Legislative & Regulatory

Texas Association of Builders (TAB) professional government relations staff work year-round to advocate legislative reforms that benefit our industry. Our experienced lobbyists monitor bills and legislative hearings that affect the building industry and work to amend or defeat measures that would adversely impact the industry.

The government relations program is nationally recognized for its innovative programs and legislative successes. Legislation endorsed by the association has been passed which resulted in significant savings to the home building industry and in turn, to the home buying public. The association has routinely defeated a long list of bills potentialy harmful to the industry.

TAB Members, log in to the Members Only portion of this website for additional TAB legislative and regulatory news. Click here to log in.

Regulatory News

The TAB staff works closely with elected state officials and regulatory agencies in the development and adoption of regulations, codes and standards for housing with the goal of creating safe, quality and common sense construction standards.

New OSHA worker educational publication on protection from noise in construction

February 1, 2012 from QuickTakes Volume 11, Issue 3 - the bimonthly OSHA Newsletter for the USDOL OSHA

OSHA published a new educational publication for construction workers, Protecting Yourself from Noise in Construction. The booklet, written for workers and employers, provides information on the hazards of loud noise in construction, how noise levels are measured, and how to find out if noise on the job site or from tools is loud enough to cause hearing loss. It also gives examples of administrative and engineering controls employers can use to reduce worker exposure to noise, as well as information on the proper selection and use of personal hearing protection. To order copies of this or other OSHA publications please call 1-800-321-OSHA or 202-693-1999 or visit OSHA's Publications Web page.

OSHA announces three-month enforcement phase-in for residential construction fall protection

June 15, 2011 from QuickTakes Volume 10, Issue 12 - the bimonthly OSHA Newsletter for the USDOL OSHA

OSHA announced June 9 a three-month enforcement phase-in period to allow residential construction employers to come into compliance with the agency's new directive to provide residential construction workers with fall protection. During the phase-in period June 16-September 15, if an employer is in full compliance with the old directive (STD 03-00-001), OSHA will not issue citations, but will instead issue a hazard alert letter informing the employer of the feasible methods that can be used to comply with OSHA's fall protection standard or implement a written fall protection plan. If the employer's practices do not meet the requirements set in the old directive, OSHA will issue appropriate citations. If an employer fails to implement the fall protection measures outlined in a hazard alert letter, and OSHA finds violations involving the same hazards during a subsequent inspection of one of the employer's workplaces, the Area Office will issue appropriate citations.

OSHA's Residential Fall Protection web page has many guidance products, including a fall protection slide show*, to help employers comply with the new directive. Employers are also encouraged to take full advantage of OSHA's On-site Consultation Program, which provides free compliance assistance services, or contact their local OSHA Area Office to speak with a Compliance Assistance Specialist. See the news release for more information.

Directive to protect residential construction workers from falls goes into effect June 16

June 1, 2011 11:33 AM from QuickTakes Volume 10, Issue 11 - the bimonthly OSHA Newsletter for the USDOL OSHA

Starting June 16, residential construction employers will have to provide workers with the conventional fall protection required by the construction fall protection standard, issued in 1994 (29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13)). Falls are the leading cause of death for workers in construction and this directive will provide residential construction workers with greater protection from being injured or killed on the job.

In December 2010, OSHA issued a new directive withdrawing an interim policy that allowed residential construction employers to use alternative procedures for worker fall protection. Under the new procedures, where residential construction employers find that traditional fall protection is not feasible or creates a greater hazard in residential environments, employers will still be allowed to implement alternative procedures that will assure worker protection after developing a written site-specific fall protection plan.

Since issuing the new directive, OSHA has developed a variety of training and compliance assistance materials in many formats that are available on OSHA's Residential Fall Protection page. The latest of these is an educational slide presentation* that describes safety methods for preventing injuries and deaths from falls, and explains techniques currently used by employers during various stages of construction. These techniques involve the use of conventional fall protection systems including safety nets, guardrails, and personal fall arrest systems such as body harnesses, lanyards and lifelines. See the news release for more information.

OSHA acts to protect workers in residential construction

January 13, 2011 6:15 PM from QuickTakes Volume 10, Issue 2 - the bimonthly OSHA Newsletter for the USDOL OSHA

OSHA issued a new directive withdrawing a former one that allowed residential builders to bypass fall protection requirements. The directive being replaced, issued in 1995, initially was intended as a temporary policy and was the result of concerns about the feasibility of fall protection in residential building construction. However, according to data from the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, there continues to be a high number of fall-related deaths in residential construction and industry experts now feel that feasibility is no longer an issue or concern. The National Association of Home Builders, the National Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health, and the Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Association all recommended rescinding the 1995 directive. To view the directive and for more information, visit OSHA’s Residential Fall Protection page.

The Housing Tax Credit has Expired

The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which extended and expanded the original tax credit, enabled many more Americans to take advantage of new government incentives to buy a home. This credit has since expired.

The new law extended the popular first-time home buyer credit through April 30, 2010. Buyers who signed a sales contract by that deadline had until June 30 to close on the home. Congress was able to extend the closing date deadline to September 30 for those that had their binding contracts signed.

NAHB has created a Web site to provide information about the housing tax credits at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com. The Web site has basic information about the first-time and repeat buyer credits, detailed question and answer sections, and links to additional home-buying resources.

The EPA has posted its proposed changes to the 2011 ENERGY STAR for Homes Program.

The changes are a result of the input it received from the first round of the public review and comment process. EPA has opened a second round of public review and comment process through December 16, 2009. To view the proposed revisions, revised quality checklists, EPA's response to the first round of comments, register for an online seminar about the changes or access an online form to submit your comments on the proposed revisions go to http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=bldrs_lenders_raters.nh_2011_comments

The EPA plans to have the final ENERGY STAR 2011 guidelines posted by the first quarter of 2010.

The ENERGY STAR 2011 guidelines went into effect on January 1, 2011.