More, more, more - that seems to be the theme of the state legislature when it comes to the passage of legislation relative to compliance with existing workers compensation regulations. As ABC has informed the members, several bills passed the legislature during the 2007 and 2008 sessions, however, the hits keep on coming. In NH SB78 recently passed and will impact the administration of state construction projects. The new statute requires general contractors to provide to the awarding agency, community college, or university system a list of the names, addresses, CEO, CFO, other LLC principals, and each subcontractor to be used in the performance of the contract "as soon as practicable after the contract award, but in any event prior to the date on which the subcontractor begins work on the project". Further, the general contractor shall provide "a list of all subcontractors and independent contractors that the general contractor has agreed to use on the job site, with a record of the entity to whom that subcontractor or independent contractor is directly contracted and by whom that contractor or subcontractor is insured for workers compensation purposes". The statute requires posting of the list and updating as needed. If it is determined that a subcontractor or independent contractor is present on a state construction project without the name and direct contracting relationship being posted the general contractor has 36 hours to post the information or suspend the subcontractor until the information is provided and posted.

In Vermont S.137 and H.313 both include similar requirements and along with a list of "subcontractors and the subcontractors subcontractors" detailed information relating to "past violations, convictions, suspensions, and any other information related to past performance and likely compliance with proper coding and classification of employees requested by the applicable agency" is required to be "included with the project bid".

Clearly contractors and awarding agencies are going to be burdened with increased administration and cost on the impacted projects. ABC continues to communicate that there are enough laws on the books and the effort should be to enforce existing laws not to pile on additional requirements that may be unrealistic to comply with, inflate the cost of public construction projects with no added benefit, and deter good contactors from bidding state work.

Watch your ABC communications for additional information, including two scheduled programs to provide members with information about contract requirements, administration and compliance on public projects (October 20) and the regulations, compliance and inspection process for state workers compensation and wage and hour laws (November 17).