Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

While Construction Permits Slowly Rise, Construction Starts and Completions in California Are Stagnant

December 05, 2022 — John Kazanovicz & Jason Feld - Kahana Feld
There is an interesting phenomenon happening in the California construction market since the Summer of 2022. There is a steady but slow rise in the construction building permits being issued throughout California. According to the U.S. Census and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s joint announcement (https://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/pdf/newresconst.pdf) of new residential construction statistics for September 2022, privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,564,000. This is 1.4 percent above the revised August rate of 1,542,000. While this is slightly lower than a year ago (3.2 percent below the September 2021 rate of 1,615,000), the trend for obtaining new home permits was reportedly ahead of the projected rates given the market conditions and inflation throughout the country. Interestingly, single‐family authorizations in September were at a rate of 872,000 which was also 3.1 percent below the revised August 2022 figure of 900,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 644,000 in September. Overall, while slowly recovering from the record lows during the height of the pandemic, the economic forecast for new home construction in California is positive, but cautious. The flip side of this coin is the construction starts in California, which continue to remain stagnant despite additional building permits being issued. Privately‐owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,439,000. This is 8.1 percent (±14.9 percent) below the revised August estimate of 1,566,000 and is 7.7 percent (±11.5 percent) below the September 2021 rate of 1,559,000. Single‐family housing starts in September were at a rate of 892,000; this is 4.7 percent (±10.7 percent) below the revised August figure of 936,000. The September rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 530,000. Reprinted courtesy of John Kazanovicz, Kahana Feld and Jason Feld, Kahana Feld Mr. Kazanovicz may be contacted at jkazanovicz@kahanafeld.com Mr. Feld may be contacted at jfeld@kahanafeld.com Read the court decision
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Contractor to Repair Defective Stucco, Plans on Suing Subcontractor

February 21, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The contractor for the Manatee County Judicial Center will be replacing the defective stucco on the building, but they have stated that they intend to go after the subcontractor who initially installed the defective stucco. The contractor, Balfour Beatty LLC, has said they will pay for the repairs, but Steve Holt, an executive of the firm said that “we have initiated a lawsuit against the subcontractor, who we believe was substantially or completely responsible to recover those funds.” Mr. Holt named Commercial Plastering as the subcontractor responsible. Read the court decision
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Parking Reform Takes Off on the West Coast

January 23, 2023 — Allan Van Vliet - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Starting January 1, 2023, real estate developers in Oregon and California will no longer be required to build off-street parking facilities for certain projects located near public transit. Both states enacted new rules during the course of 2022 which are effective as of the beginning of 2023, and which seek to reduce the costs of building at least some new projects in major population centers. In California, A.B. 2097 was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September, and prohibits city governments throughout the state (including in charter cities) from enforcing any local land use provisions which would require the developer to build parking spaces as part of their project if the project is located within one half-mile of a major public transit stop. The law applies to both residential and commercial projects. Cities can continue mandating parking for individual projects if they find that doing so is important to support the development of affordable housing—this exception was added to allay concerns that the bill would undermine “density bonus” programs which have become an important tool for the promotion of new affordable housing development around the state. In Oregon, following a 2020 executive order by Governor Kate Brown, the state Land Conservation and Development Commission (the body responsible for land use and planning regulation in Oregon) embarked on a two-year rulemaking process which culminated in July of 2022 with the approval of a set of “Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities Rules.” Like the California legislation, these rules (in part) limit the ability of Oregon’s most populous cities to enforce parking minimums for new development projects. Unlike the California law, the Oregon rules encourage cities simply to repeal their parking mandates entirely. Cities subject the new rules which choose not to repeal their parking mandates in full must, as an alternative, adopt new local policies to reduce the amount of land dedicated to parking in certain geographies or in connection with certain uses. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Allan Van Vliet, Pillsbury
Mr. Van Vliet may be contacted at allan.vanvliet@pillsburylaw.com

Fourteen Years as a Solo!

July 08, 2024 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
I have always found it appropriate that my jump to solo practice and Independence Day are so close in time. Today marks 14 years since my first day as a solo practitioner of construction law at The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC. Time sure has flown by thanks to the great clients and friends who followed me to solo practice and whom I have met since the firm’s founding on July 1, 2010. I also could not have made the transition and had the fun and success I have enjoyed over the past 14 years without the support of the best wife and family that any construction lawyer could want. Since the firm’s last anniversary, my youngest child (who was 7 when this journey began!) started and completed her junior year at N. C. State University and is currently in Idaho working as an intern for Idaho Fish & Game, my second oldest is an assistant director of admissions at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and is newly married, and my oldest has bought a home, adopted an adorable golden retriever puppy, and celebrated her third marriage anniversary. Our home in Captiva, Florida has also continued its recovery from Hurricane Ian. Professionally, I’ve had a great year. I am serving as the Vice Chair of the Section Council of the Virginia Bar Association Construction and Public Contracts Law section. I was also honored to be nominated and elected to the Virginia Legal Elite in Construction Law for the 17th straight year and to the Virginia Super Lawyers in Construction Litigation for the 8th year running. I also continued to have the opportunity to teach in various construction-related venues on relevant topics and to help out some of the best clients around. I have also continued to grow my ADR practice, including arbitration and mediation. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Wendel Rosen’s Construction Practice Group Receives First Tier Ranking

January 28, 2015 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
We try to limit our narcissism here at Wendel Rosen but every once in a while we toot our own horn. Lawyers are, after all, a rather sad, competitive, yet insecure bunch (i.e., we eat this stuff up). We’re proud to announce that Wendel Rosen’s Construction Practice Group has received a first tier ranking in U.S. News & World Reports’ Best Law Firms for 2015. This is the second year the Construction Practice Group has received a first tier ranking. Yay us! 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

Building Inspector Refuses to State Why Apartments Condemned

August 06, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
In Lockport, New York, “more than two dozen tenants have been locked out of their apartment building…but they have yet to find out why,” according to WIVB news. Brian Belson, Lockport’s building inspector, condemned the building and ordered the tenants to leave, providing only 15 minutes advanced warning. Once all of the tenants were out, the first floor windows and doors were boarded up. At first, tenants were told that they would be able to return in a few days, but now they are being told it could be weeks. However, WIVB News reported that Brian Belson has not returned any of their phone calls, so they have “filed a Freedom of Information request at Town Hall, seeking that information.” Belson has five days to respond to the request. Read the court decision
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VOSH Jumps Into the Employee Misclassification Pool

February 23, 2016 — Christopher G. Hill – Construction Law Musings
The proper classification of workers by construction companies has been on the radar of the Department of Labor for both the US and Virginia governments for quite a while. While most of the misclassification is innocent and not done to create issues, there have been enough instances of purposeful misclassification of certain workers as independent contractors (thus avoiding workers comp and other payroll expenses) that innocent contractors have born the brunt of these issues through increased payroll costs over those that misclassify (in the form of necessarily higher bids, higher overhead, etc.). As an additional deterrent to improper classification of workers, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry has issued guidelines for what will occur in Virginia Department of Safety and Health (VOSH) cases. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher G. Hill, Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Reasonableness of Denial of Requests for Admission Based Upon Expert’s Opinions Depends On Factors Within Party’s Understanding

February 27, 2019 — Stephen M. Tye & Lawrence S. Zucker II - Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In Orange County Water District v. The Arnold Engineering Company (D070763), the Fourth Appellate District examined the criteria for evaluating the reasonableness of a parties’ denial of requests for admission (RFA’s) based upon their expert’s opinions and the proof required to recover costs for unreasonable denials. In Orange County Water District, the Orange County Water District (the District) sued several current and former owners and operators of industrial sites, including The Arnold Engineering Company (Arnold), to recover expenses associated with groundwater cleanup efforts intended to address groundwater contamination caused by volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) and other chemicals. Over six years, the parties conducted extensive discovery, including document productions, depositions, and soil sampling and monitoring. Reprinted courtesy of Stephen M. Tye, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and Lawrence S. Zucker II, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP Mr. Tye may be contacted at stye@hbblaw.com Mr. Zucker may be contacted at lzucker@hbblaw.com Read the court decision
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