SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Structural Problems May Cause Year-Long Delay Opening New Orleans School

January 29, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to the Uptown Messenger, structural issues found at Audubon Charter School’s Broadway campus in New Orleans, Louisiana, will require “selective demolition” and “could delay students’ return by as much as a full year.” Late September of last year, “officials discovered that some of the steel supports around the stair towers were not level—some of the steel beams lean out several inches, so that the floors are not parallel.” Discovering the problem will require some demolition, according to Chris Young of Blitch Knevel architects as quoted in the Uptown Messenger: “…we’re going to have to tear down a lot of this construction to expose that steel frame to make sure that every steel beam is straight and true and not deformed.” Read the court decision
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General Contractor’s Professional Malpractice/Negligence Claim Against Design Professional

November 30, 2017 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
A recent case supports a professional malpractice (negligence) claim by a general contractor against a design professional by reversing a trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of the design professional and finding a question of fact remained as to an architect’s role in the renovation of a public construction project. By the appellate court finding that a question of fact remained, the appellate court was finding that it was a triable issue, which is exactly what the general contractor wanted in this case. Getting this issue and the facts to the jury is the leverage the general contractor presumably wanted. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Florida Construction Legal Updates
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dadelstein@gmail.com

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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (1/30/24) – Life Science Construction to Increase, Overall Homeownership Is Majority Female, and Senators Urge Fed Chair to Lower Interest Rates

February 26, 2024 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, hospitality and real estate companies create living options, SEC questions some financial institutions on exposure to risks from CRE, renting shows signs of overtaking buying in the housing market, and more!

• For generations, buying has almost always been favored over renting when it comes to housing, but with a tough real estate market, that might be changing. (Geoff Bennett and Dorothy Hastings, PBS)
• Single women own more homes than single men, and overall homeownership is now majority female. (Brianna Crane and Alice Feng, Axios)
• The SEC is asking smaller financial institutions, including community and regional banks, about their exposure to risks from commercial real estate in their loan portfolios. (S.J. Steinhardt, The New York State Society of CPAs)

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Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

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Wendel Rosen’s Construction Practice Group Receives First Tier Ranking by U.S. News and World Reports

December 02, 2015 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
Ok, it may not be an Oscar, or even an Emmy, but we’re humbled and honoured just the same. Wendel Rosen’s Construction Practice Group has received a first-tier ranking by the U.S. News and World Reports in its 2016 Best Law Firms rankings. This is the third year in a row that the firm’s Construction Practice Group has received this honor. Joining it on stage is the firm’s Real Estate, Bankruptcy, and Real Estate Litigation practices which also received first-tier rankings and the firm’s Land Use practice which received a second-tier ranking. 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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No Interlocutory Appeals of "Garden-Variety" Contract Disputes

March 12, 2015 — Jesse Howard Witt – Acerbic Witt
Colorado’s new procedure for interlocutory appeals has its limits. In the recent decision of Rich v. Ball Ranch Partnership, ___ P.3d ___, 2014 COA 6 (2015), the Colorado Court of Appeals held that Appellate Rule 4.2 does not permit interlocutory review of questions of law in “garden-variety” or “run-of-the-mill” contract disputes. This resolves a subtle question that has been lingering since Colorado first created the interlocutory appeal process four years ago. Prior to 2011, Colorado did not permit civil litigants to seek appellate review prior to final judgment, except in a small handful of situations. As I discussed in an article at the time, this changed with the passage of C.R.S. § 13-4-102.1 and the adoption of Rule 4.2, which granted the court of appeals discretion to permit the immediate appeal of certain district court orders. These provisions allowed parties to seek interlocutory review of orders before the conclusion of a case if a district court could certify that (1) immediate review might promote a more orderly disposition or establish a final disposition of the litigation, and (2) the order involved a controlling and unresolved question of law. The rule was patterned after 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), which provides similar relief in the federal courts. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jesse Howard Witt, The Witt Law Firm
Mr. Witt welcomes comments at www.acerbicwitt.com

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Alleged Negligent Misrepresentation on Condition of Home is Not an Occurrence Causing Property Damage

December 17, 2024 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The court found that even if the insured's negligent misrepresentations constituted an accident, the disclosures did not cause physical damage to the property. Wood v. USAA Cas. Ins. Co., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 180624 (D. S.C. Sept. 12, 2024). The insured, Clinton Wood, purchased a townhome in January 2014. After the purchase, Wood experienced leaks and significant water intrusion, as did other townhome owners in the same development. Wood and the other owners retained an engineer to evaluate the cause of the water damage. The engineer determined that the water intrusion was caused by defects in the design and construction of the residence. The engineer told Wood that the proposed repairs would not adequately address and resolve the water intrusion and leaks, and that the problems would continue even if repairs were made. 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

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Sarah P. Long Expands Insurance Coverage Team at Payne & Fears

March 19, 2024 — Payne & Fears LLP
Sarah P. Long has joined Payne & Fears LLP as a Partner in the firm’s Insurance Coverage and Litigation Group. Sarah has represented clients in all aspects of insurance coverage and litigation and also focus on construction defect claims and litigation. Before joining Payne & Fears, Sarah was a partner at Koeller, Nebeker, Carlson, Haluck, LLP, where she represented many of the nation’s builders in construction defect actions and bad faith insurance coverage disputes for 17 years. Known for her dependability, efficiency, and creative problem-solving, Sarah always strives to secure the best results for her clients in the most efficient manner. “We are excited to welcome Sarah to P&F as we continue to expand and add depth to our Insurance Litigation Group. I have known Sarah in a professional and personal capacity for more than 16 years. She is well respected by clients and peers in the legal profession. She is a bright, efficient, and innovative attorney and a wonderful person,” said Sarah Odia, the group’s co-chair. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Payne & Fears LLP

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How To Lock Disputes Out Of Your Project In Construction

July 22, 2019 — Anastasios Koutsogiannis – LetsBuild
Disputes are seen as one of the main threats for the successful completion of a project in construction. There is a plethora of factors which could lead to a construction dispute (e.g. contracts, behavior, environment) but, strangely enough, the industry seems to invest more attention on the resolution of a conflict instead of its prevention. Thanks to the progress that digital technologies have witnessed during the last few years, there is a good chance that things in construction will change for the better soon. The ability to exchange crucial updates in real time, while keeping a detailed record of everything that happens on the field adds an extra level of protection to your project and ensures that all agents are on the same page. In an effort to shed some light on the issue of construction disputes, we present below four tips that could help your team to lock conflicts out of your project: 1. Standardize your processes Before you kickstart your project, it is of paramount importance that you standardize all your systems and processes. In that way, you will be able to add extra clarity to your workflow and eliminate misunderstandings. Once you have achieved that, you can replicate the same process to your future projects. The more you manage to repeat the same project structure the better your team will become in completing their tasks without ending up in any kind of conflict. In that sense, standardization could be a long-term investment for your organization. 2. Go digital As soon as your processes are defined, it is time for the digital journey to begin. Finding the right tool for your project will result in a streamlined construction process where all the members of the team are on the same page without any room for costly mistakes or disagreements. Furthermore, with the help of digital solutions it becomes easier for project managers to measure the performance on site and monitor the completion of the set benchmarks. Like that, all payments will be on time and the program of the project will reflect reality. 3. Be extra careful with the contracts A poorly-written contract can have a big impact on the effort to lock disputes out of your construction project. While putting together a new contract, you should always make sure that you have taken into account all the different scenarios for your project. Either that is a delay due to weather conditions or an accident on site everything should be described in detail in the contracts and be well understood by those in charge. In any other case, things can get a bit risky and a costly dispute might wait to happen. 4. Hold regular meetings with all stakeholders Last but certainly not least, meet regularly with all project stakeholders. The frequent contact with the different members of your team will allow you to discuss and resolve any problematic situations before they grow out of proportion. What is more, regular meetings will help both your field teams and the people in the office to remain aligned and will eliminate the possibility of having people working on outdated versions of the program. Of course, these meetings don’t need to be time-consuming or even in person. With the help of technology, you can keep these meetings short and to the point. In that manner, everybody involved will be able to get the most out of them. Final word All in all, it becomes clear that locking disputes out of your project in construction requires continuous work and a carefully-elaborated plan. Thankfully, the emergence and progress of digital solutions have made this process much easier contributing significantly to the development of the industry far from disputes and project misunderstandings. About the author: Anastasios Koutsogiannis is Content Marketing Manager at LetsBuild. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Anastasios Koutsogiannis, LetsBuild

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