Columbus Ohio Building Expert Directory

No Coverage for Defects in Subcontrator's Own Work

February 11, 2019 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
Damage to the concrete floor installed by the insured subcontractor was not property damage and thus not covered under the insured's CGL policy. Kalman Floor Co. v. Old Republic Gen. Ins. Corp., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3319 (D. Colo Jan. 8, 2019). In 2007, Kalman Floor Co. was subcontracted to construct over 158,000 square feet of concrete flooring for a cold storage facility. The concrete floor was completed in late 2008. In late 2009, the contractor notified Kalman that pockmarks, or "pop-outs," were visible on the concrete flooring. The only damage to tangible property in the facility caused by the pop-outs was the concrete flooring itself. On January 31, 2009, Old Republic issued a general liability policy to Kalman for one year. The policy excluded for damage to "your work," defined as "work or operations performed by you or on your behalf." Old Republic denied coverage for damage to the concrete floor. Kalman sued, seeking a declaration that the exclusions did not bar coverage. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Constructing a New American Dream

August 06, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Shelley D. Hutchins in Big Builder interviewed various architects and engineers to discuss the future of home design and building. Obtaining the American Dream “means having a place of sanctuary and security as well as shelter,” Hutchins wrote. “What that house looks like and how it functions is changing to accommodate different family make-ups, population and culture shifts toward denser more integrated communities, and increasingly extreme weather patterns.” Hutchins declared, “According to experts, educators, and experimenters in the residential design and construction industry many solutions for building houses for the future involve revisiting what worked before. Combining historic research with new innovations is what will produce the best housing.” Read the court decision
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Bremer Whyte Congratulates Nicole Nuzzo on OCBA Professionalism and Ethics Committee Appointment

November 17, 2016 — Beverley BevenFlorez – CDJ Staff
Nicole Nuzzo of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara LLP was selected as one of the fifteen members of the Orange County Bar Association’s (OCBA) Professionalism and Ethics Committee, announced the firm. Committee members “are committed to supporting and encouraging OCBA members to engage in the professional and ethical practice of law. Members of the Committee are appointed by the OCBA president.” Ms. Nuzzo practices Family Law at the firm’s Newport Beach, California office. Read the court decision
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ACS Recognized by Construction Executive Magazine in the Top 50 Construction Law Firms of 2021

September 06, 2021 — Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
ACS is pleased to announce that the firm has been recognized by Construction Executive magazine in The Top 50 Construction Law Firms™ for 2021. Construction Executive ranked ACS number 31 among the top 50 construction practices in the country. ACS is known for our depth of knowledge of the construction industry and experience in construction law. Our lawyers hold leadership positions within state and national industry organizations. Two of our lawyers are past chairs of the Washington State Bar Association’s Construction Law Section and the current chair, five of our lawyers have served as the Chair of the Associated General Contractors of Washington’s Legal Affairs Committee, and the majority of our lawyers are recognized as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars in Super Lawyers Magazine/Thomson Reuters. Since it was first published in 2003, Construction Executive has become the leading trade magazine for news, market developments, and business issues impacting the construction industry. The magazine reaches more than 55,000 commercial, industrial, and institutional contractors and construction-related business owners. Each issue of Construction Executive includes articles designed to help owners and top managers run a more profitable and productive construction business. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC

NYC-N.J. Gateway Rail-Tunnel Work May Start in 2023

March 28, 2022 — Elise Young - Bloomberg
The $12.3 billion Gateway rail tunnel linking New York City and New Jersey has reached a major preconstruction milestone with the completion of geotechnical studies necessary for the engineering phase. The analysis of rock and silt from 75 earth samples on both sides of the Hudson River marks the latest in a series of swift leaps toward a potential 2023 start date. The project had been delayed years by former President Donald Trump, who had argued that costs should be covered solely by the states, not U.S. taxpayers. The samples, from depths of 48 feet to 505 feet (14.6 meters to 154 meters), will guide design, according to the Gateway Development Commission, the project’s overseer. Some areas of particular interest to the researchers were on Manhattan’s West Side, parts of which were underwater before landfill was added many years ago. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Elise Young, Bloomberg

New York's De Blasio Unveils $41 Billion Plan for Affordable Housing

May 07, 2014 — Henry Goldman – Bloomberg
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio presented plans to build and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing in the next decade by increasing rent protections for the poor and requiring developers to include below-market apartments in newly zoned areas. The $41.1 billion program, paid for with city, state, federal and private funds, would focus 60 percent on preservation and 40 percent on new construction. About $8.2 billion of the cost would be borne by the city, according to a 116-page report detailing the plan, which de Blasio called the “largest, fastest” affordable-housing program ever attempted at the local level. De Blasio, 52, a self-described progressive and the city’s first Democratic mayor in 20 years, took office in January after describing income inequality as the most serious issue facing the most populous U.S. city. He turned his attention to housing today after pushing the state legislature in March to grant the city $300 million to institute universal all-day pre-kindergarten. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Henry Goldman, Bloomberg
Mr. Goldman may be contacted at hgoldman@bloomberg.net

Connecticut Crumbling Concrete Cases Not Covered Under "Collapse" Provision in Homeowner's Policy

July 01, 2019 — Kerianne E. Kane - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
What do you do when your house falls out from underneath you? Over the last few years, homeowners in northeastern Connecticut have been suing their insurers for denying coverage for claims based on deteriorating foundations in their homes. The lawsuits, which have come to be known as the “crumbling concrete cases,” stem from the use of faulty concrete to pour foundations of approximately 35,000 homes built during the 1980s and 1990s. In order to save their homes, thousands of homeowners have been left with no other choice but to lift their homes off the crumbling foundations, tear out the defective concrete and replace it. The process typically costs between $150,000 to $350,000 per home, and homeowner’s insurers are refusing to cover the costs. As a result, dozens of lawsuits have been filed by Connecticut homeowners in both state and federal court. Of those cases, three related lawsuits against Allstate Insurance Company were the first to make it to the federal appellate level.1 The Second Circuit Court of Appeals was tasked with deciding one common issue: whether the “collapse” provision in the Allstate homeowner’s policy affords coverage for gradually deteriorating basement walls that remain standing. The Allstate policies at issue were “all-risk” policies, meaning they covered “sudden and accidental direct physical losses” to residential properties. While “collapse” losses were generally excluded, the policies did provide coverage for a limited class of “sudden and accidental” collapses, including those caused by “hidden decay,” and/or “defective methods or materials used in construction, repair or renovations.” Covered collapses did not include instances of “settling, cracking, shrinking, bulging or expansion.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Kerianne E. Kane, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Ms. Kane may be contacted at kek@sdvlaw.com

Supreme Court Finds Insurance Coverage for Intentional (and Despicable) Act of Contractor’s Employee

July 21, 2018 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Not to cast shade on your fun in the sun, but here’s an unusual, albeit sad and creepy, one for you. I’m bummed even writing about this one. In Liberty Surplus Insurance Corporation v. Ledesma & Meyer Construction Company, Inc., Case No. S236765 (June 4, 2018), the California Supreme Court addressed whether a general contractor’s commercial general liability carrier was obligated to defend and whether the carrier was liable for damages sustained by a young girl who was molested by an employee of the general contractor during construction at a school. At issue was whether the policy’s definition of an “occurrence,” which was defined, like most policies, as “an accident,” was triggered by the “intentional” and clearly not accidental act of the general contractor’s employee. 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

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