Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida April Ditchmen 2016 | Page 46

This year’s building code bill, CS/CS/CS/HB 535, passed the House on March 3, and subsequently passed the Senate on March 9. It was signed into law by Governor Scott on March 25. One of the many provisions of this critical bill to the construction industry was the establishment of the Construction Industry Workforce Task Force (the Task Force). Its charge is to look at the existing critical shortage of trained individuals and develop a consensus path for training the next generation of construction workers. The Task Force includes arepresentative of the National Utility Contractors Association of Florida.

The Task Force will be housed within the University of Florida M.E. Rinker, Sr., School of Construction Management, which will provide assistance to the Task Force in carrying out its responsibilities. The goals of the Construction Workforce Task Force, as laid out in the legislation, are to:

Address the critical shortage of individuals trained in building construction and inspection;

Develop a consensus path for training the next generation of construction workers in the state;

Determine the causes for the current shortage of a trained construction industry work force and address the impact of the shortages on the recovery of the real estate market;

Review current methods and resources available for construction training;

Review the state of construction training available in K-12 schools; and,

Address training issues relating to building code inspectors to increase the number of qualified inspectors.