Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Jury Could Have Found That Scissor Lift Manufacturer Should Have Included “Better” Safety Features

January 02, 2024 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
A few years ago I listened to an NPR segment called “What Can Kids Learn by Doing Dangerous Things?” It was about a summer program called the Tinkering School where kids can learn to build things, using tools of course, including power tools. The founder of the program, Gever Tulley, also wrote a book entitled 50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do), in which he argued that while well-intentioned, children today are overly protected, and that giving children exposure to “slightly” dangerous things can help foster independence, responsibility, and problem-solving as well as a healthy dose of caution. The plaintiff in the next case might have benefitted from that program. In Camacho v. JLG Industries Inc., 93 Cal.App.5th 809 (2023), the Court of Appeals examined whether the manufacturer of a scissor lift should have incorporated “better” safety features when a construction worker fell from the lift. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

Reports of the Death of SB800 are Greatly Exaggerated – The Court of Appeal Revives Mandatory SB800 Procedures

September 03, 2015 — Steven M. Cvitanovic & David A. Harris – Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In a 20 page opinion, the Court of Appeal for the Fifth District repudiated the holding of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Brookfield Crystal Cove, LLC (2013) 219 Cal.App.4th 98 (“Liberty Mutual”), and held that plaintiffs in construction defect actions must comply with the statutory pre-litigation inspection and repair procedures mandated by SB800 (the “Act”) regardless of whether they plead a cause of action for violation of the Act. The Case, McMillin Albany LLC v. Superior Court (Carl Van Tassell), (Ct. of Appeal F069370) breathes new life into the Act’s right to repair requirements, and reinforces the Act’s stated purpose of seeking to limit the number of court cases by allowing a builder to resolve construction defect claims by agreeing to repair the homeowners’ residence. In McMillin, 37 homeowners filed a lawsuit against McMillin, the builder of their homes, alleging eight causes of action, including strict products liability, negligence, and breach of express and implied warranty. Plaintiffs’ third cause of action alleged violations of the Act. The plaintiffs did not follow the Act’s notification procedures and filed their lawsuit without providing McMillin with an opportunity to repair the alleged defects. Plaintiffs and McMillin attempted to negotiate a stay of the lawsuit to complete the Act’s prelitigation procedures. When talks broke down, plaintiffs dismissed the third cause of action and contended they were no longer required to follow the Act’s prelitigation procedures. McMillin filed a motion to stay with the trial court. The trial court denied McMillin’s motion concluding that under Liberty Mutual, “[plaintiffs] were entitled to plead common law causes of action in lieu of a cause of action for violation of the building standards set out in [the Act], and they were not required to submit to the prelitigation process of the Act when their complaint did not allege any cause of action for violation of the Act.” Reprinted courtesy of Steven M. Cvitanovic, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and David A. Harris, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP Mr. Cvitanovic may be contacted at scvitanovic@hbblaw.com Mr. Harris may be contacted at dharris@hbblaw.com Read the court decision
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North Carolina Should Protect Undocumented Witnesses to Charlotte Scaffolding Deaths, Unions Say

April 03, 2023 — Engineering News-Record
Charlotte Observer More than two months after a scaffolding collapse in Charlotte killed three men, labor unions are urging state leaders to protect undocumented construction workers who witnessed the collapse so they can safely talk to investigators. Reprinted courtesy of Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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How Philadelphia I-95 Span Destroyed by Fire Reopened in Just 12 Days

July 24, 2023 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
Less than two weeks after a tanker truck crash and fire destroyed an Interstate-95 bridge in northeast Philadelphia, the highway reopened to traffic on a temporary road surface June 23. The hastened work to reopen the highway, which has an average daily traffic count of nearly 160,000 vehicles, including about 13,000 trucks, was the result of collaboration between contractors, material suppliers and union workers with local, state and federal officials, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said. 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
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Look Out! Texas Building Shedding Marble Panels

November 13, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The streets around the Omni Building in Lubbock, Texas have been barricaded for an indefinite period, since the marble panels have been falling off the building. The panels weight about 300 pounds each. The building’s owners attempted to remedy the problem by replacing the marble with stucco, but that too came loose in the wind and fell to the ground. The city issued a stop work order preventing the installation of any more stucco. The city “told them that all needed to come down, both the old and the new,” according to Steve O’Neil, the city’s chief building official. The city has filed a lawsuit to compel the owners to fix the building. Glen Robertson, Lubbock’s mayor, sees another possible solution, “or demolish it because, as it stands right now, it is truly a health and safety hazard to our citizens. Read the court decision
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Recent Bribery and Anti-Corruption Enforcement Trends in Global Construction Industry

August 26, 2019 — Ralph A. Finizio & Anthony Finizio - ConsensusDocs
Bribery and corruption have long plagued the construction industry, particularly in the developing world and emerging markets. Large contracts often trickle down through layers of subcontractors, presenting opportunities for corruption at each level. The risk is enhanced in certain foreign jurisdictions, where large corporations may be wholly or partially state-owned enterprises and public officials may expect payment in exchange for state-issued licenses or government contracts. Recent enforcement trends indicate that both the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are increasingly targeting the construction industry for anti-bribery and corruption actions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Several former DOJ officials also recently commented that the construction industry has become a focus of anti-corruption enforcement efforts. The FCPA is a formidable tool for regulators, making it unlawful to influence a foreign government official with any type of payment or personal reward. While certain safe harbors apply — including de minimis payments made to expedite routine governmental action or the payment being lawful in the foreign jurisdiction — these exceptions are construed narrowly and can be difficult to apply in practice. Reprinted courtesy of Ralph A. Finizio, Pepper Hamilton LLP and Anthony Finizio, Pepper Hamilton LLP Mr. Finizio may be contacted at finizior@pepperlaw.com Mr. Finizio may be contacted at finizioa@pepperlaw.com Read the court decision
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Just a House That Uses 90 Percent Less Energy Than Yours, That's All

August 20, 2014 — Amelia Hennighausen – Bloomberg
Active City, Passive House From the tallest skyscraper to the humblest suburban abode, the buildings that we live and work in draw about 70 percent of the nation’s annual electricity. They burn more than a quarter of the natural gas the U.S. consumes every year. They eat all that energy for a simple reason: They were designed to. But that needn’t be the case in the future. Enter the “passive house,” a kind of super-efficient building that’s highly insulated, heated mostly by the sun and sealed air-tight. It is, in other words, an energy trap. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Amelia Hennighausen, Bloomberg

NY Attorney General to Propose Bill Requiring Climate Adaptation for Utilities

May 21, 2014 — Gerald B. Silverman – Bloomberg
Bloomberg BNA — New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman (D) has proposed legislation to require that New York's electricity and gas utilities assess their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and prepare a plan for adapting to severe weather. Schneiderman May 19 said the proposed legislation would build on a February decision by the state Public Service Commission (PSC), which approved a plan by Consolidated Edison to spend $1 billion over the next four years for storm hardening and resiliency projects. A spokeswoman for the attorney general told Bloomberg BNA that he is working with members of the Legislature to have the bill formally introduced. The PSC decision also required that all New York utilities integrate the potential impacts of climate change into their system planning and construction forecasts and budgets. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Gerald B. Silverman, Bloomberg

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES