For this weeks Guest Post Friday, Musings is lucky enough to have Chris Cheatham of Green Building Law Update as the guest of the week. Chris is kind enough to share his take on the Virginia specific aspects of the stimulus package. Be sure to check out GBLU and follow Chris on Twitter to keep up to date on his latest green related topics.
This week, in preparation for my “Green in the Stimulus” presentation, I have been providing what I hope is interesting and useful information about the stimulus. Today we are briefly going to review a new website in Virginia, Stimulus.Virginia.gov , which is vitally important to anyone expecting to take part in Virginia projects resulting from the stimulus.
According to Stimulus.Virginia.gov, the “website is a forum for citizens, localities, and others to submit project proposals to be considered when federal stimulus funds become available.” In its current iteration, the most interesting aspect of the website is the “Reports” section . This section lists projects that have been submitted to the website by municipalities and individuals.
I have skimmed this list and was amazed to see that the very first project was a school seeking LEED certification.
Do you realize the opportunity that Stimulus.Virginia.Gov, along with FedBizOpps.gov, provide? Through these two websites, you can inventory all of the potential projects you would want to bid on and begin preparing for these projects now. Plenty of other states have similar stimulus websites (Ohio and Michigan, for example) so these actions aren’t limited to Virginia.
How do you prepare for these projects now? What are the risks that have to be accounted for and what should your contracts look like? You will have to come to my presentation on Tuesday to find out! (Or check back on my website when I make my slideshow, and possibly the video of the presentation, available). Related articles:
“The Stimulus: Now for the Hard Part” (GBLU)
The Stimulus: Green Building Provisions (GBLU)
The Stimulus: “LEEDS”ing the Way (GBLU)
The Stimulus: FedBizOpps Has Green (GBLU)
Many people bidding for many of these government funded construction projects will be left out in the cold if they do not have their OSHA training. Several nearby states (NY, CT, MA, RI, NH, and MO) have laws requiring workers on publically-funded jobsites to take the OSHA 10 hour construction training class, like the ones available at http://www.osha10hourtraining.com . Without the OSHA card, they cannot get on the site. Many general contractors also have the same requirement for minimum OSHA training. So be prepared, do not wait until the last minute.