Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Home Building Likely to Stick to Slow Pace

November 13, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The National Association of Realtors is predicting that home builders will continue to be cautious in the number of homes they build, leading to a continued shortage and higher prices for those that are built. “The inventory shortage will not go away,” said Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. According to Mr. Yun, the inventory is the lowest it has been in 13 years. As a result of many factors, including rising home prices and rising interest rates, the group is predicting that new home sales will remain flat next year, offering little incentive to builders. Read the court decision
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Landmark Montana Supreme Court Decision Series: Known Loss Doctrine & Interpretation of “Occurrence”

March 06, 2022 — Lorelie S. Masters, Patrick M. McDermott & Rachel E. Hudgins - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
In this final post in the Blog’s Landmark Montana Supreme Court Decision Series, we discuss the court’s ruling on the known loss doctrine and its interpretation of “occurrence” in National Indemnity Co. v. State, 499 P.3d 516 (Mont. 2021). Personal injury claims against the State of Montana arose out of its alleged failure to warn Libby residents about the danger of asbestos exposure despite the State’s regulatory inspections of the Libby Mine as early as the 1950s and through the 1970s. Among other defenses, the insurer contended that there was no coverage for these claims because the asbestos claims arising out of the Libby Mine were a “known loss.” A “known loss” defense, as the court explained, is “not based upon a provision of the Policy, but a common law principle which courts have imposed upon liability policies” that “requires that losses arise without the insureds’ knowledge.” Reprinted courtesy of Lorelie S. Masters, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Patrick M. McDermott, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Rachel E. Hudgins, Hunton Andrews Kurth Ms. Masters may be contacted at lmasters@HuntonAK.com Mr. McDermott may be contacted at pmcdermott@HuntonAK.com Ms. Hudgins may be contacted at rhudgins@HuntonAK.com Read the court decision
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Contractor Pleads Guilty to Disadvantaged-Business Fraud

November 17, 2016 — Tom Ichniowski – Engineering News-Record
In the latest development in a federal small disadvantaged-business case, a construction company executive has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to commit wire fraud. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tom Ichniowski, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Ichniowski may be contacted at ichniowskit@enr.com

Firm Sued for Stopping Construction in Indiana Wants Case Tried in Germany

October 16, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Getrag Transmission, a German firm, is being sued by a Detroit-based construction firm that Getrag had hired to build a factory in Indiana. When a court gave the go-ahead to Walbridge Construction for the suit, Getrag appealed, stating that the case should be held in German so that Getrag officials do not have the expense of traveling to Indiana. Getrag was building the plant, which would have cost $350 million, as part of a partnership with Chrysler. Chrysler dropped from the project after filing for bankruptcy. Shortly afterward, Getrag also filed for bankruptcy. Walbridge is seeking $118.5 million due to expenses incurred with subcontractors. Chrysler has announced its intention of finishing the plant, which they estimate will cost about $162 million. Once complete, the plant will employ about 850 workers. Read the court decision
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Congratulations to BWB&O’s Las Vegas Team on Obtaining Summary Judgment for the Firm’s Landowner Client!

August 03, 2022 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP is proud to announce Partner Anthony Garasi, Senior Associate Madeline Arcellana, and Associate Laura Rios successfully won a Motion for Summary Judgment (“MSJ”), while also defeating two competing MSJs filed by Plaintiff, and ultimately obtaining a full dismissal of their landowner client against claims of premises liability. Plaintiff, who sued both BWB&O’s client (the landowner) and its tenant, alleged injury when he slipped and fell, while utilizing a temporary wooden board as a ramp that was placed on the subject property by the tenant, who was occupying the property subject to a lease-to-own arrangement with BWB&O’s client. In this Motion practice, the BWB&O team successfully obtained a ruling from the Court to find that BWB&O’s client had effectively contracted to delegate its maintenance responsibilities to its tenant, and also that the tenant owed BWB&O’s client full indemnity for Plaintiff’s alleged losses. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

AI AEC Show: Augmenta Gives Designers Superpowers

December 31, 2024 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
In this episode of the AI AEC Show, host Aarni Heiskanen interviews Aaron Szymanski and Francesco Iorio, the visionary founders of Augmenta, to explore how generative AI is revolutionizing design. Augmenta’s platform gives designers superpowers by automating complex workflows, doubling productivity, and enabling better, faster decision-making. Discover the fascinating origin story of Augmenta, born from the intersection of industrial design frustration and cutting-edge AI research. Aaron and Francesco share how their backgrounds in manufacturing, design, and technology led them to tackle inefficiencies in the construction industry—starting with electrical raceway design. They reveal how their AI-powered tools save time and optimize designs for cost, sustainability, and constructability. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

Leonard Fadeeff v. State Farm General Insurance Company

September 21, 2020 — Michael Velladao - Lewis Brisbois
In Fadeeff v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co., 50 Cal.App.5th 94 (May 22, 2020), the California Court of Appeal reversed the entry of summary judgment in favor of State Farm General Insurance Company (“State Farm”) in connection with a smoke and soot damage claim made by Leonard and Patricia Fadeeff (the “Fadeeffs”) for damage sustained by their home due to the 2015 Valley Fire. The parties’ dispute arose out of the Valley Fire, which took place in Lake County, California. The Fadeeffs’ home was located in Hidden Valley Lake. The Fadeeffs submitted a claim to State Farm under their homeowners policy. Initially, after an adjuster inspected the home and noted that it was “well maintained” with no apparent maintenance issues, State Farm made a series of payments and arranged for ServPro to clean the smoke and soot damage. Subsequently, the Fadeeffs retained an independent adjuster and submitted a supplemental claim in the amount of $75,000. State Farm retained a different unlicensed adjuster to investigate the claim and retained expert, Forensic Analytical Consulting Services (FACS) to inspect the Fadeeffs’ home, and another company referred to as HVACi, to inspect the Fadeeffs’ HVAC system. The independent adjuster used to investigate the Fadeeffs’ supplemental claim failed to follow company guidelines in connection with using experts, which required specific questions to be addressed by the expert. In addition, FACS only took surface samples of the walls in the Fadeeffs’ home. Ultimately, the reports prepared by FACS and HVACi concluded that no additional work was required to remediate the damage sustained by the Fadeeffs’ home. Thereafter, State Farm denied the Fadeeffs’ supplemental claim. 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

Henderson Engineers Tests AI for Building Systems Design with Torch.AI

September 26, 2022 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Torch.AI is testing a new artificial intelligence application with Henderson Engineers, a national building systems design firm, to unlock the creative and problem solving potential of the firm’s more than 1,000 employees. Henderson Engineers is a building systems design and engineering firm that works on projects across the business, community, health, retail, and venue sectors. Their projects include many high-profile projects, such as SoFi Stadium, host site for the 2022 Super Bowl. They know how the industry relies on highly complex information contained in equally complex unstructured data: drawings, images, PDFs, handwriting, raw text. Earlier this year, Henderson began testing new artificial intelligence from Torch.AI that could learn to read complex construction and engineering documents and diagrams. “When Kevin Lewis, Henderson’s CEO, and I got together to first discuss the partnership, I could tell they were already thinking way ahead of everyone else,” says Brian Weaver, Chairman and CEO of Torch.AI. “As an engineering firm they are meticulous, thoughtful, strategic. We quickly saw the potential impact these new AI systems could have for their amazingly talented teams and are excited to continue growing our relationship.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES