Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Reconstructing the Francis Scott Key Bridge Utilizing the Progressive Design-Build Method

June 04, 2024 — Lisa D. Love - The Dispute Resolver
Having awakened on the morning of March 26 to the devastating news of the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after being struck by the Dali, a 984 length /52 beam foot cargo container ship, I thought of the many times I crossed the bridge as a child growing up in Washington, D.C. I also recalled Montgomery Schyler’s comments on the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, when he stated that “the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge.” I thought of the beauty of New York’s Mario Cuomo Bridge, a 3.1-mile cable-stayed twin-span bridge with eight traffic lanes, bicycle and pedestrian paths, six lookout points and room for future rapid transit. It was completed in 2018 and constructed under a design-build procurement model[i] at a cost of $3.98 billion. Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) techniques were utilized in its construction. ABC techniques employ innovative planning, design, materials, and construction methods in a safe and cost-effective manner to reduce the on-site construction time that occurs when building new bridges or replacing and rehabilitating existing ones. ABC techniques improve site constructability, total project delivery time, work-zone safety for the traveling public and traffic impacts, on-site construction time, and weather-related time delays.[ii] I also thought of the gracefulness of Boston’s Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, a 0.27-mile hybrid cable-stayed steel and concrete bridge with pedestrian and bicycle access that holds 10 lanes of traffic. The Zakim Bridge was completed in 2004 at a cost of approximately $100 million as part of the $24.3 billion Big Dig.[iii] Despite its elegant, streamlined appearance, the bridge was designed to be exceptionally strong, withstand winds over 400 miles per hour and endure a magnitude 7.9 earthquake.[iv] Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lisa D. Love, JAMS

Render Unto Caesar: Considerations for Returning Withheld Sums

January 18, 2021 — William E. Underwood Partner, Jones Walker LLP - ConsensusDocs
Withholding sums during a dispute can be an effective and perfectly legitimate means to protect against the harms caused by another party’s breach. However, withholding too much money during a dispute can turn a position of strength into one of weakness. “Why should I fund the other side’s litigation war chest?” and “Isn’t this just a display of weakness?” are common questions raised by contractors when this issue is discussed. Often, the contractor is well within its contractual or legal rights to withhold money from a breaching subcontractor (another topic for another day). But it may not always be in a contractor’s best interest to withhold every single penny available. This article addresses some of the long-term implications for failing to return withheld sums, including the potential to recover attorneys’ fees, possible bad faith, accruing interest, and overall litigation costs. Admittedly, it can be hard to give money back in the middle of a dispute. But sometimes it can positively impact the overall outcome of the case. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of William E. Underwood, Jones Walker LLP (ConsensusDocs)
Mr. Underwood may be contacted at wunderwood@joneswalker.com

Become Familiar With Your CGL Policy Exclusions to Ensure You Are Covered: Wardcraft v. EMC.

December 31, 2014 — Heather M. Anderson – Colorado Construction Litigation
In a recent case arising out of a denial of coverage for alleged construction defect claims concerning a pre-fabricated home, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado applied the 10th Circuit’s determination of what can constitute an “occurrence” under a commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy. See Wardcraft Homes, Inc. v. Employers Mutual Cas. Co., 2014 WL 4852117 (D. Colo. September 29, 2014). William and Grace Stuhr sued Wardcraft, which manufactured pre-fabricated homes at a facility in Fort Morgan, Colorado, because their home was not completed as scheduled and contained various defects. The Stuhrs filed suit against Wardcraft alleging negligence, breach of warranty, and deceptive trade practices in violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. Wardcraft tendered the Stuhrs’ complaint to Employers Mutual Casualty Company (“EMC”), which denied coverage under its policy and denied any duty to defend. According to EMC, the Stuhrs’ alleged construction defects were not property damages and there was no occurrence in connection with faulty workmanship. Approximately two and a half years after they filed their initial complaint, the Stuhrs filed an amended complaint. Wardcraft did not tender this amended complaint to EMC, and first informed EMC about the amended complaint about a year after it was filed. A month prior, Wardcraft settled with the Stuhrs. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Heather M. Anderson, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Ms. Anderson may be contacted at Anderson@hhmrlaw.com

Senate’s Fannie Mae Wind-Down Plan Faces High Hurdles

March 19, 2014 — Clea Benson, Cheyenne Hopkins and Kathleen Hunter – Bloomberg
A bipartisan U.S. Senate plan to dismantle Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac must clear many political hurdles in a short time if it is to become law, leaving narrow chances of a housing-finance overhaul being enacted this year. Senate Banking Committee leaders said the proposal, which they plan to release later this week, would replace the two U.S.-owned mortgage financiers with government bond insurance that would kick in only after private capital suffered severe losses. It will be left to the courts to decide how investors in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are treated as the two companies are wound down, Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican who co-wrote the bill, said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Investors including Perry Capital and Fairholme Capital Management are suing the U.S. to challenge an arrangement in which all the companies’ profits go to the Treasury. Ms. Benson may be contacted at cbenson20@bloomberg.net; Ms. Hunter may be contacted at khunter9@bloomberg.net; Ms. Hopkins may be contacted at chopkins19@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Clea Benson, Cheyenne Hopkins and Kathleen Hunter, Bloomberg

Why You May Not Want a Mandatory Mediation Clause in Your Construction Contract

October 26, 2017 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
I know, you are likely surprised by the title of this post. You’ve read Construction Law Musings for a while now and know that as a Virginia Supreme Court certified mediator, I have advocated mediation as a great way to resolve your construction disputes short of the expensive and time consuming litigation process. Knowing all of this, you as a reader of this blog (thanks by the way) probably wonder why I think that a mandatory mediation clause may not be the best thing for your construction contracts. I can understand your possible confusion (particularly in light of this post from @sethsmiley). Please don’t take the headline as my suddenly taking a new view of mediation. Short of simply resolving the dispute between the parties to the construction contract, mediation still remains number one on my list of construction dispute resolution mechanisms. I still believe that it is useful even when a resolution is not met after a good faith attempt by both sides to come to a business agreement. However, I also believe that mediation works best when entered into voluntarily by the parties. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher G. Hill, The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

What Are The Most Commonly Claimed Issues In Construction Defect Litigation?

April 22, 2019 — David M. McLain - Colorado Construction Litigation Blog
As a lawyer that has spent his career defending against construction defect claims, one of the most common questions I get when counseling clients regarding risk management is: “What are the most commonly claimed issues in construction defect litigation?” Until very recently, my answer to this question has been based on my own experience and knowledge on the subject, and only vaguely reliant on empirical data. Recently, two engineers, Elizabeth Brogan and William McConnell, along with Caroline Clevenger, an associate professor at the University of Colorado, Denver, wrote a paper entitled “Emerging Patterns in Construction Defect Litigation: A Survey of Construction Cases.” The authors analyzed 41 multifamily construction defect cases litigated in 2015, 2016 and 2017, mostly in the Denver metro area. The authors classified the 55 most prevalent alleged defects into the following categories: structural issues; civil issues; building envelope issues; roof issues; deck, balcony and porch issues; fire protection issues; and miscellaneous issues. The authors then identified the 10 most commonly claimed construction defects, which occurred in over half of all of the cases analyzed. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David M. McLain, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Mr. McLain may be contacted at mclain@hhmrlaw.com

Construction Law Client Alert: California’s Right to Repair Act (SB 800) Takes Another Hit, Then Fights Back

February 25, 2014 — Steven M. Cvitanovic and Whitney L. Stefko - Haight Brown & Bonesteel, LLP
Last week, the California appellate courts decided two cases with ramifications under the Right to Repair Act. The first case, Burch, addresses whether the Right to Repair Act is the exclusive remedy for the homeowner. The second case, KB Home, addresses a situation where a homeowner or the homeowner's insurer fails to follow the procedures under the Right to Repair Act. Last August, the Fourth Appellate District announced its decision in Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Brookfield Crystal Cove LLC (2013) 219 Cal.App.4th 98 holding that SB 800 is not a homeowner’s exclusive remedy in situations where defects cause actual damage. Many lawyers believed that Liberty Mutual would be a one-off because of its facts – it was a subrogation case brought by an insurance company. So much for that. Now the Second Appellate District is getting into the act. In Burch v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, et al., the Second Appellate District overturned an order granting summary adjudication in favor of a developer, general contractor, and their respective owners, in a construction defect action brought by a residential homeowner. The trial court found that the Right to Repair Act precluded the homeowner’s negligence and implied warranty claims but the Court of Appeal reversed. Reprinted courtesy of Steven M. Cvitanovic, Haight Brown & Bonesteel, LLP and Whitney L. Stefko, Haight Brown & Bonesteel, LLP Mr. Cvitanovic may be contacted at scvitanovic@hbblaw.com, Ms. Stefko may be contacted at wstefko@hbblaw.com Read the court decision
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Suffolk Construction Drywall Suits Involve Claim for $3 Million in Court Costs

November 11, 2024 — Richard Korman - Engineering News-Record
Suffolk Construction lost a breach-of-contract contract lawsuit in July with a former drywall subcontractor's surety—but the contractor's payout may dramatically increase if the presiding U.S. district court judge in Miami allows the surety to collect $3 million more in requested attorneys' fees and trial costs. Reprinted courtesy of Richard Korman, Engineering News-Record Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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