Under the Davis-Bacon Act (of 1931), contractors and their subcontractors are required to pay workers who perform work directly on the job site according to the local wage rates plus fringe benefits. The Secretary of Labor determines the local prevailing wage rates for that location.

When K-Con bids on a project, the wage determination (wage scale) is usually included with the solicitation. Once a project has been awarded and all subcontractors are ready to go, each week that a subcontractor performs work on the job site, they must supply a Certified Payroll Report from start to completion. This report consists of each employee working on site, how many hours worked each day, total hours worked for each week, what type of work was performed (carpenter, equipment operator, drywall installer, painter, electrician, ironworker, etc), rate of pay, deductions, net wages for the week.

K-Con then reviews each payroll report, as they are received, for accuracy and to make sure each employer is paying each employee according to the Davis Bacon Wages. It is extremely important to verify each employee has been paid accordingly. If a certified payroll report is submitted to the Contracting Officer that is inaccurate, corrections have to be made immediately. This can hold up any future payments on the project until the issue is resolved. In some cases, the Contracting Officer may require copies of the employees check as well as signed affidavits to verify that each person has been paid accordingly.

With K-con’s experience with Davis Bacon wages, we stress the importance of these requirements to our subcontractors at the beginning stages, when the sub signs the subcontract agreement paperwork. It is helpful if the sub is familiar with Davis Bacon, but if not K-Con walks them through the process step by step.

K-Con, Inc., headquartered in Charleston, SC, a provider of design/build construction for the military and federal government, recently completed a training facility for the Army National Guard at Camp Edwards, MA.

The 4,800 square foot steel structure with metal siding and roof was supplied and installed by K-Con to provide a facility to house two Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle trainers designed to protect military troops from mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq.

“We consider ourselves privileged to be a part of the Guard’s training efforts, and take pride in giving it our best.” says Skip Reitmeier, K-Con Business Development Manager.

Aside from the MRAP facilities, K-Con has provided numerous training facility buildings for both the Air and Army National Guards across the country to protect and prepare our troops, including Egress Assistance Trainer (HEAT) buildings, a JCA-C-27 Operational Flight Simulator and C-27J Fuselage Trainer Facility, and even an Iraqi Search House.

Read the Field Note in the January/February 2012 issue of National Guard Today magazine.

If a building has a compromised exterior then it’s just a matter of time before it has a compromised interior (walls and ceilings) and the project’s price and scope increases above and beyond simple panel replacement. If the building interior has been damaged, K-Con can provide interior repair service as well.

Re-skinning a building can require mechanical and electrical equipment relocation or realignment. K-Con can determine equipment relocation/realignment as a part of our design and provide a complete turn-key repair.

Existing Flat Roofs – A new metal roof can be applied to existing flat roof building as a roof repair option. K-Con can provide a new metal replacement roof in less time and money by putting the metal roof system directly over the existing flat roof.

K-Con has successfully completed many building re-skins and we will design, manage, and provide a complete turn-key project from beginning investigation, through design and construction, to final completion.

K-Con who has had a GSA contract since 2001, would like to announce the addition of NUCOR buildings onto their GSA schedule offerings. Nucor brings many important elements to the partnership including design flexibility, energy efficiency, and structural integrity. Nucor boasts over 1000 employees and four production plants nationwide. Their mantra is the Nucor FOCUS - Fit of the building, On time delivery, Competitive pricing, Unbeatable service and Solutions that work. In addition, their LEED^® program and the recycle content of their buildings (89%) show their commitment to our environment.

Add all of this to K-Con's reputation as a leading design build general contractor for government and military and you've got a winning combination!

In 1999 our President, Pat Kiernan, was looking for a way to give back to the local community. That year, the opportunity became a reality and now 13 years later the annual K-Con Thanksgiving Cookout at Carolina Youth Development Center is still alive and well and growing bigger every year. This year K-Con employees and family members and CYDC children, staff and volunteers, totaling over 200 strong, enjoyed a fabulous feast, music, face painting, crafts and good fellowship. 

Our volunteer chefs, headed up by Nathan Albertson of the Charleston Pickle Company, made a meal fit for a king! We're talking about a gourmet meal with homemade soups, stuffing, and many, many vegetable dishes and desserts. Almost 60 turkeys were deep fried and smoked, a feat that takes all day, but has some yummy rewards. Some rockin' music was provided by Bobby Geiger of Spotlight Entertainment, and crafts by Laura Otero of Strategic Online Marketing Works. Thanks to donations by individuals and businesses we were also able to present CYDC with a generous donation check. To read more about CYDC, please check out their website http://www.cydc.org/

To all of those involved, thank you for sharing from your heart and helping us to make these children’s day a little bit brighter. May you have a blessed holiday season from all of us at K-Con.

 The Charleston Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) named Pat Kiernan Executive of the Year on October 19. The Chapter, which reviewed more than 30 local executive applicants this year, recognized Kiernan’s dedication not only to his staff but also to the community. 

In addition to Pat’s leadership of K-Con, Inc Building Systems, Kiernan also serves on the Board of Directors of the Carolina Youth Development Center (CYDC) and hosts a yearly Thanksgiving feast for CYDC children and staff.

 All of us here at K-Con congratulate Pat on this well earned recognition.

K-Con, Inc. manages multiple projects across the U.S. concurrently - as of this date, that number is 39 active jobs. The unsung heroes of the complex yet efficient machine that runs these projects are the PAs. In the usual corporate world, "PA" stands for "personal assistant" but here in the construction industry, a PA is the "Project Administrator".

A Project Administrator wears many hats and fulfills many essential tasks in the course of a project. In a quick poll of the three K-Con PAs, they each told us what they consider to be the single most essential part of their job to be:

- Keeping track and organizing all the project paperwork, in order to keep the project on track.
- Ensure smooth payroll submissions by checking all paperwork between the subcontractors and the customer, requiring an expert knowledge of government requirements.
- Coordinating and following up with subcontractors to ease the flow of clear communications.

The Project Administrators here at K-Con, Inc. do a great job, and make up an invaluable part of the K-Con team, making it possible for K-Con to be your metal building company on GSA, and in government contracting.

Right now, K-Con's own site superintendents are spread out across the U.S.A., working on current projects in several states. These projects are in varying states of completion, and involve metal buildings, design/build, roofing and guard booths. 

Just a little point of interest, for when you might next wonder, does K-Con operate here? Well, if "here" is within the United States, mainland or territory, from Alaska to Puerto Rico, then the answer is - YES, we do.

Written in collaboration with G. Doug Roberts, Superintendent

K-Con is known for being one of the premier pre-engineeered metal building general contractors for the Federal government. But sometimes, it's just FUN to use our depth of experience and design build capabilities to do some unique projects along the way.

One such project was for a subway simulation training facility at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Indiana. K-Con was awarded this design build project and began work in November 2010. The project, slated to be complete in July of 2011, will have the ability to train military, FEMA and first responders at a facility designed exclusively for that purpose, in a realistic setting, and in scenario training. Earthquakes, floods, fires and any number of natural disasters will all be addressed at the new facility, as well as acts of terrorism, and chemical and biological attacks. In short, the new permanent subway training facility will prove to be a boon for the National Guard and many other agencies in honing their skills and increasing their emergency preparedness.

MUTC, formerly a State Developmental Center, was turned over to the Indiana Army National Guard (INARNG) in 2005 to be used as an urban training center for military and civilian first responder personnel. The training provided at MUTC can be tailored to replicate both foreign and domestic scenarios and can be utilized by various civilian and military organizations. In its first year of operation, the facilities at MUTC were utilized by over 16,000 individuals from military, government, and private agencies and it is continually expanding training capabilities for future needs.

So what are the challenges in building a simulated subway? The same difficulties and safety concerns associated with a subterranean structure were always present, however the weather proved to be the greatest single obstacle to overcome. K-Con took into account that we were working during April in Indiana with its characteristic overcast, rainy climate, but we could not prepare for the amount or severity of the rain. Indiana experienced its wettest April since 1895, nearly tripling the annual average. And in the period from February to April the Hoosier state received the most precipitation in its history. Every day began with multiple temporary pumps removing water all through the day and occasionally through the night. The near constant rainfall, despite the great inconveniences and delays it brought with it, did provide us with the opportunity to see how well the drainage system we installed worked in the worst possible conditions.

Everything drains to the manhole or "crock" at the south end of the project in order for the permanent pumps to send it on to the storm sewer. That crock goes down another 12 feet from the bottom of the loading platform. We started digging and got about six feet down and hit solid bedrock. Unfortunately, the geotechnical report only went down to the lower most part of the tunnel and did not take into account that there would be digging any deeper for the manhole. This required us to get a ram hoe and inch by painful inch make our way to the bottom. Several other hurdles arose from time to time, but hurdles were made to be jumped. Things like national level exercises, and daily operations of the base were easily overcome with simple coordination with Operations. Other things, such as getting a 300 ton crane set in order to place the cars and precast structures in place took a bit more coordination, energy, time and sometimes research.

All in all it has been a challenging project, but overcoming difficulties always proves to be its own reward, and anything can be overcome. You just can’t be afraid to get your feet wet.

 For further information visit their web site at

http://www.mutc.in.ng.mil/HOME/tabid/56/Default.aspx