NAHB Chair Details Legal Challenge to OSHA Rule

National Association of Home Builders has joined several other industry groups to file a challenge against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Labor regarding OSHA’s final Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses rule, which National Association of Home Builders Chairman Ed Brady called “unlawful and arbitrary” in a press statement issued Thursday.

“We have vigorously opposed this rule from the start, and cannot allow this type of regulatory overreach to occur,” Brady said.

“There are significant concerns associated with Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s requirement of employers to submit detailed injury and illness logs to the agency for public posting. Not only does Occupational Safety and Health Administration not have the authority to do this, it also exposes a business to significant reputational harm, all without demonstrating any evidence that it would effectively reduce workplace injuries and illnesses,” he said.

“We also have serious concerns about the anti-retaliation portion of the rule, which would allow Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors to cite an employer without needing a complaint from a worker. This is a clear overreach of authority, as it goes against Congress’s carefully constructed mechanism to address retaliation that is specifically set forth in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration statute.

“Occupational Safety and Health Administration has not justified any of the rule’s requirements with any real benefits analysis and has relied entirely on anecdotal information. This is entirely insufficient and cannot be allowed to stand and potentially serve as a precedent for other agency rules. Workplace safety is of the utmost concern of our members, however this rule is unlawful and does not serve its intended purpose of improving workplace safety. The rule needs to be vacated and set aside in its entirety,” Brady said.

Welcome 2017 Board of Directors

Your Home Builders Association of Greenville is proud to welcome our 2017 Board of Directors as they officially took office on January 1, 2017.

President

Bob Barreto, GBS Building Supply

President Elect

James Speer, APB, Carson Speer Builders

Vice President

Matt Shouse, APB, LS Homes

Associate Vice-President

Alan Wilson, Clark's Termite and Pest Control

Secretary-Treasurer

Bill Kane, APB, Ryan Homes

Immediate Past President

Joe Hoover, APB, Hoover Custom Construction

Directors

Jarrett Smith, APB, Smith and Webb

Renata Caldwell, Progress Lighting

Holly May, Blackstream, LLC

James Anderson, Park Sterling Bank

Ben Moseley, The Heirloom Companies

Matt Ruth, APB, Mobius Construction

Thomas Dillard, APB, Dillard-Jones Builders

BIA of Central SC Seeks Judges for REGAL Awards

The Sales & Marketing Council of the BIA of Central SC is looking for judges to assist us in identifying their 2016 REGAL (Real Estate’s Greatest Achievers & Leaders) Winners! Judging will take place strictly online again this year and will be held January 24 – January 29. Online judging is easy because you have 6 days to complete the process and will allow you to work at your own pace from your own computer.

There will be a few video conferencing calls for Individual Award Winners but those will be scheduled accordingly – every judge will NOT participate in every online conference call.

Categories that you would be Judging include: Best Website, Best Mobile Website, Best Special Promotion, Best Use of Social Media, and more.

Deadline to sign-up as a judge will be January 18. Judging opportunities are limited. Should you have any interest or know someone who may be interested, please let me know as soon as possible and I will send you additional info about the process and an online password link.

Your support and expertise would be greatly appreciated! Please contact Heather McDonald at the BIA of Central SC at (803) 256-6238 or heather@columbiabuilders.com if you are interested in participating.

U.S. House Price Index - October 2016

From the Federal Housing Finance Agency:

The Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index reported a 0.4 percent increase in U.S. house prices in October from the previous month. From October 2015 to October 2016, house prices were up 6.1 percent. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from September 2016 to October 2016 ranged from -0.6 percent in the East South Central division to +1.2 percent in the Mountain division. The 12-month changes were all positive, ranging from +3.6 percent in the Middle Atlantic division to +8.3 percent in the Mountain division.​

Monthly index values and appreciation rate estimates for recent periods are provided in the table and graphs in the attachment.