Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Power Point Presentation on Nautilus v. Lexington Case

July 23, 2014 — Tred R. Eyerly – Insurance Law Hawaii
Here is our power point from today's presentation to the Hawaii State Bar Association's Litigation and Insurance Coverage Litigation sections. We discussed "other insurance" clauses as addressed by the Hawaii Supreme Court in Nautilus Ins. Co. v. Lexington Ins. Co., 132 Haw. 283, 321 P.3d 634 (2014). Read the full story and view the Power Point presentation... Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Decades of WCC Seminar at the Disneyland Resort

May 03, 2018 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
One of the many perks of attending the West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar each year is its location at the Disneyland Hotel. What better excuse to take an afternoon or day or two to visit the happiest place on Earth? Prior to 2001, attendees only had the Disneyland Park to explore. But the beginning of 2001 brought the addition of the California Adventure Theme Park and Downtown Disney. Now when you want a break you can take a stroll through Downtown Disney and shop, eat, or watch some street performers. While California Adventure still has plenty for children to do, it also caters to the twenty-one-and-over-but-still-child-at heart with wine tasting and craft beers available at the park. Disneyland remains a fixture for nostalgia with the Sleeping Beauty Castle, but has updated itself with its addition of Star Wars and Marvel attractions. West Coast Casualty has special Disneyland ticket rates for attendees. Please see their invitation for more details. If you’re interested in one of Disneyland Resort’s sit-down restaurants, a reservation is highly desirable. You may make your reservation online or call Disney Dining at (714) 781-DINE. Staying at the Disneyland Resort? Disney provides their hotel guests with preferred access reservations (call Disney Dining for more information). If you’re looking for a fine dining experience, you’ll enjoy Carthay Circle Restaurant at California Adventure, Catal Restaurant at Downtown Disney, Napa Rose at the Grand Californian Hotel, or Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel. If you’re a sports fan, check out ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney. For a one-of-a-kind Disney experience, have lunch or dinner at the Blue Bayou at Disneyland, where the dining room is located within the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. You may also want to check Disneyland Resort’s Entertainment schedule. For a live musical show (included in the cost of admission to California Adventure Park), check out Frozen – Live at the Hyperion. For an illuminating experience, you’ll want to stay for the Paint the Night Parade at the California Adventure Park, which features one million brilliant lights and many of your favorite Disney characters. If you’re a Pixar lover, you won’t want to miss Disneyland Park’s Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular. It’s a fireworks display like only Disney can create, including dazzling projections, pyrotechnics and music from the movies. If you wish to skip the crowds and just relax, then the Madara Spa at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel may be your choice. The Madara Spa theme is “the mystery of the East meeting the science of the West with boundaries ceasing to exist.” Read the court decision
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Southern California Lost $8 Billion in Construction Wages

August 17, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

Los Angeles and Orange Counties are first on a list no area wants to be on. According to the Sacramento Bee, reporting on data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, LA and Orange Counties saw an $8 billion drop in construction wages in 2010, as compared to 2006. In 2006, the region saw payrolls of $26.8 billion, but in 2010, that was reduced to $18.5 billion.

This was not the largest percentage change. Of the metropolitan areas with the largest declines in construction earnings, Las Vegas saw a $3.6 billion drop, however that represented half of their 2006 totals of $7.2 billion. Conversely, a $3.3 billion drop in the New York area represented only 10% of what had been $33.8 billion in payroll in 2006.

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Subcontractor Not Liable for Defending Contractor in Construction Defect Case

February 10, 2012 — CDJ STAFF

The California Court of Appeals has ruled on January 9, 2012 in Hensel Phelps Construction Company v. Urata & Sons Cement, upholding the judgment of the lower court.

Hensel Phelps was the general contractor for a high-rise in Sacramento. They were sued by the owners of the building after problems were discovered in the concrete slabs of the building’s parking garage. Instead of welded steel wire mesh, the slabs had been constructed with fiber mesh. Hensel Phelps filed a cross-complaint against Urata Cement, the subcontractor that had performed the cement work. Urata refused to defend Hensel Phelps. The owners’ case was subsequently dismissed due to the statute of limitations.

Although the original case was over, Hensel Phelps continued in their claims against Urata. “Urata argued that a handwritten interlineation required Hensel Phelps to prove Urata was at fault for the injury alleged in the building owners’ complaint before Urata was obliged to defend Hensel Phelps in that action.”

The lower court concluded that Urata would have been obligated to defend Hensel Phelps if the owners’ lawsuit had alleged that the damage was due to the subcontractor’s work or if evidence at trial established this. The lower court found neither of these true. Instead, the use of the fiber mesh was a design issue and “that decision was outside the scope of the subcontractor’s work.”

During the trial, Hensel Phelps conceded that Urata was not at fault. The appeals court could find no reading of the contract that would cause Urata to be obligated to defend Hensel Phelps, calling Hensel Phelps’s reading of the contact as “grammatically infeasible.”

Judges Nicholson, Raye, and Butz upheld the decision of the lower court and awarded costs on appeal to Urata.

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Balancing Risk and Reward: The Complexities of Stadium Construction Projects

April 15, 2024 — Gregory A. Eichorn - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
From grand designs to opening day, stadium construction projects present a captivating blend of high-profile opportunities and significant challenges and risks. Navigating this complex landscape is not easy, but when managed properly, the potential rewards, both in terms of reputation and finances, can make it a gamble worth taking. While each stadium project is different, some of the more common risks include:

Securing adequate labor, materials and equipment based on the size of the project;
Logistical concerns regarding the concurrent performance of multiple trade scopes on a single site;
Protection of work in place from weather due to the large footprint of the stadium project;
Cash flow issues caused by protracted change order processing, conflicting and/or onerous payment requirements from project financing entities, and reimbursement of considerable monthly general condition costs; and
Meeting the schedule requirements for the project.

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Reprinted courtesy of Gregory A. Eichorn, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Mr. Eichorn may be contacted at geichorn@pecklaw.com

The EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule: Are Contractors Aware of It?

March 12, 2015 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Remodeling Magazine reported recently that some remodelers are unaware of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule despite that it took effect back in April of 2010. “There are still quite a few remodelers who have never heard of RRP,” Mark Schlager, president of Access Training Services, an EPA and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) trainer in Pennsauken, N.J. told Remodeling Magazine. According to the article, “The RRP rule applies to homes, apartments, and child-occupied commercial facilities built before 1978.” There are two RRP certifications required on every job: “a “Firm” certification for the company that contracts to do the work, and a “Renovator” certification for the person overseeing the work. A solo operator needs both certifications, which are good for five years.” Read the court decision
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Idaho Federal Court Rules Against Sacketts After SCOTUS Decided Judicial Review of an EPA Compliance Order was Permissible

May 13, 2019 — Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2Gavel
In a decision released on March 31, in Sackett v. EPA, the U.S. District Court for Idaho held, without benefit of oral argument, that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) motion for summary judgment should be granted, and accordingly, the Sacketts had violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) by making improvements to 0.63 acres of land they owned without a required CWA permit when the land qualified as a “wetlands.” The EPA had determined the Sacketts’ “property is subject to the CWA because it contains wetlands adjacent to Priest Lake, a traditionally ‘navigable water,’ and, additionally, their property is wetland adjacent to a tributary and similarly situated to other wetlands and has a significant nexus to Priest Lake.” The District Court rejected the Sacketts’ arguments that their property was not a “wetlands” subject to the CWA. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Anthony B. Cavender, Pillsbury
Mr. Cavender may be contacted at anthony.cavender@pillsburylaw.com

U.S. Building Permits Soared to Their Highest Level in Nearly Eight Years

June 17, 2015 — Michelle Jamrisko – Bloomberg
Through all its ups and downs, the U.S. homebuilding industry is making slow progress. While housing starts declined 11.1 percent in May to a 1.04 million annualized rate, it followed a revised 1.17 million pace the prior month to cap the best back-to-back readings since late 2007, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday in Washington. Permits for future projects climbed to the highest level in almost eight years. The stop-and-go nature of the rebound, which has been exacerbated by the inclement weather that brought construction to a near standstill at the start of the year, masks a steady recovery in the industry at the center of the past recession. While residential real estate has yet to fulfill its typical role as a pillar of this economic expansion, gains in hiring and bigger paychecks are brightening Americans’ moods and could lift home purchases in the second half of 2015. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Michelle Jamrisko, Bloomberg

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES