BERT HOWE
  • Nationwide: (800) 482-1822    
    custom home building expert Seattle Washington high-rise construction building expert Seattle Washington Subterranean parking building expert Seattle Washington landscaping construction building expert Seattle Washington housing building expert Seattle Washington casino resort building expert Seattle Washington institutional building building expert Seattle Washington custom homes building expert Seattle Washington office building building expert Seattle Washington mid-rise construction building expert Seattle Washington structural steel construction building expert Seattle Washington industrial building building expert Seattle Washington retail construction building expert Seattle Washington Medical building building expert Seattle Washington production housing building expert Seattle Washington condominiums building expert Seattle Washington hospital construction building expert Seattle Washington low-income housing building expert Seattle Washington parking structure building expert Seattle Washington tract home building expert Seattle Washington concrete tilt-up building expert Seattle Washington townhome construction building expert Seattle Washington
    Seattle Washington delay claim expert witnessSeattle Washington consulting general contractorSeattle Washington multi family design expert witnessSeattle Washington concrete expert witnessSeattle Washington construction scheduling expert witnessSeattle Washington roofing and waterproofing expert witnessSeattle Washington expert witness concrete failure
    Arrange No Cost Consultation
    Building Expert Builders Information
    Seattle, Washington

    Washington Builders Right To Repair Current Law Summary:

    Current Law Summary: (SB 5536) The legislature passed a contractor protection bill that reduces contractors' exposure to lawsuits to six years from 12, and gives builders seven "affirmative defenses" to counter defect complaints from homeowners. Claimant must provide notice no later than 45 days before filing action; within 21 days of notice of claim, "construction professional" must serve response; claimant must accept or reject inspection proposal or settlement offer within 30 days; within 14 days following inspection, construction pro must serve written offer to remedy/compromise/settle; claimant can reject all offers; statutes of limitations are tolled until 60 days after period of time during which filing of action is barred under section 3 of the act. This law applies to single-family dwellings and condos.


    Building Expert Contractors Licensing
    Guidelines Seattle Washington

    A license is required for plumbing, and electrical trades. Businesses must register with the Secretary of State.


    Building Expert Contractors Building Industry
    Association Directory
    MBuilders Association of King & Snohomish Counties
    Local # 4955
    335 116th Ave SE
    Bellevue, WA 98004

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    Home Builders Association of Kitsap County
    Local # 4944
    5251 Auto Ctr Way
    Bremerton, WA 98312

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    Home Builders Association of Spokane
    Local # 4966
    5813 E 4th Ave Ste 201
    Spokane, WA 99212

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    Home Builders Association of North Central
    Local # 4957
    PO Box 2065
    Wenatchee, WA 98801

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    MBuilders Association of Pierce County
    Local # 4977
    PO Box 1913 Suite 301
    Tacoma, WA 98401

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    North Peninsula Builders Association
    Local # 4927
    PO Box 748
    Port Angeles, WA 98362
    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10

    Jefferson County Home Builders Association
    Local # 4947
    PO Box 1399
    Port Hadlock, WA 98339

    Seattle Washington Building Expert 10/ 10


    Building Expert News and Information
    For Seattle Washington


    An Obligation to Provide Notice and an Opportunity to Cure May not End after Termination, and Why an Early Offer of Settlement Should Be Considered on Public Works Contracts

    Designing a Fair Standard of Care in Design Agreements

    Contractor Sues Construction Defect Claimants for Defamation

    Insurer Must Produce Documents After Failing To Show They Are Confidential

    Could This Gel Help Tame the California Fires?

    Failure to Meet Code Case Remanded to Lower Court for Attorney Fees

    Are You Taking Full Advantage of Available Reimbursements for Assisting Injured Workers?

    Performance Bond Surety Takeover – Using Terminated Contractor To Complete The Work

    Read Carefully. The Insurance Coverage You Thought You Were Getting May Not Be The Coverage You Got

    Nomos LLP Partners Recognized in Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists

    The Unpost, Post: Dynamex and the Construction Indianapolis

    Texas Plans a Texas-Sized Response to Rising Seas

    Michigan Court Waives Goodbye to Subrogation Claims, Except as to Gross Negligence

    Why Ethiopia’s $5 Billion Dam Has Riled Its Neighbors

    No Coverage for Collapse of Building

    Another TV Fried as Georgia Leads U.S. in Lightning Costs

    Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Water Infrastructure Bill

    No Bond, No Recovery: WA Contractors Must Comply With WA Statutory Requirements Or Risk Being Barred From Recovery If Their Client Refuses To Pay

    Home Building Up in Kansas City

    Department Of Labor Recovers $724K In Back Wages, Damages For 255 Workers After Phoenix Contractor Denied Overtime Pay, Falsified Records

    National Lobbying Firm Opens Colorado Office, Strengthening Construction Defect Efforts

    Home Construction Thriving in Lubbock

    Want to Use Drones in Your Construction Project? FAA Has Just Made It Easier.

    The 2021 Top 50 Construction Law Firms™

    Idaho Construction Executive Found Guilty of Fraud and Tax Evasion

    A Deep Dive Into an Undervalued Urban Marvel

    Australia Warns of Multi-Billion Dollar Climate Disaster Costs

    Trial Victory in San Mateo County!

    Another Setback for the New Staten Island Courthouse

    Arizona Rooftop Safety: Is it Adequate or Substandard?

    When Coronavirus Cases Spike at Construction Jobsites

    NYC Shuts 9 Pre-Kindergartens for Health, Safety Issues

    No Subrogation, Contribution Rights for Carrier Defending Construction Defect Claim

    Federal Arbitration Act Preempts Pennsylvania Payment Act

    Louisiana Court Applies Manifestation Trigger to Affirm Denial of Coverage

    Lithium for Batteries from Geothermal Brine

    Homeowner Sues Brick Manufacturer for Spalling Bricks

    “It Just Didn’t Add Up!”

    Traub Lieberman Attorneys Recognized as 2023 Illinois Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars

    Replacing Coal Plants with Renewables Is Cheaper 80% of the Time

    Helsinki is Building a Digital Twin of the City

    When Do You Call Your Lawyer?

    Norfolk Southern Accused of Trying to Destroy Evidence of Ohio Wreck

    Insurer Liable for Bad Faith Despite Actions of Insured Contributing to Excess Judgment

    Court of Appeal Holds Only “Named Insureds” May Sue for Bad Faith Under California FAIR Plan Policy

    Professional Services Exclusion in CGL Policies

    Federal Court Holds That Other Insurance Analysis Is Unnecessary If Policies Cover Different Risks

    Colorado Senate Voted to Kill One of Three Construction Defect Bills

    Six Inducted into California Homebuilding Hall of Fame

    Wow! A Mechanic’s Lien Bill That Helps Subcontractors and Suppliers
    Corporate Profile

    SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT
    DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

    The Seattle, Washington Building Expert Group is comprised from a number of credentialed construction professionals possessing extensive trial support experience relevant to construction defect and claims matters. Leveraging from more than 25 years experience, BHA provides construction related trial support and expert services to the nation's most recognized construction litigation practitioners, Fortune 500 builders, commercial general liability carriers, owners, construction practice groups, and a variety of state and local government agencies.

    Building Expert News & Info
    Seattle, Washington

    Pennsylvania: Searching Questions Ahead of Oral Argument in Domtar

    October 08, 2014 —
    If you have been following our coverage of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company v. Domtar Paper Co., you will recall that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided on May 29, 2014 to hear the subrogated insurer’s appeal,1 despite the Superior Court’s holding against the subrogated insurer—based primarily on its own defective case law2 —and its denial of reargument, presumably due to the insurer’s briefing follies.3 The parties in Domtar, as well as numerous amici curiae (friends of the court),4 have submitted their respective briefs over the last few months, and the Supreme Court has scheduled oral argument to take place on October 8, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Court has framed the issue as: “Does Section 319 of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, 77 P.S. § 671, allow the employer/insurer to step into the shoes of the insured employee to subrogate against the tortfeasor?”5 There are three possible outcomes in Domtar. The first (and easiest) possible outcome for the Supreme Court would be to punt to the Pennsylvania General Assembly for a decision on the issue. Workers’ compensation legislation, perhaps more than any other type of legislation, “creates a highly structured balancing of competing interests.”6 It is basic civics that the legislature has a “superior ability to examine social policy issues and determine legal standards so as to balance competing concerns.”7 Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Robert Caplan, White and Williams LLP
    Mr. Caplan may be contacted at caplanr@whiteandwilliams.com

    Insurer’s Attempt to Shift Cost of Defense to Another Insurer Found Void as to Public Policy

    June 09, 2016 —
    While construction can sometimes be risky, construction litigation is almost always expensive. This volatile mix of risk and expense has made risk shifting, through indemnity and insurance, a primary goal and concern of project owners, contractors and suppliers alike. Construction insurers know this all too well and insurers, even between themselves, seek to shift risk. As one primary insurer found, however, risk shifting provisions in their policies – specifically, one which sought to shift the cost of defense to another insurer – is not without its limitations. Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP
    Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com

    Parking Reform Takes Off on the West Coast

    January 23, 2023 —
    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
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Allan Van Vliet, Pillsbury
    Mr. Van Vliet may be contacted at allan.vanvliet@pillsburylaw.com

    Janus v. AFSCME

    July 18, 2018 —
    On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Janus v. AFSCME1. By a 5-4 vote, SCOTUS ruled that public employee unions cannot require non-members to pay union dues, even if those employees are benefiting from the services provided by the union. 28 states already had “right-to-work” laws on the books, meaning that unions in those states were already precluded from collecting fees from non-union members. This ruling makes that ban a national standard. Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Ryan Foltz, Gordon & Rees Scully Mansukhani
    Mr. Foltz may be contacted at rfoltz@grsm.com

    Housing Starts Plunge by the Most in Four Years

    March 19, 2015 —
    (Bloomberg) -- Housing starts plummeted in February by the most since 2011 as plunging temperatures and snow became the latest hurdles for an industry struggling to recover. Work began on 897,000 houses at an annualized rate, down 17 percent from January and the fewest in a year, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday in Washington. The pace was slower than the most pessimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey of 81 economists. “Today’s report leaves me a little concerned,” said Michelle Meyer, deputy head of U.S. economics at Bank of America Corp. in New York. “While the initial reaction is to dismiss much of the drop because of the bad weather, the level of home construction continues to be depressed.” Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Bloomberg News
    Michelle Jamrisko may be contacted at mjamrisko@bloomberg.net

    Haight’s Stevie Baris Selected for Super Lawyers’ 2021 Northern California Rising Stars

    July 19, 2021 —
    Congratulations to Stevie Baris who was selected to the Super Lawyers 2021 Northern California Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 2.5% of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, 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 annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. Read the court decision
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of Stevie B. Baris, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
    Mr. Baris may be contacted at sbaris@hbblaw.com

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

    August 26, 2024 —
    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
    Read the full story...
    Reprinted courtesy of James M. Eastham, Traub Lieberman
    Mr. Eastham may be contacted at jeastham@tlsslaw.com

    Best Lawyers Recognizes Twelve White and Williams Lawyers

    September 15, 2016 —
    The 2017 Best Lawyers in America list includes twelve White and Williams lawyers. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer-review. The methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of quality legal services.
      2017 Best Lawyers
    • Frank Bruno, Patent Law
    • Richard Campbell, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
    • James Coffey, Mergers and Acquisitions Law
    • Timothy Davis, Real Estate Law
    • William Hussey, Tax Law; Trusts and Estates
    • Michael Kraemer, Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment
    • Randy Maniloff, Insurance Law
    • John Orlando, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
    • Thomas Rogers, Real Estate Law
    • Joan Rosoff, Real Estate Law
    • Craig Stewart, Insurance Law; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
    • William Taylor, Construction Law
    • Read the court decision
      Read the full story...
      Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP