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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


    Mortgage Applications in U.S. Jump 11.6% as Refinancing Surges

    7 Ways Technology is Changing Construction (guest post)

    The Hidden Dangers of Construction Defect Litigation: A Redux

    Breaking the Impasse by Understanding Blame

    New York Appellate Division: Second Department Contradicts First Department, Denying Insurer's Recoupment of Defense Costs for Uncovered Claims

    Oregon Codifies Tall Wood Buildings

    Suspend the Work, but Don’t Get Fired

    Employee or Independent Contractor? New Administrator’s Interpretation Issued by Department of Labor Provides Guidance

    The Three L’s of Real Estate Have New, Urgent Meaning

    VOSH Jumps Into the Employee Misclassification Pool

    Maryland Court Affirms Condo Association’s Right to Sue for Construction Defects

    Ambiguity Kills in Construction Contracting

    Federal District Court Addresses Material Misrepresentation in First Party Property Damage Claim

    Remembering Joseph H. Foster

    No Bad Faith in Insurer's Denial of Collapse Claim

    If a Defect Occurs During Construction, Is It an "Occurrence?"

    Hunton Offers Amicus Support in First Circuit Review of “Surface Water” Under Massachusetts Law

    Underpowered AC Not a Construction Defect

    Michigan Finds Coverage for Subcontractor's Faulty Work

    Georgia Court of Appeals Holds That Insurer Must Defend Oil Company Against Entire Lawsuit

    Engineering Report Finds More Investigation Needed of Balconies at New Jersey Condo

    General Indemnity Agreement Can Come Back to Bite You

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    New Jersey Court Washes Away Insurer’s Waiver of Subrogation Arguments

    What If Your CCP 998 Offer is Silent on Costs?

    Allegations of Actual Property Damage Necessary to Invoke Duty to Defend

    Washington’s Court of Appeals Protects Contracting Parties’ Rights to Define the Terms of their Indemnity Agreements

    Fifth Circuit Holds Insurer Owes Duty to Defend Latent Condition Claim That Caused Fire Damage to Property Years After Construction Work

    Professional Liability Client Alert: Law Firms Should Consider Hiring Outside Counsel Before Suing Clients For Unpaid Fees

    BOOK CLUB SERIES: Everything You Want to Know About Construction Arbitration But Were Afraid to Ask

    Documentation Important for Defending Construction Defect Claims

    Purely “Compensatory” Debts Owed by Attorneys to Clients (Which Are Not Disciplinary or Punitive Fees Imposed by the State Bar) Are Dischargeable In Bankruptcy

    Chambers USA Names Peckar & Abramson to Band 1 Level in Construction Law; 29 P&A Lawyers Recognized as Leading Attorneys; Six Regions and Government Contracts Practice Recognized

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    Concerns About On-the-job Safety Persist

    Architect Responds to Defect Lawsuit over Defects at Texas Courthouse

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    Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (08/15/23) – Manufacturing Soars with CHIPS Act, New Threats to U.S. Infrastructure and AI Innovation for One Company

    School’s Lawsuit over Defective Field Construction Delayed

    Negligent Inspection Claim Against Supervising Design Professional / Consultant

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    Second Circuit Finds Potential Ambiguity in Competing “Anti-Concurrent Cause” Provisions in Hurricane Sandy Property Loss

    Appreciate The Risks You Are Assuming In Your Contract
    Corporate Profile

    SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT
    DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

    Leveraging from more than 7,000 construction defect and claims related expert witness designations, the Seattle, Washington Building Expert Group provides a wide range of trial support and consulting services to Seattle's most acknowledged construction practice groups, CGL carriers, builders, owners, and public agencies. Drawing from a diverse pool of construction and design professionals, BHA is able to simultaneously analyze complex claims from the perspective of design, engineering, cost, or standard of care.

    Building Expert News & Info
    Seattle, Washington

    Ohio Rejects the Majority Trend and Finds No Liability Coverage for a Subcontractor’s Faulty Work

    December 11, 2018 —
    In Ohio N. Univ. v. Charles Constr. Servs., 2018 Ohio LEXIS 2375 (No. 2017-0514, October 9, 2018), the Supreme Court of Ohio was recently called upon to determine if a general contractor’s Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy provided coverage for defective work completed by its subcontractor. Rejecting the majority trend, the court held that, because the subcontractor’s faulty work was not an “occurrence” caused by an accident – i.e. a fortuitous event – within the meaning of the contractor’s CGL policy, the insurer did not have to defend or indemnify the contractor with respect to the plaintiff’s claims. Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of Shannon M. Warren, White and Williams LLP
    Ms. Warren may be contacted at warrens@whiteandwilliams.com

    California Supreme Court Declines to Create Exception to Privette Doctrine for “Known Hazards”

    September 13, 2021 —
    In Gonzalez v. Mathis (Aug. 19, 2021, S247677) __ Cal.5th___, the California Supreme Court reversed an appellate decision holding that a landowner may be liable to an independent contractor, or the contractor’s workers, for injuries resulting from “known hazards,” as running contrary to the Privette doctrine. In Gonzalez, the contractor, who specialized in washing skylights, slipped and fell while accessing the landowner’s particularly hard to reach skylight from a narrow retaining wall that was allegedly covered in loose gravel and slippery. (Slip opn., p. 3.) While the trial court initially granted the landowner summary judgment pursuant to the Privette doctrine, the appellate court reversed and held that the landowner had a responsibility to take reasonable safety precautions where there was a known safety hazard on the landowner’s premises. (Id. at p. 6.) Whether the landowner could have taken various safety precautions also raised disputed issues of material fact precluding summary judgment. (Ibid.) However, the California Supreme Court concluded that no broad, third exception to the Privette doctrine lies; “unless a landowner retains control over any part of the contractor’s work and negligently exercises that retained control in a manner that affirmatively contributes to the injury [citation], it will not be liable to an independent contractor or its workers for an injury resulting from a known hazard on the premises.” (Slip opn., p. 2.) Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of Tracy D. Forbath, Lewis Brisbois
    Ms. Forbath may be contacted at Tracy.Forbath@lewisbrisbois.com

    Justin Bieber’s Unpaid Construction Bill Stalls House Sale

    March 26, 2014 —
    The Toronto Sun reported that Justin Bieber’s Calabasas, California house sale to Khloe Kardashian has been stalled due to a an unpaid construction bill. Bieber sold the home for $7.2 million, but allegedly owes $85,000 to a construction company for home repairs. Bieber moved out of his mansion in Calabasas “to Atlanta, Georgia after numerous encounters with the police regarding alleged loud parties, speeding in the gated community and 'egging' a [neighbor’s] house,” according to the Toronto Sun. Bieber has a week to pay the lien, or the house sale does not go through. Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of

    Hydrogen Powers Its Way from Proof of Concept to Reality in Real Estate

    May 10, 2021 —
    Hydrogen is the new buzzword in every industry, and real estate is no exception. Hydrogen does not emit carbon dioxide when burnt and could therefore help reduce the climate impact of buildings, which in aggregate represent one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases after industry and surface transport. To the extent that hydrogen is to become an important power source globally, it will need to enter the domestic power market. The first step appears to be the development of pilot villages. In the UK, there are several hydrogen trials in uninhabited properties or in closed private networks. There are some uninhabited houses on a Royal Air Force base in Cumbria that are exclusively heated with hydrogen and also a private gas network at Keele University which uses 20 percent hydrogen blended with natural gas. In addition, there is a small village near Newcastle that is being used as a test case: for a period of 10 months starting in spring 2021, up to 20 percent hydrogen will be blended into the natural gas network so that more than 650 homes can be partially heated by hydrogen. It is expected that a small number of additional villages will be able to heat their homes with 100 percent hydrogen as soon as 2022, with a scale up to have a hydrogen town by 2030. Reprinted courtesy of Victoria Judd, Pillsbury, Sidney L. Fowler, Pillsbury and Robert G. Howard, Pillsbury Ms. Judd may be contacted at victoria.judd@pillsburylaw.com Mr. Fowler may be contacted at sidney.fowler@pillsburylaw.com Mr. Howard may be contacted at robert.howard@pillsburylaw.com Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of

    How Mansions Can Intensify Wildfires

    May 30, 2022 —
    A neighborhood of $4 million homes that burned Wednesday in a Southern California wildfire highlights the vulnerability of large suburban dwellings to climate-driven blazes, according to fire experts. The Coastal Fire destroyed at least 20 homes in a gated community in Laguna Niguel, a wealthy Orange County enclave near Laguna Beach. Houses in the Coronado Pointe development line a ridge overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Homes in the neighborhood are palatial, ranging in size from about 4,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, and sit on large lots with room for swimming pools with coastal views. But the mansions are wedged together with relatively little space between buildings. When a fire broke out near a wastewater treatment plant on Wednesday, it raced up a chaparral-covered hillside until it encountered an explosive source of fuel – Coronado Pointe. Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Todd Woody, Bloomberg

    Not Pandemic-Proof: The Ongoing Impact of COVID-19 on the Commercial Construction Industry

    December 06, 2021 —
    The impact of COVID-19 has been felt in nearly every industry and arena across the country, with the exception of construction—or so that is the general perception. Perceptions are often wrong though, and this one is no different. The truth is that the construction industry has been hit just as hard, if not harder, than every other industry. As the COVID-19 pandemic struck in the spring of 2020, construction projects plowed forward full steam ahead. Roadwork seemed to increase and developers continued to systematically acquire property and initiate large-scale projects. Perhaps it was these observations that led many to the conclusion that construction was pandemic-proof as the rest of society attempted to cobble together something that vaguely resembled a normal business year. But the construction industry has endured many challenges over the last 18 months, and unfortunately, the challenges do not appear to be evaporating anytime soon. The industry has been primarily affected in the areas of scheduling, manpower and permitting, which has ultimately affected pricing. The entire way jobs are scheduled has been turned upside down. The supply chain issues that many have experienced for everyday household items have hit the construction industry as well. Reprinted courtesy of George B. Green Jr., Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of
    Mr. Green may be contacted at ggreen@wwhgd.com

    More Details Emerge in Fatal Charlotte, NC, Scaffold Collapse

    January 17, 2023 —
    Details have emerged in the Jan. 2 scaffold collapse at an under-construction apartment high-rise in Charlotte, N.C. that killed three workers and injured two. A work suspension continues during an investigation led by the North Carolina Dept. of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Division.  Reprinted courtesy of Derek Lacey, Engineering News-Record and Jim Parsons, Engineering News-Record Mr. Lacey may be contacted at laceyd@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of

    Haight Welcomes Elizabeth Lawley

    September 03, 2015 —
    Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP welcomes partner Elizabeth W. Lawley. Elizabeth joins Haight’s new Sacramento office in the Construction Law and General Liability Practice Groups. She has extensive experience representing construction companies, contractors, subcontractors, real estate developers and insurers. Among her clients are prestigious national home builders, window manufacturers, roofers, HVAC, tile and masonry contractors. Elizabeth provides exceptional legal services while navigating complex litigation handling and resolution and she adds another layer of top-tier skills to Haight’s existing practice. Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP 2485 Natomas Park Drive Suite 450 Sacramento, CA 95833 www.hbblaw.com Read the court decision
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    Reprinted courtesy of Elizabeth W. Lawley, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
    Ms. Lawley may be contacted at elawley@hbblaw.com