Accounts Receivable

3 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2012

Accounts Receivable [Abstract]

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

NOTE 5—ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

Amounts retained by project owners under construction contracts and included in accounts receivable at April 30 and January 31, 2012 were approximately $15.6 million and $9.8 million, respectively. Such retainages represent amounts withheld by construction project owners until a defined phase of a contract or project has been completed and accepted by the customer. The lengths of retention periods may vary, but for material amounts they typically range between nine months and two years.

The allowance for doubtful accounts at both April 30 and January 31, 2012 was approximately $5.5 million. In fiscal year 2010, a substantial portion of the accounts receivable from the owner of a partially completed construction project was written down against the allowance to $5.5 million, the amount of the net proceeds remaining from a public auction of the facility. As the amount that the Company may ultimately receive in a distribution of the auction proceeds, if any, is not known at this time, the remaining account receivable amount was fully reserved. The amounts of the provision for accounts receivable losses for the three months ended April 30, 2012 and 2011 were not material.