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Note 5 - Construction Joint Ventures | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2016
Notes to Financial Statements |
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures Disclosure [Text Block] |
5. | Construction Joint Ventures
We participate in joint ventures with other large construction companies and other partners, typically for large, technically complex projects, including design-build projects, when it is desirable to share risk and resources in order to seek a competitive advantage or when the project is too large for us to obtain sufficient bonding. Joint venture partners typically provide independently prepared estimates, furnish employees and equipment, enhance bonding capacity and often also bring local knowledge and expertise. We select our joint venture partners based on our analysis of their construction and financial capabilities, expertise in the type of work to be performed and past working relationships with us, among other criteria. Generally, each construction joint venture is formed to accomplish a specific project and is jointly controlled by the joint venture partners. The joint venture agreements typically provide that our interests in any profits and assets, and our respective share in any losses and liabilities that may result from the performance of the contract are limited to our stated percentage interest in the venture. We have no significant commitments beyond completion of the contract with the customer. Joint venture contracts with project owners typically impose joint and several liability on the joint venture partners. Although our agreements with our joint venture partners provide that each party will assume and pay its share of any losses resulting from a project, if one of our partners is unable to pay its share, we would be fully liable under our contract with the project owner. Circumstances that could lead to a loss under these guarantee arrangements include a partner’s inability to contribute additional funds to the venture in the event that the project incurs a loss or additional costs that we could incur should the partner fail to provide the services and resources toward project completion that had been committed to in the joint venture agreement. Historically, the Company has not incurred a liability related to the nonperformance of a joint venture partner. Under a joint venture agreement, one partner is typically designated as the sponsor or manager. The sponsoring partner typically provides all administrative, accounting and most of the project management support for the project and generally receives a fee from the joint venture for these services. We have been designated as the sponsoring partner in certain of our current joint venture projects and are a non-sponsoring partner in others. Under GAAP, the Company must determine whether each joint venture in which it participates is a variable interest entity. This determination focuses on identifying which joint venture partner, if any, has the power to direct the activities of a joint venture and the obligation to absorb losses of the joint venture or the right to receive benefits from the joint venture in excess of their ownership interests and could have the effect of requiring us to consolidate joint ventures in which we have a noncontrolling variable interest. At December 31, 2016, we had no participation in a joint venture where we had a material non-majority variable interest. Where we are a noncontrolling venture partner, we account for our share of the operations of such construction joint ventures on a pro rata basis using proportionate consolidation on our consolidated statements of operations and as a single line item (“Receivables from and equity in construction joint ventures”) in the consolidated balance sheets. This method is an acceptable modification of the equity method of accounting which is a common practice in the construction industry. Combined financial amounts of joint ventures in which the Company has a noncontrolling interest and the Company’s share of such amounts which are included in the Company’s consolidated financial statements are shown below (amounts in thousands):
|  | As of December 31,
|  | 2016 |  | 2015
Total combined: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Current assets |  | $ | 32,592 |  |  | $ | 17,312 |
Less current liabilities |  |  | (57,598 | ) |  |  | (49,371 | )
Net assets |  | $ | (25,006 | ) |  | $ | (32,059 | )
Backlog |  | $ | 107,333 |  |  | $ | 35,113 |
Sterling’s noncontrolling interest in backlog |  |  | 52,992 |  |  |  | 11,748 |
Sterling’s receivables from and equity in construction joint ventures |  |  | 7,130 |  |  |  | 12,930 |
|  | Years Ended December 31,
|  | 2016 |  | 2015 |  | 2014
Total combined: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Revenues |  | $ | 62,440 |  |  | $ | 60,289 |  |  | $ | 51,015 |
Income before tax |  |  | 5,144 |  |  |  | 6,909 |  |  |  | 3,606 |
Sterling’s noncontrolling interest: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Share of revenues |  | $ | 25,537 |  |  | $ | 23,778 |  |  | $ | 20,243 |
Share of income before tax |  |  | 1,980 |  |  |  | 2,502 |  |  |  | 2,111 |
Approximately $53 million of the Company’s backlog at December 31, 2016 was attributable to projects performed by joint ventures. The majority of this amount is attributable to the Company’s joint venture with Granite Construction Company, where the Company has a 49% interest. The caption “Receivables from and equity in construction joint ventures,” includes undistributed earnings and receivables owed to the Company. Undistributed earnings are typically released to the joint venture partners after the customer accepts the project as completed and any warranty period, if any, has passed.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for equity method investments and joint ventures. Equity method investments are investments that give the investor the ability to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of an investee. Joint ventures are entities owned and operated by a small group of businesses as a separate and specific business or project for the mutual benefit of the members of the group. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66011266&loc=d3e33918-111571 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 35 -Paragraph 35 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64825282&loc=d3e32847-111569 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 35 -Paragraph 32 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64825282&loc=d3e32787-111569 + Details
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