Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Courthouse Reporter Series: Louisiana Supreme Court Holds Architect Has No Duty to Safeguard Third Parties Against Injury, Regardless of Knowledge of Dangerous Conditions on the Project

July 31, 2024 — Stu Richeson - The Dispute Resolver
In Bonilla v. Verges Rome Architects, 2023-00928 (La. 3/22/24); 382 So.3d 62, the Louisiana Supreme Court held because the terms of the agreement between the architect and the public owner did not give the architect responsibility for the means and methods of construction or for safety on the project, the architect did not have a duty to safeguard third parties against injury, regardless of whether the architect may have had knowledge of dangerous conditions on the project. In Bonilla, the City of New Orleans entered into a contract for the renovation of a building owned by the city. The city also entered into an agreement with Verges Rome Architects (“VRA”) to serve as the project architect. The general contractor on the project subcontracted the demolition work to Meza Services, Inc. (“Meza”). An employee of Meza was injured while attempting to demolish a “vault” on the project. The vault was a ten-foot by ten-foot cinderblock room with a nine-foot-high concrete slab ceiling located on the second floor of the building. The walls of the vault had been partially demolished when one of the employees of Meza was directed by his supervisor to stand on the ceiling of the vault with a jackhammer to continue the demolition. Shortly after beginning the task, the vault structure collapsed and caused the employee to suffer significant injury. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Stu Richeson, Phelps
Mr. Richeson may be contacted at stuart.richeson@phelps.com

Waive It Goodbye: Despite Evidence to the Contrary, Delaware Upholds an AIA Waiver of Subrogation Clause

April 19, 2022 — Lian Skaf - The Subrogation Strategist
Subrogation professionals have always been looking for ways to defeat onerous waiver of subrogation provisions in contracts signed by insureds. However, even when contracts are unsigned, if there is intent when the contract is made – usually long before a loss occurs – a waiver of subrogation can doom what otherwise may have been a strong case. The Superior Court of Delaware considered such a scenario to determine whether a waiver of subrogation provision applied to a multimillion-dollar subrogation case. In State of Delaware Insurance Coverage Office and Factory Mutual Insurance Co., both as subrogee of the University of Delaware v. DiSabatino Construction Co., Schlosser & Associates Mechanical Contractors, Inc. and V.E. Guerrazzi, Inc., C.A. No. N19C-08-080, 2022 Del. Super. LEXIS 108 (March 17, 2022), the court granted the defendants’ motions for summary judgment, holding that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by a waiver of subrogation provision in the underlying contract. Thus, the court held that the plaintiffs could not pursue the defendants in their suit to recover damages as a result of a fire. The court specifically denied the plaintiffs’ argument that since the contract was not signed and another “short form” version was later used the waiver of subrogation provision should not apply. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lian Skaf, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Skaf may be contacted at skafl@whiteandwilliams.com

Angela Cooner Appointed Vice-Chair of Arizona’s Inaugural Board of Legal Specialization Construction Defect Law Advisory Commission

June 20, 2022 — Angela Cooner - Lewis Brisbois
Phoenix, Ariz. (May 17, 2022) - Phoenix Partner Angela Cooner has been appointed as the vice-chair of the State Bar of Arizona’s inaugural Board of Legal Specialization Construction Defect Law Advisory Commission. The commission was created pursuant to the Arizona Supreme Court’s recent administrative order recognizing construction defect law as a new area of specialization. The commission will, among other things, create the application, examination, and interview process that Arizona attorneys will be required to complete to earn the construction defect law specialized certification. Ms. Cooner will serve a two-year term that will end on January 31, 2024. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Angela Cooner, Lewis Brisbois
Ms. Cooner may be contacted at Angela.Cooner@lewisbrisbois.com

Surfside Condo Collapse Investigators Uncover More Pool Deck Deviations

September 12, 2023 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
The investigation into the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Fla., has uncovered more deviations between the as-built conditions of the pool deck and the building’s design. But investigators emphasize their data are still preliminary as they continue to gather and test evidence from the collapse that killed 98 people. 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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What If an Irma-Like Hurricane Hit the New York City Metro Area?

September 20, 2017 — Christopher Flavelle & Henry Goldman - Bloomberg
It sounds like a Hollywood disaster movie. A Category 5 hurricane churning in the mid-Atlantic suddenly veers northwest -- and heads straight for New York City. The good news is that, for now, experts agree a Cat 5-sized deluge appears to be a meteorological impossibility in the U.S. Northeast, given today’s sea temperatures and weather patterns. The bad news: A storm doesn’t need to pack the wallop of a Harvey or an Irma to knock out the region. Superstorm Sandy, whose wind speed was a relatively tame 80 miles per hour when it reached New Jersey, did $70 billion of damage in October 2012. Irma made landfall in Puerto Rico at 185 mph. Reprinted courtesy of Christopher Flavelle, Bloomberg and Henry Goldman, Bloomberg Read the court decision
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The Most Expensive Travel Construction Flops

September 03, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Fox News recently showcased “the world’s biggest and most expensive travel flops,” which includes several construction woes. For instance, the $8.5 billion dollar Harmon Tower in Las Vegas was never completed, and is in the process of being demolished due to construction defects. Also mentioned is the cone-shaped Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea, which had planned to be the tallest hotel on earth with an opening to coincide with the 1989 World Festival of Youth and Students. First, construction delays were blamed on a lack of raw materials, and then the development was passed to an Egyptian company. However, today, over 20 years later, and the hotel has still not been completed. The Berlin Brandenburg Airport made the list. It was supposed to have been completed by 2010, but managers have moved it to 2015, while “insiders hint that the date will be closer to 2019.” Alleged problems include “poor construction and planning—not to mention corruption,” reported Fox News. Read the court decision
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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (9/4/24) – DOJ Sues RealPage, Housing Sales Increase and U.S. Can’t Build Homes Fast Enough

October 07, 2024 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, environmental regulations tighten for commercial properties, Wells Fargo sells most of its commercial mortgage services business, first-time home buyers struggle with housing affordability, and more!

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it is suing the real estate company RealPage, saying it engaged in a price-fixing scheme to drive up rents. (Jennifer Ludden, NPR)
As environmental regulations for commercial buildings and properties tighten across the U.S., green leases and technologies offer owners and operators opportunities to reduce their portfolios’ carbon footprints, generate cost savings and further align with ESG goals. (Nish Amarnath, Construction Dive)
Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to sell most of its commercial mortgage servicing business to Trimont LLC, ceding the title of biggest US commercial and multifamily mortgage servicer to the Atlanta-based firm. (Hannah Levitt and Scott Carpenter, Yahoo)

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

Climate Change a Factor in 'Unprecedented' South Asia Floods

July 18, 2022 — The Associated Press (Aniruddha Ghosal & Al-Emrun Garjon) - Bloomberg
Sylhet, Bangladesh (AP) -- Scientists say climate change is a factor behind the erratic and early rains that triggered unprecedented floods in Bangladesh and northeastern India, killing dozens and making lives miserable for millions of others. Although the region is no stranger to flooding, it typically takes place later in the year when monsoon rains are well underway. This year's torrential rainfall lashed the area as early as March. It may take much longer to determine the extent to which climate change played a role in the floods, but scientists say that it has made the monsoon — a seasonable change in weather usually associated with strong rains — more variable over the past decades. This means that much of the rain expected to fall in a year is arriving in a space of weeks. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bloomberg

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