Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Falls Requiring Time Off from Work are Increasing

January 14, 2015 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The Safety News Alert reported that while “overall occupational injuries that require time off from work” have decreased, other injuries, such as falls, have increased, according to findings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annual report. “The rate of falls on the same level increased to 15.4 in 2013 from 14.8 in 2012, with increases in construction, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing,” Safety News Alert wrote. Furthermore, “Incidence rates and counts for private sector heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and food preparation workers increased in 2013.” Read the court decision
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Construction Contracts Fall in Denver

October 02, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
After nearly a year of growth, residential construction contracts dropped 22% in the Denver area in August. Residential construction contracts are still above what they were before August 2012, but the gains since then have been wiped out. The value of contracts in August 2012 was $219.8 million, and this this August they have fallen to $171.7 million. Commercial construction also saw a reduction, however, there the fall was only 7%, dropping from $1.54 billion to $1.43 billion. Read the court decision
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How to Make the Construction Dispute Resolution Process More Efficient and Less Expensive

July 09, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
John P. Ahlers on the Ahlers & Cressman PLLC blog has posted the first of a two-part series on Ways to Make the Construction Dispute Resolution Process More Efficient and Less Expensive: “In our view, construction is well suited to streamlining the resolution process, particularly when experienced lawyers and judges / arbitrators are involved.” “Discovery can take vast amounts of time and cost a company significant resources,” Ahlers wrote. “Many times, only small portions of a deposition might actually be used at the hearing in cross examination. The question then becomes whether the cost of the discovery is providing a return.” Ahlers listed several steps and requirements that arbitrators, judges, or the parties themselves can impose to make the process more efficient, such as client involvement, avoiding too much process at the expense of practical outcomes, discovery limitations, among others. Read the court decision
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No Duty to Defend Faulty Workmanship Under Hawaii Law, but All is not Lost for Insured Contractor

June 06, 2022 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The federal district court found no duty to defend claims of faulty workmanship under certain policies issued to the insured contractor, but rejected arguments made by the Insurers regarding various provisions of the general liability and excess policies. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Bodell Consr. Co., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXZIS 79379 (D. Haw. May 2, 2022). (Note- our office represents the insured contractor). In 2003, Bodell was hired by developer Sunstone Realty Partners L LLC to be the general contractor for construction work on a condominium project, "Ali`i Cove." The project consisted of approximately 37 buildings and one recreation center that were constructed over the course of four years. On August 14, 2015, the AOAO of Ali`i Cove sued Sunstone, alleging that Sunstone developed, built, and sold condominium nits using embedded straps that did not meet building codes, instead of bolting house frames to their foundations. The AOAO filed a second amended complaint alleging numerous additional defects which were referenced in an expert report. These included additional alleged construction defects such as site conditions, structural issues, building envelope, roofing, general architecture, mechanical, plumbing and electrical. In all, the report purported to find approximately 281 instances of faulty workmanship. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

South African Building Industry in Line for More State Support

November 08, 2021 — Prinesha Naidoo - Bloomberg
South Africa’s government is planning more measures to bolster its ailing building industry after banning the use of imported cement on state construction projects. “Government is undertaking research across a range of construction-related products where there appears to be significant potential for localization,” Stephen Hanival, chief economist at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, said in an emailed response to questions. “Further announcements will be made in due course.” The country’s preferential procurement policy framework enables the department to designate sectors for localization in line with national development and industrial policy goals. While the government has pursued localization since 2014, it has become more strategic since the advent of the pandemic with business, government and labor groups agreeing on an initial list of 42 products and sub-sectors that should be prioritized, Hanival said. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Prinesha Naidoo, Bloomberg

Home-Sales Fall in 2014 Has U.S. Waiting for 2015: Economy

January 28, 2015 — Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- A three-year winning streak for sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. ended in 2014 as some investors stepped out of the market and first-time buyers failed to fill the void. Purchases totaled 4.93 million last year, down 3.1 percent from the 5.09 million houses sold in 2013, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed Friday in Washington. The share of American homebuyers making their first purchase dropped in 2014 to its lowest level in almost three decades, according to the Realtors group. At the same time, employment gains, growing consumer confidence, mortgage rates at historically low levels and government efforts to lower purchasing costs probably will help bolster demand in 2015. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bloomberg News

New Jersey Appellate Court Reinstates Asbestos Action

March 05, 2015 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to the New Jersey Law Journal, an asbestos case involving “a long-time ship worker who died of mesothelioma was reinstated by a New Jersey appellate court on March 3.” A lower court judge had “dismissed the claims against them based on his view that the evidence presented by the plaintiff was insufficient to show that the ships on which he worked contained asbestos and that he was exposed to it.” However, the appeals judges disagreed. “Although the summary judgment motion was decided on a very narrow ground, we conclude that the record as a whole establishes a triable issue as to whether plaintiff was exposed to asbestos or asbestos-containing products on defendant’s dredges,” judges Susan Maven and Henry Carroll stated, according to the New Jersey Law Journal. Read the court decision
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Pennsylvania Federal Court Confirms: Construction Defect Claims Not Covered by CGL Policies

March 06, 2022 — Nathan A. Cazier & Scott S. Thomas - Payne & Fears
The construction industry operates under the constant spectre of claims seeking damages for defective or faulty workmanship. Fortunately, the law in most states treats these claims as covered under commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies. A small minority of states take a much stingier view. In a newly decided case, a Pennsylvania federal court confirmed that Pennsylvania belongs to this small group of states that regard construction claims as not worthy of liability insurance coverage. Main St. Am. Assurance Co. v. Howard Lynch Plastering, Inc., No. CV 21-3977, 2022 WL 445768, (E.D. Pa. Feb. 14, 2022). Main St. involves a typical construction defect case: W.B. Homes (“W.B.”) developed a residential community, contracting with various trades to build the homes. W.B. required these subcontractors to obtain liability insurance covering their work and, when homeowners sued W.B. for damages due to allegedly faulty work, W.B. tendered the claim to these insurers. One of them, Main Street Assurance Co. (“Main Street”) then sued W.B. for declaratory relief, arguing that under Pennsylvania law, it had no duty to defend W.B. Reprinted courtesy of Nathan A. Cazier, Payne & Fears and Scott S. Thomas, Payne & Fears Mr. Cazier may be contacted at nac@paynefears.com Mr. Thomas may be contacted at sst@paynefears.com Read the court decision
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