The House passed a $124-billion supplemental spending package today on a narrow 218-212 vote. Most of the funds are earmarked for the U.S. Military in Iraq but the measure also contains several billion dollars for defense and non-military construction programs.

The construction-related funding would include $1.8 billion for military projects, mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan; $3.1 billion for the defense base closure program; $1.3 billion for levees and other flood-control work around New Orleans; and $283 million for Veterans Affairs construction.

The White House has warned that President Bush would veto the bill, mainly because of language requiring the U.S. to start withdrawing troops next year if political and military benchmarks are achieved before then. The House vote fell far short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.

Reference: ENR News Alert

Prices for gypsum wallboard are finally succumbing to the weak housing market according to the upcoming issue of Engineering News Record. ENR’s 20-city average price for 1/2-inch wallboard declined 2.3% this month, dropping the year-to-year price increase to 5%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wallboard year-to-year price increases declined from 14% last October to just 3% in January.

Reference: ENR

Cold weather and the housing slowdown put a damper on nationwide construction jobs in February according to the Associated General Contractors of America, but nonresidential segments should rebound this month.  February included a week of ice storms across much of the U.S. whereas January had an exceptionally balmy week.  As a result, some contractors may have started jobs in January that normally would have been postponed until later in the spring, then postponed hiring during the freeze.  One sign that nonresidential construction will resume growth is the fact that architectural and engineering firms have seen a 5 percent increase in job growth over the past year, and their work turns into construction within a few months.  Meanwhile, nonresidential construction spending is up 15 percent over last January.  The AGC concludes that nonresidential construction will be healthy through 2007, and probably beyond.

Fees for construction management and program management services increased from 5% of a typical project in 2000 to 5.7% in 2007, according to a recent Construction Management Association of America survey. During the same period, operating income for CM/PM firms dropped, showing that costs rose more quickly than fee income. Healthcare and education sectors offered the lowest media feeds while highway and bridge construction offered the highest. The survey cited a tightening labor market, aging workforce and aging infrastructure as factors leading to a growing reliance on outsourced CM/PM services.

The U.S. House has approved a bill authorizing $14 billion over four years for sewage treatment plant construction around the country, according to ENR. This marks the first reauthorization of the Clean Water Act revolving fund program to clear the House since 1995. Although the measure was scaled back from a $20-billion, five-year
version approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in February, the White House said that
President Bush’s senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill, calling the funding levels “excessive” and “unrealistic in the current fiscal environment.”

The 2007 National Green Building Conference sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders will be held here in St. Louis at the Adams Mark Hotel March 25-27. The educational sessions will offer technical expertise and the latest product developments presented by some of the most successful builders in the industry. Download the brochure and registration information at the NAGB website.