Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Apartments pushed up US homebuilding in September

October 22, 2014 — Josh Boak – Bloomberg Businessweek
WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction firms broke ground on more apartment complexes in September, pushing up the pace of U.S. homebuilding. Housing starts rose 6.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.017 million homes, the Commerce Department said Friday. Almost all of the gains came from apartment construction — a volatile category — which increased 18.5 percent after plunging in August. The sluggish recovery and meager wage growth has left more Americans renting instead of owning homes. Apartment construction has surged 30.3 percent over the past 12 months. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Josh Boak, Bloomberg Businessweek

The Golden State Commits to Going Green – Why Contractors Will be in High Demand to Build the State’s Infrastructure

November 28, 2018 — Karla Pascarella & Alexa Magrath - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
On September 10, 2018 California’s Governor took an ambitious stance on environmental policy and signed Senate Bill 100 (“SB100”). The bill accelerates several Renewables Portfolio Standards (“RPS”) deadlines previously established by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill’s most notable effect—it requires that 100 percent of California’s electricity come from renewable and zero-carbon sources by 2045. California is the second state in the nation to pass such legislation; Hawaii passed a similar bill in 2015. The passage of this bill could not be timelier as wildfires, drought, and record high temperatures continue to make national headlines. California, as it often does, has taken a contrarian position as the federal government attempts to reinvigorate the coal mining industry in America. Coal and other fossil fuels used to produce energy increase air pollution and deplete necessary ozone. California has been experimenting and utilizing renewable energy technology since as early as 1997. According to the California Energy Commission, by the end of 2017 California generated approximately 32 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Reprinted courtesy of Karla Pascarella, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and Alexa Magrath, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Ms. Pascarella may be contacted at kpascarella@pecklaw.com Ms. Magrath may be contacted at amagrath@pecklaw.com Read the court decision
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Introducing Nomos LLP!

December 30, 2019 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
We’ve been quiet lately we know. We’ve been nesting. Not the alien popping through your stomach kind of nesting, although, there have been a few white knuckled “what the heck did we get ourselves into!” moments. Rather, we’ve been quietly building something we think is pretty great. Not just for us, but for our clients. Our own law firm. So here’s the 411: What’s with the name Nomos LLP? We’ve gotten a few questions about that. We wanted to create a client-centric law firm not a lawyer-focused one. Hence, no last names. Plus, we don’t have cool last names like Low, Ball & Lynch or Payne & Fears. The name “nomos” is Greek for “law.” And, of course, it’s from the Greeks that much of modern Western legal system is derived. Simple. Opa! Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

Denver Court Rules that Condo Owners Must Follow Arbitration Agreement

November 07, 2012 — CDJ STAFF
Prior to initiating a construction defect lawsuit, the Glass House Residential Association voted to invalidate the arbitration agreement that had been written into its declaration and bylaws by the developer and general contractor. After the association started their construction defect claims, the developer and general contractor argued that the case must go to arbitration, as the arbitration clause contained a provision that it could not be altered without the agreement of the developer and general contractor. The Denver District Court has ruled against that association, determining that the res triction was not in violation of Colorado condominium law. And, as a post from Polsinelli Shughart PC on JDSupra notes, the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act encourages the use of arbitration procedures to settle disputes. The CCIOA does prohibit “certain restrictions on the homeowners association’s ability to amend the condominium declarations,” however, preserving an arbitration agreement is not one of them. Read the court decision
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Haight Brown & Bonesteel Attorneys Named Best Lawyers in America ® 2016

February 23, 2016 — Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
January 21, 2016 - The Best Lawyers in America® 2016, is the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. Haight Brown & Bonesteel attorneys earning this honor for 2016 include the following: William G. Baumgaertner - Personal Injury Litigation Denis J. Moriarty - Insurance Law Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 39,000 leading attorneys cast almost 3.1 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

How Many Homes have Energy-Efficient Appliances?

October 08, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing analyzed data from the Census Bureau’s 2011 American Housing Survey to “reveal the share of owner-occupied homes that contain various Energy Star related appliances.” Eye on Housing reported that in “new homes, the leading shares of Energy Star rated appliances were refrigerators (70%), washing machines (69%), dishwashers (65%), and central air conditioning (52%).” In “owner-occupied homes,” the survey demonstrated that “refrigerators are the most common Energy Star appliance.” Read the court decision
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7 Ways Technology is Changing Construction (guest post)

July 28, 2018 — Melissa Dewey Brumback - Construction Law in North Carolina
Today, we have a guest post by Eric Weisbrot, Chief Marketing Officer of JW Surety Bonds. With years of experience in the surety industry under several different roles within the company, he is also a contributing author to the surety bond blog. Welcome, Eric! It is difficult to argue that technology is having minimal impact on society as a whole. Not only are digital enhancements making waves on the consumer side of the line, but businesses are feeling the effects as much if not more in recent years. The construction industry is no exception to this technological shift, but the influence the change is having on licensed construction contractors and long-standing businesses is far-reaching. Here are several ways technology is disrupting construction on a day to day basis. #1. Autonomous Equipment. One of the most notable changes in construction is the addition of autonomous equipment on job sites. Several technology-focused companies are currently testing and perfecting construction machines that require no human interaction to operate. The hope behind this shift is to reduce the impact of the labor shortage in the industry while improving efficiency and productivity on each job. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Melissa Dewey Brumback, Ragsdale Liggett, PLLC
Ms. Brumback may be contacted at mbrumback@rl-law.com

Subprime Bonds Are Back With Different Name Seven Years After U.S. Crisis

January 28, 2015 — Jody Shenn – Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- The business of bundling riskier U.S. mortgages into bonds without government backing is gearing up for a comeback. Just don’t call it subprime. Hedge fund Seer Capital Management, money manager Angel Oak Capital and Sydney-based bank Macquarie Group Ltd. are among firms buying up loans to borrowers who can’t qualify for conventional mortgages because of issues such as low credit scores, foreclosures or hard-to-document income. They each plan to pool the mortgages into securities of varying risk and sell some to investors this year. JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts predict as much as $5 billion of deals could get done, while Nomura Holdings Inc. forecasts $1 billion to $2 billion. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jody Shenn, Bloomberg
Ms. Shenn may be contacted at jshenn@bloomberg.net

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