ASA Federal Initiatives

Anti-'Bid Shopping' Legislation.
On June 9, 2005, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., introduced H.R. 2834, the Construction Quality Assurance Act. As of Oct. 11, 2005, 15 members of Congress have cosponsored this legislation.

• H.R. 2834 would prohibit the owner (the government), contractors, or subcontractors from participating in the practice of bid shopping on federal construction contracts.
• H.R. 2834 would eliminate the practice of electronic reverse auctions on federal construction contracts.
• Any invitations to bid for a federal construction project of $1 million or more would include a clause explicitly prohibiting the practice of bid shopping.
• A contracting officer who became aware of a bid shopping violation could penalize monetary damages equal to the greater amount of
  • The final bid before the contract award, or
  • The price paid to the contractor or subcontractor for work performed.

Read ENR's story about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' rejection of reverse auctions for construction services.

Legislation To Prohibit Online Reverse Auctions on Federal Construction.
On May 4, 2005, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.,  introduced H.R. 2067, section 812 of which would prohibit the federal government from using online procurement services for the procurement of construction-related services. The language was included in H.R. 1815, and passed the House 390-39. ASA is advocating that the Senate and House Conference Committee include Section 812 during conference negotiations.

Construction Brain Trust. ASA is a member of the General Services Administration's (GSA) Construction Brain Trust, a working group consisting of construction association and GSA representatives. ASA voices concerns on issues such as curbing bid shopping and improving dispute resolution processes on federal construction projects.
 

OSHA.

• ASA is an advocate for subcontractors in groups that directly address OSHA rulemakings:
  
  1. ASA submitted comments on the proposed rule change of Subpart N by the Cranes and Derricks Advisory Committee (ASA's comments ).
  
  2. ASA is a member of the Silica Task Force (STF), an industry group that plans to collect testing data for exposure to silica in tasks including coring, drilling, abrasive testing, sawing, cutting and jack-hammering and present it to OSHA. The goal of the STF is to establish a “best practices” standard that will enable the industry to self-regulate.
  
  3. ASA is working with industry and OSHA representatives on two preliminary initiatives, the Trenching Initiative and the Hearing Exposure Standards.
• ASA is a member of the Construction Association Safety and Health Information Network (CASHIN), a coalition of leading construction associations that work with OSHA to promote safer construction sites through responsible legislation and rulemaking.
• ASA is working with Small Business Administration and OSHA representatives on modifying the Lead in Construction Standard (ASA's comments ).
   

Economic & Tax Policy.

• ASA is a member of the Construction Organization for Sensible Taxation (COST), a group of construction associations working with members of Congress to enact better tax policy for small construction businesses.
• ASA is a member of the Small Business Legislative Council (www.sblc.org), promoting the interests of subcontractors to the federal government.
• ASA works with the Internal Revenue Service Office of the National Taxpayer Advocate on the issues of tax reform and minimizing the paperwork burden for business owners.