Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

‘The Ground Just Gave Out’: How a Storm’s Fury Ravaged Asheville

October 07, 2024 — Michael Smith, Devon Pendleton, Claire Ballentine & Michael Sasso - Bloomberg
Eric Becker was at his vacation home in western North Carolina, in a community bordering the Pisgah National Forest and Blue Ridge Parkway, when the rain began to pour. Becker, co-founder of the private wealth management firm Cresset, lives in Florida for most of the year. He had lived through a hurricane — but nothing like what he saw during Helene. “Mud was liquefying around tree bases. You could see the root systems,” said Becker, who first began visiting the Asheville area 20 years ago and was smitten by its natural scenery, excellent food and lively arts and music scene. “The ground just gave out.” Becker is part of a wave of affluent homebuyers who have flocked to the southern Appalachian region. Transplants from wealth managers and retirees to artists and young outdoors enthusiasts have helped create a real estate goldrush in cities including Asheville, where home prices have climbed 69% in the past five years. Reprinted courtesy of Michael Smith, Bloomberg, Devon Pendleton, Bloomberg, Claire Ballentine, Bloomberg and Michael Sasso, Bloomberg Read the court decision
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At Least 46 Killed in Taiwanese Apartment Building Inferno

November 01, 2021 — The Associated Press (Huizhong Wu)- Bloomberg
Kaohsiung, Taiwan (AP) -- At least 46 people were killed and another 41 injured after a fire broke out early Thursday in a run-down mixed commercial and residential building in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung, officials said. Neighborhood residents said the 13-story building was home to many poor, elderly and disabled people and it wasn’t clear how many of the 120 units were occupied. Witnesses said they heard something that sounded like an explosion at about 3 a.m. when the blaze erupted in the building's lower floors, which housed a closed movie theater, abandoned restaurants and karaoke clubs. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bloomberg

Guessing as to your Construction Damages is Not the Best Approach

November 18, 2019 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Arbitrarily guessing as to your construction damages is NOT the best approach. Sure, experts can be costly. No doubt about it. Having an expert versus guessing as to your construction damages caused by another party’s breach of contract is a no brainer. Engage an expert or, at a minimum, be in a position to competently testify as to your damages caused by another party’s breach of contract. Otherwise, the guessing is not going to get you very far as a concrete subcontractor found out in Patrick Concrete Constructors, Inc. v. Layne Christensen Co., 2018 WL 6528485 (W.D. New York 2018) where the subcontractor could not competently support its delay-related damages or change orders and, equally important, could not support that the damages were proximately caused by the general contractor’s breach of the subcontract. In this case, the concrete subcontractor entered into a subcontract to perform concrete work for a public project. The project was delayed and the general contractor was required to pay liquidated damages to the owner. Not surprisingly, the subcontractor disputed liability for delays and sued the general contractor for all of its delay-related damages “in the form of labor and materials escalation, loss of productivity, procurement and impact costs, field and home office overhead, idle equipment, inability to take on other work, lost profits, and interest.” Patrick Concrete Constructors, 2018 WL at *1. The general contractor moved for summary judgment as to the plaintiff’s delay-related damages – the subcontractor’s damages were nothing but guesses and the subcontractor could not prove the general contractor was the cause of the subcontractor’s damages. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Get Creative to Solve Your Construction Company's Staffing Challenges

February 25, 2024 — Kit Dickinson - Construction Executive
Construction projects are on the rise due to a generational investment in infrastructure spending. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in August 2021 includes around $550 billion in new federal investment in America’s roads and bridges, water infrastructure and more to be allocated over the next five years. Because of the influx of federal funds for infrastructure, construction firms that previously focused on local, private sector clients are incentivized to pursue public projects in other states and regions. There are a couple of bumps in the road, however. Payroll becomes more complex when you’re paying across multiple jurisdictions and at different pay rates, and reporting requirements for government work make managing projects and controlling costs trickier. Add to this the changes in the Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage rules which went into effect on October 23, 2023. To capture this business and make it worthwhile, construction professionals need technology built specifically for the industry. Reprinted courtesy of Kit Dickinson, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Waiving Consequential Damages—What Could Go Wrong?

March 19, 2024 — Curtis W. Martin & Kellie M. Ros - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
You are inexcusably late with construction of a football stadium, a casino, or similar project that generates large income for the owner. The indirect damages, often referred to as consequential damages, that flow from the delay can be astronomical to the point of breaking your company if it must pay them. As a result, many construction contracts, at every tier, contain a provision that waives consequential damages. By this waiver, a party seeks to limit its risk for these damages. Over the years, courts have interpreted these provisions in a widely variable and inconsistent manner. The courts typically start with the specific language of the waiver to discern the parties’ intent. Thus, the language of the provision itself is critical. But construction professionals should not overlook other provisions in the contract that may have an impact on a court’s analysis of the parties’ intent. As one of my colleagues likes to say, “the large print giveth and the small print taketh away.” Reprinted courtesy of Curtis W. Martin, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and Kellie M. Ros, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Mr. Martin may be contacted at cmartin@pecklaw.com Ms. Ros may be contacted at kros@pecklaw.com Read the court decision
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UK Construction Output Rises Unexpectedly to Strongest Since May

March 27, 2023 — Lucy White - Bloomberg
UK construction industry output grew for the first time in two months in February, boosting hopes that the economy may avoid a prolonged recession. A rebound in commercial and civil engineering work helped to compensate for continued gloom in the housing market, where buying activity has been depressed by higher mortgage rates and the cost-of-living crisis. The closely-watched Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index from S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply jumped to 54.6 in February, up from 48.4 a month earlier and the highest since May 2022. It was the first time in three months that activity was above the crucial no-change level of 50. Economists had expected a decline. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lucy White, Bloomberg

Structural Failure of Precast-Concrete Span Sets Back Sydney Metro Job

January 04, 2018 — Chris Webb - Engineering News-Record
Originally Published by CDJ on February 23, 2017 A key component of Australia’s biggest public transport infrastructure project—Sydney’s $6.3-billion Metro North West—is the subject of a critical and detailed technical report describing how an elevated viaduct span failed at a stitch joint between two precast segments during construction last September. Project officials say the affected span, which did not suffer a progressive collapse, has since been removed and its replacement fast-tracked to avoid further delays. Little additional detail was provided. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Chris Webb, ENR

Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (7/31/24) – International Homebuying Shrinks Commercial Real Estate Focus on Sustainability, and U.S. Banks Boost Provisions for Credit Losses

September 09, 2024 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, mortgage rates drop to lowest levels since March, hotel construction activity highest since February 2023, Biden administration calls for legislation regarding property owners, and more!

International buyers bought 54,300 existing homes from April 2023 to March 2024 – a 36% drop from the year before. (Diana Olick, CNBC)
The Biden administration called on Congress to pass legislation penalizing property owners for rent increases above a certain level as part of its plan to lower housing costs through a series of administrative actions. (Mary Salmonsen, Multifamily Dive)
U.S. banks have boosted their provisions for credit losses as deteriorating commercial real estate (CRE) loans and high interest rates fuel fears of defaults. (Manya Saini, Niket Nishant and Matt Tracy, Reuters)

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Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

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