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The Colorado Roofing Association offers tips to help homeowners avoid scam artists.

Colorado Roofing Association

The residential roofing industry in Denver and area communities, including Pueblo and Colorado Springs, is being cited in record numbers for failing to keep workers safe by providing necessary fall prevention equipment and training. In addition to its own outreach effort on fall prevention, OSHA is teaming up with various organizations, including the Colorado Roofing Association and the Better Business Bureau.

In the past six months, we have received 63 complaints related to unsafe work practices, and this is the beginning of the roofing season. The cost of providing fall prevention equipment is nominal compared with the cost of a senseless loss of life and livelihood, said David Nelson, OSHAs area director in Englewood. Falls from heights of 6 to 15 feet accounted for 24 percent of all fatal falls in 2012.

Tips to Avoid Bad Residential Roofing Contractors

Consumers seeking to hire reputable and safety conscious roofing companies should visit the Colorado Roofing Association web site for tips on locating a quality contractor. The association warns: Beware of scam artists and unlicensed contractors. Not all roofing contractors are legitimate, and too many home and building owners have paid dearly for using them. They offer these tips:

To file a complaint or research complaints filed against a roofing contractor, consumers can go to the Better Business Bureau's web site. The establishment search on the OSHA web site provides consumers with information on contractors that have been cited for safety and health violations.

Consumers should be aware that, in many cases, the contractor they sign an agreement with is not necessarily the contractor installing the roof. Many roofing companies are using a different name with a higher Better Business Bureau rating to get the job, but have no roofers to do the install, said Nelson. Consumers need to ask questions, such as: Are the installers your employees or subcontractors? Are they insured? What is their past work history? How will the project be managed? What kind of fall protection will be used? Hold your contractors accountable. The last thing a consumer wants is someone falling, especially on their property.

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Some Denver-Area Residential Roofing Contractors Are Failing At Fall Safety

CK Birla group company HIL Limited has claimed it had produced and sold 100,000 tonnes of Charminar brand fibre cement roofing sheets within a span of one month in May, this year.

This is the highest-ever achieved by any brand globally, HIL managing director, Abhaya Shankar, told Business Standard, adding the brand had been a household name, synonymous with asbestos roofing solutions across India, for nearly six decades.

HIL, which has eight manufacturing units, has an installed capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum. It has a 20 per cent share in the Rs 4,000-crore market of asbestos roofing products in the country.

Formerly known as Hyderabad Industries Limited, HIL launched Charminar asbestos roofing products 66 years ago. Shankar said the brand had attained market leadership sometime in the late 1950s and retained that position thereafter.

He said the brands recall remained the highest even after the entry of a plethora of new players in the asbestos segment in the post liberalisation period after 1995.

We have built the brand with a passion in rural India besides ensuring that we are perceived as the most reliable and a consistent quality product, Shankar said explaining how HIL could maintain the market leadership of the companys flagship brand for so many years.

As a part of brand building efforts, he said, HIL had deployed campaign vans, relied on wall paintings and actively participated in village marts and Kumbh Melas and other such events in rural areas.

This apart, according to Shankar, the brand building involved three aspects- a strong relationship with distributors, a pan-India presence and consistent policies in respect of trade. Added to this was a good supply chain and a robust system to get feedback from customers.

He said HIL spent 2.5-3 per cent of its revenues on brand building. In 2013-14, the company posted a turnover of Rs 869.47 crore and a net profit of Rs 7.13 crore.

Shankar, however, said the demand for asbestos roofing products last year was less than expected as people have delayed their purchasing options. As people did not replace roofing products last year, he was expecting better sales in the current year.

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Charminar brand continues to be leader in roofing products

How Health News Florida flubbed the rate story last week and what all reporters can take away from it

Remember those seven tips I offered earlier this month for how to report on health insurance rate proposals? I have a couple of additionsin light of some unfortunate misreporting last week in Florida that was amplified via Twitter.

On June 24three days before Floridas rate filing deadlinethe site Health News Florida (a regional health reporting organization designed to fill the lack of health news by more traditional outlets) published a story headlined, No rate increase? Can it be? The story, by Carol Gentry, began this way:

No insurance companyincluding heavyweights like Florida Blue and United Healthcarewants to raise premiums in Florida at all? Not even a smidge? Gentry herself seemed slightly unsure, as the caveats in the headline and lede showed. So, where did Gentry get this information? Floridas Office of Insurance Regulation, where companies must file rate requests, has put the requests online, Gentry wrote. Gentry looked on the website and saw zeros listed as proposed increases (or, in some cases, saw decreases listed). No increases! Consumer advocates, Gentry wrote, are cautiously optimistic that this is evidence that the Affordable Care Act is restraining prices for individuals who dont get coverage through a group.

The Hill picked up Gentrys report and, in its own June 24 piece, called it a blow to critics of Obamacare who predicted substantially higher premiums. Both Gentrys piece and The Hills report (and the implicit or explicit Obamacare is working! takeaway) made the rounds on Twitter, including tweets or retweets by reporters from Kaiser Health News, ProPublica, HuffPost, The New Republic, and The Washington Post.

There were some skeptics on Twitter that day. No premium increases, of any size, for any plan in any region of the entire state of Florida? Seems *too* low, tweeted National Journal reporter Sam Baker. And, in a follow-up tweet: Wouldnt that mean every insurer in every county over-priced (kinda significantly) for this year?

Kaiser Family Foundations Larry Levitt weighed in to say that the zeros Gentry saw on the OIR website may not actually mean 0% rate change, they may be because data is proprietary. Levitt added that he was holding off judgement until I can review rate filings in more detail. Their search tool is currently down for maintenance.

When the OIR search tool came back online later that day, it came with this disclaimer: Displayed rate changes may not fully reflect increases and decreases due to claims of trade secret.

Turns out, skepticism was in order.

It was too good to be true, Health News Florida tweeted at 6pm that day, linking to Gentrys walk-back story in which she wrote:

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If it sounds too good to be true

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Its been a long time coming, with much back and forth between levels of government and command, but U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir finally signed a Memorandum Agreement, June 9 that will see the majority of windows replaced in historic housing on post over the next two decades.

The construction could get under way by the end of July or early August, and will continue for the next 15 years as Soldiers move in and out of the historic units. The agreement also sets out a number of mitigations that the Fort Belvoir community will notice getting under way this summer.

The issue of historic windows came to the attention of Garrison Command in 2009, and it formed a partnership with the Directorate of Public Works, Fort Belvoir Residential Communities, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to draft a solution to replace and rehabilitate windows in the historic homes in Gerber, Jadwin, and Belvoir Villages. Some of the windows are as old as 80 years, but because they are designated as historic, replacing them is not as easy is popping them out and putting in new ones.

Those buildings are all held in stewardship for all people, technically. Theyre a resource. While people live in them now, theyre a part of our heritage, so the installation is required under the National Historic Preservation Act to protect them, said Christopher Daniel, Fort Belvoirs architectural historian, contracted through URS Corporation. Daniel manages Fort Belvoirs Cultural Resource Program, part of the Directorate of Public Works Environmental and Natural Resources Division.

When FBRC took over housing on post in 2003, residents identified more pressing concerns, such as the need to upgrade kitchens and bathrooms in the historic units. The renovation of windows was put off; until Col. Gregory D. Gadson became the garrison commander in 2012 and identified it as a priority. Gadson said he believed the Soldiers living in the units deserved better.

When I first heard about the problem, it wasnt acceptable. Were asking for something that was not to standard, Gadson said. If you were living in a civilian economy, you wouldnt be paying that kind of rent for windows that didnt work, and beside that, I felt very strongly that it was a safety hazard. I didnt think it was a good idea to continue to let this problem fester and not have a solution.

That was what really encouraged us to come up with a plan of attack to tackle this issue, said Casey Nolan, project director for Clark Realty Capital, who has partnered with FBRC. He added that some complaints began to come in from residents, as well.

Residents reported windows with peeling paint, and some that didnt open at all. Nolan said FBRC ensured that every room had at least one working window in case of an emergency, but the windows were simply maintained as is, according to Daniel.

The windows on all our houses have just been left in a maintenance state, so theyve been painted, maintained, but they havent gotten an overhaul, Daniel said. All the windows were in a myriad of states, either okay, not great, or werent opening. That isnt a good state to be in if were serving our Soldiers and their Families.

And so, the partnership was formed. Daniel said the solution wasnt as simple as replacing all the windows, or rehabilitating all of them.

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Historic window replacement to begin

Public Notice (Official Publication) ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS MMCD Window and Door Replacement At MMCD Plymouth 14105 Highway 55 Plymouth, MN The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District will be receiving a lump sum, single prime sealed bids for the MMCD Window and Door Replacement Project, until 2:00pm, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. Bids will be received at the St Paul Headquarters, 2099 University Ave W, St Paul, MN 55104-3431, at which time they will be opened and read aloud. The work for this project includes the general construction as indicated in the Contract Documents. Project involves the replacement of exterior and interior windows, storefront system and doors at the MMCD Plymouth location. All bids must be sealed and marked for the appropriate contract for which the bid is submitted. Bids shall be submitted in accordance with the Bidding Documents prepared by CNH Architects, Inc, 7300 W 147th St, Suite 504, Apple Valley, MN 55124 and dated June 17, 2014. Bids received after this time will not be accepted. No oral or fax bids will be accepted. Documents will be available on or about June 24, 2014, for public inspection at the Owners office, and Architects office. Bidding documents including addenda can be downloaded at no cost from the Project Plan Room Website setup by CNH Architect. Contact CNH Architects at (952) 431-4433 or plans@cnharch.com to receive access to this website. Plan Holders are parties that have requested access to the Project Plan Room Website. Plan Holders may be notified via email as addenda are issued but are responsible to check the website for all addenda prior to submitting a bid. Parties that download the bidding documents and need to have them printed elsewhere are solely responsible for those printing costs. Paper copies of the bidding documents will not be distributed by the Owner, Architects, or its agents. Parties downloading bidding documents from other sources (such as builder exchanges) may contact CNH Architects to be added to the Plan Holders List but will need to obtain addenda from their original source unless the party specifically request access to the Project Plan Room Website. The bids shall include corporate surety bond, cashiers check, or certified check in an amount equal to five (5%) percent of the base bid and payable to the Owner as a guaranty of the prompt execution of the contract. The materials, products and equipment described in the Bidding Documents are to be met by bidders. Written requests for approval of substitutions maybe submitted by bidders for consideration by the Architect. Requests must be received by the Architect at least ten (10) calendar days prior to the bid date and shall include sufficient data to describe the substitution and any impact it would have on other work. If the Architect approves a proposed substitution, the approval will be indicated in an addendum. No substitutions will be considered after the Contract award unless specifically provided in the Contract Documents. Contractor shall provide a Performance Bond and Labor and Material Payment Bond for 100% of the Contract Amount. This is a prevailing wage project. Project shall be completed before October 30, 2014. Bids may not be withdrawn within forty-five (45) days after the opening without the consent of the Owner. The Owner reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive irregularities and informalities therein, and further reserves the right to award the contract in the best interest of the Owner. In accordance with Minnesota Rules, part 1230.1810, subpart B and Minnesota rules, part 1230.1830, certified Targeted Group Businesses submitting proposals as prime contractors shall receive the equivalent of a two percent preference in the evaluation of their proposal. Non-certified prime contractors submitting bids using certified Targeted Group Businesses as sub-contractors shall receive the equivalent of a one percent preference in the evaluation of their proposal, if the value of the these sub-contracts are greater than ten percent of the overall bid amount. If the values of these sub-contracts are greater than twenty percent, the general contractor shall receive the equivalent of a two percent preference. For information regarding certification, contact the Materials Management Helpline at 651-296-2600, or you may reach the Helpline by e-mail at mmd.help.line@state.mn.us. For TTY/TDD communications, contact the Helpline through the Minnesota Relay Services at 1-800-627-3529. Employment: Contractor and Subcontractors shall comply with all applicable provisions of federal, state, and local laws which prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry, age and physical or mental handicap and all rules and regulations, promulgated and adopted pursuant thereto. Human Rights: If the bidder employs, or has employed more than 20 full-time within the last calendar year, the bidder must submit a copy of their certificate of compliance, issued by the MN Department of Human Rights, with their bid. Certificate of Compliance is issued to businesses that have a Affirmative Action Plan approved by the Commissioner of the MN Department of Human Rights for the employment of minorities, women, and disabled individuals. If a person does not employ more than 20 full-time employees they must submit a signed notarized statement attesting to that fact. Metropolitan Mosquito Control District St Paul Headquarters 2099 University Ave W St Paul, MN 55104-3431

7/3/14, 3NYA, Bids Window & Door Replacement, 242973

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Cambridge News Follow us on

Thursday 3 Jul 2014 4:37 PM

Written byADAM LUKE

2 Images

A visually stunning Huntingdonshire office building has scooped its second award since opening earlier this year.

Alconbury Wealds Incubator was named East Anglia regional winner of Best Commercial Building by the Local Authority Building Control, and praised for outstanding construction and workmanship.

Tim Leathes, of developers Urban&Civic, said: The Incubator is our first building so we knew the design had to be visually stunning. But we also wanted the building to represent the values of the broader Alconbury Weald development with strong environmental features a real focus on good craftsmanship and quality materials.

Were pleased and proud of the team that delivered that and that it is being recognised with awards like this.

Dennis Cotton, construction director at Kier, which built the Incubator, added: It was a particularly interesting build as the transparent and stripped back nature of the internal spaces meant that quality of materials and workmanship were essential, and incorporating green technologies such as rainwater harvesting and flexible ventilation systems sits well with both our clients environmental aspirations for the development and our own sustainable construction commitments.

And Philip Turner, of architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, said: The Incubator has now established a new benchmark for economical and enjoyable offices and set a strong architectural precedent for further development in the future.

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Alconbury Weald Incubator office building picks up another best construction award