Accounts Receivable

9 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2013

Receivables [Abstract]

Accounts Receivable

NOTE 5—ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

Amounts retained by project owners under construction contracts and included in accounts receivable at October 31, 2013 and January 31, 2013 were approximately $16.9 million and $20.2 million, respectively. Such retainage amounts represent funds withheld by construction project owners until a defined phase of a contract or project has been completed and accepted by the project owner. The lengths of retention periods may vary, but for material amounts outstanding as of October 31, 2013, the remaining periods range between fourteen and twenty-eight months.

The amounts of the allowance for doubtful accounts at October 31, 2013 and January 31, 2013 were approximately $5.6 million and $5.5 million, respectively. In fiscal year 2010, the balance of the accounts receivable from the owner of a partially completed construction project was written down 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, this remaining accounts receivable amount was fully reserved. The amounts of the provision for accounts receivable losses for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2013 and 2012 were not material.