FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Safe Commercial Asbestos-Removal Practices

April 18, 2023 — Emily Newton - Construction Executive
Contractors must proceed with caution to safely remove asbestos and protect employees and commercial buildings. Only contractors licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in abatement should dispose of it, because the best asbestos-removal practices require high degrees of care and safety. Asbestos is a stealthy material, quickly becoming airborne and contaminating other areas of the building and humans. No matter a contractor's tenure in the field, it's vital to remember the top practices in the industry as people learn more about elusive, toxic asbestos-containing materials (ACMs). Wait for Technician and Inspector Feedback It’s important to find out if a jobsite contains asbestos. Proceed with caution if the structure was built before the 1990s. The removal process shouldn't start immediately if a business suspects asbestos and reaches out to a company. Inspectors scope the situation and grab samples for lab testing to determine how abaters should handle the case. They will need to know every potential hiding place for the asbestos, analyzing everything from caulking to wiring for asbestos coatings and other variants of the substance. This may take time, but commercial contractors must wait until they receive this information before proceeding. 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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Coyness is Nice. Just Not When Seeking a Default Judgment

March 04, 2019 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
As Morrissey of the Smith’s sang: Coyness is nice, but Coyness can stop you, from saying all the things in life you’d like to. It’s not uncommon in litigation to see a complaint asking for “damages according to proof.” Call it laziness. Call it hiding the ball. Call it coy, even. I call it risky. And here’s why: If a defendant doesn’t appear and you need to seek a default judgment against him, her, or it, you are barred from doing so, since you are limited to recovering the amount you sought. And last I checked, something of nothing is nothing. In Yu v. Liberty Surplus Insurance Corporation, California Court of Appeals for the Fourth District, Case No. G054522 (December 11, 2018), one plaintiff found this out the hard way, although perhaps not quite in the way they expected it. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Wendel Rosen
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com

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How Helsinki Airport Uses BIM to Create the Best Customer Experience

September 07, 2017 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Helsinki Airport is arguably one of the best in the world. Thanks to its perfect location between Asia and Europe, it’s becoming an ever-more-popular hub. I interviewed Finavia’s Design Manager, Kari Ristolainen, about the airport’s development program and how building information modeling (BIM) is essential to its success. On my way to Finavia’s project office, I walked by the newly opened South Pier. The construction company’s blue site huts were still there, but inside, the terminal seemed fully operational. The South Pier is the latest addition in the development program that started in 2014. Of the 21 airports that Finavia has in Finland, Helsinki is the crown jewel. The €900 million expansion and renovation program will eventually double the airport’s capacity. In 2014, Finavia chose Lemminkäinen as the project management contractor for the terminal expansion. Destia is the partner in the alliance for extending the airport apron. PES Architects continues as the principal designer, while other designers include Sweco Structures, Granlund, and SITO. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at info@aepartners.fi

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Newmeyer & Dillion’s Alan Packer Selected to 2018 Northern California Super Lawyers List

July 18, 2018 — Newmeyer & Dillion
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – JULY 10, 2018 – Prominent business and real estate law firm Newmeyer & Dillion LLP is pleased to announce that litigation attorney Alan Packer has been selected to the 2018 Northern California Super Lawyers list. No more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by Super Lawyers each year. Packer is a partner in the firm's expanding Walnut Creek office. He has practiced law in California for over 30 years, mostly representing parties involved in real estate, home building, commercial construction, and insurance matters. He represents business clients, homebuilders, property owners, and others in a broad range of legal matters. Packer is a frequent speaker at seminars and in-house training sessions for clients on issues relating to risk management, construction litigation, and insurance. Earlier this year, Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys in Newport Beach and Las Vegas were also selected to Super Lawyers lists. Packer brings its total to 19 Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys recognized. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations, resulting in a comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.

Alan Packer Partner Walnut Creek Contact 925.988.3200 alan.packer@ndlf.com Practices Business Litigation Construction Litigation Insurance Law Real Estate Litigation About Newmeyer & Dillion For more than 30 years, Newmeyer & Dillion has delivered creative and outstanding legal solutions and trial results for a wide array of clients. With over 70 attorneys practicing in all aspects of business, employment, real estate, construction and insurance law, Newmeyer & Dillion delivers legal services tailored to meet each client's needs. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Walnut Creek, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and Super Lawyers as top tier and some of the best lawyers in California, and have been given Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review's AV Preeminent® highest rating. For additional information, call 949.854.7000 or visit www.ndlf.com. Read the court decision
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Loss of Use From Allegedly Improper Drainage System Triggers Defense Under CGL Policy

February 28, 2018 — Katherine E. Miller and Michael S. Levine – Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
The Eleventh Circuit, in Mid-Continent Casualty Co. v. Adams Homes of Northwest Florida, Inc., No. 17-12660, 2018 WL 834896, at * 3-4 (11th Cir. Feb. 13, 2018) (per curiam), recently held under Florida law that a homebuilder’s alleged failure to implement a proper drainage system that allowed for neighborhood flooding triggered a general liability insurer’s duty to defend because the allegations involved a potentially covered loss of use of covered property. Reprinted courtesy of Katherine E. Miller, Hunton & Williams and Michael S. Levine, Hunton & Williams Ms. Miller may be contacted at kmiller@hunton.com Mr. Levine may be contacted at mlevine@hunton.com Read the court decision
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Additional Insured Obligations and the Underlying Lawsuit

October 07, 2016 — David Adelstein – Florida Construction Legal Updates
As a general contractor, you understand the importance of being named an additional insured under your subcontractors’ commercial general liability (CGL) policies. Not only do you want your subcontract to express that a subcontractor’s CGL policy is primary and noncontributory to your policy, but you want it to express that the subcontractor must identify you as an additional insured for ongoing and completed operations. Even with this language, you want the subcontractor to provide you with their additional insured endorsement and, preferably, a primary and noncontributory endorsement. These additional insured obligations are important to any general contractor that has been sued in a construction defect / property damage lawsuit. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Florida Construction Legal Updates
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@katzbarron.com

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Federal District Court Addresses Material Misrepresentation in First Party Property Damage Claim

August 26, 2024 — James M. Eastham - Traub Lieberman
In Pittsfield Dev. LLC v. Travelers Indem. Co., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117530 (N.D. Ill. July 3, 2024), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois addressed an alleged material misrepresentation by an insured during the course of the adjustment of a water loss claim at an insured property. Subsequent to a pipe burst event which caused damage to a number of the floors in the insured building, the insured submitted a claim to Travelers and also submitted, with the assistance of a retained public adjuster, a damage estimate of the damages at the property. Included within the estimate submitted by the insured was a line item for "Lead Paint & Asbestos Removal" with a corresponding dollar amount of $1,140,000. It was this line item which formed the basis of Travelers' claim of misrepresentation. At his deposition, the public adjuster testified that the $1,140,000 figure was an oral estimate received over the phone from an asbestos remediation company. Travelers disputed the testimony and contended that no such estimate was ever provided. For support, Travelers pointed to deposition testimony from a remediation company employee that while rough estimates were occasionally given verbally, the largest over the phone estimate she could recall was in the $20,000-$25,000 range. It was also disputed that the company would ever provide an oral quote of that magnitude sight unseen, especially since the largest project the remediation company had ever completed was less than $250,000. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of James M. Eastham, Traub Lieberman
Mr. Eastham may be contacted at jeastham@tlsslaw.com

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ENR 2024 Water Report: Managers Look to Potable Water Reuse

July 15, 2024 — Pam McFarland - Engineering News-Record
With nearly all seven states within the 250,000-sq-mile Colorado River basin scrambling to conserve their apportionments from the river system’s increasingly depleted resources, interest in securing alternative local drinking water supplies is soaring. Reprinted courtesy of Pam McFarland, Engineering News-Record Ms. McFarland may be contacted at mcfarlandp@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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