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AIA Sees Success on Retainage Rules, What Health Care Means For You, Comment on the IGCC, and more

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Government Adopts AIA Plan for Reforming Retainage Rules

After a four-year effort, the federal government has adopted the AIA’s recommendations to change rules that retainage on architectural and engineering services discretionary. Previously, contracting officers could withhold ten percent of an architect’s or engineer’s fees for federal projects until the work was deemed satisfactorily complete. This went far beyond what is customary for other services and was particularly burdensome for small firms because it restricted cash flow.

The AIA initially brought this issue to the Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2008, and as a result, it was identified as one of the SBA’s final top 10 regulations for suggested reform. Florida architect Paul Renker, AIA, who first raised the issue with the AIA in 2006, testified in support of changing retainage rules in 2008 before the House Small Business Committee.

Under the new rule, this retainage will be optional and can be assessed at a rate less than ten percent. Federal agencies will have the discretion to review the contractor’s past performance to determine this figure. Additionally, the original regulation provided that contractors “may” release the excess retainage following substantial completion. As requested by the AIA, the new rule clarifies this to provide that “any amounts retained ‘should’ not be held over beyond the satisfactory completion of the instant contract.”

View the new regulation (Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-39) in the Federal Register

Testimony before House Small Business Committee (July 30, 2008)

The Angle – July 16, 2009

Landmark Health Care Reform Signed Into Law
Congress Working to Remove Language Singling Out Small Construction Firms

After more than a year of intense and often contentious debate, President Obama signed into law a comprehensive health care reform bill at the White House Tuesday.

The legislation seeks to expand health insurance coverage to 30 million Americans who currently lack it through a combination of subsidies, a new insurance exchange, and mandates on individuals and companies with 50 or more employees. It also bans insurance companies from imposing lifetime caps on insurance benefits and denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions. The mandates do not go into effect until 2014. In addition, the bill would raise taxes on high-end insurance plans.

The legislation includes a provision, included by the Senate during its debate on the bill in late 2009, that would expand the employer mandate on construction companies to those with as few as five employees. The AIA joined with its design and construction industry partners to oppose the provision. The Senate is currently debating a bill to make changes to the just-enacted law, which removes this provision from law.

The AIA has launched a website to provide its members with up-to-date information on the legislation and its impacts on architects and their firms.

Visit the AIA’s new health care web site to get more information on how the bill will impact you, your family, and your business.

AIA Participates in Briefing on Rebuilding Haiti

Last month, the AIA joined several partner organizations to present an informative briefing on the earthquake in Haiti. Leaders in design, construction, and engineering fields discussed the difficulties that lie ahead in rebuilding the country’s capitol, Port-au-Prince, in a quick but responsible manner.

The AIA was represented by Janice Olshesky, AIA, a member of the AIA Disaster Assistance Task Force. Joining her was Sarah Yerkes, director of Government Relations at the International Codes Council; Dr. Anne Kiremidjian of the Stanford School of Engineering; and Gil Moniz of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

Contact Cooper Martin, manager of Federal Research and Policy Development for more information on the AIA’s involvement.

Visit the AIA Northern Virginia web site for more information.

See the AIA’s resources for helping in the Haiti relief effort.

AIA New York Hosts Member of Congress

From left: Terrence O’Neal, AIA; Margaret Castillo, AIA, First VP/President Elect, AIANY; Anthony P. Schirripa, FAIA, IIDA, AIANY President; Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney; Rick Bell, FAIA, AIANY Executive Director; and Margery Perlmutter, AIA, Esq. Director of Legislative Affairs, AIANY. Photo credit Michael Toolan

On March 22, AIA New York hosted a meet and greet with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-14) at the Center for Architecture in an effort to further build relationships between architects and their legislators. Maloney, whose district represents one of the highest populations of architects in the country, discussed transportation and procurement issues.

"AIA New York was honored to host Congresswoman Maloney to share with us her legislative agenda for New York and how it connects our member architects to the city,” said AIA NY President Anthony Schirripa, FAIA, IIDA. “That she joined us early Monday morning after the historic vote on the health care bill is a testament to her commitment to her constituents and the city she represents. It is our chapter's goal to host more forums like this to raise the awareness of our elected leaders to the issues that architects confront today."

In all, Maloney spent more than an hour taking questions from the more than 40 architects in attendance. She talked about transportation, small business issues, and the federal government design procurement process. She spent a great deal of the time on discussing the creation of a Second Avenue subway line, an issue that has been a key focus of the Congresswoman’s tenure in the House.  Recently the Maloney announced that she was able to secure more than $400 million for the project, which will be part of the New York transit system and is expected to move, upon its completion, more passengers than the entire transit system of most large American cities. The Congresswoman spent more than an hour with AIA New York on this issue and others including the federal government design procurement process, small business set asides and others. 

Congresswoman Maloney is the chair of the Joint Economic Committee and is a member of the House Finance Committee.

AIA National would like to work with more city and state components on holding similar events. For more information on this, please contact Hannah Wesolowski, manager of Political Programs.

IGCC Public Version Open for Comments

As reported in the last Angle, Public Version 1.0 of the International Green Construction Code was released March 15. AIA members are strongly encouraged to review the IGCC and offer comments on the code at www.aia.org/igcc. Comments submitted by May 7 will be reviewed and considered by the AIA Codes and Standards Advisory Group and the Committee on the Environment for possible inclusion in the AIA’s formal response to the International Code Council’s code development process.

For more information, contact Mark Wills, manager of State Issues and Programs.