Source:https://www.lexology.com, November 7, 2017 By: Sean M. Golden, Vandeventer Black It is common on commercial construction projects for the owner to hire the architect to perform services during construction, in addition to designing the project. Among other things, the architect’s construction phase services will typically consist of periodic observations and evaluations of the progress of […]

Source: https://www.constructiondive.com, October 9, 2017 By: Kim Slowey Dive Brief: OSHA has cited a California general contractor and subcontractor for safety violations related to a fatal wall collapse and has fined the companies a total of $86,975, according to NBC San Diego. Fernando Martinez, a 51-year-old employee of subcontractor Southland Paving, was digging a trench […]

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com, October 7, 2017 By: Bill Schackner Michael Kanalis knew early on that the state university where he works was looking straight up at a problem — a big one. When a concrete chunk longer than a car inexplicably fell to the floor inside a five-story parking garage that had opened just six years […]

Source: https://www.lexology.com, October 3, 2017 By: James P. Bobotek, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP In the world of construction, whether you’re a lender, owner, contractor or subcontractor, your success hinges largely on risk management. While there’s no substitute for sound business and construction practices (such as proper preconstruction planning, proven construction means and methods, use […]

Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, September 28, 2017 Energy Insurance Mutual Limited v. ACE American Insurance Company Court of Appeal, First District (July 11, 2017) This case involves an insurance coverage dispute arising from an explosion that occurred when an excavator struck an unmarked petroleum pipeline. Kinder Morgan, Inc. owns and operates oil and gas pipelines. Comforce Corporation […]

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com, September 29, 2017 By: Mary Shanklin The University of Central Florida’s football stadium has some problems, according to a construction-defect lawsuit the school filed against architects and contractors. Nicknamed the Bounce House when it opened a decade ago because it shifted slightly as fans jumped in unison, the venue’s metal framing for seating […]

Source: http://www.star-telegram.com, September 29, 2017 By: Sandra Engelland It was a few years ago when maintenance workers and staff at Trinity Meadows Intermediate School began to notice problems. Cracks in the walls. Doors that would stick. Heaving sidewalks and widening gaps and cracks in visible parts of the concrete slab. Now, 11 years after the […]

Source: http://www.constructiondive.com, September 6, 2017 By: Mary Tyler March Dive Brief: Months after a spillway failure forced the temporary evacuation of 188,000 Sacramento, CA, area residents, independent safety experts say poor design and construction, as well as inadequate inspections, caused February’s collapse at the Oroville Dam, The Mercury News reported. Thin concrete, insufficient foundations and ill-placed […]

Source: https://www.lexology.com, September 18, 2017 By: Jeffrey S. Crowe and Jennifer Hoffman, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP Energy Insurance Mutual Limited v. Ace American Insurance Company, 14 Cal.App.5th 281 (2017); First Appellate District Court of Appeal, Division Four, Case No. A140656 (July 11, 2017). In Energy Insurance Mutual Limited v. Ace American Insurance Company, […]

Source: https://www.constructionrisk.com, September 2017 By: J. Kent Holland, Jr. Where a housing developer won a jury verdict for more than $9.5 million against a geotechnical engineer, the court applied the limitation of liability (LoL) clause in the geotech’s contract to cap the liability at $550,000. The developer attempted to avoid the LoL by arguing that […]

Source: http://www.businessinsurance.com, August 23, 2017 By: Judy Greenwald A federal appeals court has upheld Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Co. Inc.’s denial of an insurance claim for a claims-made policy by a construction firm because the claim was not submitted within the policy period, even though it was submitted during the policy’s subsequent renewal period. […]

Source: https://www.lexology.com, August 14, 2017 By: John J. Sylvanus, Barley Snyder Major construction is full of risk and reward. Owners, architects, engineers, contractors and subcontractors – all are bound to each other by a web of agreements, common schedules and desired outcomes. Everyone on a project is dependent on everyone else and subject to events beyond […]