Source: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2024/08/16/788623.htm, August 16, 2024 By: Andrew G. Simpson A home builder is not covered under the property damage coverage in its commercial liability policy for construction defects for which it was responsible. A three-judge panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court has held for the first time that “construction defects, standing alone, do not constitute […]

Source: https://www.agc.org/, August 15, 2024 When choosing between the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and ConsensusDocs design-build contract documents, owners and contractors must understand how each will yield vastly different results on critical issues such as managing timely and sufficient design services.  Both ConsensusDocs and the AIA publish coordinated families of standard design-build contract documents. […]

Source: https://www.cnet.com/, August 19, 2024 By: Omar Gallaga Predictions that wind and solar energy in the US would eventually overtake coal in terms of how much energy is produced in a year appear to have finally come true. For the first time, it appears that solar and wind renewables will produce more energy in the US than […]

Source: https://global.lockton.com/, August 14, 2024 Overall capacity in the environmental insurance market is robust, and pricing is generally stable for most buyers. In the face of emerging hazards and a challenging and uncertain regulatory landscape, however, insurers continue to deploy capital judiciously. Read more.

Source: https://www.wpri.com/, August 16, 2024 By: Eli Sherman, Tim White Rhode Island has filed a lawsuit against 13 companies over the failure of the Washington Bridge, alleging they failed to identify and address “worsening structural issues” that ultimately resulted in its abrupt closure last December. The allegations of breach of contract, fiduciary duty and negligence […]

Source: https://www.jdsupra.com/, August 12, 2024 By: Frantz Ward LLP Most of us involved in the construction industry are familiar with the Design-Build model of project delivery, and how it differs from the “standard” Design-Bid-Build model. But increasingly certain industries are embracing a slightly different model – the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction delivery model, or EPC […]

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/, August 11, 2024 By: Shannon Pettypiece After five decades working as a teacher and school administrator, Janet Stone envisioned a relaxing retirement in her condo overlooking Florida’s Atlantic coast. Instead, she’s gone back to work teaching preschoolers with disabilities and living with her son in Las Vegas to pay off a $100,000 bill […]

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/, August 9, 2024 By: Tom Perkins Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” that leach from landfills into groundwater are among the major pollution sources in the US, and remain a problem for which officials have yet to find an effective solution. Now new research has identified another route in which PFAS may escape landfills and threaten the environment at […]

Source: Professional Underwriters Agency (PUA) A civil engineering firm that provided professional services for a highway improvement project was named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit concerning a fatal motor vehicle accident that occurred on the highway. While the civil  engineering firm’s liability was vigorously contested, following discovery and as the matter approached […]

Source: https://insideclimatenews.org/, August 6, 2024 By: Martha Pskowski A dozen people huddle around a 10-foot deep hole in the parched West Texas soil. The group falls silent in anticipation as well-control specialist Hawk Dunlap, in a red jumpsuit, scrapes at the soil with a shovel. A lawyer in a hardhat peers down and trains his […]

Source: Professional Underwriters Agency (PUA) An interior designer specified vinyl wallcoverings on a hotel project in accordance with the brand’s specifications. Due to  alleged design and construction defects, the internal building air was more humid than anticipated,  moisture was  trapped behind the wallcoverings and mold formed. The interior designer was named as a defendant in […]

Source: https://www.epa.gov/, August 6, 2024 Today, Aug. 6, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the emergency suspension of all registrations of the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This is the first time in almost 40 years EPA has taken this type of emergency action, […]