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    Building Expert Builders Information
    Seattle, Washington

    Washington Builders Right To Repair Current Law Summary:

    Current Law Summary: (SB 5536) The legislature passed a contractor protection bill that reduces contractors' exposure to lawsuits to six years from 12, and gives builders seven "affirmative defenses" to counter defect complaints from homeowners. Claimant must provide notice no later than 45 days before filing action; within 21 days of notice of claim, "construction professional" must serve response; claimant must accept or reject inspection proposal or settlement offer within 30 days; within 14 days following inspection, construction pro must serve written offer to remedy/compromise/settle; claimant can reject all offers; statutes of limitations are tolled until 60 days after period of time during which filing of action is barred under section 3 of the act. This law applies to single-family dwellings and condos.


    Building Expert Contractors Licensing
    Guidelines Seattle Washington

    A license is required for plumbing, and electrical trades. Businesses must register with the Secretary of State.


    Building Expert Contractors Building Industry
    Association Directory
    MBuilders Association of King & Snohomish Counties
    Local # 4955
    335 116th Ave SE
    Bellevue, WA 98004

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    Home Builders Association of Kitsap County
    Local # 4944
    5251 Auto Ctr Way
    Bremerton, WA 98312

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    Home Builders Association of Spokane
    Local # 4966
    5813 E 4th Ave Ste 201
    Spokane, WA 99212

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    Home Builders Association of North Central
    Local # 4957
    PO Box 2065
    Wenatchee, WA 98801

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    MBuilders Association of Pierce County
    Local # 4977
    PO Box 1913 Suite 301
    Tacoma, WA 98401

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    North Peninsula Builders Association
    Local # 4927
    PO Box 748
    Port Angeles, WA 98362
    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    Jefferson County Home Builders Association
    Local # 4947
    PO Box 1399
    Port Hadlock, WA 98339

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10


    Building Expert News and Information
    For Seattle Washington


    Consequential Damages Flowing from Construction Defect Not Covered Under Florida Law

    The CA Supreme Court Grants Petition for Review of McMillin Albany LLC v. Super Ct. 2015 F069370 (Cal.App.5 Dist.) As to Whether the Right to Repair Act (SB800) is the Exclusive Remedy for All Defect Claims Arising Out of New Residential Construction

    The Starter Apartment Is Nearly Extinct in San Francisco and New York

    The Value of Photographic Evidence in Construction Litigation

    DoD Will Require New Cybersecurity Standards in 2020: Could Other Agencies Be Next?

    Remodel Gets Pricey for Town

    Water Leak Covered for First Thirteen Days

    Nine Firm Members Recognized as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

    CSLB Begins Processing Applications for New B-2 License

    Bar Against Forum Selection Clauses in Construction Contracts Extended to Design Professionals

    Assert a Party’s Noncompliance of Conditions Precedent with Particularity

    New York State Legislature Reintroduces Bills to Extend Mortgage Recording Tax to Mezzanine Debt and Preferred Equity

    Illinois Federal Court Determines if Damages Are Too Remote

    Court Dismisses Coverage Action In Lieu of Pending State Case

    Five Facts About Housing That Will Make People In New York City and San Francisco Depressed

    Partner Jason Taylor and Senior Associate Danielle Kegley Successful in Appeal of Summary Disposition on Priority of Coverage Dispute in the Michigan Court of Appeals

    California Senator Proposes Bill to Require Contractors to Report Construction Defect Cases

    Meet Some Key Players in 2020 Environmental Litigation

    The General Assembly Adds Some Clarity to Contracts and Unlicensed Contractors

    California Bid Protests: Responsiveness and Materiality

    Party Loses Additional Insured Argument by Improper Pleading

    Mortar Insufficient to Insure Summary Judgment in Construction Defect Case

    Fourth Circuit Clarifies What Qualifies As “Labor” Under The Miller Act

    #1 CDJ Topic: McMillin Albany LLC v Superior Court of California

    Interpreting Insurance Coverage and Exclusions: When Sudden means Sudden and EIFS means Faulty

    Liability Insurer Precluded from Intervening in Insured’s Lawsuit

    New OSHA Rule Creates Electronic Reporting Requirement

    Liability policy covers negligent construction: GA high court

    How Concrete Mistakes Added Cost to the Recent Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge Project

    Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Rose at Slower Pace in May

    COVID-19 Damages and Time Recovery: Contract Checklist and Analysis

    No Choice between Homeowner Protection and Bankrupt Developers?

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    Georgia Appellate Court Supports County Claim Against Surety Company’s Failure to Pay

    DIR Reminds Public Works Contractors to Renew Registrations Before January 1, 2016 to Avoid Hefty Penalty

    Business Interruption Claim Upheld

    Bad Faith in the First Party Insurance Context

    Background Owner of Property Cannot Be Compelled to Arbitrate Construction Defects

    Signed, Sealed and (Almost) Delivered: EU Council Authorizes Signing of U.S. – EU Bilateral Insurance Agreement

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    Points on Negotiating Construction Claims

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    Professional Services Exclusion Bars Coverage After Carbon Monoxide Leak

    Former SNC-Lavalin CEO Now Set for Trial in Bribe Case

    Beware: Hyper-Technical Labor Code Violations May Expose Employers to Significant Claims for Penalties under the Labor Code California Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA)

    Hurricane Ian: Florida Expedites Road Work as Damage Comes Into Focus

    A Quick Checklist for Subcontractors

    Does the Miller Act Trump Subcontract Dispute Provisions?
    Corporate Profile

    SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT
    DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

    The Seattle, Washington Building Expert Group at BHA, leverages from the experience gained through more than 7,000 construction related expert witness designations encompassing a wide spectrum of construction related disputes. Drawing from this considerable body of experience, BHA provides construction related trial support and expert services to Seattle's most recognized construction litigation practitioners, commercial general liability carriers, owners, construction practice groups, as well as a variety of state and local government agencies.

    Building Expert News & Info
    Seattle, Washington

    California Supreme Court Rules Developers can be Required to Include Affordable Housing

    June 17, 2015 —
    The Los Angeles Times reported that in a unanimous decision, the California Supreme court justices declared that “cities and counties” can “require developers to sell some housing at below-market rates.” Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote, “It will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with California’s current housing market that the significant problems arising from a scarcity of affordable housing have not been solved over the past three decades,” as quoted in the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti applauded the decision: “This gives Los Angeles and other local governments another possible tool to use as we tackle our affordable housing crisis.” Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of

    California Supreme Court Finds Vertical Exhaustion Applies to First-Level Excess Policies

    August 26, 2024 —
    Addressing issues left open in its seminal decision in Montrose, the California Supreme Court found that the language in the first-level excess policies meant that the insured could access the policies upon exhaustion of the directly underlying policies purchased for the same policy period. Truck Ins. Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum Corp., 2024 Cal. LEXIS 3271 (Cal. June 17, 2024). From 1944 through the 1970's, Kaiser manufactured asbestos-containing products at numerous different facilities. By 2004, more than 24,000 claimants had filed product liability claims against Kaiser alleging that they had suffered bodily injury as a result of exposure to Kaiser's asbestos products. Kaiser tendered these claims to Truck, one of several primary insurers that had issued CGL policies to Kaiser. In 2001, Truck initiated this coverage action to determine its indemnity and defense obligations to Kaiser. Truck later amended its complaint to add a cause of action for contribution against several of Kaiser's excess insurers. The issue presently before the court was whether Truck was entitled to contribution from various coinsurers that issued first-level excess policies to Kaiser during the period in question. Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
    Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

    Colorado Senate Revives Construction Defects Reform Bill

    March 01, 2017 —
    A re-booted construction defects reform bill recently passed its first Senate committee, according to the Denver Business Journal. Next, Senate Bill 156, sponsored by Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs, heads to the Senate floor for debate. SB 156 “would require that condominium owners alleging construction defects take their disputes to arbitration or mediation if requested by builders,” the Denver Business Journal reported. “It also would require that homeowners be informed of the consequences of filing legal actions over purported disputes and that a majority of all owners in a condominium complex vote to proceed with legal action, rather than just a majority of homeowners association board members.” However, it is almost identical to the failed measures that were introduced in 2014 and 2015. Homeowners association group members and owners of defective condominiums argued against the measure, stating “that the effort would not improve the quality of building in the state, but simply would block aggrieved Coloradans from taking their complaints before a jury of their peers.” Proponent of the bill, Tom Clark, CEO of Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., said “that Denver’s housing costs have risen since the first bill was introduced in 2013 to the sixth-most-expensive in the country – and are tops for any metro area not on a coast.” Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of

    California Supreme Court Holds that Prevailing Wages are Not Required for Mobilization Work, for Now

    October 18, 2021 —
    In the midst of the Great Depression the federal government enacted the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. section 32141 et seq.) to help workers on federal construction projects. Under the Davis-Bacon Act, minimum wages must be paid to workers on federal public works projects based on local “prevailing” wages. At the time, the goal of the law was to help curb the displacement of families by employers who were recruiting lower-wage workers from outside local areas. A darker history suggests that it was also intended to discourage minority workers from competing with unionized white workers. Fast forward to today. Many states, including California, adopted “Little Davis-Bacon” laws applying similar requirements on state and local public works projects. California’s prevailing wage law (Labor Code section 1720 et seq.) requires contractors on state and local public works projects pay their workers the general prevailing rate of per diem wages based on the classification or type of work performed by the employee in the locality where the project is located. Over the years, labor unions have sought to expand the definition of what constitutes a “public works project” from private residential developments receiving public funding (generally, prevailing wages required) to off-site fabrication of materials at permanent facility for a public works project (no prevailing wages required) to enforcement mechanisms such as making a general contractor liable for prevailing wage violations of its subcontractors (yes, indeedy, see Labor Code section 1775). Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
    Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

    Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (05/10/23) – Wobbling Real Estate, Booming (and Busting) Construction, and Eye-Watering Insurance Premiums

    May 22, 2023 —
    In our latest roundup, the commercial real estate sector continues to wobble, construction booms and busts, flood insurance premiums reach eye-watering levels, and more.
    • In its latest Financial Stability report, the Federal Reserve acknowledges that the shaky commercial real estate sector could potentially harm the U.S. financial system. (Courtenay Brown, Axios)
    • New data from the California Department of Finance shows that even though the state’s population significantly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, home building soared, reaching levels not seen since 2008. (Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times)
    • Already weakened by rising interest rates, inflation and debt, Sweden’s real estate sector took another hit as SBB’s shares continued to slump. (Reuters)
    Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

    Home Prices Up in Metro Regions

    October 30, 2013 —
    Housing prices in the largest metro regions beat expectations, rising 12.8% in August as compared to a year before. Analysts were expecting weaker increases; instead these have been the fastest increases in seven years. The metropolitan area with the largest increase was Las Vegas, where houses increased in price by 29.2%. Three California regions — San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego — also saw increases of greater than 20%. Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of

    Mixed Reality for Construction: Applicability and Reality

    July 22, 2019 —
    One technology available to the digital contractor for mapping what’s happening in the physical world with the 3D models is mixed reality. Mixed reality often includes both augmented reality and virtual reality. Preconstruction Phase During the preconstruction design phase, mixed reality can be used for a number of tasks, such as:
    • conducting design iterations;
    • communicating designs to owners;
    • visualizing the impact of design changes;
    • discovering design and coordination clashes; and
    • mocking up virtual interior designs.
    Marketing Mixed reality can also be used to create marketing material, such as a virtual showroom. Imagine being able to show a potential client what the building will look like. For example, the client, wearing mixed-reality glasses, can see the physical neighborhood with the building or can take a virtual “walk” through of an apartment before it it is even completed. Reprinted courtesy of A. Vincent Vasquez, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of

    CSLB’s Military Application Assistance Program

    October 20, 2016 —
    Who knew? I didn’t. Military Applicants, with Proper Forms, Move to Front of Line for Contractor License Processing SACRAMENTO – The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) salutes U.S. military personnel for their service and offers expedited application processing by specially trained staff to veterans seeking to become licensed contractors. Unfortunately, not all veterans applying for California contractor licenses are able to take advantage of this opportunity because they do not submit the forms required for this service. Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP
    Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com