Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]


12.			COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Insurance

The Company carries insurance policies to cover various risks, primarily general liability, automobile liability, workers’ compensation and employee medical expenses under which we are liable to reimburse the insurance company for a portion of each claim paid.

Property and Casualty—Payments for general liability and workers’ compensation claim amounts generally range from the first $2 to $250 per occurrence for Workers’ Compensation, and $100 per occurrence for General Liability. We accrue for probable losses, both reported and unreported, that are reasonably estimable using actuarial methods based on historic trends, modified, if necessary, by recent events. Changes in our loss assumptions caused by changes in actual experience would affect our assessment of the ultimate liability and could have an effect on our operating results and financial position for payments up to $350 per occurrence collective for general liability and workers’ compensation, with a maximum aggregate liability of $4,000 combined casualty losses per year. The Company also maintains commercial insurance coverage in excess of the limits

of our primary commercial automobile, general liability and employers’ liability policies, in the amount of $75,000. The Company also maintains a guaranteed cost program for Workers’ Compensation, General Liability and Automobile Liability. Utilizing internal actuarial models, the insurance carriers established, and applied to the exposure base, a fixed rate to ascertain the premium cost to the Company. These premium costs are auditable at the conclusion of the policy term to account for discrepancies in the estimated and actual policy exposure, however not for any losses incurred during the policy term. The guaranteed cost program maintained by the Company does carry a deductible, however in a small enough amount as to expose the Company to unsubstantial and immaterial risk for any one loss incurred.

Medical—The Company maintains fully insured and self-insured medical benefit plans, which provides medical benefits to employees electing coverage under the plans. Under its self-insured plans, the Company has stop-loss coverage per claim to limit the exposure arising from these claims. Self-insured claims filed and claims incurred but not reported are accrued based upon management’s estimates of the ultimate cost of claims incurred using actuarial assumptions followed in the insurance industry and historical experience. Although management believes it has the ability to reasonably estimate losses related to claims, it is possible that actual results could differ from recorded self-insured liabilities.

Guarantees

The Company obtains bonding on construction contracts through Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (“Travelers”). As is customary in the construction industry, the Company indemnifies Travelers for any losses incurred by it in connection with bonds that are issued. The Company has granted Travelers a security interest in accounts receivable and contract rights for that obligation.

The Company typically indemnifies contract owners for claims arising during the construction process and carries insurance coverage for such claims, which in the past have not been material.

The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation provides for indemnification of its officers and directors. The Company has a directors and officers insurance policy that limits their exposure to litigation against them in their capacities as such.

Litigation

The Company, including its construction joint ventures and its consolidated 50% owned subsidiaries, is now and may in the future be involved as a party to various legal proceedings that are incidental to the ordinary course of business. Management, after consultation with legal counsel, does not believe that the outcome of these actions will have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company. There are no significant unresolved legal issues as of December 31, 2020 and 2019.

Purchase Commitments

To manage the risk of changes in material prices and subcontracting costs used in tendering bids for construction contracts, most of the time, we obtain firm quotations from suppliers and subcontractors before submitting a bid. These quotations do not include any quantity guarantees. As soon as we are advised that our bid is the lowest, we enter into firm contracts with most of our materials suppliers and sub-contractors, thereby mitigating the risk of future price variations affecting the contract costs.

Earn-out Liabilities

The Company has an earn-out agreement with Tealstone’s former owners which began on the April 3, 2017 acquisition date and extends through March 31, 2021, and is subject to a maximum earn-out of $15,000 over that period. The initial annual performance period for the Tealstone earn-out ended March 31, 2018. The Tealstone earn-out liability is determined based on Tealstone’s net income performance against established benchmarks. In 2020, 2019 and 2018 the expense related to the earn-out obligation was $1,500, $2,000 and $1,900, respectively, recorded in “Other operating expense, net” on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. This liability is included in other current liabilities on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.