Buy America and Build America, Buy America Training
Over the years, Congress has passed several domestic content laws aimed at protecting American manufacturing and manufacturing jobs. Two of these laws—the Buy America Act (1978), and the Build America, Buy America Act (2021)—outline several similar statutes and regulations that apply to federally-funded construction projects for highways, public transportation, aviation, and intercity passenger rail, including Amtrak. These regulations require that all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in covered infrastructure projects are produced in the United States.
CDOT's Transportation Engineering Training Program (TETP) has developed, and is continuing to develop and update, courses to help CDOT and Consultant Project Engineers and Inspectors, Contractors, and Local Agency personnel understand and follow these requirements. Two of these courses are now available to complete for credit in the State of Colorado (SOC) Learns Training Portal.
Buy America Requirements for Iron and Steel E-learning
The Buy America for Iron and Steel E-learning introduces requirements for the use of iron and steel products in federally-funded highway construction projects and explains the documentation requirements for every process performed on these steel and iron products. Failure to comply with both the use and the documentation requirements can result in the need to take corrective action, reduction in payment to the Contractor, loss of federal funding, and criminal and civil liability.
The e-learning course also introduces two new CDOT tools:
- A flowchart outlining the steps from melting/smelting to project incorporation.
- A detailed checklist that can be used to ensure that iron and steel products comply with use and documentation requirements.
Build America, Buy America (BABA) E-learning
The Build America, Buy America (BABA) E-learning course introduces the Build America, Buy America requirements for the permanent incorporation of construction materials and manufactured products in federal-aid highway funded construction projects, including:
- How Buy America and Build America, Buy America relate to each other.
- The definition and requirements for the use of construction materials and manufactured products, including both non-exempt and exempt products.
- Relevant specifications and other documents for Build America, Buy America.
- Limits on foreign construction materials that are permanently incorporated into a project.
- Waivers, including the de minimis allowance for construction materials and the small grants waiver.
- Requirements for the documentation of construction materials and manufactured products.
Complete the E-learning Courses in SOC Learns
All TETP training is hosted in CDOT's learning management system (LMS), SOC Learns. To take training, you’ll need a SOC Learns account. If you don't already have an account, please complete the SOC Learns Account Request Form to request access. We'll approve or deny your account within two business days. Upon approval, it may take one business day for you to be able to search for courses to take.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the Buy America or Build America, Buy America Requirements, please visit the Buy America (BA) and Build America, Buy America (BABA) Requirements webpage on codot.gov. Buy America questions can be directed to [email protected].
If you run into any issues accessing the Buy America courses in SOC Learns, please contact the TETP Managers, Allison Wilson at [email protected] or Jordan Isales at [email protected].
