Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

NTSB Faults Maintenance, Inspection Oversight for Fern Hollow Bridge Collapse

March 19, 2024 — Jim Parsons - Engineering News-Record
The City of Pittsburgh’s failure to act for more than a decade on repeated maintenance and repair recommendations regarding the Fern Hollow Bridge was the probable cause for the structure’s dramatic 2022 collapse, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said at its Feb. 21, 2024, meeting. The city is the owner of the bridge. Reprinted courtesy of Jim Parsons, Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Cal/OSHA Approves COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards; Executive Order Makes Them Effective Immediately

July 11, 2021 — Leila S. Narvid - Payne & Fears LLP
On June 17, 2021, California's Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board) passed amended COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order to make the amended ETS effective as soon as filed with the Secretary of State. The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) filed them, and the Secretary of State posted them, making the ETS effective immediately. These changes attempt to bring the ETS in alignment with recent changes to California Department of Public Health Order and the latest guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Highlights of the changes to the ETS can be found here. Face Coverings in the Workplace; Elimination of Physical Distancing Notably, fully vaccinated employees do not have to wear a face covering indoors except in limited circumstances. Unvaccinated workers will still need to wear face coverings indoors (unless they are alone in a room or eating and drinking) and in shared vehicles. All employees regardless of vaccination status do not have to wear masks outdoors. Unvaccinated employees must be trained that face coverings are recommended outdoors for individuals who are not fully vaccinated when six feet of physical distance cannot be maintained. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Leila S. Narvid, Payne & Fears LLP
Ms. Narvid may be contacted at ln@paynefears.com

Construction Defect Lawsuits May Follow Hawaii Condo Boom

January 23, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Hawaii is having a bit of a building boom and with this, as Honolulu Civil Beat points out, comes a boom in construction defect litigation, noting that “if past experience is any indicator, the wave of construction will likely be followed by a surge in complex and, for attorneys at least, profitable litigation.” The article provides plenty of evidence to back up that assertion. Defect claims are already resulted in a settlement at Pinnacle Honolulu, a 37-unit luxury condominium project. The owners received a $2.4 million settlement after building code violations were discovered, including fire partitions that either were not fully extended or were breached in some fashion. Meanwhile, the owners of the Koolani Condominiums are still trying to collect on their $12 million arbitration award related to problems in the water system. Another luxury condominium project, the Hokua Condominiums, also has had problems with flooding from water pipes. Read the court decision
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Court Holds That Public Entity Can Unilaterally Replace Subcontractor Under California’s Subletting and Subcontracting Fair Practices Act

July 22, 2019 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
The Subletting and Subcontracting Fair Practices Act (Public Contract Code section 4100 et seq.), also known as the Listing Law, is intended to prevent direct contractors on public works projects from “bid shopping” and “bid peddling.” Bid Shopping: Bid shopping is when a direct contractor discloses a subcontractor’s bid to other subcontractors in an attempt to obtain a lower bid than the one in which it based its bid to the owner. Bid Peddling: Bid peddling is the other side of the equation. It is when a subcontractor whose bid was not selected, lowers its bid in an attempt to induce the direct contractor to substitute it for another subcontractor after the prime contractor’s bid has been awarded. 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

London’s Best Districts Draw Buyers on Italian Triple Dip

August 27, 2014 — Neil Callanan – Bloomberg
Italians were the biggest group of foreigners to buy homes in London’s best districts in the seven months through July as weak domestic growth prompted investment abroad. Italy, which fell into a triple-dip recession in the second quarter, accounted for 6.7 percent of all homes sold in the 13 neighborhoods that Knight Frank LLP defines as prime central London, the broker said in an e-mail today. France was second as euro-area investors accounted for 14.5 percent of purchases, the most in the period since 2011. Russia led the group a year ago, followed by the United Arab Emirates. The European Central Bank’s monetary-policy easing “is driving more euro-zone residents to search for yield abroad,” Goldman Sachs analysts including New York-based chief currency strategist Robin Brooks wrote in a note last week. Yields for homes in prime central London rose in July for the first time since April 2011 as more people opted to rent on concerns that home taxes may rise if the Conservative Party-led government loses next year’s elections, Knight Frank said on Aug. 11. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Neil Callanan, Bloomberg
Mr. Callanan may be contacted at ncallanan@bloomberg.net

Texas School District Accepts Settlement Agreement in Construction Defect Case

October 08, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The Pine Tree ISD Board of Trustees “voted to accept a mediated settlement agreement to end litigation concerning the District’s middle school and its construction issues,” according to KETK News. Pine Tree ISD, located in Longview, Texas, “sued a number of defendant companies for construction and design defects at that campus.” The school district “will receive the total sum of $820,500,” which “will cover the District’s costs in remediating the campus to repair the construction problems, as well as implementing new systems designed to prevent future issues, both of which came out of the District’s general fund.” Read the court decision
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Congratulations to Wilke Fleury’s 2024 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars!!

July 15, 2024 — Wilke Fleury LLP
Wilke Fleury is extremely proud that several of its incredible attorneys have been selected as 2024 Northern California Super Lawyers or Rising Stars! Super Lawyers rates attorneys in each state using a patented selection process and publishes a yearly magazine issue that produces award-winning features on selected attorneys. Congratulations to this talented group: 2024 Super Lawyers:

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Reprinted courtesy of Wilke Fleury LLP

Construction Termination Part 2: How to Handle Construction Administration When the Contractor Is Getting Fired

August 01, 2023 — Melissa Dewey Brumback - Construction Law in North Carolina
If you’ve been working as a design professional for any length of time, you know that you must be a chameleon on the construction project. You need to “step into the skin” of both the Owner and the Contractor to determine who is at fault, and who should pay. You are usually the Initial Decision Maker (IDM), and so you have a duty under the AIA documents to act fairly and impartially in making those decisions. See AIA B101§3.6.2.4. Even if you are not under an AIA contract, you still have that duty if you are the IDM or handling construction administration for the project. More often than not, however, it will be the owner asking you to support its termination of the contractor “for cause.” Should you do so? Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Melissa Dewey Brumback, Ragsdale Liggett
Ms. Brumback may be contacted at mbrumback@rl-law.com

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES