Item 1A. Risk Factors

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

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Our business is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described below. The matters described below are not the only risks and uncertainties facing our company. Additional risks and uncertainties not known to us or not described below also may impair our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be negatively affected and we may not be able to achieve our goals or expectations. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also includes statements reflecting assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions or beliefs about future events that are intended as “forward-looking statements” under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be read in conjunction with the section entitled Uncertainty of Forward-Looking Statements and Information included in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Our operating results may vary significantly from quarter to quarter.

Our business can be highly cyclical and subject to seasonal and other variations that can result in significant differences in operating results from quarter to quarter. For example, we typically experience lower gross and operating margins during winter months due to lower demand for our services and more difficult operating conditions in the Northern hemisphere. Additionally, our quarterly results may be materially and/or adversely affected by:

	•		permitting, regulatory or customer-caused delays on projects;

	•		adverse weather conditions;

	•		variations in the margins of projects performed during any particular quarter;

	•		fluctuations in regional, national or global economic and market conditions and demand for our services;

	•		the budgetary spending patterns of customers and federal, state and local governments;

	•		disruptions in our customers’ strategic plans which could occur as a result of emerging technologies;

	•		increases in construction and design costs;

	•		the timing and volume of work we perform;

	•		the magnitude of work performed under change orders and the timing of their recognition;

	•		disputes with customers relating to payment terms under our contracts and change orders, and our ability to successfully negotiate and obtain payment or reimbursement under our contracts and change orders;

	•		the outcome or resolution of pending or threatened litigation, claims or other legal proceedings;

	•		liabilities associated with pension plans in which our employees participate or withdrawals therefrom;

	•		changes in accounting pronouncements that require us to account for items differently than historical pronouncements have;

	•		losses experienced in our operations not otherwise covered by insurance;

	•		a change in the mix of our customers, contracts and business;

	•		payment risk associated with the financial condition of our customers;

	•		the termination or expiration of existing agreements;

	•		pricing pressures resulting from competition;

	•		changes in bonding and lien requirements applicable to existing and new agreements;

	•		implementation of various information systems, which could temporarily disrupt day-to-day operations;

	•		the recognition of tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions;

	•		the timing and magnitude of costs we incur to support growth internally or through acquisitions or otherwise;

	•		the timing and integration of acquisitions and the magnitude of the related acquisition and integration costs;

	•		the timing and significance of potential impairments of long-lived assets, equity or other investments, goodwill or other intangible assets; and

	•		significant fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Accordingly, our operating results in any particular quarter may not be indicative of the results that can be expected for any other quarter or for the entire year.

Negative economic and market conditions may adversely impact our customers’ future spending as well as payment for our services and, as a result, our operations and growth.

The economic recovery from the recession in 2008 and 2009 has been gradual and measured, and there is continuing uncertainty in the marketplace. Stagnant or declining economic conditions have adversely impacted the demand for our services in the past and resulted in the delay, reduction or cancellation of certain projects and may adversely affect us in the future. In addition, economic and market conditions specifically affecting any of the industries we serve could adversely affect our results of operations. A number of factors, including financing conditions and potential bankruptcies in the industries we serve or a prolonged economic downturn or recession, could adversely affect our customers and their ability or willingness to fund capital expenditures in the future or pay for past services. Consolidation, competition, capital constraints or negative economic conditions in the electric power and oil and gas industries may also result in reduced spending by, or the loss of, one or more of our customers.

Our Oil and Gas Infrastructure Services segment is exposed to risks associated with the oil and gas industry. These risks, which are not subject to our control, include the volatility of natural gas and oil prices, the lack of demand for natural gas and oil, including from power generation from natural gas, and a slowdown in the development or discovery of natural gas and/or oil reserves. Specifically, lower natural gas and oil prices could result in decreased spending by our customers in our Oil and Gas Infrastructure Services segment. The significant increase in the North American supply of natural gas due to ongoing development of unconventional shale formations has resulted in low natural gas prices for the past several years. Additionally, there have been significant decreases in oil prices since mid-2014. If the development or discovery of natural gas and/or oil reserves slowed or stopped as a result of low natural gas and oil prices or otherwise, customers could reduce capital spending on mainline pipe, gas gathering and compressor systems and other related infrastructure, resulting in less demand for our services. If the profitability of our business under the Oil and Gas Infrastructure Services segment were to decline, our overall financial position, results of operations and cash flows could also be adversely affected. Conversely, although higher natural gas and oil prices generally result in increased infrastructure spending by these customers, sustained high energy prices could be an impediment to economic growth and could result in reduced infrastructure spending by such customers. Higher prices could also decrease spending on natural gas fired electricity generation facilities and related infrastructure, an important component of our electric power infrastructure services business. Additionally, higher prices would likely reduce demand for power generation from natural gas, which could result in decreased demand for the expansion of North America’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure, and consequently result in less capital spending by these customers and less demand for our services.

Further, many of our customers finance their projects through the incurrence of debt or the issuance of equity. A reduction in cash flow or the lack of availability of debt or equity financing may result in a reduction in our customers’ spending for our services and may also impact the ability of our customers to pay amounts owed to us, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and our ability to grow at historical levels.

Regulatory and environmental requirements affecting any of the industries we serve may lead to less demand for our services.

Because the vast majority of our revenue is derived from a few industries, regulatory and environmental requirements affecting any of those industries would adversely affect our results of operations. Customers in the industries we serve face heightened regulatory and environmental requirements and stringent permitting processes as they implement plans for their projects, which can result in delays, reductions and cancellations of some of their projects. These regulatory factors have resulted in decreased demand for our services in the past, and they may continue to do so in the future, potentially impacting our operations and our ability to grow at historical levels.

Project performance issues, including those caused by third parties, or certain contractual obligations may result in additional costs to us, reductions or delays in revenues or the payment of liquidated damages.

Many projects involve challenging engineering, procurement and construction phases that may occur over extended time periods, sometimes over several years. We may encounter difficulties as a result of delays in designs, engineering information or materials provided by the customer or a third party, delays or difficulties in equipment and material delivery, schedule changes, delays from our customers’ failure to timely obtain permits or rights of way or meet other regulatory requirements, weather-related delays and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, that can impact our ability to complete the project in accordance with the original delivery schedule. A failure by us to properly manage and invest in our equipment fleet could also negatively impact project performance and our results of operations. In addition, we occasionally contract with third-party suppliers and subcontractors to assist us with the completion of contracts. Any delay or failure by suppliers or by subcontractors in the completion of their portion of the project may result in delays in the overall progress of the project or may cause us to incur additional costs, or both. We also may encounter project delays due to local opposition, which may include injunctive actions as well as public protests, to the siting of electric power, natural gas or oil transmission lines, solar or wind projects, or other facilities. Delays and additional costs may be substantial and, in some cases, we may be required to compensate the customer for such delays. We may not be able to recover all of such costs. In certain circumstances, we guarantee project completion by a scheduled acceptance date or achievement of certain acceptance and performance testing levels. Failure to meet any of our schedules or performance requirements could also result in additional costs or penalties, including liquidated damages, and such amounts could exceed expected project profit. In extreme cases, the above-mentioned factors could cause project cancellations, and we may not be able to replace such projects with similar projects or at all. Such delays or cancellations may impact our reputation or relationships with customers, adversely affecting our ability to secure new contracts.

Our customers may change or delay various elements of a project after its commencement, or the design, engineering information, equipment or materials that are to be provided by the customer or other parties may be deficient or delivered later than required by the project schedule, resulting in additional direct or indirect costs. Under these circumstances, we generally negotiate with the customer with respect to the amount of additional time required and the compensation to be paid to us. We are subject to the risk that we may be unable to obtain, through negotiation, arbitration, litigation or otherwise, adequate amounts to compensate us for the additional work or expenses incurred by us due to the above-mentioned delays and additional costs, including as a result of customer-requested change orders or failure by the customer to timely meet its obligations. Litigation or arbitration with respect to payment terms under contracts and change orders may be lengthy and costly and may adversely affect our relationship with our customers, and it is often difficult to predict when and for how much the claims will be resolved. A failure to obtain adequate compensation for these matters could require us to record a reduction to amounts of revenue and gross profit recognized in prior periods under the percentage-of-completion accounting method. Any such adjustments could be substantial. We may also be required to invest significant working capital to fund cost overruns while the resolution of claims is pending, which could adversely affect liquidity and financial results in any given period.

Our business is labor intensive, and we may be unable to attract and retain qualified employees.

Our ability to maintain our productivity and profitability will be limited by our ability to employ, train and retain skilled personnel necessary to meet our requirements. We cannot be certain that we will be able to maintain an adequate skilled labor force necessary to operate efficiently and to support our growth strategy. For instance, we may experience shortages of qualified journeyman linemen, who are integral to the provision of transmission and distribution services under our Electric Power Infrastructure Services segment. The commencement of new, large-scale infrastructure projects or increased demand for infrastructure improvements, as well as the aging electric utility workforce, may also further reduce the pool of skilled workers available to us. In addition, in our Oil and Gas Infrastructure Services segment, there is limited availability of experienced supervisors and foremen that can oversee large mainline pipe projects. A shortage in the supply of these skilled

personnel creates competitive hiring markets and may result in increased labor expenses. Additionally, if we are unable to hire employees with requisite skills, we may also be forced to incur significant training expenses. Labor shortages or increased labor costs could impair our ability to maintain our business or grow our revenues or profitability.

Our use of fixed price contracts could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We currently generate a portion of our revenues under fixed price contracts. We also expect to generate a greater portion of our revenues under this type of contract in the future as larger projects, such as electric power and pipeline transmission build-outs and utility-scale solar facilities, become a more significant aspect of our business. We assume risks related to revenue and cost on fixed-priced contracts. Actual revenues and project costs can vary, sometimes substantially, from our original projections due to changes in a variety of factors including:

	•		unforeseen circumstances not included in our cost estimates or covered by our contract for which we cannot obtain adequate compensation;

	•		changes in the cost of equipment, commodities, materials or labor;

	•		unanticipated costs or claims due to customer-caused delays, errors in specifications or designs, project modifications, or contract termination and our inability to obtain reimbursement for such costs or recover on such claims;

	•		weather conditions;

	•		failure to perform by our project owners, suppliers or subcontractors;

	•		difficulties in obtaining required permits or approvals;

	•		quality issues requiring rework;

	•		changes in laws and regulations; and

	•		general economic conditions.

These variations, along with other risks inherent in performing fixed price contracts may cause actual revenue and gross profits for a project to differ from those we originally estimated and could result in reduced profitability or losses on projects. Depending upon the size of a particular project, variations from the estimated contract costs could have a significant impact on our operating results for any fiscal period.

Our use of percentage-of-completion accounting could result in a reduction or elimination of previously reported profits.

As discussed in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Policies and in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, a significant portion of our revenues are recognized using the percentage-of-completion method of accounting, utilizing the cost-to-cost method. This method is used because management considers expended costs to be the best available measure of progress on these contracts. This accounting method is generally accepted for fixed price contracts. The percentage-of-completion accounting practice we use results in our recognizing contract revenues and earnings ratably over the contract term in proportion to our incurrence of contract costs. The earnings or losses recognized on individual contracts are based on estimates of contract revenues, costs and profitability. Contract losses are recognized in full when determined to be probable and reasonably estimable, and contract profit estimates are adjusted based on ongoing reviews of contract profitability. Further, a substantial portion of our contracts contain various cost and performance incentives. Penalties are recorded when known or finalized, which generally occurs during the latter stages of the contract. In addition, we record cost recovery claims when we believe recovery is probable and the amounts can be reasonably estimated. Actual collection of claims could differ from estimated amounts and could result in a reduction or elimination of previously recognized earnings. In certain circumstances, it is possible that such adjustments could be significant.

Our failure to adequately recover on claims brought by us against customers related to payment terms and costs could materially and adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

We have in the past brought and may in the future bring claims against our customer related to, among other things, the payment terms of our contracts and change orders relating to our contracts. These types of claims occur due to, among other things, matters such as customer-caused delays or changes from the initial project scope, both of which may result in additional cost. These claims can be the subject of lengthy arbitration or litigation proceedings, and it is difficult to accurately predict when these claims will be fully resolved. When these types of events occur and unresolved claims are pending, we have used working capital in projects to cover, among other things, cost overruns pending the resolution of the relevant claims. A failure to promptly recover on these types of claims could have a negative impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our operating results can be negatively affected by weather conditions.

We perform substantially all of our services outdoors. As a result, adverse weather conditions, such as rainfall or snow, may affect our productivity or may temporarily prevent us from performing services. The effect of weather delays on projects that are under fixed price arrangements may be greater if we are unable to adjust the project schedule for such delays. A reduction in our productivity in any given period or our inability to meet guaranteed schedules may adversely affect the profitability of our projects, and as a result, our results of operations.

We may be unsuccessful at generating internal growth.

Our ability to generate internal growth will be affected by, among other factors, our ability to:

	•		expand the range of services we offer to customers to address their evolving infrastructure needs;

	•		attract new customers;

	•		increase the number of projects performed for existing customers;

	•		hire and retain qualified employees;

	•		expand geographically, including internationally; and

	•		address the challenges presented by stringent regulatory, environmental and permitting requirements and difficult economic or market conditions that may affect us or our customers.

In addition, our customers may cancel, delay or reduce the number or size of projects available to us for a variety of reasons, including capital constraints or inability to meet regulatory requirements. Many of the factors affecting our ability to generate internal growth may be beyond our control, and we cannot be certain that our strategies for achieving internal growth will be successful.

Our business is highly competitive.

The specialty contracting business is served by numerous small, owner-operated private companies, some public companies and several large regional companies. In addition, relatively few barriers prevent entry into some areas of our business. As a result, any organization that has adequate financial resources and access to technical expertise may become one of our competitors. A substantial portion of our revenues is directly or indirectly dependent on winning new contracts. The timing of when project awards will be made is unpredictable and often involves complex and lengthy negotiations and bidding processes. These processes can be impacted by a wide variety of factors, including price, governmental approvals, financing contingencies, commodity prices, environmental conditions and overall market and economic conditions. We are currently experiencing the impacts of competitive pricing in certain of the markets we serve, such as the electric power market with respect

to smaller scale transmission projects and distribution services. In addition, our bids may not be successful because of a client’s perception of our ability to perform the work or a client’s perception of technology advantages held by our competitors as well as other factors. Certain of our competitors may have lower overhead cost structures. Therefore, they may be able to provide their services at lower rates than we are able to provide. In addition, some of our competitors have significant resources, including financial, technical and marketing resources. We cannot be certain that our competitors do not have or will not develop the expertise, experience and resources to provide services that are superior in both price and quality to our services. Similarly, we cannot be certain that we will be able to maintain or enhance our competitive position within the specialty contracting business or maintain our customer base at current levels. We also face competition from the in-house service organizations of our existing or prospective customers. Electric power and oil and gas service providers usually employ personnel who perform some of the same types of services we provide, and we cannot be certain that our existing or prospective customers will continue to outsource services in the future.

Changes in government spending and legislative actions and initiatives relating to renewable energy and electric power may adversely affect demand for our services.

Demand for our services may not result from renewable energy initiatives. While many states currently have mandates in place that require specified percentages of power to be generated from renewable sources, states could reduce those mandates or make them optional, which could reduce, delay or eliminate renewable energy development in the affected states. Additionally, renewable energy is generally more expensive to produce than traditional energy sources and may require additional power generation sources as backup. The locations of renewable energy projects are often remote and are not viable unless new or expanded transmission infrastructure to transport the power to demand centers is economically feasible. Furthermore, funding for renewable energy initiatives may not be available, which has been further constrained as a result of tight credit markets. These factors have resulted in fewer renewable energy projects than anticipated and a delay in the construction of these projects and the related infrastructure, which has adversely affected the demand for our services. These factors could continue to result in delays or reductions in projects, which could further negatively impact our business.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides for various stimulus programs, such as grants, loan guarantees and tax incentives, relating to renewable energy, energy efficiency and electric power infrastructure. Some of these programs have expired, which may affect the economic feasibility of future projects. Additionally, while a significant amount of stimulus funds have been awarded, we cannot predict the timing and scope of any investments to be made under stimulus funding or whether stimulus funding will result in increased demand for our services. Investments for renewable energy, electric power infrastructure and telecommunications fiber deployment under ARRA programs may not occur, may be less than anticipated or may be delayed, any of which would negatively impact demand for our services.

Other current and potential legislative or regulatory initiatives may not result in increased demand for our services. Examples include legislation or regulations to require utilities to meet reliability standards, to ease siting and right-of-way issues for the construction of transmission lines, and to encourage installation of new electric power transmission and renewable energy generation facilities. It is not certain whether existing legislation will create sufficient incentives for new projects, when or if proposed legislative initiatives will be enacted or whether any potentially beneficial provisions will be included in the final legislation.

There are also a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to address greenhouse gas emissions, which are in various phases of discussion or implementation. The outcome of federal and state actions to address global climate change could negatively affect the operations of our customers through costs of compliance or restraints on projects, which could reduce their demand for our services.

Our business is subject to operational hazards, and we are self-insured against certain potential liabilities.

Our business is subject to significant operational hazards due to the nature of services provided by our workforce and the conditions in which they operate. These hazards include those involving electricity, fires, natural gas explosions, mechanical failures and weather-related incidents. Our offshore operations are further subject to heightened risks, including blowouts, collisions, capsizings, vessels sinking and damage from severe weather conditions. These hazards could cause personal injury, severe damage to property, equipment and the environment and could lead to suspension of operations and legal liabilities. If we are not fully insured or indemnified against such risks or a counterparty fails to meet its indemnification obligations to us, it could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. Further, our safety record may impact our ability to bid on certain work.

We are insured for employer’s liability, general liability, auto liability and workers’ compensation claims, but such insurance is subject to deductibles and limits and may be canceled or may not cover all of our losses. The deductibles under our insurance programs for the policy year 2014-2015 are $10.0 million per occurrence for general liability and auto liability insurance programs, $5.0 million per occurrence for workers’ compensation, and $1.0 million per occurrence for employer’s liability. We are generally self-insured for all claims that do not exceed the amount of the applicable deductible. We also have employee health care benefit plans for most employees not subject to collective bargaining agreements, of which the primary plan is subject to a deductible of $375,000 per claimant per year. Our insurance policies include various coverage requirements, including the requirement to give appropriate notice. If we fail to comply with these requirements, our coverage could be denied.

Losses under all of these insurance programs are accrued based upon our estimates of the ultimate liability for claims reported and an estimate of claims incurred but not reported, with assistance from third-party actuaries. These insurance liabilities are difficult to assess and estimate due to unknown factors, including the severity of an injury, the extent of damage, the determination of our liability in proportion to other parties and the number of incidents not reported. The accruals are based upon known facts and historical trends, and management believes such accruals are adequate. If we were to experience insurance claims or costs significantly above our estimates, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected in a given period.

During the ordinary course of our business, we may become subject to lawsuits or indemnity claims, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We have in the past been, and may in the future be, named as a defendant in lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings during the ordinary course of our business. These actions may seek, among other things, compensation for alleged personal injury, workers’ compensation, employment discrimination, breach of contract, property damage, environmental liabilities, pension plan withdrawal liabilities, punitive damages, and civil penalties or other losses or injunctive or declaratory relief. In addition, we generally indemnify our customers for claims related to the services we provide and actions we take under our contracts with them, and, in some instances, we may be allocated risk through our contract terms for actions by our customers or other third parties. Because our services in certain instances may be integral to the operation and performance of our customers’ infrastructure, we have been and may become subject to lawsuits or claims for any failure of the systems that we work on, even if our services are not the cause of such failures, and we could be subject to civil and criminal liabilities to the extent that our services contributed to any property damage, personal injury or system failure. Insurance coverage may not be available or may be insufficient for these lawsuits, claims or legal proceedings. The outcome of any of these lawsuits, claims or legal proceedings could result in significant costs and diversion of management’s attention to the business. Payments of significant amounts, even if reserved, could adversely affect our reputation, liquidity and results of operations. For details on our existing litigation and claims, refer to Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

Unavailability or cancellation of third party insurance coverage would increase our overall risk exposure as well as disrupt our operations.

We maintain insurance coverage from third party insurers as part of our overall risk management strategy and because some of our contracts require us to maintain specific insurance coverage limits. There can be no assurance that our insurance coverage will be sufficient or effective under all circumstances or against all claims and liabilities which we may be subject. Additionally, we renew our insurance policies on an annual basis; therefore, deductibles and levels of insurance coverage may change in future periods. There can be no assurance that any of our existing insurance coverage will be renewed upon the expiration of the coverage period or that future coverage will be affordable at the required limits. In addition, our third party insurers could fail, suddenly cancel our coverage or otherwise be unable to provide us with adequate insurance coverage. If any of these events occur, our overall risk exposure would increase and our operations could be disrupted. For example, we have significant operations in California and other U.S. states which have an increased risk of wildfires. Should our insurers determine to exclude coverage for wildfires in the future, we could be exposed to significant liabilities and potentially a disruption of our California operations. If our risk exposure increases as a result of adverse changes in our insurance coverage, we could be subject to increased claims and liabilities that could negatively affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Many of our contracts may be canceled on short notice or may not be renewed upon completion or expiration, and we may be unsuccessful in replacing our contracts in such events, which may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We could experience a decrease in our revenue, net income and liquidity if any of the following occur:

	•		our customers cancel a significant number of contracts or contracts having significant value;

	•		we fail to renew a significant number of our existing contracts;

	•		we complete a significant number of non-recurring projects and cannot replace them with similar projects; or

	•		we fail to reduce operating and overhead expenses consistent with any decrease in our revenue.

Many of our customers may cancel our contracts on short notice, typically 30 to 90 days, even if we are not in default under the contract. Certain of our customers assign work to us on a project-by-project basis under master service agreements. Under these agreements, our customers often have no obligation to assign a specific amount of work to us. Our operations could decline significantly if the anticipated volume of work is not assigned to us, which will be more likely if customer spending decreases, for example, due to the slow recovery of the economy. Many of our contracts, including our master service agreements, are opened to public bid at the expiration of their terms. There can be no assurance that we will be the successful bidder on our existing contracts that come up for re-bid.

The nature of our business exposes us to warranty claims, which may reduce our profitability.

Under our contracts with customers, we typically provide a warranty for the services we provide, guaranteeing the work performed against defects in workmanship and material. The majority of our contracts have a warranty period of 12 months. As much of the work we perform is inspected by our customers for any defects in construction prior to acceptance of the project, the warranty claims that we have historically received have been minimal. Additionally, materials used in construction are often provided by the customer or are warranted against defects by the supplier. However, certain projects, such as utility-scale solar facilities, may have longer warranty periods and include facility performance warranties that may be broader than the warranties we generally provide. In these circumstances, if warranty claims occurred, it could require us to re-perform the services or to repair or replace the warranted item, at a cost to us, and could also result in other damages if we are not able to adequately satisfy our warranty obligations. In addition, we may be required under contractual

arrangements with our customers to warrant any defects or failures in materials we provide that we purchase from third parties. While we generally require the materials suppliers to provide us warranties that are consistent with those we provide to the customers, if any of these suppliers default on their warranty obligations to us, we may incur costs to repair or replace the defective materials for which we are not reimbursed. Costs incurred as a result of warranty claims could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The loss of one or a few customers could have a material adverse effect on us.

A few customers have in the past and may in the future account for a significant portion of our revenue in any one year or over a period of several consecutive years. Although we have long-standing relationships with many of our significant customers, our customers may unilaterally reduce or discontinue their contracts with us at any time. Our loss of business from a significant customer could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Backlog may not be realized or may not result in profits.

Backlog is not a term recognized under US GAAP; however, it is a common measurement used in our industry. Our methodology for determining backlog may not be comparable to the methodologies used by other companies. For a discussion of how we calculate backlog for our business, please see Backlog in Item 1. Business.

Furthermore, backlog is difficult to determine with certainty. Customers often have no obligation under our contracts to assign or release work to us, and many contracts may be terminated on short notice. Reductions in backlog due to cancellation or reduction in scope of one or more contracts or projects by a customer or for other reasons could significantly reduce the revenue and profit we actually receive from contracts included in backlog. In the event of a project cancellation or reduction in scope, we may be reimbursed for certain costs but would not have a contractual right to the total revenues reflected in our backlog. The backlog we obtain in connection with any companies we acquire may not be as large as we believed or may not result in the revenue or profits we expected. In addition, projects that are delayed may remain in backlog for extended periods of time. All of these uncertainties are heightened by negative economic conditions and their impact on our customers’ spending, as well as the effects of regulatory requirements and weather conditions. Consequently, we cannot assure that our estimates of backlog are accurate or that we will be able to realize our estimated backlog.

Our financial results are based upon estimates and assumptions that may differ from actual results.

In preparing our consolidated financial statements in conformity with US GAAP, several estimates and assumptions are used by management in determining the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses recognized during the periods presented and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities known to exist as of the date of the financial statements. These estimates and assumptions must be made because certain information that is used in the preparation of our financial statements is dependent on future events, cannot be calculated with a high degree of precision from data available or is not capable of being readily calculated based on generally accepted methodologies. In some cases, these estimates are particularly difficult to determine, and we must exercise significant judgment. Estimates are used primarily in our assessment of the allowance for doubtful accounts, valuation of inventory, useful lives of assets, fair value assumptions in analyzing goodwill, other intangibles and long-lived asset impairments, equity and other investments, loan receivables, purchase price allocations, liabilities for self-insured and other claims and guarantees, multi-employer pension plan withdrawal liabilities, revenue recognition for construction contracts inclusive of contractual change orders and claims, revenue recognition for fiber optic licensing contracts, share-based compensation, operating results of reportable segments, provision (benefit) for income taxes and the calculation of uncertain tax positions. Actual results for all estimates could differ materially from the estimates and assumptions that we use, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our inability to successfully execute our acquisition strategy may have an adverse impact on our growth strategy.

Our business strategy includes expanding our presence in the industries we serve through strategic acquisitions of companies that complement or enhance our business. The number of acquisition targets that meet our criteria may be limited, and we may also face competition for acquisition opportunities. Some of our competitors may offer more favorable terms than us or have greater financial resources than we do. This competition may further limit our acquisition opportunities and our ability to grow through acquisitions or could raise the prices of acquisitions and make them less accretive or possibly not accretive to us. Acquisitions that we may pursue may also involve significant cash expenditures, the incurrence or assumption of debt or burdensome regulatory requirements. Any acquisition may ultimately have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Any of these factors could inhibit our ability to consummate future acquisitions, which could negatively affect our growth strategies.

We may be unsuccessful at integrating businesses that either we have acquired or that we may acquire in the future, which may reduce the anticipated benefit from acquired businesses.

As a part of our business strategy, we have acquired, and may seek to acquire in the future, companies that complement or enhance our business. The success of this strategy will depend on our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from the acquired businesses, such as the expansion of our existing operations, elimination of redundant costs and capitalizing on cross-selling opportunities. To realize these benefits, however, we must successfully integrate the operations of the acquired businesses with our existing operations. We cannot be sure that we will be able to successfully integrate acquired companies with our existing operations without substantial costs, delays, disruptions or other operational or financial problems. Additionally, if we do not implement proper overall business controls, our decentralized operating strategy could result in inconsistent operating and financial practices at the companies we acquire. Issues related to the integration process may result in adverse impact to our revenues, earnings and cash flows. Integrating our acquired companies involves a number of special risks that could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, including:

	•		failure of acquired companies to achieve the results we expect;

	•		diversion of our management’s attention from operational and other matters;

	•		difficulties integrating the operations and personnel of acquired companies;

	•		additional financial reporting and accounting challenges associated with integrating acquired companies;

	•		inability to retain key personnel of acquired companies;

	•		risks associated with unanticipated events or liabilities;

	•		loss of business due to customer overlap or change from local or private ownership;

	•		risks and liabilities arising from the prior operations of acquired companies, such as performance, operational, safety, workforce or tax issues, some of which we may not have discovered during our due diligence and may not be covered by indemnification obligations; and

	•		potential disruptions of our business.

Our results of operations could be adversely affected as a result of impairments of goodwill, other intangible assets or our investments.

When we acquire a business, we record an asset called “goodwill” equal to the excess amount we pay for the business, including liabilities assumed, over the fair value of the tangible and intangible assets of the business we acquire. Goodwill and other intangible assets that have indefinite useful lives cannot be amortized, but instead

must be tested at least annually for impairment, while intangible assets that have finite useful lives are amortized over their useful lives. The accounting literature provides specific guidance for testing goodwill and other non-amortized intangible assets for impairment. Refer to Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Policies for a detailed discussion. Management is required to make certain estimates and assumptions when allocating goodwill to reporting units and determining the fair value of a reporting unit’s net assets and liabilities, including, among other things, an assessment of market conditions, projected cash flows, investment rates, cost of capital and growth rates, which could significantly impact the reported value of goodwill and other intangible assets. Fair value is determined using a combination of the discounted cash flow, market multiple and market capitalization valuation approaches. Absent any impairment indicators, we perform our impairment tests annually during the fourth quarter. If there is a decrease in market capitalization below book value in the future, this may be considered an impairment indicator.

In addition, we enter into various types of investment arrangements in the normal course of business, each having unique terms and conditions. These investments may include equity interests we hold in business entities, including general or limited partnerships, contractual joint ventures or other forms of equity participation. These investments may also include our participation in different finance structures such as the extension of loans to project specific entities, the acquisition of convertible notes issued by project specific entities or other strategic financing arrangements. Our equity method investments are carried at original cost and are included in other assets, net in our consolidated balance sheet and are adjusted for our proportionate share of the investees’ income, losses and distributions. Equity investments are reviewed for impairment by assessing whether any decline in the fair value of the investment below the carrying value is other than temporary. In making this determination, factors such as the ability to recover the carrying amount of the investment and the inability of the investee to sustain future earnings capacity are evaluated in determining whether an impairment has occurred and should be recognized.

Any future impairments, including impairments of goodwill, intangible assets or investments, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for the period in which the impairment is recognized.

New federal or state telecommunications regulations, or changes in, or interpretations of, existing regulations, could adversely affect our Fiber Optic Licensing and Other segment.

Many of our Fiber Optic Licensing and Other segment customers benefit from the Universal Service “E-rate” program, which was established by Congress in the 1996 Telecommunications Act and is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under the oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Under the E-rate program, schools, libraries and certain healthcare facilities may receive subsidies for certain approved telecommunications services, internet access and internal connections. From time to time, bills have been introduced in Congress that would eliminate or curtail the E-rate program. Passage of such actions by the FCC or USAC to further limit E-rate subsidies could decrease the demand by certain customers for the services offered by our Fiber Optic Licensing and Other segment.

The licensing services we provide through our Fiber Optic Licensing and Other segment are subject to regulation by the FCC, to the extent that they are interstate telecommunications services, and by state regulatory agencies, when wholly within a particular state. To remain eligible to provide services under the E-rate program, we must maintain telecommunications authorizations in every state where we operate, and we must obtain such authorizations in any new state where we plan to operate. Changes in federal or state regulations could reduce the profitability of our Fiber Optic Licensing and Other segment, and delays in obtaining new authorizations could inhibit our ability to grow our Fiber Optic Licensing and Other segment in new geographic areas. We could be subject to fines if the FCC or a state regulatory agency were to determine that any of our activities or positions are not in compliance with certain regulations. If the profitability of our Fiber Optic Licensing and Other segment were to decline, or if the business of this segment were to become subject to fines, our overall results of operations and cash flows could also be adversely affected.

Our fiber optic services are capital intensive, require substantial investments, may expose us to industry specific risks and may have returns on investments that are less than expected.

Our fiber optic licensing business requires substantial amounts of capital investment to build out new fiber networks. In 2015, our proposed capital expenditures for our fiber optic licensing business are approximately $50 million to $60 million, $16.8 million of which is related to committed licensing arrangements as of December 31, 2014. Although we generally do not commit capital to new networks until we have a committed license arrangement in place with at least one customer, we may not be able to recoup our initial investment in the network, and we may not realize a return on the capital investment for an extended period of time. Furthermore, the amount of capital that we invest in our fiber optic network may exceed planned expenditures as a result of various factors, including difficulty in obtaining permits or rights of way or unexpected increases in costs due to labor, materials or project productivity, which would result in a decrease in the returns on our capital investments if licensing fees for the network were committed and could not be renegotiated. New or developing technologies or significant competition in any of our markets could also negatively impact our fiber optic licensing business. Any of these events could adversely affect our results of operations or result in an impairment of our fiber optic network.

Our expansion into the lit services market exposes us to additional risks, as we will be providing access to the fiber network that we own, as well as providing networking equipment and assuming responsibility for network management and service quality. These risks include, but are not limited to, those related to our ability to secure customers for our network in a competitive environment, and the ability to obtain additional capacity in the event of increased demand; network failures and service interruptions, including those outside of our control when we use dark fiber networks or circuits that we do not own or operate, which could expose us to customer liability or require expensive modifications; our ability to obtain agreements with building owners and managers to provide us with access to serve customers in multi-tenant facilities; our ability to obtain or construct additional building laterals to connect new buildings to our network; compliance with laws and regulations applicable to Internet service providers; Internet connectivity at both public and private interconnection points with network providers; relationships and agreements with carrier neutral data center operators and incumbent local exchange carriers; and security breaches and unauthorized access to our systems.

We extend credit to customers for purchases of our services and may enter into longer-term deferred payment arrangements or provide other financing or investment arrangements with certain of our customers, which subjects us to potential credit or investment risk that could, if realized, adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We grant credit, generally without collateral, to our customers, which include electric power utilities, oil and gas companies, governmental entities, general contractors, and builders, owners and managers of renewable energy facilities and commercial and industrial properties located primarily in the United States, Canada and Australia. We may also agree to allow our customers to defer payment on projects until certain milestones have been met or until the projects are substantially completed, and customers typically withhold some portion of amounts due to us as retainage. In addition, we may provide other forms of financing to our customers or make investments in our customers’ projects, typically in situations where we also provide services in connection with the projects. Our payment arrangements with our customers subject us to potential credit risk related to changes in business and economic factors affecting our customers, including material changes in our customers’ revenues or cash flows. These changes may also reduce the value of any financing or equity investment arrangements we have with our customers. Many of our customers have been negatively impacted by uncertain economic conditions in recent years, and some may experience financial difficulties (including bankruptcies) that could impact our ability to collect amounts owed to us or impair the value of our investments in them. If we are unable to collect amounts owed to us, our cash flows would be reduced and we could experience losses if the uncollectible amounts exceeded current allowances. We would also recognize losses with respect to any investments that are impaired as a result of our customers’ financial difficulties. Losses experienced could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The risks of collectability and impairment losses may increase for projects where we provide services as well as make a financing or equity investment.

The loss of key personnel could disrupt our business.

We depend on the continued efforts of our executive officers and senior management, including the management at each of our operating units. Although we typically enter into employment agreements with terms of one to three years with our executive officers and certain other key employees, we cannot be certain that any individual will continue in such capacity for any particular period of time or that key employees of our future acquisition targets will be willing to enter into such agreements. The loss of key personnel, or the inability to hire and retain qualified employees, could negatively impact our ability to manage our business. We do not carry key-person life insurance on any of our employees.

We may be required to contribute cash to meet our underfunded obligations in certain multi-employer pension plans.

Our collective bargaining agreements generally require us to participate with other companies in multi-employer pension plans. To the extent those plans are underfunded, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended by the Multi-Employer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980, may subject us to substantial liabilities under those plans if we withdraw from them or they are terminated or experience a mass withdrawal. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2011, we recognized a $32.6 million liability when certain of our subsidiaries withdrew from the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Plan (the Central States Plan). The amount of this liability was estimated based on information received from the Central States Plan in 2011. In March 2014, the Central States Plan provided revised estimates indicating that the withdrawal liability based on certain withdrawal scenarios from 2011 through 2014 could range between $40.1 million and $55.4 million, and we recorded an adjustment to costs of services during the three months ended March 31, 2014 to increase the recognized withdrawal liability to an amount within such range. The actual amount assessed by the plan for the withdrawal and the amount that we ultimately pay for the withdrawal liability may be materially different than the amount currently recorded. Additionally, on October 9, 2013, we acquired a company that experienced a complete withdrawal from the Central States Plan prior to the date of our acquisition. The Central States Plan issued a notice and demand to the acquired company for a withdrawal liability and the acquired company, and now Quanta, has taken steps to challenge the amount of the assessment. For additional information on these matters, please see Collective Bargaining Agreements in Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

In addition, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 added special funding and operational rules generally applicable to plan years beginning after 2007 for multi-employer plans that are classified as “endangered,” “seriously endangered,” or “critical” status. Plans in these classifications must adopt measures to improve their funded status through a funding improvement or rehabilitation plan, which may require additional contributions from employers (which may take the form of a surcharge on benefit contributions) and/or modifications to retiree benefits. A number of multi-employer plans to which we contribute or may contribute in the future are in “endangered,” “seriously endangered” or “critical” status. The amount of additional funds we may be obligated to contribute to these plans in the future cannot be estimated, as such amounts will likely be based on future work that requires the specific use of union employees covered by these plans, and the amount of that future work and the number of employees that may be affected cannot reasonably be estimated. Our performance of a significant amount of future services in areas that require us to utilize unionized employees covered by these affected plans, or a deterioration in the funding status of any of the plans to which our operating units contribute, could require significant additional contributions, which could detrimentally affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows if we are not able to adequately mitigate these costs.

Our unionized workforce and related obligations could adversely affect our operations.

As of December 31, 2014, approximately 52% of our hourly employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements. Although the majority of the collective bargaining agreements prohibit strikes and work stoppages, certain of our unionized employees participated in a strike and work stoppage during January 2012, and we cannot be certain that strikes or work stoppages will not occur in the future. Strikes or work stoppages can adversely impact our relationships with our customers and could cause us to lose business and decrease our revenue.

Our ability to complete future acquisitions could be adversely affected because of our union status for a variety of reasons. For instance, our union agreements may be incompatible with the union agreements of a business we want to acquire, and some businesses may not want to become affiliated with a union-based company. Additionally, we may increase our exposure to withdrawal liabilities for underfunded multi-employer pension plans to which an acquired company contributes.

Approximately 48% of our hourly employees are not unionized. Under the current U.S. presidential administration, certain administrative and regulatory actions have been taken and are being considered that could create more flexibility and opportunity for labor unions to organize non-union workers and could result in a greater percentage of our workforce being subject to collective bargaining agreements, heightening the risks described above. In addition, certain of our customers require or prefer a non-union workforce, and they may reduce the amount of work assigned to us if our non-union labor crews were to become unionized, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

We may incur liabilities or suffer negative financial or reputational impacts relating to occupational health and safety matters.

Our operations are subject to extensive laws and regulations relating to the maintenance of safe conditions in the workplace. While we have invested, and will continue to invest, substantial resources in our occupational health and safety programs, our industry involves a high degree of operational risk and there can be no assurance that we will avoid significant liability exposure. Although we have taken what we believe are appropriate precautions, we have suffered fatalities in the past and may suffer additional fatalities in the future. Serious accidents, including fatalities, may subject us to substantial penalties, civil litigation or criminal prosecution. Claims for damages to persons, including claims for bodily injury or loss of life, could result in substantial costs and liabilities, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, if our safety record were to substantially deteriorate over time or we were to suffer substantial penalties or criminal prosecution for violation of health and safety regulations, our customers could cancel our contracts and elect to procure future services from other providers. Unsafe work sites also have the potential to increase employee turnover, increase the cost of a project to our clients, and raise our operating costs. Any of the foregoing could result in financial loss, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Risks associated with operating in international markets could restrict our ability to expand globally and harm our business and prospects.

Although international operations are presently conducted primarily in Canada and Australia, we have performed work in various other foreign countries and expect that the number of countries in which we operate could expand significantly over the next few years. Economic conditions, including those resulting from wars, civil unrest, acts of terrorism and other conflicts or volatility in the global markets, may adversely affect our customers, their demand for our services and their ability to pay for our services. In addition, our international operations include business and transactions for which we are paid in local currency. Payments to us in currencies other than the U.S. dollar may exceed our local currency needs, leading to the accumulation of excess local currency, which, in certain instances, may be subject to either temporary blocking, costly taxes or tariffs, or other difficulties converting to U.S. dollars. There are numerous risks inherent in conducting our business internationally, including, but not limited to, potential instability in international markets, changes in regulatory requirements applicable to international operations, currency fluctuations in foreign countries, political, economic and social conditions in foreign countries and complex U.S. and foreign laws and treaties, including tax laws. These risks could restrict our ability to provide services to international customers, operate our international business profitably, or fund our strategic objectives, and our overall business, liquidity and results of operations could be negatively impacted by our foreign activities.

We could be adversely affected by our failure to comply with the laws applicable to our foreign activities, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other similar worldwide anti-bribery laws.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions prohibit U.S.-based companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We pursue opportunities in certain parts of the world that experience government corruption, and in certain circumstances, compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. Our policies mandate compliance with all applicable anti-bribery laws. Further, we require our partners, subcontractors, agents and others who work for us or on our behalf to comply with the FCPA and other anti-bribery laws. Although we have policies and procedures designed to ensure that we, our employees, our agents and others who work with us in foreign countries comply with the FCPA and other anti-bribery laws, there is no assurance that such policies or procedures will protect us against liability under the FCPA or other laws for actions taken by our agents, employees and intermediaries. On March 10, 2014, the SEC notified us of an inquiry into certain aspects of our activities in certain foreign jurisdictions and requested that we take necessary steps to preserve and retain categories of relevant documents, including those pertaining to our FCPA compliance program. The SEC has not alleged any violations of law by Quanta or our employees. If we are found to be liable for FCPA violations (either due to our own acts or inadvertence, or due to the acts or inadvertence of others), we could suffer from severe criminal or civil penalties or other sanctions, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. In addition, detecting, investigating and resolving actual or alleged FCPA violations is expensive and could consume significant time and attention of our senior management.

Our participation in joint ventures exposes us to liability and/or harm to our reputation for failures of our partners.

As part of our business, we have entered into joint venture arrangements and may enter into additional joint venture arrangements in the future. The purpose of these joint ventures is typically to combine skills and resources to allow for the performance of particular projects. Success on these jointly performed projects depends in large part on whether our joint venture partners satisfy their contractual obligations. We and our joint venture partners are generally jointly and severally liable for all liabilities and obligations of our joint ventures. If a joint venture partner fails to perform or is financially unable to bear its portion of required capital contributions or other obligations, including liabilities stemming from claims or lawsuits, we could be required to make additional investments, provide additional services or pay more than our proportionate share of a liability to make up for our partner’s shortfall. Further, if we are unable to adequately address our partner’s performance issues, the customer may terminate the project, which could result in legal liability to us, harm our reputation and reduce our profit on a project.

We are in the process of implementing an information technology (IT) solution, which could temporarily disrupt day-to-day operations at certain operating units.

We continue to implement a comprehensive IT solution that we believe will allow for the interface between functions such as accounting and finance, human resources, operations, and fleet management. Continued development and implementation of the IT solution will require substantial financial and personnel resources. While the IT solution is intended to improve and enhance our information systems, implementation of new information systems at each operating unit exposes us to the risks of start-up of the new system and integration of that system with our existing systems and processes, including possible disruption of our financial reporting. There is no guarantee that we will realize economic or other intended benefits from continued development and implementation of the IT solution. Additionally, the IT solution may not be developed or implemented as timely or as accurately as planned. Failure to properly implement the IT solution could result in substantial disruptions to our business, including coordinating and processing our normal business activities, testing and recording of certain data necessary to provide oversight over our disclosure controls and procedures and effective internal controls over our financial reporting, and other unforeseen problems.

Failure to adequately protect critical data and technology systems could materially affect our operations.

IT solution failures, network disruptions and breaches of data security could disrupt our operations by causing, among other things, delays in the processing of transactions or the reporting of financial results or the unintentional disclosure of customer, employee or company information that could damage our reputation. While management has taken steps to address these concerns by implementing network security and internal control measures, there can be no assurance that a system failure or data security breach (particularly in light of our ongoing implementation of the IT solution) will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Our dependence on suppliers, subcontractors and equipment manufacturers could expose us to the risk of loss in our operations.

On certain projects, we rely on suppliers to obtain the necessary materials and subcontractors to perform portions of our services. We also rely on equipment manufacturers to provide us with the equipment required to conduct our operations. Although we are not dependent on any single supplier, subcontractor or equipment manufacturer, any substantial limitation on the availability of required suppliers, subcontractors or equipment manufacturers could negatively impact our operations. The risk of a lack of available suppliers, subcontractors or equipment manufacturers may be heightened as a result of market and economic conditions. To the extent we cannot engage subcontractors or acquire equipment or materials, we could experience losses in the performance of our operations. Additionally, successful completion of our contracts may depend on whether our subcontractors successfully fulfill their contractual obligations. If our subcontractors fail to perform their contractual obligations as a result of financial or other difficulties, or if our subcontractors fail to meet the expected completion dates or quality standards, we may be required to incur additional costs or provide additional services in order to make up such shortfall.

We may not have access in the future to sufficient funding to finance desired growth and operations.

If we cannot secure future funds or financing on acceptable terms, we may be unable to support our growth strategy or future operations. We cannot readily predict the ability of certain customers to pay for past services, and unfavorable economic conditions, such as those experienced over recent years, may negatively impact the ability of our customers to pay amounts owed to us. We may also use cash for acquisitions, as well as for investments, both of which are elements of our growth strategy, but we cannot readily predict the timing, size and success of our acquisition or investment efforts. Using cash for acquisitions and investments limits our financial flexibility and may increase our need to seek additional capital through future debt or equity financings. Our credit agreement contains significant restrictions on our operational and financial flexibility, including our ability to incur additional debt or conduct certain types of preferred equity financings, and if we seek more debt, we may have to agree to additional covenants that limit our operational and financial flexibility. If we seek additional debt or equity financings, we cannot be certain that additional debt or equity will be available to us on terms acceptable to us or at all. Furthermore, availability under our credit facility is based upon existing commitments from several banks. Banks are restrictive in their lending practices, and some may be unable or unwilling to fund their commitments, which may limit our access to the capital needed to fund our growth and operations. In addition, we rely on financing companies to fund the leasing of certain of our trucks and trailers, support vehicles and specialty construction equipment. Credit market conditions may cause certain of these financing companies to restrict or withhold access to capital for us to fund the leasing of additional equipment. Although we are not dependent on any single equipment lessor, a widespread lack of available capital to fund the leasing of equipment could negatively impact our future operations. Additionally, the market price of our common stock may change significantly in response to various factors and events beyond our control, which will impact our ability to use equity to obtain funds. A variety of events may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate significantly, including overall market conditions or volatility, a shortfall in our operating results from those anticipated, negative results or other unfavorable information relating to our market peers or the other risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Fluctuating foreign currency exchange rates may have a greater impact on our financial results as we expand into international markets.

For the year ended December 31, 2014, we derived $1.89 billion, or 24.0%, of our consolidated revenues from foreign operations, the substantial majority of which was earned in Canada and Australia. We intend to expand the volume of services that we provide internationally. As a result, our reported financial condition and results of operations may be further exposed to the effects that fluctuating exchange rates have on the process of translating the financial statements of our international operations, which are usually denominated in local currencies, into the U.S. dollar.

Our business growth could outpace the capability of our decentralized management infrastructure.

We cannot be certain that our management infrastructure will be adequate to support our operations as they expand. For example, the ability to internally communicate, coordinate and execute business strategies, plans and tactics may be negatively impacted by our increasing size and complexity. A decentralized structure places significant control and decision-making powers in the hands of local management. This contributes to the risk that we may be slower or less able to identify or react to problems affecting key business matters than we would in a more centralized environment. The lack of timely access to information may impact the quality of decision making by management. Our decentralized organization creates the possibility that our operating subsidiaries assume excessive risk without appropriate guidance from our centralized legal, accounting, tax, treasury and insurance functions as to the potential overall impact. Future growth could also impose significant additional responsibilities on members of our senior management, including the need to recruit and integrate new senior level managers and executives. We cannot be certain that we will be able to recruit and retain such additional managers and executives. To the extent that we are unable to manage our growth effectively, or are unable to attract and retain additional qualified management, we may not be able to expand our operations or execute our business plan.

We may be unable to compete for or work on certain projects if we are not able to obtain surety bonds, letters of credit or bank guarantees.

A portion of our business depends on our ability to provide surety bonds, letters of credit, bank guarantees or other financial assurances. Current or future market conditions, including losses incurred in the construction industry or as a result of large corporate bankruptcies, as well as changes in our sureties’ assessment of our operating and financial risk, could cause our surety providers and lenders to decline to issue or renew, or substantially reduce the amount of, bid or performance bonds for our work and could increase our costs associated with collateral. These actions could be taken on short notice. If our surety providers or lenders were to limit or eliminate our access to bonding, letters of credit or guarantees, our alternatives would include seeking capacity from other sureties and lenders, finding more business that does not require bonds or allows for other forms of collateral for project performance, such as cash. We may be unable to secure these alternatives in a timely manner, on acceptable terms, or at all, which could affect our ability to bid for or work on future projects requiring financial assurances.

We have also granted security interests in various of our assets to collateralize our obligations to our sureties and lenders. Furthermore, under standard terms in the surety market, sureties issue or continue bonds on a project-by-project basis and can decline to issue bonds at any time or require the posting of additional collateral as a condition to issuing or renewing any bonds. If we were to experience an interruption or reduction in the availability of bonding capacity as a result of these or any other reasons, we may be unable to compete for or work on certain projects that would require bonding.

Our failure to comply with environmental laws could result in significant liabilities.

Our operations are subject to various environmental laws and regulations, including those dealing with the handling and disposal of waste products, PCBs, fuel storage and air quality. We perform work in many different

types of underground environments. If the field location maps supplied to us are not accurate, or if objects are present in the soil that are not indicated on the field location maps, our underground work could strike objects in the soil, some of which may contain pollutants. These objects may also rupture, resulting in the discharge of pollutants. In such circumstances, we may be liable for fines and damages, and we may be unable to obtain reimbursement from the parties providing the incorrect information. We perform work in and around environmentally sensitive areas such as rivers, lakes and wetlands. In addition, we perform directional drilling operations below certain environmentally sensitive terrains and water bodies. Due to the inconsistent nature of the terrain and water bodies, it is possible that such directional drilling may cause a surface fracture, resulting in the release of subsurface materials. These subsurface materials may contain contaminants in excess of amounts permitted by law, potentially exposing us to remediation costs and fines. We also own and lease several facilities at which we store our equipment. Some of these facilities contain fuel storage tanks that are above or below ground. If these tanks were to leak, we could be responsible for the cost of remediation as well as potential fines.

In addition, new laws and regulations, stricter enforcement of existing laws and regulations, the discovery of previously unknown contamination or leaks, or the imposition of new clean-up requirements could require us to incur significant costs or become the basis for new or increased liabilities that could negatively impact our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In certain instances, we have obtained indemnification or covenants from third parties (including predecessors or lessors) for such clean-up and other obligations and liabilities that we believe are adequate to cover such obligations and liabilities. However, such third-party indemnities or covenants may not cover all of our costs and the indemnitors may not pay amounts owed to us, and such unanticipated obligations or liabilities, or future obligations and liabilities, may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. Further, we cannot be certain that we will be able to identify or be indemnified for all potential environmental liabilities relating to any acquired business.

There are also other legislative and regulatory proposals to address greenhouse gas emissions. These proposals, if enacted, could result in a variety of regulatory programs including potential new regulations, additional charges to fund energy efficiency activities, or other regulatory actions. Any of these actions could result in increased costs associated with our operations and impact the prices we charge our customers. For example, if new regulations are adopted regulating greenhouse gas emissions from mobile sources such as cars and trucks, we could experience a significant increase in environmental compliance costs in light of our large rolling-stock fleet. In addition, if our operations are perceived to result in high greenhouse gas emissions, our reputation could suffer.

We may not be successful in continuing to meet the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has many requirements applicable to us regarding corporate governance and financial reporting, including the requirements for management to report on our internal controls over financial reporting and for our independent registered public accounting firm to express an opinion over the operating effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. During 2014, we continued actions to ensure our ability to comply with these requirements. As of December 31, 2014, our internal control over financial reporting was effective; however, there can be no assurance that our internal control over financial reporting will be effective in future years. Failure to maintain effective internal controls or the identification of significant internal control deficiencies in acquisitions already made or made in the future could result in a decrease in the market value of our common stock and our other publicly traded securities, the reduced ability to obtain financing, the loss of customers, penalties and additional expenditures to meet the requirements.

Our sale or issuance of additional common shares or other equity-related securities could dilute each stockholder’s ownership interest or adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We grow our business organically as well as through acquisitions. We often fund a portion of the consideration paid in connection with our acquisitions with the issuance of additional equity securities, including shares of our common stock and securities that are convertible into shares of our common stock.

We may issue additional equity securities in the future, including in connection with future acquisitions or other issuances of our common stock or convertible securities or otherwise. Our Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that we may issue up to 600,000,000 shares of common stock, of which 210,819,790 shares were outstanding as of December 31, 2014. Any such issuances could have the effect of diluting our earnings per share as well as our existing stockholders’ individual ownership percentages and could lead to volatility in the market price of our common stock. We cannot predict the effect that future issuances of our common stock or other equity-related securities would have on the market price of our common stock.

If we are unable to enforce our intellectual property rights or if our intellectual property rights become obsolete, our competitive position could be adversely impacted.

We utilize a variety of intellectual property rights in our services. We view our portfolio of proprietary energized services tools and techniques, as well as our other process and design technologies, as one of our competitive strengths, which we believe differentiates our service offerings. We may not be able to successfully preserve these intellectual property rights in the future, and these rights could be invalidated, circumvented or challenged. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries in which our services may be sold do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. We also license certain technologies from third parties, and there is a risk that our relationships with licensors may terminate or expire or may be interrupted or harmed. If we are unable to protect and maintain our intellectual property rights, or if intellectual property challenges or infringement proceedings succeed against us, our ability to differentiate our service offerings could be reduced. In addition, if our intellectual property rights or work processes become obsolete, we may not be able to differentiate our service offerings, and some of our competitors may be able to offer more attractive services to our customers. As a result, our business and revenue could be materially and adversely affected.

We may incur additional healthcare costs arising from federal healthcare reform legislation.

In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the ACA) were signed into law in the United States. The ACA is intended to expand access to health insurance coverage to many uninsured individuals and expands coverage to those already insured. The changes and mandates on employers subject to the ACA’s “pay or play” requirements could cause us to incur additional group health insurance costs, although we do not expect any material short-term impact on our financial results as a result of the ACA. We continue to monitor developments under the ACA and assess the extent to which it could result in long-term material cost increases for us.

Opportunities within the government arena could subject us to increased governmental regulation and costs.

Most government contracts are awarded through a regulated competitive bidding process. As we pursue increased opportunities in the government arena, management’s focus associated with the start-up and bidding process may be diverted away from other opportunities. Involvement with government contracts could require a significant amount of costs to be incurred before any revenues are realized from these contracts. In addition, as a government contractor, we are subject to a number of procurement rules and other public sector regulations, any deemed violation of which could lead to fines or penalties or a loss of business. Government agencies routinely audit and investigate government contractors. Government agencies may review a contractor’s performance under its contracts, cost structure and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. If a government agency determines that costs were improperly allocated to specific contracts, such costs will not be reimbursed or a refund of previously reimbursed costs may be required. If a government agency alleges or proves improper activity, civil and criminal penalties could be imposed and serious reputational harm could result. Many government contracts must be appropriated each year. If appropriations are not made in subsequent years, we would not realize all of the potential revenues from any awarded contracts.

Certain provisions of our corporate governing documents could make an acquisition of our company more difficult.

The following provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as currently in effect, as well as Delaware law, could discourage potential proposals to acquire us, delay or prevent a change in control of us or limit the price that investors may be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock:

	•		our certificate of incorporation permits our board of directors to issue “blank check” preferred stock and to adopt amendments to our bylaws;

	•		our bylaws contain restrictions regarding the right of stockholders to nominate directors and to submit proposals to be considered at stockholder meetings;

	•		our certificate of incorporation and bylaws restrict the right of stockholders to call a special meeting of stockholders and to act by written consent; and

	•		we are subject to provisions of Delaware law which restrict us from engaging in any of a broad range of business transactions with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the date such stockholder became classified as an interested stockholder.

Previous: Item 1. Business · Next: Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Item 1A. Risk Factors

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents