Cambridge Massachusetts Building Expert Directory

Design Professional Liens: A Blueprint

March 12, 2015 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
If you work in the construction industry in California you’re likely familiar with mechanics liens. But there’s one other type of lien available on construction projects in California: The design professional lien. So, here’s a blueprint of what you need to know. What is a design professional lien? A design professional lien, like a mechanics lien, creates a security interest in real property for services rendered by a design professional prior to commencement of construction. If the design professional is not paid, the design professional can file a lawsuit to foreclose on the design professional lien to have the property sold and the proceeds from the sale used to satisfy the amount of the design professional lien. 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

Buildings Don't Have To Be Bird-Killers

February 07, 2022 — Alexandra Lange - Bloomberg
The narrow stretch that separates Quay Tower from a thatch of bamboo and oaks in Brooklyn Bridge Park doesn’t look like much, especially in winter. Unless you’re a bird. To a bird, the copper-colored building’s glass is a mirror, reflecting the thick grove of trees and suggesting that the wilderness continues across the road. To a bird, that can be a deadly mistake. “You see that reflection? To a bird that looks like a tree, that is a tree, and they will go right for the tree,” says Catherine Quayle, social media director at the Wild Bird Fund. The surprising uptake of birding as a pandemic hobby, along with social media and data collection tools like eBird and dBird, has created new visibility for bird collisions with glass, which kill as many as 1 billion birds in the U.S. per year. At the same time, a new generation of urban parks has given birds more places to roost in highly populated areas. But something else has followed these parks as well: real estate capital. The vogue for urban parks creates more economic impetus to build shiny buildings with big windows opposite those urban wetlands, glades and groves. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Alexandra Lange, Bloomberg

NYC Supertall Tower Condo Board Sues Over Alleged Construction, Design 'Defects'

October 04, 2021 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
The condominium board at a 1,396-ft-tall residential tower on New York City’s Billionaires’ Row has sued the building’s developers, claiming to have identified more than 1,500 construction and design defects in common areas alone. Reprinted courtesy of James Leggate, Engineering News-Record Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Pennsylvania Homeowner Blames Cracks on Chipolte Construction

October 14, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
“Everything was shaking, like a big bomb went off.” That’s how Hersey, Pennsylvania resident Maria Yi described the situation during construction of a Chipolte restaurant next to her home. She and other people thought it was an earthquake, but then found it came from the construction site. She told the operator of the machine to stop. Yi and her husband later found cracks in their home which they attribute to the construction activity. Township supervisors were sympathetic to Yi, with Kelly Fedeli, the Supervisor Vice Chairwoman, told Yi that she feels “very badly about what happened to you.” And Chuck Emerick, the township code officer told Yi that “we’re doing everything we can to help you.” This is not Yi’s first conflict with the proposed restaurant. Yi was involved in a lawsuit that sought to stop the restaurant from being built at all. That suit is being appealed, but even if Yi were to win at the appeal, the restaurant would go forward. Said Yi of the supervisors, “they told me there would be no problem.” Read the court decision
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Hyundai to Pay 47M to Settle Construction Equipment's Alleged Clean Air Violations

November 04, 2019 — Tom Ichniowski - Engineering News-Record
Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas Inc. and its parent company are paying a $47-million civil penalty to settle federal allegations that the company sold construction vehicles that weren't certified to meet the appropriate Clean Air Act emissions standards, federal agencies say. Reprinted courtesy of Tom Ichniowski, Engineering News-Record Mr. Ichniowski may be contacted at ichniowskit@enr.com Read the court decision
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The Privette Doctrine and Its Exceptions: Court of Appeal Grapples With the Easy and Not So Easy

November 18, 2024 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
In CBRE v. Superior Court, 102 Cal.App.5th 639 (2024), the 4th District Court of Appeal grappled with a thorny and not-so-thorny issue involving injured parties under the Privette doctrine. The less thorny issue was whether application of the Privette doctrine depends on whether a written contract exists between the parties. Spoiler: It does not. The thorny issue was whether the Hooker exception to the Privette doctrine – which applies when a landowner exercises control over a project – should apply where a landowner directs a contractor to perform work that is at odds with legal requirements. The CBRE Case Property Reserve, Inc. owns an office building managed by CBRE in San Diego, California. On April 9, 2019, PRI entered into a lease agreement with a new tenant for a suite in the building. The lease required that PRI perform certain tenant improvements. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

Ahlers, Cressman & Sleight PLLC Ranked Top Washington Law Firm By Construction Executive

July 06, 2020 — Joshua Lane - Ahlers Cressman & Sleight Blog
ACS is proud to announce that in its review of the top 50 national construction law firms, Construction Executive has ranked ACS as the top 23rd national firm, and first among firms with a majority of their attorneys based in Washington. Now in its 18th year of publication, Construction Executive is the leading trade magazine about the business of construction. In its June 2020 issue, CE published a comprehensive ranking of The Top 50 Construction Law Firms™ featuring breakouts and analysis accompanied by an article in which leading legal experts discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry. To determine the 2020 ranking, CE asked hundreds of US law firms with a construction practice to complete a survey. Data collected included: 1) 2019 revenues from the firm’s construction practice; 2) number of attorneys in the firm’s construction practice; 3) percentage of firm’s total revenues derived from its construction practice; 4) number of AEC clients; and 5) the year in which the construction practice was established. The ranking was determined by an algorithm that weighted the aforementioned factors in descending order of importance. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Joshua Lane, Ahlers Cressman & Sleight Blog
Mr. Lane may be contacted at joshua.lane@acslawyers.com

New Plan Submitted for Explosive Demolition of Old Tappan Zee Bridge

December 19, 2018 — Eydie Cubarrubia - Engineering News-Record
Worker safety concerns sparked a new plan on how to demolish the remnants of the old Tappan Zee Bridge in New York. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Eydie Cubarrubia, ENR
Ms. Cubarrubia may be contacted at cubarrubiae@enr.com

CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES