Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

ADA Lawsuits Spur Renovation Work in Fresno Area

November 06, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The El Gallo restaurant in Clovis, California has completed more than $45,000 worth of accessibility upgrades, ranging from installing signs for handicap parking to an $8,000 wheelchair-accessible ramp. The restaurant closed in 2010 when they were sued over alleged Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations. But the El Gallo was only the first Fresno-area business hit with an accessibility lawsuit. And others wanted to avoid getting sued at all. Donald Bremseth, an architect working in Clovis, said that designing modifications to older buildings to bring them into compliance with the ADA has kept him busy, designing dozens of projects in the area. Daniel Zoldak, vice president of Lars Anderson & Associates, noted at on one inspection, he saw about 50 ADA violations, and with the fines at least $2,000 per violation, $10,000 or $20,000 of renovations doesn’t look so bad. That’s under the new law, which also allows a business 30 days to get into compliance. Under the old law, the minimum fine was $4,000. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Insurers Refuse Indemnification of Subcontractors in Construction Defect Suit

November 13, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
SMG Stone Co. Inc. and J. Colavin & Son Inc. were hired by Webcor Construction LP to install stone floor tiles at the Ritz-Carlton residences at the L.A. Live complex in Los Angeles. But the tiles began to crack even before installation was finished. The building management had all the tiles ripped out and replaced, although only 10% of the tiles were defective. The building management then claimed Webcor owed them $40 million, but settled for $8 million. $7 million of that claim was paid by Steadfast Insurance Co., with the remaining $1 million paid by Webcor. The two other insurers involved, American Home and The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, are attempting to deflect Webcor or Steadfast from making claims against them. Both insurers claim no obligation to indemnify the contractor or subcontractors as the claims do not involved “property damage,” as defined in the policy. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Rainwater Collecting on Rooftop is not Subject to Policy's Flood Sublimits

October 15, 2024 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
Responding to a certified question from the First Circuit, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts determined that rainwater collecting on the insureds' rooftop and causing interior damage was not "flood" as defined in the policy and subject to sublimits. Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Medical Properties Trust, Inc., 2024 Mass. LEXIS ___ (Mass. July 23, 2024). A severe thunderstorm caused heavy rain and strong winds which damaged a hospital. The hospital was owned by Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (MPT) and leased to Steward Health Care System LLC (Steward). Ground water accumulated and flooded the basement. Rainwater also accumulated on the hospital's parapet roofs and on the second-story courtyard, and eventually seeped through the parapet roofs and courtyard to the hospital's upper floors, causing damage to the building and property within. 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

OSHA Penalties—What Happened with International Nutrition

April 15, 2015 — Craig Martin – Construction Contractor Advisor
For those of you in and around Omaha, you recall the tragic collapse of International Nutrition’s plant in early 2014, killing two workers and injuring several others. OSHA swept onto the scene and issued citations. Surprisingly, the penalties totaled only $120,000. While a large sum, one would think two deaths and a score of injuries would generate a larger fine. International Nutrition appealed the penalties and they have now been reduced to $78,000, about a 1/3 reduction. Below, I’ll set forth what happened. The Original Penalties International Nutrition was originally fined $120,650.00 for citations ranging from willful, serious, to other-than-serious. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Craig Martin, Lamson, Dugan and Murray, LLP
Mr. Martin may be contacted at cmartin@ldmlaw.com

Workers on Big California Bridge Tackle Oil Wells, Seismic Issues

February 02, 2017 — Aileen Cho - Bloomberg
Surrounded by workers, Nik Pecci, project safety manager with PMCM Consulting Engineers for the $1.5-billion Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement project—which is revitalizing a 50-year-old link in Long Beach—gestured in several directions: “I’ve got all these [port] tenants here, I’ve got a massive bridge over here. I have to build this thing intertwined with one of the busiest ports in the world. I constantly have commuters, cargo trucks and trailers and trains.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aileen Cho, ENR
Ms. Cho may be contacted at choa@enr.com

Some Coastal Cities Are Sinking Even Faster Than Seas Are Rising

June 20, 2022 — Ditas B Lopez - Bloomberg
Rising seas have long been a threat to coastal cities. New research suggests that cities—particularly in Asia—are sinking as well, compounding the risks of frequent and severe flooding. In Karachi, land is sinking five times as fast as the sea level is rising, according to the study published this month in Geophysical Research Letters. Manila and Chittagong, Bangladesh’s second-largest city, are sinking at 10 times the rate of the rising waters. In China’s Tianjin, a coastal city about 150 kilometers southeast of Beijing, the ground is giving way at 20 times that speed. In those four cities alone, the phenomenon could affect roughly 59 million residents. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Ditas B Lopez, Bloomberg

Start-up to Streamline Large-Scale Energy Renovation

August 07, 2018 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
An app from software provider GenieBelt will facilitate communications and strengthen cooperation when DGI-Byen, a 30,000 m2 business and leisure center in central Copenhagen, undergoes a large-scale energy renovation. SustainSolutions CEO Christian Niepoort expects that the tool will contribute to quality, safety, and time and cost savings. Electricians, carpenters, painters, masons, consultants, and architects; the more parties are involved, the more difficult it becomes to stick to the schedule when coordinating a whole host of supplier and contractor activities. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (5/22/24) – Federal Infrastructure Money, Hotel Development Pipelines, and Lab Space Construction

June 17, 2024 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, Virginia’s governor signs two bills into law, $929 billion in outstanding commercial mortgages come due, banks prepare for delinquencies related to office space, and more!

Demand for lab space is set to ramp up, with market activity expected to increase in the coming months. (Joe Burns, Construction Dive)
Federal infrastructure money is keeping the country’s infrastructure woes from getting worse, but that progress will be lost when that funding ends. (Julie Strupp, Construction Dive)
In the first quarter of 2024, several major hotel companies saw their revenues down—or lower than expected—but their development pipelines were up. (Jenna Walters, Hotel Dive)

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES