Page 8 - Builder Brief September 2023 Issue

2023 PRESIDENT
JOIN US FOR 3PAC EVENT ON OCT 12TH
The home building industry is among the most regulated industries in the country. Your leadership team has been very active on the local, state, and national levels this past year and we continue to make a difference for our members and our industry.
We meet with elected officials in face-to-face meetings every month. We continue to forge strong relationships with city staff across our jurisdiction. The Texas Association of Builders (TAB) government relations team, along with members from across the state, helped pass sweeping legislation this past session. They also helped defeat bills that would potentially harm our industry and add significant costs to the price of a new home.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has been extremely involved in the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rulemaking for the past several years, and they have spent thousands of dollars and hours working to protect the residential construction industry. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to provide a definition of ‘relatively permanent’ waterbodies, and this amended WOTUS rule represents a blow to housing affordability. It assures continued uncertainty regarding federal jurisdiction established by the Supreme Court’s recent Sackett decision that made clear the federal government only has authority over relatively permanent waterbodies.
By failing to provide a definition of a ‘relatively permanent’ waterbody, the Biden administration set the stage for continued federal overreach, bureaucratic delays during the wetlands permitting process, and regulatory confusion for home builders and land developers. It will directly result in continued regulatory barriers to affordable housing.
In other news, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published a final rule updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) regulations regarding the calculation of prevailing wages in local areas. The new rule goes into effect October 23rd, 2023. In the home building industry, the final rule primarily affects multifamily builders who participate in certain HUD and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Multifamily Mortgage Insurance programs.
Key changes to the current DBRA regulations include:
• Returning to the original “three-step method” to determine prevailing wages on Davis-Bacon covered projects for the first time in 40 years. This process allows DOL to determine the prevailing wage of a given area if only 30 percent of workers surveyed report the same wage rate.
• Expanding the definition of “site of the work” to apply to materials delivery drivers and secondary sites where “significant portions” of work on a DBRA-covered project are performed. However, this provision excludes many prefabricated component parts such as prefabricated housing components.
SHAD SCHMID
• Codifying DOL’s current guidance by requiring contractors and subcontractors to pay Davis-Bacon wages to delivery drivers for onsite time that is related to offsite delivery, but DOL does not clarify how much onsite time a delivery driver must have to trigger coverage.
• Expanding the types of activities that would categorize a worker as covered under the Davis-Bacon labor standards. For example, the rule states survey crew members may be subject to prevailing wage requirements depending on the activities they perform.
We strive to keep you updated on what is happening that affects the bottom line. Thank you for your support as we continue to fight for our industry and our members.
Please join us for the 3 PAC event on October 12th, we will have several of our elected officials in attendance. Your $300 personal contribution to SABPAC will truly make a difference. Find more information about this event on page 18 and email ksutterfield@sabuilders.com to register by October 1st.
Sincerely,
8 SEPTEMBER 2023 | GREATER SAN ANTONIO BUILDERS ASSOCIATION