FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Surfside Condo Collapse Investigators Have Nearly Finished Technical Work

March 11, 2024 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
Newly analyzed evidence in the investigation into the June 2021 partial collapse of Champlain Towers South that killed 98 people in Surfside, Fla., shows that the pool deck collapsed more than four minutes before the tower itself. But investigators are still working to determine the initiating event, and aim to finish their technical work this summer. Reprinted courtesy of James Leggate, Engineering News-Record Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

Colorado “property damage” caused by an “occurrence” and exclusions j(5) and j(6) “that particular part”

August 11, 2011 — CDCoverage.com

In Continental Western Ins. Co. v. Shay Construction, Inc., No. 10-cv-02126 (D. Col. July 28. 2011), general contractor Milender White subcontracted with insured Shay for framing work.   Shay in turn subcontracted some of its work to others.  When Shay?s subcontractors filed suit against Shay and Milender White seeking payment for their work, Milender White cross-claimed against Shay for breach of contract alleging that,Milender White notified Shay during construction that some of Shay?s work was defective and that when Shay repaired its defective work, it damaged work performed by others.  Shay’s CGL insurer Continental Western filed suit against Milender White and Shay seeking a judicial declaration of no coverage.  The federal district trial court granted Continental Western?s motion for summary judgment.



Read the full story…



Reprinted courtesy of CDCoverage.com

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

Prefabrication Contract Considerations

March 08, 2021 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Prefabrication (also referred to as modular construction in instances), is a form of offsite construction where certain construction activities occur at an offsite manufacturing facility or location. Construction components or units are preassembled (prefabricated) at this offsite location prior to being delivered to the project site and then integrated into the project. When preparing a prefabrication contract (including a prefabrication subcontract), there are a number of complex considerations that need to be weighed, and these considerations are bullet-pointed below. The purpose of these bullet-points is to give you considerations to discuss and vet when preparing, negotiating, and agreeing to a prefabrication contract or subcontract. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

---

What You Need to Know About “Ipso Facto” Clauses and Their Impact on Termination of a Contractor or Subcontractor in a Bankruptcy

September 12, 2022 — Martha B. Chovanes & Laurie A. Stanziale - ConsensusDocs
While contractor bankruptcies have long been an issue in the construction industry, in the aftermath of COVID-19 and the resultant labor, material and supply-chain delays, contractor bankruptcies are of even greater concern. Many construction contracts attempt to protect the upstream party from a bankruptcy filing of its contractor or subcontractor by providing for an automatic right to terminate a contract, referred to as “ipso facto” clauses. However, such clauses are generally unenforceable as bankruptcy laws, specifically Section 365(e) of Title 11 of the United States Code, protect the party filing for bankruptcy (the “Debtor”) from unilateral termination of the contract by the non-Debtor party. What is an “Ipso Facto” clause? An ipso facto clause is a provision in an agreement which permits its termination by one party due to the bankruptcy, insolvency or financial condition of the other party. Reprinted courtesy of Martha B. Chovanes, Fox Rothschild LLP (ConsensusDocs) and Laurie A. Stanziale, Fox Rothschild LLP (ConsensusDocs) Ms. Chovanes may be contacted at mchovanes@foxrothschild.com Ms. Stanziale may be contacted at lstanziale@foxrothschild.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

Home Buyers Lose as U.S. Bond Rally Skips Mortgage Rates

September 03, 2014 — Jody Shenn – Bloomberg
Potential home buyers watching this year’s plunge in 10-year Treasury yields can be forgiven for wondering why their borrowing costs aren’t falling at the same pace. The last time the benchmark Treasury rate fell as low as the 2.34 percent level reached last week, in June 2013, interest rates on typical mortgages were almost 0.2 percentage point less than they are now. There are a number of explanations: Yields on five-year Treasuries, which also help determine loan rates, have actually increased. And lenders that cut staff aren’t competing as aggressively by adjusting their pricing. No matter the cause, the effect is that a potential catalyst to get the faltering U.S. housing recovery back on track is failing to materialize. With home-loan rates stagnating at about 4.1 percent during the past three months, a renewed boom in refinancing also sits just out of reach. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Jody Shenn, Bloomberg
Ms. Shenn may be contacted at jshenn@bloomberg.net

---

2013 May Be Bay Area’s Best Year for Commercial Building

November 20, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
A tech boom has resulted in something of a commercial building boom for the Bay Area. The region will see about $6 billion in commercial construction projects during 2013. This is better than the totals for 2012, 2011, and 2009. During that period, however, 2010 set a record for the area with $6 billion of construction. Some estimates see 2013 beating that with as much as $6.7 billion in construction by year’s end. The surge has been attributed to job creation. One Bay-area company, Infoblox, moved into a new office complex, after extensive renovation. The company had 250 employees and now has room to expand to 500 employees. But 2014 could be even better. Apple is about to begin construction of its new campus, which is expected to cost the company $5 billion. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

Construction Contract Clauses Which Go Bump in the Night – Part 1

November 10, 2016 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
Scope, time and cost provisions may be the most important clauses in your construction contract but they’re not the only ones which can impact your bottom line. The first in a multi-part series, here are some other important construction contract clauses you may (or may not realize you should) be losing sleep over.

Provision: Incorporation and Flow-Down Provisions

• Typical Provision: “The term ‘Contract Documents’ shall include, without limitation, the Prime Contract, drawings, specifications and other agreements between Contractor and Owner, insofar as they relate in any way, directly or indirectly, to Subcontractor’s Work under this Agreement, and are hereby incorporated by reference. Subcontractor agrees to be bound to Contractor in the same manner and to the same extent as Contractor is bound to Owner under the Contract Documents. Where, in the Contract Documents, reference is made to Contractor, and the work and specifications therein pertain to Subcontractor’s trade, craft, or type of work, such work or specifications shall be interpreted to apply to Subcontractor rather than Contractor.”
• What it Means: An incorporation provision literally “incorporates” another document or documents into a contract by merely referring to them by title or description and it is not uncommon for a lower-tiered contractor to never see those documents. A flow-down provision requires a lower-tiered contractor to comply with all obligations which a higher-tiered contractor, typically a direct contractor, owes to a higher-tiered party, typically, the owner. The intent of the provision to ensure that a lower-tiered subcontractor has no greater rights against a direct contractor has against the owner.
• What You Can Do: Lower-tiered contractors should obtain a copy of all documents to be incorporated into their contract and review them to ensure that they understand the obligations and any limitations to their rights. Lower-tiered contractors should also seek to include language requiring that a higher-tiered contractor assume toward the lower-tiered contractor all obligations and limitations on their rights that the owner assumes toward or is subject to with respect of the general contractor.

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com

---

Exponential Acceleration—Interview with Anders Hvid

December 01, 2017 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Anders Hvid is a Danish consultant, speaker, and author. He talks about digital disruption, exponential acceleration, and paradigm shifts that are taking place in a world that is moving from local and linear into global and exponential. “I have a background in social studies. My interest is in humans, and systems in which they work together. I’ve always had a deep fascination with technology and how it influences our society, our jobs, our democracies, and systems,” Anders says. He visited Singularity University back in 2010, and that experience made a lasting impression on him. “It freaked me out, to be honest, and it opened my eyes to how important technology is.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at info@aepartners.fi

---