Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Colorado Senate Voted to Kill One of Three Construction Defect Bills

May 05, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The Denver Business Journal reported that the Colorado Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-2 to kill SB 219, one of the three construction defect bills introduced by Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, D-Commerce City. SB 219 “would have given the divisions of housing, insurance and law a combined $150,000 to collect data that would shine light on the reasons for the current shortage of owner-occupied affordable housing.” However, the two other construction defect related bills are still alive. SB 216 “would offer financial incentives for building condos worth less than $500,000 and SB 220, would make it more difficult for condo owners to file a class-action lawsuit regarding alleged defects.” Read the court decision
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Administrative and Environmental Law Cases Decided During the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017-2018 Term

July 28, 2018 — Anthony B. Cavender & Amy L. Pierce - Gravel2Gavel
Unlike other Terms, only a handful of cases addressed administrative and environmental law issues in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017-2018 Term. However, the next Term of the Court promises to be more active in these areas.

On January 22, 2018, the Court issued a unanimous opinion in the Clean Water Act (CWA) case, Nat’l Assoc. of Mfrs. v. Dep’t of Defense, holding that the plain language of the CWA requires the appeal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) redefinition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS Rule) must be heard first in the federal district courts. Whereas all appeals of most EPA CWA effluent limitation rules must be heard in the federal Courts of Appeals, Congress chose not to do this with respect to this definitional rule. The Court points out that reviews in the Courts of Appeals must take place within 120 days of the rule’s promulgation, but any review of a rule in the federal district court must take place within 6 years of the date the claim accrues.

Reprinted courtesy of Anthony B. Cavender, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Amy L. Pierce, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman Mr. Cavender may be contacted at anthony.cavender@pillsburylaw.com Ms. Pierce may be contacted at amy.pierce@pillsburylaw.com Read the court decision
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New Joint Venture to Develop a New Community in Orange County, California

April 08, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Taylor Morrison Home Corporation and two of its largest shareholders have created a joint venture “to acquire and develop the 195.5 acres of San Clemente coast known as Marblehead,” according to GlobeSt.com. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based developer is expected to begin construction on the 300 luxury home site in 2015. “Marblehead is a truly unique site and one of the last undeveloped tracts of coastal land in California,” said Sheryl Palmer, president and CEO of Taylor Morrison, as quoted by GlobeSt.com. “It presents a tremendous opportunity that will deepen our land inventory of exceptional sites and further our standard of building high-quality homes in premier locations across North America.” Read the court decision
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California Construction Bill Dies in Committee

July 21, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

AB 20, which its sponsor, Linda Halderman (R-Fresno), stated would discourage class action lawsuits against builders and protect jobs in the construction industry, has died in committee. Although the Business Journal reported in June that Haldeman was promoting the bill during a talk in her district and the bill is still on her web site, the California Assembly reports that the bill failed in committee on March 15, 2011. It is possible that the bill could be reconsidered, but the Assembly Committee on Judiciary sees the bill as responding to issues quieted by SB 800 which gives builders the right to repair alleged defects before any suit can be filed.

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Chattanooga Bridge Collapse Likely Resulted From Impact

April 17, 2019 — Jim Parsons - Engineering News-Record
Tennessee highway officials believe an impact from a vehicle’s oversized load is likely to blame for the April 1 partial collapse of a ramp structure at the I-75/I-24 interchange in Chattanooga. The impact caused the outer box beam and railing of the 148-ft-long bridge’s nearly 51-ft main span to fall onto an access ramp, injuring a motorist whose vehicle collided with the debris. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jim Parsons, ENR
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com

Stair Collapse Points to Need for Structural Inspections

November 27, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The exterior stairways at the Nutmeg Woods apartments in New London, Connecticut have lead to injuries three times in the last three years, with the most recent failure causing fatal injuries. Despite the annual injuries, the city has not been inspecting the stairways on an annual basis. Calvin Darrow, New London’s fire marshal, told The Day, a New London newspaper, that these inspections are supposed to occur annually, but tend to come about once every five years. Mr. Darrow ascribed the matter to staffing issues. The stairways have now received a preliminary inspection by a structural engineer, and building and fire officials. Kirk Kripas told the paper that the Building Department was still attempting to determine when the stairs were built. Read the court decision
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Uniform Rules Governing New York’s Supreme and County Courts Get An Overhaul

February 08, 2021 — Andrew I. Hamelsky, Jenifer A. Scarcella & Monica Doss - White and Williams LLP
By Administrative Order effective February 1, 2021, New York’s Uniform Civil Rules for the Supreme Court will incorporate a number of changes to the general part that reflect many of New York’s Commercial Division Rules, in an effort to streamline court processes. The general part rule changes are a step forward for improving the efficiency, modernization and cost-effectiveness of the New York Courts, and will require practitioners to be more conscientious of court appearances and deadlines. Judges will likely be strict on adherence to the new Uniform Rules. Some notable changes to the rules are highlighted below. Court Appearances and Scheduling Orders Uniform Rule 202.1 has been revised to require that counsel who appear before the court must be familiar with the case they are appearing for, and be fully prepared and authorized to discuss and resolve the issues that are the subject of the appearance. Reprinted courtesy of Andrew I. Hamelsky, White and Williams LLP, Jenifer A. Scarcella, White and Williams LLP and Monica Doss, White and Williams LLP Mr. Hamelsky may be contacted at hamelskya@whiteandwilliams.com Ms. Scarcella may be contacted at scarcellaj@whiteandwilliams.com Ms. Doss may be contacted at dossm@whiteandwilliams.com Read the court decision
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Hilary Soaks California With Flooding Rain and Snarls Flights

August 21, 2023 — Brian K. Sullivan & Brian Wingfield - Bloomberg
The remnants of Tropical Storm Hilary pummeled California with record rains on Monday, disrupting flights but sparing its largest cities from widespread destruction. Across the region, “the ongoing and historic amount of rainfall is expected to cause life-threatening to locally catastrophic” floods, along with landslides and mudslides, the National Hurricane Center said in a notice early Monday. The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, has weakened since coming ashore in California late Sunday. As of early Monday, it had maximum sustained winds of about 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour and is forecast to move across Nevada and dissipate on Monday. Hilary, a rare storm to hit the Southwest, could bring a year’s worth of rain to parts of a region famous for its usually balmy weather. Heavy rain and flash flooding have already disrupted transportation, and officials warned residents to stay off the roads. In the last 10 years, flooding from rainfall has caused the most deaths from hurricanes and tropical storms in the US. Read the court decision
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