Arkansas Home Builders Association

Work in Attics, Crawl Spaces and Ducts Targeted At the request of NAHB, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) just announced a decision to further delay enforcement for residential construction of the new Confined Spaces in Construction Standard , this time for an additional 60 days. The agency would have resumed issuing citations for rule violations today. Why is this important to remodelers? Under the new Confined Spaces in Construction Standard, work in attics, crawl spaces and even HVAC ducts could be subject to a host of permit, hazard monitoring and training requirements. What work is covered by the delayed enforcement? The temporary stay applies to construction and remodeling projects in single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses in federal OSHA jurisdictions. What are a remodeler's responsibilities in the meantime? OSHA has said that any employer making good-faith efforts to comply ...

Good news for members whose development plans were in danger of being derailed by  new regulations regarding the Northern Long-Eared Bat: This FWS map shows the bat’s range. Last week, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a final rule that eases some of these restrictions. NAHB received several calls and emails from members after FWS listed the bat as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act, touching off a series of new protections that could drive regulators and builders, well, batty. The “interim rule” restricted the removal of certain trees between April and September — the bats’ migration season — in the Eastern and North Central United States. NAHB submitted comments, and in the final rule, the original quarter-mile buffer around known-roosting sites has been reduced to 150 feet. That gives builders more room for tree-clearing operations to construct homes. The quarter-mile buffer around hibernation habitat — such as caves and mi...

Millennials place a premium on casual, comfortable outdoor spaces for entertaining friends and family, Better Homes and Gardens research shows. The millennial generation is poised to make a significant impact on home design with its strong preferences for energy efficiency and smart-home technology; comfortable and workable kitchens; and more casual spaces, said speakers today from NAHB and  Better Homes and Gardens . But first, they have to move out of their parents’ homes and into a place of their own, said NAHB Assistant Vice President for Surveys and Research Rose Quint. About 15% of adults ages 25-34 live with a parent, about 3% more than the highest share of 12% between 1983 and 2007. That translates into 1.3 million people who normally “would be out there, forming their own households, demanding their own units,” either as buyers or renters, she said. Quint had anticipated the new mortgage programs and looser mortgage insurance requir...