If you are thinking of buying a new home, you must pay close attention to many details to ensure that you find one that will suit your needs and preferences. Before you start shopping, you should sit down with the members of your household to discuss preferences and the many options available to you. Here are some things you should consider:
General Statute 87-10.2 states that North Carolina licensed general contractors are required to complete continuing education (CE) beginning with 2021 license renewals.
8 hours of CE must be completed in order to renew a license by at least one qualifier for licensees in the license classifications of Building, Residential and Unclassified. For the Unclassified license, it shall be the qualifier who has passed the Building examination. The 8-hour course requirement includes a mandatory 2-hour course produced by the Board with information about changes in the laws and rules and other content applicable to general contracting. The remaining 6 hours will be elective courses produced by outside providers, submitted to and approved by the Board.
The CE year begins January 1 and ends on November 30 annually. Classes will not be offered during the month of December.
To Register for in-person classes held through the JCBIA, CLICK HERE. Be sure to ask about the discount code for JCBIA members only!
Builders are experiencing major delays with the availability of windows and doors from their building suppliers due to production and distribution issues related to COVID-19. This has resulted in inspection delays in many jurisdictions due to the lack of coverings of openings and the ability of builders to move forward with insulation and drywall.
Following correspondence with NCHBA Director of Codes and Construction Robert Privott, the North Carolina Department of Insurance, Office of State Fire Marshall, Engineering Division has issued a Guidance Paper: Window and Door Installation Requirement for Framing and Insulation Inspection Temporarily During COVID-19 on their new website that should be of assistance in addressing this issue. The Guidance Paper can be accessed at this link: https://www.ncosfm.gov/media/2089/open
As builders struggle with these front-end issues, they are also experiencing additional challenges on the backend, as appraisal standards make it difficult to recognize the full impact of sharp increases in the cost of building materials. In addition, appraisers often have limited access to information to accurately assess the value of a home.
“The appraisers use market value, so if we sold a house three months ago and just completed a new build with higher material costs, they only give a market value of the house that sold three months ago,” explained James Blyth, an affordable housing spec builder in North Carolina. “In our situation the appraisal came in $10,000 lower than our asking price. Our price increase was to cover cost increases. It forced the buyers to come up with an additional $10,000 out of pocket to cover our cost increases.
On February 5th, the House approved the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021 (H.R. 447), legislation that would expand youth and adult access to instruction in the skilled trades.
NAHB welcomes a number of provisions in H.R. 447, chiefly those affording increased flexibility and options for registered apprenticeship program structuring. This would help alleviate one of the biggest challenges to running skills-based training programs in the residential construction industry and assist the efforts of the Home Builder Institute (HBI) to tailor its curriculum offerings to different populations where long-duration programs are prohibitive for small employers.
The National Apprenticeship Act also expands technical assistance to training providers and offers robust funding and grant opportunities to support the bill’s ambitious goals for programming growth under the national apprenticeship system.
NAHB would like to see additional improvements made to the bill and will work with lawmakers as the legislation moves to the Senate.
From NAHB:
From May through December, the number of new residential construction jobs that were created offset the total amount of jobs that were lost earlier in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of residential construction jobs rose by 22,700 in December, well above the 15,800 increase posted in November. In the past eight months, 472,500 residential construction jobs were created, offsetting all the 456,800 residential construction jobs lost in March and April due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Michael Shane Hudson, known to all as 'Shane', was born in Johnston County in 1977. Shane has been married to his wife Stephanie for 23 years and they are the very proud parents of two daughters, Michaela 22 and Kristen 20. He and his family reside in Benson NC. Shane began his career in Building Inspections as a Code Enforcement Officer with the City of Goldsboro in March of 2000. From there, he became the Chief Building Inspector for the City of Dunn in March of 2001. In March of 2004, Johnston County hired Shane as a Code Enforcement Officer. Shane was the 145th person out of approximately 2000 Inspectors in the state of North Carolina to obtain his fifth standard level 3 certification. He did so within his first five years as a Building Inspector, obtaining all of his certificates by October of 2005. In 2006, Shane was appointed as a member of the North Carolina Department of Insurance Exam Development Review Committee for Code Officials. In addition, he obtained his International Code Council Residential Inspector Certification in the areas of Building, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing in 2009 and in 2010 was approved as an Instructor to teach those trades, as well as Fire, for standard and continuing education classes through the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
With lumber prices experiencing extreme price volatility this year and harming housing affordability, a final determination of the first administrative review by the U.S. Commerce Department to reduce duties on shipments of Canadian lumber into the United States by more than half is good news for American home builders and home buyers.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today published Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2020-36, FHA New Construction Requirements. This guidance updates the requirements for new construction financing for Title II Single Family forward mortgages in alignment with the regulatory amendments announced in the 2018 final rules that streamlined inspection and warranty requirements.
Changes to HUD’s maximum financing policy for new construction include:
This guidance may be used immediately for existing cases and must be used for FHA case numbers assigned on or after Jan. 4, 2021.
Congratulations go out to JCBIA member, Kellie Ashley for achieving her Accredited Builder designation through the North Carolina Builder Institute!!!
Kellie Ashley is the Owner of Kellie Ashley Homes as a Builder and Real Estate Agent. After 30 years behind a desk at Wachovia Securities, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and
commercial property management, Kellie was ready for hands on work. She works onsite, side by side with subcontractors, in the rain, mud and sawdust. Kellie grew up working at South of the Border and summers in the tobacco fields around Fairmont NC, so hard work is in her blood. She then took off to ECU where she earned a degree in Housing & Management and later a Master of Trust & Investment Management from Campbell University. Working in a male dominated field, Kellie feels education and training gives her the extra confidence she needs to meet the challenges and changes in the North Carolina residential construction industry. In 2019 Kellie became Fannie to another precious granddaughter and earlier this year, became a NC Onsite Wastewater Contractor. Kellie looks forward to tea parties, the sound of nail guns and watching backhoes dig into the Johnston County dirt.
"I have benefited from the NC Builder Institute through the diverse course offerings available. I have been able to enroll in courses that meet my individual business model. Every course has reinforced my knowledge, given me extra confidence, and provided me with information that keeps me up to date on new codes and systems." Kellie
Hackers have found a new way to invade corporate computer systems through the devices of employees who are working at home because of the Coronavirus pandemic. The threat is designed to exploit vulnerabilities from the increased use of corporate virtual private networks (VPNs). The situation is so serious that the FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a Cybersecurity Advisory Alert that warns employers about the problem and offers timely advice about what are the best steps to take to prevent it from happening to them and how to deal with it when it occurs.
For many JCBIA Associate members, visibility and networking are keys to a successful business. Joining a community such as JCBIA opens the doors to make those connections and increases business opportunities that service and trade professionals would otherwise not have, especially when working with home builders.
After reviewing a record number of outstanding scholarship applications, we are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2020 JCBIA Scholarship. Each of these recipients has earned a scholarship based on academic achievement, exceptional community involvement, strong letters of recommendation, and are immediate family members of a Johnston County Building Industry Association member.
Join us in congratulating the following recipients:
Despite the lobbying challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, your NCHBA legislative team had an outstanding legislative session this year. CLICK the Top 10 link to read a summary of our TOP-10-2020-Legislative legislative accomplishments for the session. Each of the bills is discussed in detail where we also highlight the “key legislators” who deserve special recognition for helping us achieve the desired result.
In addition to the “key legislators” highlighted in our "Top 10 Legislative Accomplishments" above, NCHBA has many other legislative friends who consistently support our industry throughout this, and previous, sessions.
For nearly a decade, Senator Jackson has been a stanch supporter of home building industry and business interest as a member of the General Assembly. Senator Jackson serves as one of three principal chairs of the Senate Appropriations Committee and plays a large role in setting state budget priorities. Senator Jackson owns a large-scale agriculture operation Sampson County and fully understands the hardships business owners face every day. Thank you, Senator Jackson, for helping to ensure that housing remains plentiful and affordable in North Carolina.
Senator Jackson's District is #10 that covers Duplin County, Johnston County, and Sampson County
By unanimous consent, the Senate on June 3 approved legislation passed by the House last week that will liberalize rules under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to give business owners more time to have the loans forgiven by the U.S. government. President Trump is expected to sign the legislation into law shortly.
Under the PPP loan program, which passed Congress earlier this spring as part of the CARES Act, small businesses with fewer than 500 employees can take out loans equal to 2.5 times their average monthly payroll from 2019 with the total capped at $10 million. For many businesses that meet key conditions on the use of these funds, the loans may be forgiven.
The legislation approved by the House and Senate, called the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, will make it easier for small businesses to utilize funds under the PPP and still qualify for loan forgiveness. Specifically, the bill will:
Increase the timeline for businesses to spend their loan money on payroll in order for it to be forgiven from the current eight-week deadline to 24 weeks;
Extend the June 30 rehiring deadline for laid-off employees to Dec. 31;
Reduce the requirement that 75% of loan money must be spent on payroll in order for the loan to be forgiven to 60%; and
Provide more leeway on loan forgiveness for employers if they show they were unable to rehire employees or reopen to business in a way that complies with safety standards.
NAHB continues to urge Congress to ensure the PPP guidelines align with congressional intent to allow more workers in the residential construction sector to access the loan program. Specifically, NAHB is urging Congress to provide a waiver from eligibility restrictions in the existing Small Business Administration 7(a) loan program to allow single-family and multifamily home builders, land developers, multifamily property owners and 501(c)(6) organizations access to the PPP.
Knowing when to take action can be the difference between your company’s continual growth or eventual decay.
The coronavirus pandemic has created significant challenges and uncertainty for many. While these challenges are substantial, now is not the time to simply stand idle and hope your business is lucky enough to survive.
More and more home builders are embracing technology..... like the use of drones to make properties more accessible. They are using local production company's to create videos that include both aerial and interior footage. The drones are able to capture a 360-degree view of the exterior of a home and fly-ins showcase the interior.
General Statute 87-10.2 states that North Carolina licensed general contractors will be required to complete continuing education (CE) beginning with 2021 license renewals.
Courses
