Monthly Archives: March 2013

While statutory requirements will keep payment and performance bonds as a mainstay of the construction market for years to come, other viable options exist and should be considered by owners, contractors, and subcontractors as alternatives to bonding. These alternatives can create the same “net effect”.

The federal government currently uses the LEED 2009 rating system for construction of federal buildings. By law, however, this must be re-evaluated every 5 years. The General Services Administration has opened a public comment period as part of this re-evaluation process and will be accepting opinions on what system it should use until April.

Construction of Easton’s $26 million transportation center project will start in April. The final hurdle to a ground breaking later this month is approval from the Easton Historic District Commission according to Mayor Sal Panto. The development is being developed through a partnership between the city, the state of Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh and Northampton Transit Authorities.

We previously reported the introduction of HB 34 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The bill, which is strongly supported by Republican Representative Kate Harper, has passed the House and now moves to the Senate for consideration.

We have all seen projects where a design principle is bent a little or a construction technique is altered slightly for the sake of speed or cost. Often times, the attitude is “no harm, no foul”. But consider the other side of the situation and ask yourself what happens when there is harm. A recent case in Southern California is worth noting in that regard.

We recently reported that the Pennsylvania legislature passed amendments to the Pennsylvania Steel Products Procurement Act that Governor Corbett signed into law. The change, which created automatic exemptions for certain products under the Act, is designed to make compliance with the law more manageable and decrease costs on state contracts.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (“SEPTA”) recently released its annual report focusing on the theme of sustainability, aptly titled “SEP-TAINABLE”. In that report, SEPTA commits to partnering with developers, municipalities, and other organizations to invest in various Transit-Oriented Development (“TOD”) projects, which are high-density mixed-used development projects within a half mile of public transportation. Specifically, SEPTA announced that it intends to engage in one TOD per year.