Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

High Attendance Predicted for West Coast Casualty Seminar

March 19, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
With the diverse speakers and topics planned for this year’s West Coast Casualty Seminar in Anaheim, California on May 15th and 16th, attendance should be high. In 2013, there were approximately 1600 attendees coming from across the country as well as the United Kingdom. The event planners recently added additional blocks of rooms, as the Disneyland Hotel has sold out 90% of the previously allotted room blocks. The planners urge attendees to book their rooms soon. Seminar and panel topics have been announced. Thomas J. Halliwell, Esq. and Barry Vaughan, Esq. will be starting the seminar off with a discussion of “Recent California, Arizona and Nevada Court Decisions that Impact Construction Litigation and Defect Claims.” May 16th will feature a number of interesting break-out sessions including “Working Smarter with Technology” with speakers Brian Kahn, Esq., Paul R. Kiesel, Esq., Hon. Peter Lichtman (ret), Hon. Nancy Wieben Stock (ret), Peter S. Curry and Don MacGregor (Bert L. Howe & Associates, Inc.). Download Invitation and Register for Seminar... Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Double-Wide World Cup Seats Available to 6-Foot, 221-Pound Fans

June 18, 2014 — Tariq Panja – Bloomberg
Some of the double-wide seats that Brazilian law guarantees for obese World Cup fans are being occupied by people who don’t need that much extra space, and FIFA said it can’t do anything to prevent that from happening. Soccer’s governing body said it is using World Health Organization and official Brazil Ministry of Health guidelines on who can be classified as obese. Those with a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or higher can purchase a special-needs ticket at half price and get one of the special seats. Someone who is 6 feet tall and weighs 221 pounds (1.8 meters, 100 kilograms) would qualify. “There are cases where a person doesn’t look obese but meets the guidelines,” Federico Addiechi, head of corporate hospitality, said after a briefing yesterday at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium, where the World Cup’s July 13 final will be held. “We cannot decide you are not obese if the law says you are obese.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tariq Panja, Bloomberg
Mr. Panja may be contacted at tpanja@bloomberg.net

What ‘The Curse’ Gets Wrong About Passive House Architecture

April 02, 2024 — Teresa Xie - Bloomberg
In the fifth episode of Showtime’s The Curse, two potential buyers are touring a boutique house in Española, a soon-to-be gentrified Santa Fe neighborhood when one of them makes a remark about the temperature. “Sorry, can I get a water? It’s just really hot in here,” he says, airing out his sweat-stained shirt. The quirky home’s architect-slash-developer, played by Emma Stone, says, “Sure!” and without skipping a beat, continues to explain the virtues of her passive house design: The home functions like a thermos, with no need for air conditioning — unless any air escapes the house. Then it takes five to seven hours for the room to recover. Owning a passive house sounds like a nightmare, right? If you’re buying a one-of-a-kind, mirror-clad spec house from Stone and co-star Nathan Fielder, it may well be. On The Curse, the two play a do-gooder couple attempting to make an HGTV series (with Benny Safdie) about turning regular houses into carbon-neutral passive homes. Odd things happen to Stone and Fielder over the show’s first season: trouble with the laws of gravity, the trials of a failing marriage and a literal curse from a small child. But the weirdest might be the show’s portrayal of passive house design, an energy-efficient design standard that has been around since the 1970s. Passive building, which has its origins in Europe, relies on advanced construction methods to seal a structure in an airtight envelope, thereby reducing energy consumption for heating and cooling by as much as 75%. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Teresa Xie, Bloomberg

Risk Management and Contracting after Hurricane Irma: Suggestions to Avoid a Second Disaster

September 14, 2017 — Stephen H. Reisman, Gary M. Stein & Adam P. Handfinger – Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Peckar & Abramson attorneys have assisted contractors in the immediate aftermath of several Hurricanes, including Andrew in 1992, Wilma in 2005, Ike in 2008, and Sandy in 2012. Based on this experience, we offer some post-storm strategies for contracting and risk management in three situations:

Ongoing projects in the area directly impacted by the storm;
Projects remote from the storm-impacted areas, but which may be affected by material or labor shortages; and
Requests for assistance in recovery/clean-up/rebuild eff orts, which would be new projects.

Projects Directly Impacted By Hurricane Irma: 1. Immediately review each Owner contract to determine what notices are required for delays and/or extra costs arising from the storm. Contract notice requirements and time limits vary, whether for force majeure or other similar time and compensation rights. There is no effective one-size-fits-all solution. While the initial notice letters will likely look very similar, you should make sure that each is sent as required by the contract. Check each contract’s requirements for particulars regarding content, the form of delivery, and parties and individuals designated to receive the letters as well as carbon copy recipients like the architect. Follow-up notices and time periods differ from contract to contract and should be tracked so that if, for example, a follow-up notice is required in a week per the contract terms, it is tracked to ensure compliance. Reprinted courtesy of Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP attorneys Stephen H. Reisman, Gary M. Stein and Adam P. Handfinger Mr. Reisman may be contacted at sreisman@pecklaw.com Mr. Stein may be contacted at gstein@pecklaw.com Mr. Handfinger may be contacted at ahandfinger@pecklaw.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Chicago Developer and Trade Group Sue City Over Affordable Housing Requirements

September 03, 2015 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The Chicago Tribune reported that Hoyne Development and Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago are suing the city of Chicago, claiming that the “Affordable Requirements Ordinance is unconstitutional because it involves the taking of private party without ‘just compensation,’ violating the Fifth Amendment.” Shannon Breymaier, spokeswoman for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, however, disputes the claims, and told the Chicago Tribune in an email that the city planned to “defend the ordinance vigorously.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Recent Supreme Court Decision Could Have Substantial Impact on Builders

January 23, 2023 — Cassidy Ingram - Ahlers Cressman & Sleight
On October 27, 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a decision which could have a substantial impact on the enforceability of contract clauses that require litigation to be commenced within a stated period of time from project completion. In Tadych v. Noble Ridge Construction, Inc.,the Supreme Court held that the contractual one-year statute of limitations for bringing claims against the contractor was substantively unconscionable and reversed the Court of Appeals. In Tadych, plaintiff owners (the Tadychs) contracted with defendant contractor (Noble Ridge Construction, Inc., or NRC) for the construction of a custom home in 2012. The contract included a one-year claim limitations clause that required claims to be raised within a one year period from project completion and that any claims not raised during the one-year period would be waived. In December 2013, as the project neared completion, the Tadychs met with NRC to identify any outstanding project issues. The Tadychs noted several, including rainwater pools at the landing at the bottom of the stairs and several nicks and cracks on the stucco exterior walls. The Tadychs moved into the home on April 8, 2014, and the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development conducted its final site inspection on April 15 and approved the residence for occupancy on April 23. In January or February of 2015, the Tadychs began to notice a shift in their home. In February of 2015, the Tadychs engaged the Construction Dispute Resolution (CDR) to review NRC’s work. CDR raised concerns about the adequacy of the home’s construction and prepared a written report in March 2015 indicating several deviations from the architectural plans and building codes. The Tadychs sent this report to NRC, who assured the Tadychs that NRC’s work followed all requirements and rejected any claims that there were deviations from the plans. The Tadychs continued to notice issues with the home through October 2016. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Cassidy Ingram, Ahlers Cressman & Sleight
Ms. Ingram may be contacted at cassidy.ingram@acslawyers.com

California Supreme Court Finds Vertical Exhaustion Applies to First-Level Excess Policies

August 26, 2024 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
Addressing issues left open in its seminal decision in Montrose, the California Supreme Court found that the language in the first-level excess policies meant that the insured could access the policies upon exhaustion of the directly underlying policies purchased for the same policy period. Truck Ins. Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum Corp., 2024 Cal. LEXIS 3271 (Cal. June 17, 2024). From 1944 through the 1970's, Kaiser manufactured asbestos-containing products at numerous different facilities. By 2004, more than 24,000 claimants had filed product liability claims against Kaiser alleging that they had suffered bodily injury as a result of exposure to Kaiser's asbestos products. Kaiser tendered these claims to Truck, one of several primary insurers that had issued CGL policies to Kaiser. In 2001, Truck initiated this coverage action to determine its indemnity and defense obligations to Kaiser. Truck later amended its complaint to add a cause of action for contribution against several of Kaiser's excess insurers. The issue presently before the court was whether Truck was entitled to contribution from various coinsurers that issued first-level excess policies to Kaiser during the period in question. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Drones Give Inspectors a Closer Look at Bridges

January 02, 2019 — Aileen Cho - Engineering News-Record
Ted Zoli, national chief bridge engineer with HNTB, compares bridge inspections to taking his kids to the doctor. “Every few years you take another set of pictures of the bridge, and ultimately you can pattern it. You pay attention in a deeper way to responses, and have a record.” But like parents who don’t want to send kids to the doctor at the first sign of a sniffle, once managers understand the characteristics of a bridge and its behavior, they don’t need to do constant in-depth reinspections. They are constantly looking for ways to make better decisions with the data they already have. “We spend a lot of money inspecting bridges,” says Zoli. “The question becomes whether there is a more technologically efficient way to do it.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aileen Cho, ENR
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES