METALCON 2024 is coming up on Oct. 30-Nov. 1, and attendees looking for where to best spend their time during the three-day trade show can hear it from one of the show’s top brass, Judy Geller.

In this discussion, RC Group Publisher Jill Bloom talks with Legal Insight columnist Trent Cotney about his recent visit to the American College of Building Arts, the only U.S. college combining traditional building trades training with a liberal arts curriculum. Cotney shares his impressions of the students’ craftsmanship, the unique educational approach, and the school’s role in shaping skilled artisans sought after both nationally and internationally.

With heat being the leading cause of death among all weather conditions, OSHA is proposing new heat safety standards that will affect every contractor. Tammy Clark, owner of Tammy K. Clark Companies, shares advice on how to prepare your company’s safety plans and workers to stay safe and compliant.

The recovery effort following hurricanes Milton and Helene in Florida is slowly underway, and roofing contractors on their way in to help need to be prepared, said RC Legal Insights expert Trent Cotney. Gas shortages, downed trees and power lines are commonplace during a state of emergency, and he cautioned regulatory enforcement won’t take a step back.

In particular, roofing contractors need to be aware of:

• Personal Protective Equipment – hard hats and eye protection, in particular.
• Floodwaters with toxins, and gators!
• Widespread power outages
• Blocked roads from trees and downed power lines
• Price Gauging

RC Legal Insights Expert Trent Cotney, partner with Adams & Reese, Cotney said he’s getting a lot of questions recently from roofing contractors concerned about safety, insurance, and legal requirements when it comes to marijuana use. In this exclusive episode, he said important to have language written in your safety document that clearly outlines what this entails.

The other thing he gets asked a lot is how to navigate this issue with my drug-free workplace requirements. Testing for marijuana is not that good right now. There’s an issue now and contractors are still trying to figure this out. It may require some internal re-evaluation of your own policies.

There’s also a role for insurance to play in the process, which can be problematic as insurance companies dictate the policies for a drug-free workplace. For one thing, it’s hard to restrict anything that happens off-site and during non-working hours but can still potentially be in one’s system, Cotney said.

Cotney goes on to discuss best practices for all employees trying to figure out this complicated issue.

Thanks to a perfect storm of high interest rates, a slow housing market and an election year, incidents of fraud and customers taking their time making payments are on the rise. To help combat these business-slowing challenges, we speak with Thea Dudley, CEO of Pocket Protectors, for tips on short-circuiting scams and ways to speed up the payment process.

After more than two decades of success, Tecta America continues to grow through strategic acquisitions across the country amid an influx of competitive private equity investors with deep pockets. Hear how the company looks for acquisitions and get an insightful glimpse into the motivation and philosophy behind the strategy from CEO Dave Reginelli and Mark Santacrose, Tecta’s executive chairman and former president.