Tag: Pennsylvania

Open Door Policy

In life I’ve heard this line many times: “I have an open-door policy.” Teachers, coaches, employers, politicians, etc.  Many like to throw this line around, but do they mean it? Here’s an example of one individual who meant it, and as a result the rest of us (at least those in Pennsylvania) are better off because of it. Thanks Mike Turzai. Here’s the story:

During the summer of 2016, while living with my family in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, in the McCandless area, I was offered a job in the central PA area. After much thought and discussion with my wife and daughters, we decided to accept the position and move away from an area that has treated us great. We listed our Pittsburgh home for sale and began looking for a home in central PA.

13718711_10210116936505814_3209318682083209466_n
It’s signed! During the summer of 2016, we accepted the position of Executive Director for the Keystone Contractors Association. From this moment on, it was time to start the relocation process. 

We had three offers the first day our home was on the market (McCandless is an awesome place to raise a family and Michelle Petty is a great realtor). We accepted an offer that was best for us, but the buyers could not close on the purchase for at least two months, which turned out to be good for us in that we could live in the home for longer than we expected to, and it gave us time to find the perfect place to live in central PA.

While we were living in the McCandless home, the buyers continued to prepare to buy it and an inspection was part of this process. More than a week after the home inspection was conducted, we received an email from the buyer’s real estate agent that contained the results of the inspection. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Sunday evening when the email arrived; it was a lengthy, 50-plus page report with bold, red-highlighted items that the inspector deemed as important; and a few pages into the report I saw a line that made my heart sink: “GAS LEAK detected not safe to live in.” Since I was living in the home, with the four people who are my world, I was speechless…wait WTF did I just read?!?!?! We left right away and spent the night at my aunt’s home, a few miles down the road.

The next morning, I was busy on the phone. I called the gas company first (Peoples Natural Gas was amazing as they arrived right away, and they had the gas leak issue resolved within the hour). Then I proceeded to speak to my realtor and an attorney friend of mine. I wanted to know why, if my family was in harm’s danger, did the home inspector not alert us. The response I received was that home inspectors are not legally obligated to notify anyone of unsafe conditions, like gas leaks. My first thought was that you would think a member of a society/country would feel morally obligated to let someone know about this, but unfortunately this was not the case. Then I called my Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Turzai.

Turzai is a friendly guy who you speak with at the North Allegheny High School Football games or you see walking down the streets in your neighborhood. He told me a few times over the years, while living in the district he represents, to not hesitate to contact him if I encounter any issues: “my door is open let me know if I can help.” So, I thought I’d take him up on the offer to see if he could help. Yes, my issue was resolved when I called him, and my family moved back in our home after the gas leak was fixed, but I do not want any other family to have to go through what I went through and fortunately for the rest of Pennsylvania, Turzai agreed and did not want anyone else to go through this serious issue either.

After thoroughly understanding the issue, Turzai and his staff were able to assist in modifying a home inspection piece of legislation that at the time was moving through the 2015/2016 Pennsylvania legislative session. Time ran out on this piece of legislation and when the session ended on December 31, 2016, the home inspection legislation died.

When the new year arrived, the Pennsylvania legislature introduced a new home inspection bill for the 2017/2018 session and the provision that we inserted requiring home inspectors to notify residents immediately if they are living in unsafe conditions carried forward to the next session as well. House Bill 1001 recently passed in the House of Representatives and it is now in the State Senate. While it’s a comprehensive bill that affects many aspects of the home inspection process, I for one am glad that it spells out how home inspectors are to act when encountering threats to health and safety.

One would think that a home inspector would notify a homeowner if they were living in an unsafe condition, but I found out that is not the case. It’s a good thing Mike Turzai has an open door policy and listens to the people he represents.

Looking for a Good Construction Article to Read?

What does a four-time NFL Super Bowl Champion, a public relations specialist, and a human resources expert have in common? Each has been featured in the Keystone Contractors Association Construction Industry Articles of Interest webpage.

When I came on board at the KCA I expressed a desire to place a strong emphasis on education and the sharing of best practices. I was right at home with the KCA membership as they too feel strongly about education since it’s a vital aspect of career development. Members devoted time to creating our educational programming. Some topics were better suited for an in-person seminar/ presentation, while other topics were better in an article format. With the latter in mind, we created an online format.

During the past few months of its existence, we have been fortunate to have such intelligent and motivated professionals wanting to be featured on this new resource. We are extremely pleased to feature such diverse and important topics on this website. Sami Barry of Helbling & Associates, penned an article on women in the construction workforce; Tom Kennedy, UPMC consultant, wrote about Integrated Project Delivery from the Owner’s perspective; Rocky Bleier, Vietnam Veteran, Steeler Legend and Owner of RBVetCo, authored an article about teamwork in construction; plus, Jason Copley of Cohen Seglias, and Joseph Bosik of Pietragallo Gordon Alfrano Bosik & Raspanti, wrote separate articles about the Mechanics’ Lien Law.

The newest articles come to us from Christopher Martin, President of Atlas Marketing, and Thomas Williams, Partner at Reager & Adler PC. Mr. Martin’s article is on crisis communications. As an expert in this field, adding his insights to this serious topic was a no brainer. As a result of his interest in educating the construction community, we are in the talks now to create an educational program to prepare construction companies in responding when a crisis happens. Mr. Williams’ input is on a new contract provision being inserted by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services for construction services. Due to the potential ramifications of this new governmental clause, the KCA is leaning towards hosting an educational program on this subject matter too and it’s nice to know we have Mr. Williams if we go that route. Thanks to the proactive, and knowledgeable, input from both professionals KCA is able to educate the construction industry on serious topics.

If you want to be added to this resource, and position yourself as a construction industry expert of a specific topic, we’d like to hear from you.

To view the KCA Construction Industry Articles of Interest visit: https://keystonecontractors.com/industry-articles.

Let’s Spend PA Tax Dollars Efficiently

Today we are a few days away from the month of October. In Harrisburg, it should be a time that our legislature is working on crucial issues – education, healthcare, energy, opioid epidemic, etc., but instead our state is still trying to complete its budget. One Pennsylvanian even tracks it daily and any minute today we should see his post about the budget now being 89 days late.

Every time I think about the budget debacle, as a construction professional I think about a major issue that drives up the cost of public construction, that being the Separations Act. 10 to 13% – that is amount that we overpay for construction services in Pennsylvania. Think about that every time you drive around and see a public construction project underway – our state is paying 10 to 13% more from your tax dollars to construct that building than what Maryland would pay for it. Next time you hear that your local school district is holding a school board meeting, think about all the topics they cover under their buildings and grounds report and how those projects will cost tax payers 10 to 13% more than what New Jersey would pay due to a meaningless mandate.

The Separations Act requires Pennsylvania to build in an archaic manner where multiple prime contractors take a lead role, and point fingers at each other while standing next to their attorneys every step of the way. Claims, lawsuits, delays – those are the norm for public construction projects in our state and those are the factors that drive up the cost of construction. In other states, like West Virginia, Ohio, and 47 other states in our nation, they are free to choose the most efficient construction delivery method. Our federal government and the entire private sector are also free to choose the most cost-effective delivery method.

So next time you read a newspaper article on the state budget impasse, just think about how we overpay for construction services by 10 to 13%. Let that fact sink in while you start your day, the 89th day that we are late on this year’s budget.

Please share this petition with your contacts, urging them to sign:  https://www.change.org/p/pennsylvania-repeal-pa-separations-act. Also contact your legislators and let them know that you want action on Senate Bill 744 and House Bill 1529.