Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Florida Project Could Help Address Runoff, Algae Blooms

September 17, 2018 — Thomas F. Armistead - Engineering News-Record
Heavy rainfall this spring overwhelmed Everglades infrastructure and required operators to discharge nutrient-laden water from Lake Okeechobee to South Florida’s east and west coasts. The resulting toxic algal blooms are fouling Florida’s coast, killing wildlife, driving away vacationers and local beachgoers and threatening public health. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Thomas F. Armistead, ENR
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com

Real Estate & Construction News Round-Up 04/20/22

May 02, 2022 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Construction defects emerge in pandemic-era buildings, investor confidence is improving in China’s real estate market, the proptech field continues to show significant signs of growth, and more.

Investor confidence in China’s real estate market is improving, with bond trading volumes and prices rising over the last few weeks, but the market is not projected to resume its high growth rate of the past. (Weizhen Tan & Evelyn Cheng, CNBC)
The economic shock caused by soaring mortgage rates over the past few weeks has dramatically increased mortgage payments for new homebuyers. (Lance Lambert, Fortune)
With the metaverse economy projected to be worth between $8 and $13 trillion by 2030, blockchain technology serves as a key driver for virtual real estate sales, allowing for “true” ownership of a property. (Robert Koonin, Dan Jasnow, & Kinnon McDonald, TFL)

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

United States Supreme Court Upholds Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements

May 24, 2018 — Amy R. Patton, Jason I. Bluver, & Jeffrey K. Brown - Payne & Fears LLP
On May 21, 2018, the United States Supreme Court held, in a 5-4 decision, that arbitration agreements which mandate individualized resolution of claims (as opposed to class or collective resolution) are enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA"). In doing so, the Court rejected the argument that such "class action waivers" violate Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), which generally protects employees' rights to act "in concert" with one another. The Court addressed a split created by decisions from three Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal: Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis (7th Circuit), Ernst & Young v. Morris (9th Circuit) and National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA (5th Circuit). All three cases involved employees who sought to bring collective or class actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the "FLSA"), and their respective employers who sought to enforce pre-dispute arbitration agreements which waived such collective actions and mandated "one-on-one" arbitration of wage disputes. In support of their position, the employees argued that the class and collective action waivers were illegal because they violated the NLRA's prohibition on barring employees from engaging in "concerted activities." Reprinted courtesy of Payne & Fears LLP attorneys Amy R. Patton, Jason I. Bluver and Jeffrey K. Brown Ms. Patton may be contacted at arp@paynefears.com Mr. Bluver may be contacted at jib@paynefears.com Mr. Brown may be contacted at jkb@paynefears.com Read the court decision
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Homebuyers Aren't Sweating the Fed

December 17, 2015 — Rani Molla – BloombergGadfly
Home prices are escalating, but the culprit isn't the Federal Reserve. The Fed is expected to raise its benchmark rate for the first time since 2006, meaning mortgage rate hikes are likely to follow. Small mortgage-rate increases and, by extension, incrementally higher monthly mortgage payments, usually won't undermine sales because buyers aren't sensitive to small payment changes. Mortgage rates, still at historic lows, have already baked in an expected rate increase of 25 basis points, according to PwC Real Estate Advisory Leader Mitch Roschelle. The National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist David Crowe agrees, adding that the housing market could even digest a cumulative 50 basis point hike by the end of 2016. The real stress in the housing market is coming from somewhere else: labor shortages. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Rani Molla, BloombergGadfly

Appraisers’ Failure to Perform Assessment of Property’s Existence or Damage is Reversible Error

July 30, 2015 — Christopher Kendrick and Valerie A. Moore – Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In Lee v. California Capital Insurance Co. (No. A136280; filed 6/18/15), a California Court of Appeal held that it was error for an appraisal panel to assign loss values to items simply because they were listed in the insured’s scope of loss, and regardless of whether inspection revealed they were undamaged or never existed. California Capital insured a twelve unit apartment building owned by Ms. Lee in Oakland, California. When a fire damaged one unit, the insurer prepared an estimate of $69,255 and paid an undisputed amount of $46,755, which was the amount of the estimate less depreciation and the deductible. But Ms. Lee claimed that six of the units had been damaged, and she retained a public adjuster who submitted a claim exceeding $800,000. This included cleaning, asbestos abatement, reconstruction of the affected apartments, and loss of rent. She claimed burn damage to one unit and smoke damage requiring complete replacement of all the interior rooms of five apartments, along with removal of a portion of the stucco exterior and iron balcony railings and repainting of the entire building. Reprinted courtesy of Christopher Kendrick, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and Valerie A. Moore, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP Mr. Kendrick may be contacted at ckendrick@hbblaw.com; Ms. Moore may be contacted at vmoore@hbblaw.com Read the court decision
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A Lien Might Just Save Your Small Construction Business

April 04, 2011 — Douglas Reiser, Builders Council Blog

Many owners incorrectly believe that payment to the general contractor gets the owner off the hook for payment to subcontractors and suppliers. This assumption sometimes fosters the irresponsible owner, who fails to ensure that everyone is getting paid. Fortunately for those contractors further down the contracting chain, this assumption is incorrect.

Suppliers and subcontractors can file a lien to secure payment for their labor and materials. A filing party must offer proper notice (if applicable) and file an adequate and timely lien in the County where the work is performed. You can read our earlier posts on these topics by following this link.

A lien notice and a lien put an owner on notice that your business has provided labor and/or materials for the improvement of the owner’s property (See RCW 60.04.031 for more info). If the owner fails to take care to ensure that your business is paid the law mandates that the owner may have to pay twice.

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Reprinted courtesy of Douglas Reiser of Reiser Legal LLC. Mr. Reiser can be contacted at info@reiserlegal.com

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Design, Legal and Accounting all Fight a War on Billable Hours After the Advent of AI

June 10, 2024 — Jeff Yoders - Engineering News-Record
Billable hours have long been the professional services standard by which architects, engineers, lawyers and accountants all get paid. But What if that effort wasn’t from human toil at all? Artificial Intelligence is already chipping away at the venerable billable hours business model, completing in just minutes or seconds tasks that would take humans hours. As these tools grow more efficient and accurate, many firms are having to reevaluate how they allocate their resources, and project delivery practices may have to evolve as well. Reprinted courtesy of Jeff Yoders, Engineering News-Record Mr. Yoders may be contacted at yodersj@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Potential Construction Liabilities Contractors Need to Know

September 21, 2020 — Manipal Dhariwal - Construction Executive
The outbreak of COVID-19 started in early December 2019, gradually expanding to the other countries of the world. The spread of the pandemic did not just affect the world in terms of health, but also made industries suffer across all verticals—leading to a few unique challenges for construction contractors. From financial imbalance to trouble retaining cash flow, the circumstances have turned to be completely unfavorable for the contractors that rely on banks for essential surety credits to sustain. To prevent loss of liquidity, the contractors are leaning toward construction accounting software and other technology to keep their accounting data in place and avoid risks with project deliveries. But still, there are many other factors that must be considered to maintain cash flow for potential credit availability such as debt agreements and lines of credit, which involve financing of equipment and vehicles. Nevertheless, it is completely the responsibility of the contractors to stick with the guidelines related to the line of credit and debt agreements which in most cases are covenant ratios. Reprinted courtesy of Manipal Dhariwal, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES