Blog

The U.S. Senate avoided pushing through unprecedented, historic changes to the chamber’s long-standing procedural rules as Democrats and Republicans reached a last-minute agreement to advance pending presidential nominations.
Read More

The U.S. Senate confirmed all five pending nominees to the NLRB. An agreement was reached between leaders of both parties in July to move on the Administration’s picks as part of negotiations to avert Democrat-threatened filibuster reform.
Read More

Last week, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued two final rules changing existing contractor and subcontractor requirements for the hiring of disabled individuals and veterans under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 4212 of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA).
Read More

IEC National is thrilled to welcome tax specialty and business advocacy firm alliantgroup as a Bronze Level National Industry Partner. As the nation’s premier provider of specialty tax services, their mission is to support CPA firms and the businesses they advise by identifying lucrative tax credits and incentives ­– cash-infusing programs that help companies grow and successfully compete in the U.S. economy.
Read More

Estimating software is no longer a luxury; it is a must-have tool in the old tool belt. Contractors who are bidding new business are spending countless hours of wasted time if they are not using some sort of estimating tool. In the past, estimating software was a luxury; an expensive one. But with today’s market and with software developers recognizing the need for a less expensive software, it is a cinch to purchase one and get it up and going in no time. Most software companies now offer several levels to their software, making it a lot more affordable and doable. They even offer some sort of trade-up program so that you are not stuck with a smaller version of the software forever.
Read More

The quality of life for every American relies on the products of the U.S. construction industry. The construction industry accounts for between 4 to 7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually in the United States over the past 10 years and employs 5 to 9 million workers or 3 to 6 percent of the total U.S. workforce. But such a key industry is under constant pressure to improve productivity, reduce cost, and minimize waste in the operation. While the productivity in the manufacturing industry has improved by 400 percent over the last century, the construction industry’s productivity has, in the best case, stayed flat or turned negative.
Read More

In a new letter of interpretation publically released on April 5, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced for the first time that during an OSHA inspection of nonunion worksites, employees can be represented by anyone selected by the employees including outside union agents.
Read More

Estimating and project management software is a requirement these days, but by just owning software or by not using the software to its fullest, processes can still be missed and important information can be forgotten. By learning all features and advantages of software, an electrical contractor can create productive strategies that can increase profitability and decrease costly mistakes. It is imperative that a contractor comes up with a list of checks and balances that can be utilized on every single job, every single time.
Read More

An essential skill in any good leader’s arsenal is the ability to negotiate. “Negotiation” is defined as “discussion aimed at reaching an agreement.” As anyone in the business world can attest, this is not always the simplest of tasks. We need a series of guidelines to achieve unity of purpose in any productive discussion. The specific method to use for optimum give-and-take is that of principled negotiation.
Read More

Industrialization of the construction industry is happening everywhere. Building information modeling (BIM), simulation, computer-aided design, and many other product and process modeling technologies are becoming daily requirements in the construction industry. Managing complex and fast-paced jobs and prefabrication have increased higher demands on modeling. BIM has revolutionized the industry as a solution for product modeling, allowing for better integration between the parts and pieces that come together for building. However, the new wave of technology will focus more on process and information modeling beyond the building components and toward the builders and their work requirements. To stay competitive plus take advantage of the cost savings afforded by use of this technology, they need to be able to build a strategy to use BIM, product lifecycle management (PLM), and three-dimensional(3-D) experience within a virtual construction environment. The product models require input from engineers and designers to lay out the building. The new process models must include the input of the worker to be effective.
Read More