FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

No One to Go After for Construction Defects at Animal Shelter

January 28, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The Riverside County Animal Shelter in Thousand Palms has had problems since it opened in 2006, including floors that weren't able to withstand scratching by dogs and a malfunctioning HVAC system. The county's expenses only started with the $6.9 million cost of building the shelter, as the building has required almost constant repairs. Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit said that "there were shortcomings in the construction that became apparent later." The County can't sue, because the builder closed operations after a bankruptcy. "There's no one to go after," said Benoit. Read the court decision
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Substitutions On a Construction Project — A Specification Writer Responds

July 03, 2022 — Melissa Dewey Brumback - Construction Law in North Carolina
In response to the post about Substitute Materials on a construction project, Phil Kabza explains how his company, SpecGuy, handles tracking of all such materials on a project. Phil writes: Excellent and important topic, about which there is much confusion among design professionals and contractors. We try to maintain definitions for:

• Pre-bid requests for prior approval of proposed comparable products where products are named in the specifications
• True pre-bid substitution requests that present an alternate type of product from that specified (ie., not “comparable” but perhaps suitable)
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Reprinted courtesy of Melissa Dewey Brumback, Ragsdale Liggett
Ms. Brumback may be contacted at mbrumback@rl-law.com

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Georgia Amends Anti-Indemnity Statute

June 02, 2016 — David R. Cook Jr. – AHHC Construction Law Blog
In its most recent session, the Georgia General Assembly passed HB 943, which amends Georgia’s Anti-Indemnity Statute. The amendment expands the Anti-Indemnity Statute beyond construction contracts to include contracts for engineering, architectural, and land surveying services (“A/E Contracts”). In a prior post, we discussed Georgia’s Anti-Indemnity Statute, which generally prohibits indemnity clauses in construction contracts that require one party (the “Indemnitor”) to indemnify another party (the “Indemnitee”) if property damage or bodily injury results from the Indemnitee’s sole negligence. The prior post, discussed the Supreme Court of Georgia’s broad interpretation of the Anti-Indemnity Statute. HB 943 adds subpart (c), which states:

A covenant, promise, agreement, or understanding in or in connection with or collateral to a contract or agreement for engineering, architectural, or land surveying services purporting to require that one party to such contract or agreement shall indemnify, hold harmless, insure, or defend the other party to the contract or other named indemnitee, including its, his, or her officers, agents, or employees, against liability or claims for damages, losses, or expenses, including attorney fees, is against public policy and void and unenforceable, except for indemnification for damages, losses, or expenses to the extent caused by or resulting from the negligence, recklessness, or intentionally wrongful conduct of the indemnitor or other persons employed or utilized by the indemnitor in the performance of the contract. This subsection shall not affect any obligation under workers’ compensation or coverage or insurance specifically relating to workers’ compensation, nor shall this subsection apply to any requirement that one party to the contract purchase a project specific insurance policy or project specific policy endorsement.

(Emphasis added.) Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David R. Cook Jr., Autry, Hanrahan, Hall & Cook, LLP
Mr. Cook may be contacted at cook@ahclaw.com

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Nader Eghtesad v. State Farm General Insurance Company

September 28, 2020 — Michael Velladao - Lewis Brisbois
In Eghtesad v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co., 51 Cal.App.5th 406 (June 29, 2020), the California Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s entry of judgment in favor of State Farm General Insurance Company (“State Farm”) based on an order sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend regarding a complaint filed by Nader Eghtesad. Mr. Eghtesad, representing himself, filed a form complaint checking a box for breach of contract. The complaint alleged two paragraphs contending that State Farm had acted in bad faith and concealed benefits due under a policy issued to a former tenant who rented space in a building owned by Eghtesad. Eghtesad was an additional insured under the tenant’s policy. In that regard, the building was damaged during the time that the building was rented and Eghtesad tendered a claim under the State Farm policy contending that he was an additional insured pursuant to the terms of the lease with the tenant. According to Eghtesad, State Farm advised him that he could only make a claim for slander against the former tenant and that coverage was not afforded for his property damage claim. After Eghtesad filed his form complaint, State Farm demurred to the complaint and argued that it did not state facts supporting a cause of action for breach of contract. Ultimately, the trial court agreed with State Farm and entered an order sustaining the demurrer without leave to amend, such that a judgment was entered in State Farm’s favor. Due to health reasons, Eghtesad was never able to file an opposition to the demurrer, despite two extensions of time provided by the trial court intended to allow Eghtesad time to retain counsel and to recover from injuries sustained as a result of an automobile accident. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Michael Velladao, Lewis Brisbois
Mr. Velladao may be contacted at Michael.Velladao@lewisbrisbois.com

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Want to Build Affordable Housing in the Heart of Paris? Make It Chic.

November 01, 2022 — Marie Patino & Kriston Capps - Bloomberg
The project at 12 Rue Jean-Bart is a modest one, just eight units of affordable housing on a narrow lot in Paris near the Luxembourg Gardens. The social housing project nevertheless caused a stir with neighbors in the 6th arrondissement, one of the city’s more affluent areas. When local politicians backing the project came to visit the building during its construction, neighbors shouted from windows across the street that it was a shame to build social housing here, according to Jean-Christophe Quinton, the Paris-based architect who designed the small in-fill development. Local resistance was a persistent feature of the project throughout its three-year-long construction, Quinton says; the building regularly faced harsh scrutiny in local newspaper Le Parisien. Reprinted courtesy of Marie Patino, Bloomberg and Kriston Capps, Bloomberg Read the court decision
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Year and a Half Old Las Vegas VA Emergency Room Gets Rebuilt

March 07, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Less than two years have passed since the billion dollar Las Vegas VA Medical Center construction was completed, and “earthmovers have begun churning the site again, this time to expand the hospital’s emergency room because the existing one is inadequate,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The new emergency room project is estimated to cost $16 million. The current emergency room’s design is flawed. “VA officials this week couldn’t explain why the ambulance parking area was designed to be roughly 50 yards from the emergency room’s south entrance, a distance that adds critical seconds to a lifesaving situation,” reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Furthermore, VA officials did not confirm “who drew up the flawed design” or who “was responsible for checking the blueprints.” The Las Vegas Review-Journal also reported that another reason for the expansion is that the current emergency room is too small. A VA spokesman had told the journal that “the emergency room ‘was built based on the workload and the funding that was available at the time,’” yet the journal pointed out that “the number of potential veterans projected to use the center” has remained constant. Read the court decision
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Women Make Slow Entry into Building Trades

December 04, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
In the next seven years, about 200,000 carpenters will be added to workforce, but few of those are likely to be women. Sylas Demello, an electrical apprentice noted that it isn’t “made clear for women in high school to say, ‘hey, this is an option for you.’” Tiffany Bluemle is trying to do something about that. She runs Vermont Works for Women, which trains women for jobs in which there are few women, including the building trades. She notes that “seventy-five percent of owners say they face labor shortages.” Amy Judd is now one of those owners. Fifteen years ago, failing to find a teaching job, she started working as a carpenter. “It had never occurred to me that I would want to be a carpenter,” she said. Her firm employs eight people, half of whom are women. Read the court decision
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The Contributors to This Blog Are Pleased to Announce That….

November 02, 2017 — Snell & Wilmer Real Estate Litigation Blog
Snell & Wilmer’s Real Estate Litigation Group, which provides the content for The Real Estate Litigation Blog, is pleased to announce that it has been recognized in both the national and metropolitan rankings by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers for the 2018 edition of “Best Law Firms.” We achieved the following rankings:
• National Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
• Phoenix (AZ) Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
• Utah Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
• Colorado Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
• Reno (NV) Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
• Tucson (AZ) Tier 1: Litigation – Real Estate
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