Buy America Requirements for Iron and Steel

Over the years congress has passed several domestic content laws aimed at protecting American manufacturing and manufacturing jobs. Two of these laws have similar names and are frequently confused with each other:

• The Buy American Act (1933)
• Buy America Act (1978)

Today, Buy America refers to several similar statutes and regulations that apply to federal funds used to support projects in highways, public transportation, aviation, and intercity passenger rail, including Amtrak. CDOT's Transportation Engineering Training Program (TETP) has developed the Buy America for Iron and Steel E-learning to help CDOT and Consultant Project Engineers and Inspectors, Contractors, and Local Agency personnel understand the differences between the two acts and to explain which CDOT documents have Buy America requirements. The Buy America Requirements for Iron and Steel E-learning course is now available to complete for credit in the State of Colorado (SOC) Learns Training Portal.

Buy America Requirements 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.

Complete the Buy America E-learning in SOC Learns

All TETP training is hosted in CDOT's Learning Management System (LMS), SOC Learns. To take training, you 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.