a payment
On Monday, I discussed conflicts between military construction and green building certification. Green building certification was originally created for commercial office buildings, which can create some odd applications in military construction. While we have have already discussed energy efficiency, bicycle racks and HVAC systems, there is one component of military construction that conflicts directly