The National Fire Sprinkler Association has spent four years working to pass fire protection legislation along with the Congressional Fire Services Institute, as well as Sens. Gordon Smith (R-OR) and John Rockefeller (DWV). Sens. Smith, Rockefeller, Jack Reed (D-RI) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced the Senate version of the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act of 2007, S.582, in the 110th Congress in February. The bill will allow property owners who retrofit their buildings with fire sprinklers to accelerate depreciation in a less than the 9 years currently in place.
Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. was presented with Grainger's prestigious Partners in Performance Award for 2006 at Grainger's annual supplier conference held in March in Rosemont, Ill. The award recognizes suppliers who achieve excellence in several categories, including responsiveness, information integrity, cost control, on-time shipping, management commitment and order fulfillment. Approximately 2% of Grainger's 1,200 suppliers receive this award each year.
Service Roundtable has been granted "Certified Sender" status by Habeas Inc., and added to the Habeas Safelist for e-mail senders. "The Service Roundtable e-mail servers process millions of e-mail messages on behalf of our members," said Service Roundtable CEO Matt Michel. "This certification lets our members know we are following the best e-mail practices. When our members participate in one of our Roundtable discussion lists, or subscribe to one of our newsletters, they can be confident their information is delivered reliably, and handled with integrity."
Siding with The Associated General Contractors of America and its Greater Florida Chapter, the Court of Appeals for the First District of Florida has held that the arbitration clauses embedded in standard contracts survive contract termination. Before the court was the 1997 version of the A201 standard form contract. The case arose near completion of the project and after the contractor had secured a certificate of occupancy. The owner then unilaterally terminated the contract and sued the contractor. In response, the latter filed a motion to compel the owner to arbitrate. The trial court denied the contractors motion. The appellate court reversed the lower court's decision.
The Mechanical Service Contractors of America has announced that five more contractors have qualified for MSCA STAR status. MSCA STAR is a qualifications program that recognizes contractors who meet or exceed stringent operating and training standards set by MSCA. The five new members are Barr Engineering Inc., Santa Fe Springs, Calif; Bassett Mechanical, Kaukauna, Wis.; Control Services Inc., Omaha, Neb.; Peterson Service Co. Inc., Medford, N.J.; and United Air Conditioning Service Inc., Baldwin Park, Calif.