Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Randy Okland Honored as 2019 Intermountain Legacy Award Winner

January 06, 2020 — Jennifer Seward - Engineering News-Record
A passion for construction is in Randy Okland’s blood. His family’s business, Salt Lake City’s Okland Construction, was founded in 1918 by his grandfather, John Okland, a Norwegian immigrant and shipbuilder. Randy swept the floors and cleaned and fueled company vehicles while working as a laborer and later as a carpenter and concrete former. After graduating from the University of Utah, Randy worked full time at Okland, eventually taking over leadership of the company from his father in 1980. Jennifer Seward, Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Paycheck Protection Program Forgiveness Requirements Adjusted

June 29, 2020 — Jacob W. Scott - Smith Currie
On June 5, 2020, the President signed into law the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, amending portions of the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). Most importantly, the PPP Flexibility Act adjusted the forgiveness requirements for PPP loans. The CARES Act allowed borrowers to apply for forgiveness of loan amounts used for payroll and other covered costs during an eight-week period beginning on the date of origination, or by June 30, 2020, whichever came first. The CARES Act also allowed borrowers to use the loan funds by June 30 to restore employee and payroll levels that had been reduced as a result of COVID-19. The Small Business Administration instructed borrowers that at least 75% of the loan funds had to be used to cover payroll costs during the covered period to be eligible for forgiveness. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jacob W. Scott, Smith Currie
Mr. Scott may be contacted at jwscott@smithcurrie.com

Study Finds Mansion Tax Reduced Sales in New York and New Jersey

May 13, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
A study by two Columbia University economists demonstrated that “the extra 1% ‘mansion’ tax New York state and New Jersey impose on home sales above $1 million actually reduce[d] the number of total real estate transactions, in addition” it pushed “home sales that might have taken place for above $1 million to below that threshold,” Forbes reported. The “mansion” tax only occurs when the residential sale is above $1 million, “meaning a buyer who pays $999,999 for a house, condo or coop would owe no mansion tax.” The study showed a “dramatic” gap “in sales of homes for between $1 million and $1,040,000 (with more sales missing in that range than bunched just below $1 million).” The economists’ concluded that “the mansion tax causes an ‘unraveling’ effect, actually disrupting some sales of properties that would otherwise have taken place.” Read the court decision
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Florida Court of Appeals Rejects Insurer’s Attempt to Intervene in Underlying Lawsuit to Submit Special Interrogatories

October 09, 2018 — Jeremy Macklin - TLSS Insurance Law Blog
On August 10, 2018, the Florida Court of Appeals for the Second District upheld a trial court’s dismissal of an insurance company’s intervention in a tort lawsuit brought against its insured for the purposes of submitting special interrogatories and verdict forms. In Houston Specialty Ins. Co. v. Vaughn, 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 11197, 2018 WL 3795785 (Fla. 2d DCA Aug. 10, 2018), the insured, All Florida Weatherproofing and Construction, Inc. (“All Florida”) provided pressure washing, roof coating, and other roof-related services. Houston Specialty issued a general liability policy to All Florida. In 2012, a worker fell off a roof while applying protective coating on behalf of All Florida. The worker and his family sued All Florida in connection with the worker’s injuries. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jeremy Macklin, Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP
Mr. Macklin may be contacted at jmacklin@tlsslaw.com

Gordie Howe Bridge Project Team Looks for a Third Period Comeback

September 26, 2022 — Jeff Yoders - Engineering News-Record
The late Detroit Red Wings hockey great Gordie Howe was beloved in his native Canada and in his adopted U.S. home. A new international bridge connecting both places is trying to create similar goodwill for border traffic, but the project’s public-private partnership team and the Canadian government authority it is working for will have to join together to shift lines and mount a comeback in the third period of its construction. Reprinted courtesy of Jeff Yoders, Engineering News-Record Mr. Yoders may be contacted at yodersj@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause Bars Coverage for Pool Damage

February 23, 2016 — Tred R. Eyerly – Insurance Law Hawaii
Relying upon the policy's anti-concurrent causation clause, the Illinois Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's ruling that there was no coverage for a pool that popped out of the ground. Bozek v. Erie Ins. Group, 2015 Ill. App. LEXIS 940 (Ill. Ct. App. Dec. 17, 2015). Following a rainstorm, the insureds reported damage to the swimming pool to Erie. An investigation determined that the heavy rain saturated soils around the pool. This created a significant uplift hydrostatic pressure. The weight of the water in the pool typically prevented the uplift forces, but the pool had been emptied to clean debris making it susceptible to uplift. The pool had a pressure relief valve to prevent uplift, but it was not working properly. As a result, the pool was damaged to the point that it had to be replaced in its entirety. The heaving of the pool also damaged the concrete slab around the pool, which also had to be replaced. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Time to Update Your Virginia Mechanic’s Lien Forms (July 1, 2019)

May 01, 2019 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
In a few of my recent posts here at Construction Law Musings, I’ve discussed a few bills that were considered and/or passed in the General Assembly this year. One of the bills is one close to my heart and a subject much discussed here, namely mechanic’s liens. HB2409 passed both houses of the General Assembly and has been signed by the Governor. This bill reconciled the language found in Virginia Code Sec. 43-4 with the various forms for general contractor, subcontractor and sub-subcontractor/supplier forms found in later sections of the code. As you will see if you download the .pdf of the bill as signed, this involved some tweaks to 43-4 and some updates to the mechanic’s lien forms that are in the code. The recent Desai case from the Virginia Supreme Court made it clear that such action was necessary. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrissghill@constructionlawva.com

Small to Midsize Builders Making Profit on Overlooked Lots

March 26, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Teresa Burney and John Caulfield writing in Big Builder discussed how many small to mid-size firms are making profits off of lots overlooked by the big building firms. They stated that “builders are scouring the country for land to meet the new housing demand, and they are having trouble finding good lots in the right place at the right price. This is particularly true for small to mid-size builders.” While the number of finished lots may be up, Burney and Caulfield declared that “the numbers are deceptive because roughly 25 percent of them are in what Metrostudy, BUILDER’s research company, describes as ‘D’ and ‘F’ locations—places so undesirable that nobody wants to live there.” Strategies that builders have tried with success, according to Big Builder, include looking for older communities that local builders have forgotten, or choosing a lot that needs more work than most builders would want to deal with. “We are kind of a savior for developers with troublesome leftover lots,” William H. Hoover, president of Texas-based Inland Homes, told Big Builder. “You have got some ugly lots, let us come and finish out your community.” Read the court decision
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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES