SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Contractors: Consult Your Insurance Broker Regarding Your CGL Policy

February 15, 2018 — David Adelstein – Florida Construction Legal Updates

Contractors: do yourself a favor and consult your insurance broker regarding your commercial general liability (CGL) policy. Do this now, especially if you subcontract out work.

CGL policies contain a “your work” exclusion. The CGL policy is written such that it excludes “‘property damage’ to ‘your work’ arising out of it or any part of it and included in the ‘products-completed operations hazard.’” This exclusion will be raised in the post-completion latent construction defect scenario. (There are other exclusions that will be raised to a defect discovered during construction.) Certain policies will contain a subcontractor exception to this “your work” exclusion. You WANT this exception- no doubt about it so that this exclusion does not apply to work performed by your subcontractors. Without this subcontractor exception, truth be told, this “your work” exclusion is a total back-breaker to contractors. It will give your insurer an immediate out for many latent defect property scenarios since excluded from coverage is property damage to your work including work performed by your subcontractors.

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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Florida Construction Legal Updates
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dadelstein@gmail.com

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Ohio “property damage” caused by an “occurrence.”

May 18, 2011 — CDCoverage.com

In JTO, Inc. v. State Automobile Mut. Ins. Co., No. 2010-L-062 (Ohio Ct. App. March 25, 2011), general contractor JTO was sued by hotel project owner Marriott for breach of contract and warranties seeking damages for the repair of construction defects resulting in moisture penetration property damage to interior components. JTO filed a third party complaint against subcontractor Farizel and also tendered its defense as an additional insured under Farizel’s State Auto CGL policy.



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Reprinted courtesy of CDCoverage.com



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Census Bureau, HUD Show Declines in Residential Construction



May 17, 2011 – CDJ Staff



The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development released their summary of residential construction for April 2011 on May 17.



Building permits for privately owned housing units were down 4% from last month and 12% from last year. Similarly, privately-owned housing starts were down 10% from March and 23% below the previous year.



For further details, read the Census Bureau/HUD report

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Reprinted courtesy of

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Lewis Brisbois Successfully Concludes Privacy Dispute for Comedian Kathy Griffin Following Calif. Supreme Court Denial of Review

November 19, 2021 — Lewis Brisbois
Los Angeles, Calif. (October 18, 2021) - On October 13, 2021, the California Supreme Court declined to review a published, unanimous opinion of the Court of Appeal in favor of comedian Kathy Griffin and her husband, Randy Bick. The plaintiff-appellants claimed Ms. Griffin and Mr. Bick violated their privacy rights by using home security cameras to record “every move and every communication” in the plaintiffs’ private back yard. Ms. Griffin and Mr. Bick maintained that the lawsuit was filed by their neighbors in retaliation after the husband directed what the Court of Appeal described as “an expletive-laden rant” at Ms. Griffin and Mr. Bick. The neighbor's rant was recorded by security cameras and reported in the media, as well as publicized during Ms. Griffin’s performances at the Dolby Theater. In the trial court, Ms. Griffin and Mr. Bick successfully moved for summary adjudication of the plaintiffs’ privacy causes of action. In July 2021, the Court of Appeal affirmed, calling the appellants’ claims “hyperbole.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

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Ohio Court of Appeals: Absolution Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage for Workplace Coal-Tar Pitch Exposure Claims

January 10, 2018 — Complex Insurance Coverage Reporter

On December 28, 2017, the Ohio Court of Appeals (Eighth District) held in GrafTech International, Ltd., et al. v. Pacific Employers Ins. Co., et al., No. 105258 that coverage for alleged injurious exposures to coal tar pitch was barred by a liability insurance policy’s absolute pollution exclusion. Applying Ohio law, the court concluded that Pacific Employers had no duty to defend GrafTech or pay defense costs in connection with claims by dozens of workers at Alcoa smelting plants that they were exposed to hazardous substances in GrafTech products supplied to Alcoa as early as 1942.

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Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

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White House Hopefuls Make Pitches to Construction Unions

May 20, 2019 — Bruce Buckley - Engineering News-Record
As the 2020 presidential election draws nearer, many Democratic hopefuls are beginning to seek construction unions’ support. Eight declared candidates made their pitches to members of the North America’s Building Trades Unions at the group’s legislative conference April 9-10 in Washington, D.C. Several promised a major infrastructure package of $1 trillion or more, which aligns with the trades’ legislative agenda. But many seeking endorsement will wrestle with balancing calls for a green economy and unions’ demand for traditional oil and gas sector jobs. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bruce Buckley, ENR
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com

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Want a Fair Chance at a Government Contract? Think Again

July 13, 2017 — Duane Craig - Construction Informer
If you’ve ever missed out on a government contract, part of the reason might have been because entrenched government contractors gained competitive advantages by under-paying their workers. The Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces executive order was nullified by Congress this year and much of the reporting by the business press presented just one side of the story. Here’s another perspective. When awarding federal contracts the government is supposed to consider each contractor’s compliance with labor laws related to pay, health and safety. But, there is a huge problem with enforcement on a government contract, according to Senator Elizabeth Warren and other observers.

• Some federal contractors frequently underpay their workers violating wage and hour laws. More than 300,000 workers were cheated out of pay while working under federal contracts in the last decade. There were 12,000 companies working on federal contracts that were doing the cheating.
• 692 federal contractors significantly violated federal labor laws, and then repeated the behavior, over and over. The repeat offenders receive millions in taxpayer dollars as they violated safety and health standards. Those violations caused a wide range of physical harm to workers. Dozens of workers died, and countless numbers were exposed to chemicals that cause long term health problems.

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Reprinted courtesy of Duane Craig, Construction Informer
Mr. Craig may be contacted at dtcraig@constructioninformer.com

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Virginia Joins California and Nevada in Passing its Consumer Privacy Act

March 15, 2021 — Kyle Janecek – Newmeyer Dillion
California tends to be on the forefront in consumer privacy laws within the United States. However, there is a growing momentum for other states to join California in legislating consumer privacy rights, as well as pushes for federal legislation. The latest state to join in and pass consumer privacy legislation is Virginia, with its Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA). With Virginia joining the fray, several questions arise, such as how closely does the VCDPA follow California's legislation? How, if at all, does it differ from already-existing legislation? What do businesses need to comply with the VCDPA, if at all? WHAT IS THE VIRGINIA CONSUMER DATA PROTECTION ACT? The VCDPA largely mimics elements from its Californian cousins, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as modified by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). The main features of the law include: (a) issuing the right to request what information is collected; (b) the right to correct information provided; (c) the right to deletion; (d) providing notice to consumers regarding the collection of their data; and (e) protecting consumer data. Further, the consumer requests, akin to the CCPA, do require verification, and similarly phrased data security practices that rely on how "reasonable" they are, depending on the volume and type of information at issue. Though, the VCDPA does expand on this slightly, requiring "data protection assessments" to determine the security of protected information, how it is shared and used, the benefits in sharing the information and harm resulting from any breaches. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Kyle Janecek, Newmeyer Dillion
Mr. Janecek may be contacted at kyle.janecek@ndlf.com

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Seattle Crane Strike Heads Into Labor Day Weekend After Some Contractors Sign Agreements

September 25, 2018 — Christine Kilpatrick - Engineering News-Record
A continuing construction worker strike in Seattle and Western Washington state headed into Labor Day weekend after a number of contractors signed individual agreements to return to work. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christine Kilpatrick, ENR
Ms. Kilpatrick may be contacted at kilpatrickc@enr.com

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