Source: http://www.constructiondive.com, August 15, 2017 By: Kim Slowey This summer, the world looked on in disbelief as fire consumed the 24-story Grenfell Tower residential high-rise in London. The building burned for more than 24 hours before firefighters could extinguish it in full. Reports have confirmed approximately 80 fatalities so far, but that number could still […]

Source: http://www.enr.com, September 5, 2017 The doomed V.C. Summer nuclear project suffered from flawed construction plans, faulty designs, inadequate management of contractors, low worker morale and high turnover, according to a lengthy and long-secret report released Monday by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s office. The report, completed by the Bechtel Corp. about 18 months before the […]

Source: http://www.newyorklawjournal.com, August 29, 2017 By: Kenneth M. Block and Joshua M. Levy, New York Law Journal Construction delays, whether from lack of subcontractor coordination, construction defects, design errors or omissions, late decision making, force majeure, etc., can have disastrous consequences for owners and contractors alike. Owners can suffer extended management, supervisory, administration, insurance and […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, August 14,2 017 In Energy Ins. Mutual Ltd. v. Ace American Ins. Co. (No. A140656, filed 7/11/17, ord. Pub. 8/10/17), a California appeals court found that a professional services exclusion barred coverage for wrongful death and other claims blamed on pipeline inspectors’ failure to identify and properly mark a gas pipeline that was […]

Source: https://www.lexology.com, August 8, 2017 By: Daniel McLennon, Smith Currie & Hancock A recent trend in design-build contracting, especially on large projects, is for the owner to incorporate a heightened standard of care for the design aspects of the building. Creeping into contracts is language requiring the project to perform according to unspecified expectations, such […]

Source: http://www.krcrtv.com, August 9, 2017 By: Jerry Olenyn Heavy rains expose design flaw in gutter system Six condominiums in the Doe Mill subdivision at East 20th and Hutchinson Streets are being cleaned, repaired and redesigned because of a design flaw in the gutters, after non-toxic black mold was discovered inside. Tom DiGiovanni, the president of […]

Source: https://sf.curbed.com, July 19, 2017 By: Adam Brinklow Can it finally be fixed? Millennium Tower, the tony but troubled downtown high-rise that made international headlines last year when the secret got out that it’s slowly sinking and tilting, returned to its customary place in the news late Tuesday when NBC Bay Area revealed that the […]

Source: https://www.irmi.com, July 2017 By: Jeff Slivka, New Day Underwriting Managers LLC Over the past year, questions have increasingly emerged about construction specifications and the subsequent professional liability exposures they pose to contractors. First, it’s important to identify the two basic types of construction specifications: design and performance. Design Specifications The most common concerns prescriptive […]

Source: http://wvmetronews.com, July 13, 2017 By: Carrie Hodousek Charleston’s Yeager Airport has entered into a partial settlement with an engineering firm it sued following the 2015 hillside collapse at the end of the airport’s main runway. Yeager’s Resolution Committee announced Thursday it has settled with Triad Engineering, Inc. for $900,000. “It releases the officers and […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, July 12, 2017 By: Carly Miller, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP In a recent Missouri appellate decision, the court recognized and reaffirmed the Spearin Doctrine which provides that an owner impliedly warrants the adequacy of plans and specifications it provides to a contractor. In Penzel Construction v. Jackson R-2 School District et al., […]

Source: http://www.ecmweb.com, December 1, 2008 By: Leonard Greene, P.E., Orbital Engineering and Consulting Maintenance technician makes shocking discovery while performing routine service call on middle school’s A/C unit. When the work order came across his desk, it seemed like any other routine maintenance call to the school district’s service technician — certainly nothing out of […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, July 5, 2017 By: Williams Mullen If you are a design professional providing services in Virginia, or a general contractor on a public works project for the Commonwealth of Virginia, you need to know of two Virginia Supreme Court decisions in 2016. You ask why? The answer is because your current practices and […]