Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

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

April 15, 2024 — Mark Gongloff - Bloomberg
What will it take to make Americans stop rushing headlong into climate peril? Cheaper housing in safer places, for one thing. But maybe big red flags on property listings will help, too. Redfin Corp., the digital real estate company, last week added air-quality data to its listings as part of its “climate risks” feature, which aims to warn homebuyers of the chances their dream home could succumb to a global-warming nightmare. Using data from the climate research firm First Street Foundation, Redfin estimates a property’s current and predicted risk levels for flooding, wildfires, extreme heat, high winds — and now days when the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index tops 100, a category known as “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Mark Gongloff, Bloomberg

U.S. Homeowners Are Lingering Longer, and the Wait Is Paying Off

July 28, 2018 — Jeremy Hill - Bloomberg
Homeowners in the U.S. are holding on to their houses longer than they have in at least 18 years, and when they do sell, they’re reaping gains that haven’t been seen since before the housing crisis. Those who sold in the second quarter did so after owning their homes for an average of 8.09 years, the longest stretch since Attom Data Solutions started tracking the statistic in 2000. The wait appears to be paying off: Second-quarter sellers recorded gains averaging $58,000 -- the most since the third quarter of 2007. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jeremy Hill, Bloomberg

Latest Updates On The Coronavirus Pandemic

March 30, 2020 — ENR Editors - Engineering News-Record
Coronavirus has struck a heavy blow against the world economy as it forces countries into lockdown with "closed for business" signs, hollows out the tourism, travel and hospitality sectors, turns out the lights on business gatherings and events, sends employees home to work and drives the stock market into a dizzying tumble. ENR Editors ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com Read the full story for ENR's ongoing reporting, analysis and commentary on construction sector developments Read the court decision
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BWB&O Expands to North San Diego

December 09, 2019 — Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara is excited to announce our expansion to North San Diego County. Our new office location in Encinitas is strategically located between our Newport Beach and Downtown San Diego offices. The new North San Diego office will provide further resources to better serve our clients. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara

How Robotics Can Improve Construction and Demolition Waste Sorting

September 11, 2023 — Emily Newton - Construction Executive
Commercial construction projects generate a lot of waste. Managing this debris is crucial to minimizing the industry’s environmental impact, but it’s often a time-consuming and error-prone process. Robotic waste sorting provides a better alternative. Why C&D Waste Management Must Improve The current state of construction and demolition (C&D) debris management leaves considerable room for improvement. Nearly all C&D waste takes decades to break down in landfills—and the sector generates hundreds of millions of tons of it annually. More efficient debris management would help firms protect the environment and their bottom line. Poor waste management practices also take an economic toll. Recycling extends materials’ useful life, helping minimize resource costs. Inefficient waste sorting may additionally lead to unnecessarily high workforce expenses and incur lost business from firms’ lack of sustainability. Reprinted courtesy of Emily Newton, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Construction Trust Fund Statutes: Know What’s Required in the State Where Your Project Is Underway

June 22, 2020 — Christopher D. Cazenave - ConsensusDocs
Construction trust fund statutes have been around for decades. At least 15 states have passed similar statutes. Other states, but not all, do not have an express statute but have interpreted state law to hold that payments received by a general contractor and deposited in a business account establishes a “trust fund.” See e.g., Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7108. The purpose of these laws is straightforward—protect contractors and suppliers against nonpayment for the labor and materials provided for the construction or repair of property. But while the purpose is straightforward, each state’s law differs by imposing different requirements, different privileges, and different remedies. This article provides an overview of how these statutes work as well as a sampling of important requirements and potential pitfalls that you should look out for when a construction trust fund statute applies to your project. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher D. Cazenave, Jones Walker LLP
Mr. Cazenave may be contacted at ccazenave@joneswalker.com

California Supreme Court Finds that When it Comes to Intentional Interference Claims, Public Works Projects are Just Different, Special Even

April 20, 2017 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Earlier, we reported on a California Court of Appeals decision – Roy Allan Slurry Seal, Inc. v. American Asphalt South, Inc. – which held for the first time that a second-place bidder on a public works contract could sue a winning bidder who failed to pay its workers prevailing wages, under the business tort of intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. Fast forward nearly two years, several amicus briefs, and “one doghouse”* later and the California Supreme Court has . . . reversed. The Roy Allan Slurry Seal Case To catch you up, or rather, refresh your recollection . . . Between 2009 and 2012, American Asphalt South, Inc. was awarded 23 public works contracts totaling more than $14.6 million throughout Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Two of the losing bidders on those projects – Roy Allan Slurry Seal, Inc. and Doug Martin Contracting, Inc. – sued American in each of these counties for intentional interference with prospective economic advantage as well as under the Unfair Practices Act (“UPA”) (Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17000 et seq.) and the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) (Bus. & Prof. Code §17200). 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

Two More Lawsuits Filed Over COVID-19 Business Interruption Losses

April 13, 2020 — Michael S. Levine - Hunton Andrews Kurth
Two more lawsuits were filed yesterday concerning business interruption losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The plaintiffs, the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, filed their lawsuits, copies of which can be found here and here, in Oklahoma state court against a litany of property insurers, led by AIG. The lawsuits seek an order that any financial losses suffered by the nations’ casinos, restaurants and other businesses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic are covered by the nations’ insurance policies. According to the complaints:

On or about March of 2020, the United States of America became infected by COVID 19 resulting in a pandemic. As a result of this pandemic and infection, the Nation’s Property sustained direct physical loss or damage and will continue to sustain direct physical loss or damage covered by the policies, including but not limited to business interruption, extra expense, interruption by civil authority, limitations on ingress and egress, and expenses to reduce loss. As a direct result of this pandemic and infection, the Nation’s Property has been damaged, as described above, and cannot be used for its intended purpose.

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Reprinted courtesy of Michael S. Levine, Hunton Andrews Kurth
Mr. Levine may be contacted at mlevine@HuntonAK.com

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