Cambridge Massachusetts Building Expert Directory

2023 Construction Outlook: Construction Starts Expected to Flatten

February 06, 2023 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
There’s a lot to worry about going into 2023 according to Dodge Data & Analytics in its 2023 Construction Industry Outlook:

Inflation
More oil production cuts from OPEC
Relations between China and Taiwan
Further escalation of the war in Ukraine

While the immediate forecast is choppy, if things stabilize in the back half of 2023, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, total construction starts in the U.S. should remain flat in 2023. While “flat” may not sound particularly optimistic, it is, when you consider that total construction starts in 2022 were up 17%. “We’re sitting at 14- to 15-year highs in the Dodge Momentum Index,” stated Richard Branch, Chief Economist at Dodge Data, “so it should provide some semblance of confidence and reassurance that developers and owners are continuing to put projects into the queue despite the fact that we’re concerned about what might happen when interest rates keep rising and the economy slows down in 2023.” Labor shortages will continue to be a big hurdle for the construction industry, according to Branch, but a bright spot is in material prices that peaked in 2021 but generally fell throughout 2022. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

The Four Forces That Will Take on Concrete and Make Construction Smart

September 17, 2018 — Massimiliano Moruzzi - Construction Executive
When it comes to building a bridge, what prevents it from having the most enduring and sustainable life span? What is its worst enemy? The answer is, simply, the bridge itself—its own weight. Built with today’s construction processes, bridges and buildings are so overly massed with energy and material that they’re inherently unsustainable. While concrete is quite literally one of the foundations of modern construction, it’s not the best building material. It’s sensitive to pollution. It cracks, stainsand collapses in reaction to rain and carbon dioxide. It’s a dead weight: Take San Francisco’s sinking, leaning Millennium Tower as an example. Reprinted courtesy of Massimiliano Moruzzi, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Agile Project Management in the Construction Industry

January 09, 2023 — Mohammad Saki - AEC Business
The linear workflows used in the construction industry, such as the RIBA plan of work, have a history of starting when the previous phases end. The stages in these workflows are often distinct and sequential, and it might be difficult or expensive to go back after a stage is finished. Design reviews are required in this method, which is also known as the “Waterfall,” and they must be completed before moving on to the next level. Cross-phase iterations are a rare symptom of problems, and the majority of design specifications will be locked early to prevent rework. Additionally, common planning and scheduling methods for the construction industry, like the Critical Path Method (CPM) and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), lack the ability to represent feedback and iteration in projects because they only permit one-way progression. As a result, these processes have come under fire for being a linear paradigm that encourages a fragmented approach to project management, and the need for a more iterative procedure has increased. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Mohammad Saki, AEC Business

FAA Plans Final Regulation on Commercial Drone Use by Mid-2016

June 17, 2015 — Rachel Adams-Heard and Alan Levin – Bloomberg
The Federal Aviation Administration intends to issue final regulations for operating small commercial drones by the middle of 2016, a top administrator told a U.S. House committee Wednesday. “The rule will be in place within the year,” FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker said at the House Oversight Committee hearing. He said, “hopefully before June 17, 2016.” While the FAA has previously said it was seeking to complete the rule as swiftly as possible, Whitaker’s comments in answering lawmakers’ questions are the most specific yet about timing. Reprinted courtesy of Rachel Adams-Heard, Bloomberg and Alan Levin, Bloomberg Read the court decision
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The Unpost, Post: Dynamex and the Construction Indianapolis

July 10, 2018 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
It’s been three months since the California Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, Case No. S222732 (April 30, 2018) and I’ve had a couple of readers (perhaps my only two) ask whether I was going to write about the decision. I’m not. Well, obviously, that’s not quite true if you’re reading this. Rather, I’ll tell you why I’m writing about not writing about the decision. Dynamex is certainly an important decision and one that will likely be cited for decades to come. In short, Dynamex changed the nearly 30-year old test, first elucidated in S.G. Borello & Sons Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341, for determining whether a worker is properly classified as an independent contractor or an employee. 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

Did the Building Boom Lead to a Boom in Construction Defects?

May 10, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The height of the building boom is now almost a decade past but some are saying that the results of the rush to get housing built during the profitable market are still with us. The Wall Street Journal reports on the rise of construction defect lawsuits as these homes have aged, some not too gracefully. One couple thought they were hearing acorns falling on their roof. They were less happy to find that the source of the noises was their house slumping on one end, leading to cracks throughout the house. Their neighbors had similar problems and they are now part of a lawsuit against the builder. The expenses to repair the houses could total millions of dollars. Some have suggested that during the building boom both building and inspection standards were more lax in order to keep up with the pace of building. Criterium Engineers, a building-inspection firm, estimates that 17% of new homes built in 2006 had at least two significant defect, while only 15% of those built in 2003 fit these criteria. Meanwhile others attribute the rise in construction defect lawsuits to home inspector and construction defect attorneys looking for new territories to exploit. Read the court decision
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NY Estimating Consultant Settles $3.1M Government Project Fraud Case

November 23, 2020 — Eva Fedderly - Engineering News-Record
VJ Associates, a Hicksville, N.Y., estimating consultant, has agreed to pay $3.13 million in civil and criminal penalties to settle charges that the firm overbilled and falsified hours on multiple federal and state government-funded transportation and other contracts in New York and Massachusetts, the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston announced on Oct. 29. Reprinted courtesy of Eva Fedderly, Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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The Importance of a Notice of Completion to Contractors, Subcontractors and Suppliers

August 12, 2024 — William L. Porter - Porter Law Group
The recording of a valid “Notice of Completion” with the County Recorder is an event of significance to owners, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers alike. The recording of a Notice of Completion is one of several methods used to trigger the time period for the recording of mechanics liens and service of stop payment notices. Although the recording of a Notice of Completion is not absolutely required on any given project, all those working in the construction industry should understand its significance. When a valid Notice of Completion has not been recorded in relation to a construction project, a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier might from ninety to one hundred fifty days after completion of the project to record a mechanics lien or serve a stop payment notice to secure payment for their services on the project, depending on the facts. However, if a valid Notice of Completion is recorded, then the deadline under most circumstances accelerates and subcontractors and suppliers must record a mechanics lien or serve a stop payment notice within only thirty days thereafter. Under the same circumstances, a prime contractor has only sixty days after the recording of a valid Notice of Completion to record a mechanics’ lien. Failure to meet these deadlines often results in loss of the right to a mechanics lien or stop payment notice. There are limited exceptions to these general deadlines, depending on the facts. If you believe you may have missed an important deadline to seek collection of a construction debt, you should consult with a construction attorney immediately to secure your avenues of collection, including the mechanics lien and stop payment notice remedies, if still available. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of William L. Porter, Porter Law Group
Mr. Porter may be contacted at bporter@porterlaw.com

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