Source: Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc. From 2001 to 2010, approximately 20% of claims involving buildings included allegations of mechanical and electrical issues. Many of these involved mold (which is more of an issue for mechanical engineers than electrical engineers). For the same time period, the average indemnity payment on claims filed against mechanical […]

Source: Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc. Design firms that take part in design-build projects face different risks than those faced in traditional design-bid-build projects. Firms, whether taking the design-build lead or serving as a subcontractor to the design-build entity, often are legally responsible on a contractual liability basis rather than for their negligent professional […]

Source: http://www.postandcourier.com, February 23, 2016 By: Warren L. Wise An environmental cleanup plan sheds more light on the proposed redevelopment of the former Morris Sokol Furniture store and adjoining properties in downtown Charleston. The prime piece of real estate along Upper King Street could feature “office, retail, hotel, multifamily residential and parking structures,” according to […]

Source: http://www.democracynow.org, March 11, 2016 In Pennsylvania, a court has ordered fracking company Cabot Oil & Gas to pay more than $4 million to families whose well water was contaminated by fracking. The landmark legal ruling comes after an eight-year battle between residents and Cabot. Filmmaker Josh Fox, who featured some of the families in […]

Source: http://www.texaslawyer.com, March 9, 2016 By: Angela Neville The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently reversed an earlier ruling of a Houston federal court that threw out a case against Vicinay Cadenas, the manufacturer of underwater tether chains, over an alleged defective marine chain brought by Petrobras America Inc. and certain underwriters […]

Source: https://www.bostonglobe.com, March 8, 2016 By: Sean P. Murphy Wynn Resorts announced Tuesday that it will halt environmental cleanup work at the site of its planned casino because of continued objections to a state environmental permit by officials in nearby Somerville. Wynn Resorts has spent months removing arsenic, lead, and other pollutants from a portion […]

Source: http://thinkprogress.org, March 10, 2016 By: Alejandro Davila Fragoso Before Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation fracked inside the property of Frederick and Debra Roth, the couple’s groundwater had always been clean. Their water had no visible gases, malodors or off-tastes, according to court documents, and the Roths knew that. Part of the deal was that […]

Source: http://ecowatch.com, February 4, 2016 By: Laurel Peltier The headline flew around the globe like wild fire. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published their long-awaited draft fracking drinking water study and concluded: fracking has had no widespread impact on drinking water. But if you’ve had your ear to the ground in fracking communities, something didn’t […]

Source: Zurich North America A Construction Manager providing “Value Engineering” services directed Architect to change design of mechanical system from four separate chiller systems to one central chiller plant. After startup, it was determined one plant was not enough to cool entire facility. Project Owners made a Claim against CM for cost overruns. Total loss […]

Source: Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS), March 9, 2016 Posted on: http://www.advisen.com OSHA has cited two companies for unsafe wood floor designs that led to its collapse in 2015 and the death of Bary Berthelot, 54. He and three other workers were rebuilding the Jourdan River Steamer restaurant in Kiln, which had been damaged by Hurricane […]

Source: http://freepressstandard.com, March 2, 2016 By: Carol McIntire A three-year study by the University of Cincinnati in Carroll and surrounding counties determined hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has no effect on groundwater in the Utica shale region, is not being released to the public. Dr. Amy Townsend-Small, the lead researcher for the University of Cincinnati Department […]

Source: http://www.timescolonist.com, February 24, 2016 A Quebec court has authorized a class-action suit related to an outbreak of legionnaire’s disease that is believed to have contributed to 14 deaths. The lead plaintiff is Solange Allen, whose husband, Claude Desjardins, died in August 2012 at the age of 64. The class-action filed in Quebec Superior Court […]