FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Examining Best Practices for Fire Protection of Critical Systems in Buildings

July 16, 2023 — Jon Jones - Construction Executive
Protecting building occupants and first responders is critically important when designing and constructing commercial buildings. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss from fire, electrical and related hazards, was formed in 1896. Shortly afterward, in 1897, the National Electrical Code (NEC) was established to standardize electrical safety for wiring, alarms and related equipment. Since the birth of these two important standardizing organizations, fire codes have been constantly modified to meet the changing safety needs of new infrastructure. In 1996, the NEC identified key circuits for fire survivability, including emergency systems, fire pumps and fire alarms. Per the 1996 code, these circuits needed to be able to survive for one hour in case of fire. However, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, these requirements began to shift to demand two hours of survivability. Reprinted courtesy of Jon Jones, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Beware of Design Pitfalls In Unfamiliar Territory

September 05, 2022 — Brad Shefrin - Engineering News-Record
$250,000. $1.5 million. $12 million. These are the litigation damage estimates that plaintiffs sought to recover against design professionals who failed to familiarize themselves with local site conditions. Reprinted courtesy of Brad Shefrin, Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Top Five General Tips for All Construction Contracts

October 26, 2020 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
For this week’s Guest Post Friday here at Musings we welcome Spencer Wiegard. Spencer is a Partner with Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore, LLP. He is a member of the firm’s Construction Law and Commercial Litigation practice groups. Spencer focuses his practice in the areas of construction law and construction litigation. Spencer is a member of the Board of Governors for the Virginia State Bar Construction Law and Public Contracts Section, and a member of the Legislative Committee of the Associated General Contractors of Virginia and the Executive Committee for the Roanoke/SW Virginia District of the Associated General Contractors of Virginia. I would like to thank Chris for inviting me to author today’s guest post. Over the past few days, I have found myself wading through the terms and conditions of a lengthy and complicated construction contract, while at the same time aggressively negotiating for Houston house leveling cost readjustments. As I slogged through the legalese, I was reminded of a presentation that I gave earlier this year to the Roanoke District of the Virginia Associated General Contractors. The district’s executive committee asked me to speak to its members concerning the broad topic of “Construction Contracts 101.” At the beginning of my presentation, I passed along my top five general tips for all construction contracts. Although some of these tips may sound like common sense, I often encounter situations where these basic rules are violated by experienced contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and design professionals. My top five general tips for all construction contracts are:

1. Reduce the terms of the agreement to writing.
   1. The written agreement should include all important and relevant information and terms. If it was important enough to discuss prior to signing the contract, it is important enough to include in the written contract;
   2. At a minimum, include who, what, when, where, how, and how much;
   3. Both parties should sign the written agreement; and
   4. Don’t ignore handwritten changes to the contract, as these changes may either mean that you don’t have a deal, or they may become part of the contract when you sign it.
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   Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
   Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

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   U.S. Supreme Court Halts Enforcement of the OSHA Vaccine or Test Mandate

   January 17, 2022 — Stephen E. Irving, Kevin J. O’Connor, Aaron C. Schlesinger & Lauren Rayner Davis - Peckar & Abramson
   The United States Supreme Court today stayed enforcement of the OSHA emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to require employees either be “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing. The ruling immediately stops enforcement of the rule which had gone into effect on January 10, 2022. Today’s order raises significant doubt as to whether the ETS requirement will ever take effect in its current form. A 6 to 3 majority of the Supreme Court justices issued the profound statement that the parties opposed to the rule “are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the Secretary lacked authority to impose the mandate.” The Court went on to state that the OSH Act does not authorize the agency to “set . . . broad public health measures,” such as the found in the current emergency standard. Reprinted courtesy of Stephen E. Irving, Peckar & Abramson, Kevin J. O’Connor, Peckar & Abramson, Aaron C. Schlesinger, Peckar & Abramson and Lauren Rayner Davis, Peckar & Abramson Mr. Irving may be contacted at sirving@pecklaw.com Mr. O'Connor may be contacted at koconnor@pecklaw.com Mr. Schlesinger may be contacted at aschlesinger@pecklaw.com Ms. Davis may be contacted at ldavis@pecklaw.com Read the court decision
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   Washington Supreme Court Finds Agent’s Representations in Certificate of Insurance Bind Insurance Company to Additional Insured Coverage

   February 03, 2020 — Jason Taylor - Traub Lieberman
   In T-Mobile USA Inc. v. Selective Ins. Co. of Am., 450 P.3d 150 (Wash. 2019) the Washington Supreme Court addressed whether an insurance company is bound by its agent’s written representation—made in a certificate of insurance—that a particular corporation is an additional insured under a given policy. The question arose in a case where: (1) the Ninth Circuit had already ruled that the agent acted with apparent authority, but (2) the agent’s representation turned out to be inconsistent with the policy and (3) the certificate of insurance included additional text broadly disclaiming the certificate’s ability to “amend, extend or alter the coverage afforded by” the policy. According to the Court, under Washington law the answer is yes: an insurance company is bound by the representation of its agent in those circumstances. Otherwise, the Court reasoned, an insurance company’s representations would be meaningless and it could mislead without consequence. At the heart of this case were two T-Mobiles entities: T-Mobile USA and T-Mobile Northeast (“T-Mobile NE”), which were distinct legal entities. T-Mobile NE engaged a contractor to construct a cell phone tower on a rooftop in New York City. The contract between T-Mobile NE and the contractor required the contractor to obtain a general liability insurance policy, to annually provide T-Mobile NE “with certificates of insurance evidencing [that policy’s] coverage,” and to name T-Mobile NE as an additional insured under the policy. T-Mobile USA was not a party to the contract, but was nonetheless aware of it and approved the contract as to form. The contractor obtained the required insurance policy from Selective. The policy provided that a third party would automatically become an “additional insured” under the policy if the contractor and the third party entered into their own contract that required the contractor to add the third party to its insurance policy as an additional insured. Because T-Mobile USA did not have a contract with the contractor, it did not automatically become an additional insured under the policy. Nevertheless, over the course of several years, Selective’s agent issued a series of certificates of insurance to “T-Mobile USA Inc., its Subsidiaries and Affiliates” that stated that those entities were “included as an additional insured [under the policy] with respect to” certain areas of coverage. The agent signed those certificates as Selective’s “Authorized Representative.” Read the court decision
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   Reprinted courtesy of Jason Taylor, Traub Lieberman
   Mr. Taylor may be contacted at jtaylor@tlsslaw.com

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   To Arbitrate or Not to Arbitrate? That is the Question

   April 28, 2016 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
   It’s been the fodder of debate of philosophers, academics and the rest of us for ages:
   • Do we have free will or are our actions predetermined and the result of preceding events?
   • Are human beings fundamentally selfless or self preserving?
   • Coca-Cola or Pepsi?
   • iOs or android?
   And for litigators and their clients, including us construction lawyers, arbitration or litigation? Or, in short, if a project goes sideways, in what forum will you resolve your dispute? It’s an important question the answer to which could mean the difference between winning or losing. 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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   Sureties and Bond Producers May Be Liable For a Contractor’s False Claims Action Violation

   October 26, 2017 — Michael C. Zisa & Susan Elliot – Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
   Two recent decisions from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Court of Federal Claims highlight that sureties and bond producers are not immune to the potentially severe consequences of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and related federal fraud statutes. In each case, the Court determined that sureties and bond producers can face potential liability under these fraud statutes for direct and indirect submission of false claims to the federal government Reprinted courtesy of Michael C. Zisa, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and Susan Elliott, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Mr. Zisa may be contacted at mzisa@pecklaw.com Ms. Elliott may be contacted at selliott@pecklaw.com Read the court decision
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   CDJ’s #4 Topic of the Year: KB Home Greater Los Angeles, Inc. v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County

   December 31, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
   KB Home, another case that clarified California’s SB 800, was analyzed by Amy Kuo Alexander of Gordon & Rees LLP in her article on “New Developments Related to SB 800.” Read the full story... KB Home was also discussed by Cvitanovic and Stefco of Haight Brown & Bonesteel in their article on Burch. Read the court decision
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