| Summary of Business and Significant Accounting Policies | Summary of Business and Significant Accounting Policies Business Summary Sterling Construction Company, Inc. (“Sterling” or “the Company”), a Delaware corporation, is a construction company that specializes in (1) heavy civil construction and (2) residential concrete projects primarily in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, Utah and other states in which there are feasible construction opportunities. Our heavy civil construction projects include highways, roads, bridges, airfields, ports, light rail, water, wastewater and storm drainage systems, foundations for multi-family homes, commercial concrete projects and parking structures. Our residential construction projects include concrete foundations for single-family homes. Significant Accounting Policies Principles of Consolidation - The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of subsidiaries and construction joint ventures in which the Company has a greater than 50% ownership interest or otherwise controls such entities. For investments in construction joint ventures that are not wholly-owned, but where the Company exercises control, the equity held by the remaining owners and their portions of net income (loss) are reflected in the balance sheet line item “Noncontrolling interests” in “Equity” and the statement of operations line item “Noncontrolling owners’ interests in earnings of subsidiaries and joint ventures,” respectively. For investments in subsidiaries that are not wholly-owned, but where the Company exercises control and where the Company has a mandatorily redeemable interest, the equity held by the remaining owners and their portion of net income (loss) is reflected in the balance sheet line item “Members’ interest subject to mandatory redemption and undistributed earnings” and the statement of operations line item “Other operating expense, net,” respectively. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Refer to Note 5 for further information regarding the Company’s Consolidated 50% Owned Subsidiaries, including Variable Interest Entities. Where the Company is a noncontrolling joint venture partner, and otherwise not required to consolidate the joint venture entity, its share of the operations of such construction joint venture is accounted for on a pro rata basis in the 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. Refer to Note 6 for further information regarding the Company’s Construction Joint Ventures. Under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), the Company must determine whether each entity, including joint ventures in which it participates, is a variable interest entity (“VIE”). This determination focuses on identifying which owner or joint venture partner, if any, has the power to direct the activities of the entity and the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or the right to receive benefits from the entity disproportionate to its interest in the entity, which could have the effect of requiring the Company to consolidate the entity in which it has a noncontrolling variable interest. Refer to Note 5 for further information regarding the Company’s Consolidated 50% Owned Subsidiaries, including VIEs. Use of Estimates - The preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Certain of the Company’s accounting policies require higher degrees of judgment than others in their application. These include the recognition of revenue and earnings from construction contracts under the percentage-of-completion method, the valuation of long-term assets, income taxes, and purchase accounting, including intangibles and goodwill. Management continually evaluates all of its estimates and judgments based on available information and experience; however, actual results could differ from these estimates. Reclassification - Reclassifications have been made to historical financial data in our consolidated financial statements to conform to our current year presentation. Revenue Recognition Heavy Civil Construction - The Company engages in various types of heavy civil construction projects principally for public (government) owners. Credit risk is minimal with public owners since the Company ascertains that funds have been appropriated by the governmental project owner prior to commencing work on such projects. While most public contracts are subject to termination at the election of the government entity, in the event of termination the Company is entitled to receive the contract price for completed work and reimbursement of termination-related costs plus a margin. Credit risk with private owners is minimized because of statutory mechanic’s liens, which give the Company high priority in the event of lien foreclosures following financial difficulties of private owners. Our contracts generally take 12 to 36 months to complete. The Company generally provides a one - to two -year warranty for workmanship under its contracts when completed. Warranty claims historically have been insignificant. The asset, “Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts” represents revenues recognized in excess of amounts billed on these contracts and will be billed at a later date, usually due to contract terms. In addition, revenue associated with unapproved change orders and claims is also included when realization is probable and amounts can be reliably determined. The liability, “Billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings on uncompleted contracts” represents billings in excess of revenues recognized on these contracts. Revenues are recognized on the percentage-of-completion method, measured by the ratio of costs incurred up to a given date to estimated total costs for each contract. This cost to cost measure is used because management considers it to be the best available measure of progress on these contracts. Contract costs include all direct material, labor, subcontract and other costs and those indirect costs related to contract performance, such as indirect salaries and wages, equipment repairs and depreciation, insurance and payroll taxes. Administrative and general expenses are charged to expense as incurred. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made in the period in which such losses are determined. Changes in job performance, job conditions and estimated profitability, including those changes arising from contract penalty provisions and final contract settlements may result in revisions to costs and income and are recognized in the period in which the revisions are determined. Changes in estimated revenues and gross margin during the year ended December 31, 2017 resulted in a net gain of $0.9 million included in operating income. Changes in estimated revenues and gross margin during the year ended December 31, 2016 resulted in a net charge of $6.3 million included in operating loss. Changes in estimated revenues and gross margin during the year ended December 31, 2015 resulted in a net charge of $9.7 million included in operating loss. Change orders are modifications of an original contract that effectively change the existing provisions of the contract without adding new provisions or terms. Change orders may include changes in specifications or designs, manner of performance, facilities, equipment, materials, sites and period of completion of the work. Either we or our customers may initiate change orders. The Company considers unapproved change orders to be contract variations for which we have customer approval for a change of scope but a price change associated with the scope change has not yet been agreed upon. Costs associated with unapproved change orders are included in the estimated costs to complete the contracts and are treated as project costs as incurred. The Company recognizes revenue equal to costs incurred on unapproved change orders when realization of price approval is probable. Unapproved change orders involve the use of estimates, and it is reasonably possible that revisions to the estimated costs and recoverable amounts may be required in future reporting periods to reflect changes in estimates or final agreements with customers. Change orders that are unapproved as to both price and scope are evaluated as claims. The Company considers claims to be amounts in excess of approved contract prices that we seek to collect from our customers or others for customer-caused delays, errors in specifications and designs, contract terminations, change orders that are either in dispute or are unapproved as to both scope and price, or other causes of unanticipated additional contract costs. Claims are included in the calculation of revenue when realization is probable and amounts can be reliably determined to the extent costs are incurred. To support these requirements, the existence of the following items must be satisfied: (i) the contract or other evidence provides a legal basis for the claim; or a legal opinion has been obtained, stating that under the circumstances there is a reasonable basis to support the claim; (ii) additional costs are caused by circumstances that were unforeseen at the contract date and are not the result of deficiencies in the contractor’s performance; (iii) costs associated with the claim are identifiable or otherwise determinable and are reasonable in view of the work performed; and (iv) the evidence supporting the claim is objective and verifiable, not based on management’s feel for the situation or on unsupported representations. Revenue in excess of contract costs incurred on claims is recognized when an agreement is reached with customers as to the value of the claims, which in some instances may not occur until after completion of work under the contract. Costs associated with claims are included in the estimated costs to complete the contracts and are treated as project costs when incurred. The Company has projects where we are in the process of negotiating, or awaiting final approval of, unapproved change orders and claims with our customers. The Company is proceeding with its contractual rights to recoup additional costs incurred from its customers based on completing work associated with change orders, including change orders with pending change order pricing, or claims related to significant changes in scope which resulted in substantial delays and additional costs in completing the work. Unapproved change order and claim information has been provided to our customers and negotiations with the customers are ongoing. If additional progress with an acceptable resolution is not reached, legal action will be taken. Based upon our review of the provisions of our contracts, specific costs incurred and other related evidence supporting the unapproved change orders, claims and our entitled unpaid project price, together with the views of the Company’s outside claim consultants, we included the unapproved change orders, claims and entitled unpaid project price amounts of $5.0 million , $5.0 million and $0.0 million , respectively, at December 31, 2017 , and $2.2 million , $9.2 million and $3.9 million , respectively, at December 31, 2016 , in “Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings on uncompleted contracts” on our consolidated balance sheets. We expect these matters will be resolved without a material adverse effect on our financial statements. However, unapproved change order and claim amounts are subject to negotiations which may cause actual results to differ materially from estimated and recorded amounts. Residential Construction - Residential construction revenue and related profit are recognized when construction on the concrete foundation unit is completed. The time from starting construction to finishing is typically less than one month. Financial Instruments and Fair Value - The fair value of financial instruments is the amount at which the instrument could be exchanged in a current transaction between willing parties. The Company’s financial instruments are cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash used as collateral for a letter of credit, restricted cash maintained in an escrow account, contracts receivable, accounts payable, notes payable, and a term loan within the Oaktree Facility and equipment-based facility. The recorded values of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, contracts receivable and accounts payable approximate their fair values based on their liquidity and/or short-term nature. The Company provides credit in the normal course of business, principally to public (government) owners, and performs ongoing credit evaluations, as deemed necessary, but generally does not require collateral to support such receivables. The Company has long-term notes payable of $1.6 million at December 31, 2017 related to machinery and equipment purchased which have payment terms ranging from 2 to 5 years and associated interest rates ranging from 3.15% to 6.92% (Refer to Note 9 ). The fair value of these notes payable approximates their book value. The Company does not have any off-balance sheet financial instruments other than operating leases (Refer to Note 10 ). In order to assess the fair value of the Company’s financial instruments, the Company uses the fair value hierarchy established by GAAP which prioritizes the inputs used in valuation techniques into the following three levels: Level 1 Inputs – Based upon quoted prices for identical assets in active markets that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date. Level 2 Inputs – Based upon quoted prices (other than Level 1) in active markets for similar assets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities and default rates and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data. Level 3 Inputs – Based on unobservable inputs reflecting the Company’s own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset based on the best information available. For each financial instrument, the Company uses the highest priority level input that is available in order to appropriately value that particular instrument. In certain instances, Level 1 inputs are not available and the Company must use Level 2 or Level 3 inputs. In these cases, the Company provides a description of the valuation techniques used and the inputs used in the fair value measurement. Receivables, including Retainage - Receivables are generally based on amounts billed to the customer in accordance with the provisions of the agreement. At December 31, 2017 and 2016 , receivables included $43.5 million and $23.4 million of retainage, respectively, discussed below, which is being withheld by customers until completion of the contracts. At December 31, 2017 and 2016 , there were no unbilled receivables on contracts completed or substantially complete. Many of the contracts under which the Company performs work contain retainage provisions. Retainage refers to that portion of billings made by the Company but held for payment by the customer pending satisfactory completion of the project. Unless reserved, the Company assumes that all amounts retained by customers under such provisions are fully collectible. Retainage on active contracts is classified as a current asset regardless of the term of the contract and is generally collected within one year of the completion of a contract. Receivables are written off based on individual credit evaluation and specific circumstances of the customer, when such treatment is warranted. There was a minimal amount of bad debt expense recorded in 2017 , 2016 and 2015 . At year-end, the Company performs a review of outstanding receivables, historical collection information and existing economic conditions to determine if there are potential uncollectible receivables. At December 31, 2017 and 2016 , our allowance for doubtful accounts against contracts receivable was minimal. As is customary, we have agreed to indemnify our bonding company for all losses incurred by it in connection with bonds that are issued, and we have granted our bonding company a security interest in certain assets, including accounts receivable, as collateral for such obligation. Inventories - The Company’s inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market as determined by the average cost method. Inventories at December 31, 2017 and 2016 were $4.6 million and $3.7 million , respectively. Inventories consist primarily of residential slabs in process, concrete, aggregate, steel and millings which are primarily expected to be utilized on construction projects in the future. A small portion is sold to third parties. The cost of inventory can also includes material, labor, trucking and other equipment costs. Property and Equipment - Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation and amortization are computed using the straight-line method. The estimated useful lives for new property and equipment used for computing depreciation and amortizations are as follows: Years Buildings 39 Construction equipment 5 — 15 Land improvements 5 — 15 Office furniture and fixtures 3 — 10 Leasehold improvements (or lease period, if shorter) 3 — 10 Transportation equipment 5 — 7 Depreciation expense was $15.1 million , $15.7 million and $16.2 million in 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively. Leases - We lease property and equipment in the ordinary course of our business. Our leases have varying terms. Some may include renewal options, escalation clauses, restrictions, penalties or other obligations that we consider in determining minimum lease payments. The leases are classified as either operating leases or capital leases, as appropriate. Equipment under Capital Leases - The Company accounts for capital leases, which transfer substantially all the benefits and risks incident to the ownership of the leased property to the Company, as the acquisition of an asset and the incurrence of an obligation. Under this method of accounting, the recorded value of the leased asset is amortized principally using the straight-line method over its estimated useful life and the obligation, including interest thereon, is reduced through payments over the life of the lease. Depreciation expense on equipment subject to capital leases and the related accumulated depreciation is included with that of owned equipment. The Company had capital leases totaling $0.3 million and $0.4 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016 , respectively. Capital leases are recorded in “Long-term debt, net of current maturities” and “Current maturities of long-term debt,” as applicable, in our consolidated balance sheets. Deferred Loan Costs and Warrants - Deferred loan costs represent loan origination fees paid to the lender, related professional fees such as legal fees related to drafting of loan agreements and the fair valued warrants. See Note 9 for further details. Earn-out Liabilities - The Company has earn-out agreements with JBC’s and Tealstone's former owners. The JBC earn-out performance period ended December 31, 2017. The JBC earn-out liability was determined based on its performance against established benchmarks. In 2017 and 2016, JBC's actual performance surpassed the benchmarks which resulted in an earn-out expense of $1.3 million and $1.2 million recorded in “ Other operating expense, net ” on the consolidated statements of operations. This liability is paid in the year following the performance period and is included in other current liabilities on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Company also has an earn-out agreement with Tealstone's former owners. The initial performance period for the Tealstone earn-out ends March 31, 2018. The Tealstone earn-out liability is determined based on the Company's net income performance against established benchmarks. In 2017 , Tealstone actual performance surpassed the benchmarks which resulted in an earn-out expense of $0.4 million 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. See Note 2 for further details of the Tealstone Acquisition. Goodwill and Intangibles - Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of companies acquired over the fair value of their net assets at the dates of acquisition. GAAP requires that: (1) goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets not be amortized, (2) goodwill is to be tested for impairment at least annually at the reporting unit level and (3) intangible assets deemed to have an indefinite life are to be tested for impairment at least annually by comparing the fair value of these assets with their recorded amounts. Refer to Note 8 for our disclosure regarding goodwill impairment testing. Evaluating Impairment of Long-Lived Assets - When events or changes in circumstances indicate that long-lived assets may be impaired, an evaluation is performed. The evaluation would be based on estimated undiscounted cash flows associated with the assets as compared to the asset’s carrying amount to determine if a write-down to fair value is required. There was no impairment in 2017 and 2016 and an immaterial impairment in 2015 . Management believes that there are no additional events or changes in circumstances which have indicated that other long-lived assets may be impaired. Segment reporting - Due to the April 3, 2017 acquisition of Tealstone, the Company has reviewed its reportable segments, operating segments and reporting units. Based on our review, we have concluded that our operations consist of two reportable segments and two reporting unit components: heavy civil construction and residential construction. In making this determination, the Company considered the discrete financial information used by our Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”). Based on this approach, the Company noted that the CODM organizes, evaluates and manages the financial information of our aggregated heavy civil construction projects and the entire residential construction division separately when making operating decisions and assessing the Company’s overall performance. Furthermore, we considered the differences between the types of work performed in each reporting unit. Each heavy civil construction project has similar characteristics, includes similar services, has similar types of customers and is subject to similar economic and regulatory environments. Projects in our heavy civil construction segment typically last for several years, involve several subtasks and are accounted for using the percentage of completion method. Conversely, our residential construction projects typically consist of a high volume of independent units performed for customers that are billed, paid and accounted for as the individual units are completed. Each foundation unit completed in our residential construction segment typically takes less than one month from start to finish. Segment reporting is aligned based upon the services offered by our two operating groups, which represent our reportable segments: heavy civil construction and residential construction, as mentioned above. Our CODM evaluates the performance of the aforementioned operating groups based upon revenue and income from operations. Each operating group’s income from operations reflects corporate costs, allocated based primarily upon revenue. Federal and State Income Taxes - We determine deferred income tax assets and liabilities using the balance sheet method. Under this method, the net deferred tax asset or liability is determined based on the tax effects of the temporary differences between the book and tax bases of the various balance sheet assets and liabilities and gives current recognition to changes in tax rates and laws. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. We recognize the financial statement benefit of a tax position only after determining that the relevant tax authority would more likely than not sustain the position following an audit. For tax positions meeting the more-likely-than-not threshold, the amount recognized in the financial statements is the largest benefit that has a greater than 50 percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant tax authority. Refer to Note 12 for further information regarding our federal and state income taxes. Stock-Based Compensation - The Company’s stock-based incentive plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. The Compensation Committee may reward employees and non-employees with various types of awards including, but not limited to, warrants, stock options, common stock, and unvested common stock (or restricted stock) vesting on service-based or performance-based. The Company recognizes expense based on the grant-date fair value of the service award and amortizes the award based on straight line methods. Awards based on performance vesting are subsequently remeasured at each reporting date through the settlement date. Awards that vest based on market criteria are valued using a valuation model that incorporates the probability of the Company meeting the stated criteria, such as the Monte-Carlo simulation, and the expense is amortized on a straight line basis over the term of the agreement. Upon the vesting of unvested common stock the Company may withhold shares, based on the employee’s election, in order to satisfy federal tax withholdings. The shares held by the Company are considered constructively retired and are retired shortly after withholding. The Company then remits the withholding taxes required. Refer to Note 14 for further information regarding the stock-based incentive plans. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In January 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance in Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2017-4 “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other” (Topic 350) which simplifies and eliminates step 2 of the current two step goodwill impairment test. This guidance is effective for public business entities for annual or any interim goodwill impairment tests in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for interim or annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. The Company early adopted this ASU on January 1, 2017. The adoption did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements or related disclosures. In March 2016, the FASB issued its new stock compensation guidance in ASU No. 2016-9 (Topic 718). First, under the new guidance, companies will be required to recognize the income tax effects of share-based awards in the income statement when the awards vest or are settled (i.e., additional paid in capital (“APIC”) or APIC pools will be eliminated). In addition, the new guidance allows a withholding amount of awarded shares with a fair value up to the amount of tax owed using the maximum, instead of the minimum, statutory tax rate without triggering liability classification for the award. Lastly, the new guidance allows companies to elect whether to account for forfeitures of share-based payments by (1) recognizing forfeitures of awards as they occur or (2) estimating the number of awards expected to be forfeited and adjusting the estimate when it is likely to change, as is currently required. The new standard is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance as required in the first quarter of 2016 and has chosen to account for forfeitures of share-based payments by recognizing forfeitures of awards as they occur. The result of adopting this guidance was immaterial to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-3, “Interest - Imputation of Interest: Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs.” The guidance, which is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015 and interim periods within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. The Company adopted this guidance as required in the first quarter of 2016 and changed the presentation of our consolidated balance sheets and related debt disclosures. In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-14, “Presentation of Financial Statement – Going Concern.” The guidance, which is effective for annual reporting periods ending after December 15, 2016 and interim periods within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, requires management to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern and to provide related footnote disclosures. The Company adopted this guidance as required in the fourth quarter of 2016. No changes to the presentation of our financial statements or related disclosures were required. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements In May 2017, the FASB issued guidance in ASU No. 2017-9 “Compensation—Stock Compensation” (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting, which provides guidance to assist entities with evaluating which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting. The amendments in this update provide certain thresholds that must be met in order to determine when an entity should account for the effects of a modification. This guidance is effective for all entities for annual periods and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company expects to adopt this guidance as required and does not expect a material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In January 2017, the FASB issued guidance in ASU No. 2017-1 “Business Combinations” (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which adds guidance to assist entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. The amendments in this update provide a screen to determine when a set of assets and activities is not a business, provide a framework to assist entities in evaluating whether both an input and a substantive process are present and narrow the definition of the term output to be consistent with Topic 606. This guidance is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017 including interim periods within those periods. The Company expects to adopt this guidance as required and does not expect a material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In November 2016, the FASB issued guidance in ASU No. 2016-18 “Statement of Cash Flows” (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force). The amendments in this ASU require that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. Therefore, amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. This guidance is effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The Company expects to adopt this guidance as required and does not expect a material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements oth |
