Cambridge Massachusetts Building Expert Directory

Builder and County Tussle over Unfinished Homes

November 13, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Rivard, Florida has been trying to get rid of a group of unfinished homes destroyed. Now Hernando County officials have decreed that the partially-built homes are unsafe and must be demolished. However, after the building permits were withdrawn, Costa Homes filed a lawsuit asking that they be reinstated. The county had given the builder a deadline to file new permits, but were met with a lawsuit. Costa Homes seeks to be relived of the county’s requirement that each of the six homes be provided with $10,000 bond and also finds the county’s completion schedule to be “so short it constitutes a prescription for failure.” Building officials had declared the structures unsafe in August and had stipulated that they had to be made safe. Read the court decision
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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

August 17, 2020 — Jeff Kaatz - Ahlers Cressman & Sleight
In 2015, the City of Puyallup (“City”) and Conway Construction Company (“Conway”) executed a public works contract for road improvements (“Project”). On March 9, 2016, approximately four months after work started on the Project, the City issued Conway a notice of suspension and breach of contract and identified nine defective and uncorrected work and safety concerns. Conway denied any wrongdoing, and on March 25, 2016, the City issued a notice of termination for default and withheld payments due to Conway. Conway subsequently filed suit in Pierce County Superior Court and alleged the City’s termination for default breached the contract and sought a determination that the City’s termination for default was improper and should be deemed a termination for convenience. Conway sought approximately $1.25 million in damages and recovery of its attorney fees and costs. Following a bench trial, the Trial Court found the City breached the contract and awarded Conway damages, attorney fees, and costs. The City appealed.[1] On appeal, after affirming the trial court’s determination that the City improperly terminated Conway, the Court of Appeals considered two other issues raised by the City. First, whether the City was entitled to a set-off for replacing defective work discovered after Conway was terminated. Second, whether Conway is entitled to attorney fees if it did not make the statutorily required offer of settlement per RCW 39.04.240. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jeff Kaatz, Ahlers Cressman & Sleight
Mr. Kaatz may be contacted at Jeff.Kaatz@acslawyers.com

Missouri Asbestos Litigation Reform: New Bill Seeks to Establish Robust Disclosure Obligations

March 15, 2021 — Jennifer B. Pigeon - Lewis Brisbois
Missouri State Senator Eric Burlison is reviving attempts to reform asbestos litigation in the State of Missouri through the introduction of SB 331. This bill was pre-filed on December 29, 2020 and first read on January 6, 2021. The bill establishes disclosure procedures for claimants in asbestos-related lawsuits. Specifically, the bill, if passed, would require claimants in civil asbestos-related lawsuits to file a sworn information form within 30 days of filing an asbestos-related lawsuit. The required disclosures under SB 331 include, but are not limited to (1) each asbestos-containing product to which the exposed person was exposed and each physical location at which the exposure occurred; (2) the identity of the manufacturer or distributor of specific asbestos-containing products for each named exposure; (3) the specific location and manner of each exposure; (4) the beginning and end dates of each exposure, the frequency and length of each exposure, and the proximity of the asbestos-containing product or its use to the exposed person; and (5) a certification that any claim that can be made with a bankruptcy trust concerning any asbestos injury to the exposed person has been filed. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jennifer B. Pigeon, Lewis Brisbois
Ms. Pigeon may be contacted at Jenna.Pigeon@lewisbrisbois.com

New WOTUS Rule

November 13, 2023 — David R. Cook Jr. - Autry, Hall & Cook, LLP
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers amended the regulation to conform the definition of “waters of the United States” to conform to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. See the prior blog post about the Supreme Court’s ruling: Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency – Construction and Utility Law | Atlanta | AHC Law Federal Register :: Revised Definition of “Waters of the United States”; Conforming Reprinted courtesy of David R. Cook Jr., Autry, Hall & Cook, LLP Mr. Cook may be contacted at cook@ahclaw.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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FEMA Offers Recovery Tips for California Wildfire Survivors

January 14, 2025 — FEMA
WASHINGTON -- While fire suppression activities are still ongoing in parts of Southern California, affected individuals and families are taking steps toward recovery. FEMA is helping people jumpstart their recovery. You may be eligible for FEMA assistance, even if you have insurance. More than $5.3 million so far are in the hands of survivors to help pay for emergency supplies like food, water and baby formula as well as to replace personal property and pay for a temporary place to stay. Below are tips to help Californians recover from the historic wildfires. If your primary home was affected by the fires, FEMA may be able to help you cover certain costs – like paying for essential items, finding a place to stay, replacing personal property or making basic repairs to your home. However, FEMA assistance is designed to help you if you do not have insurance or if your insurance policies don't cover basic needs. If you have insurance, you should file a claim as soon as possible and be ready to provide your coverage information when applying to FEMA. There are several ways to apply for FEMA assistance:

Online at DisasterAssistance.gov and in Spanish language at DisasterAssistance.gov/es.
Calling the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362 for assistance in multiple languages.
On the FEMA App for mobile devices.

To view an accessible video about how to apply visit: FEMA Accessible: Registering for Individual Assistance or en Español. Read the court decision
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South Dakota Supreme Court Holds That Faulty Workmanship Constitutes an “Occurrence”

September 14, 2017 — Samantha Martino - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
The South Dakota Supreme Court recently determined that damage resulting from a subcontractor’s failure to test soil compaction before constructing a home constituted an “accident” and was therefore an “occurrence” under a commercial general liability (CGL) policy. In Owners Ins. Co. v. Tibke Construction, Inc., the homeowners hired Tibke Construction, Inc. to build a new house, and Tibke Construction hired subcontractor Jerry’s Excavating to perform excavation work. The homeowners contended that Jerry’s Excavating failed to do soil compaction testing before commencing construction, which resulted in the home being built on highly expansive soils, leading to damage including excessive settlement, cracking and structural unsoundness. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Samantha Martino, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Ms. Martino may be contacted at smm@sdvlaw.com

Take Advantage of AI and Data Intelligence in Construction

May 06, 2019 — Nick Carter - Construction Executive
For consumers, AI and data intelligence are daily activities. Purchase recommendations from Amazon simplify holiday shopping. Music options from Spotify helps employees focus during the workday and relax at night. Car-sharing apps remove the stress from post-happy hour transport. It is time for this kind of data-driven ease to hit the construction industry. Building is booming, yet despite the good times, the industry still lags in terms of data intelligence and AI. With them, construction providers can transform document and jobsite information into intelligent insights, reduce errors, keep projects on schedule and predict and prevent costly inefficiencies. Artificial intelligence is the “connective tissue” that construction is missing--if it is used wisely. Why Construction is Ready for AI With its endless stream of owners, architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, the construction industry manages more critical information on a day-to-day basis than nearly any other business. As a result, there are dozens of potential miscommunications just waiting to happen every day. Reprinted courtesy of Nick Carter, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Idaho Federal Court Rules Against Sacketts After SCOTUS Decided Judicial Review of an EPA Compliance Order was Permissible

May 13, 2019 — Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2Gavel
In a decision released on March 31, in Sackett v. EPA, the U.S. District Court for Idaho held, without benefit of oral argument, that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) motion for summary judgment should be granted, and accordingly, the Sacketts had violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) by making improvements to 0.63 acres of land they owned without a required CWA permit when the land qualified as a “wetlands.” The EPA had determined the Sacketts’ “property is subject to the CWA because it contains wetlands adjacent to Priest Lake, a traditionally ‘navigable water,’ and, additionally, their property is wetland adjacent to a tributary and similarly situated to other wetlands and has a significant nexus to Priest Lake.” The District Court rejected the Sacketts’ arguments that their property was not a “wetlands” subject to the CWA. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Anthony B. Cavender, Pillsbury
Mr. Cavender may be contacted at anthony.cavender@pillsburylaw.com

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