Monday, October 5, 2009

Florida Marine Contractor's Association Uninsured Enforcement Success

We are pleased to report that after months of discussion, break through changes were confirmed on a conference call this past Friday that will positively affect the Marine Industry. Below is a summary of the conference call for your review.

Until recently, uninsured marine contractors were able to build docks and seawalls on “non-navigable” waterways with no repercussions from the State of Florida’s Division of Workers Compensation if that contractor had no Workers Compensation coverage (code 6006F) in force. Past case law prohibited the State from pursuing violators and issuing “Stop Work Orders” because of a loop hole concerning enforcement jurisdiction of State Act coverage (regulated by the State of Florida’s Division of Workers Compensation) and United States Longshoreman and Harbor Worker's Act (USL&H) (regulated by the Department of Labor).

Bottom line, marine contractors who have been losing work due to the under priced estimates of uninsured contractors can now seek assistance from the State to issue “Stop Work Orders” at jobs that are on “non-navigable” waterways.

This is a huge step forward for the marine industry in getting the State to step up to assist on this matter, because up until now, they would only refer frustrated inquiries to the Department of Labor. As many of you know, due to funding and government cutbacks, the Department of Labor does not proactively enforce the need for USL&H coverage for “jobs in progress”.

At an upcoming FMCA Central Florida Chapter meeting being held on Wednesday, October 14th, we hope to address enforcement of USL&H with the Department of Labor of uninsured contractors working on “navigable” waterways.

In the meantime, violators can be reported via the web by going to: www.myfloridacfo.com/wc Go to the area located on the center right of the web page entitled: Report Suspected Workers’ Comp Non-Compliance. People can check their local phone listings to their local representatives. In Central Florida, Terence Phillips can be reached at 407-835-4467. In Tallahassee, William Dorney can be reached at 850-413-1825.

FMCA continues to work hard to benefit its members and looks forward to pressing forward on the challenges the marine industry faces.

Respectfully submitted,

Rick Dalrymple, CPIA, CMIPFMCA Chapter Director, Central Florida(407)998-4108 Fax: (407) 788-7933Email: Rick.Dalrymple@IOAUSA.comWeb: http://www.ioausa.com/

For the finest in Marine Construction in Florida, call Rick Fender @ Cloud 9 Services, Inc. 407-481-8383