Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Caution to GCs! An Exception to Privette Can Leave You Open to Liability

February 01, 2023 — Nicole Whyte - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
In a recent important decision, Brown v. Beach House Design & Development the Court of Appeal addressed an issue that frequently arises under the Privette doctrine—the extent to which a general contractor can be held liable for injuries to a subcontractor’s employee. The injuries in Brown arose when a window casing subcontractor’s employee fell from a scaffold erected by a plastering subcontractor at a construction site. According to evidence offered by the plaintiff in opposition to a motion for summary judgment filed by the general contractor, the scaffold was not properly secured to the building where the work was being performed. As a result the scaffold was defective and failed, causing the injuries. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Nicole Whyte, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Ms. Whyte may be contacted at nwhyte@bremerwhyte.com

Chicago Criticized for Not Maintaining Elevator Inspections

October 29, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to Crain’s Chicago Business, “as few as a fifth of elevators get the required annual checkup,” Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson claimed. Ferguson audited the roughly 5,100 buildings that city inspectors were assigned to inspect elevators, and found that only 965 were actually inspected, reported Crain’s Chicago Business. Furthermore, “when problems were found in inspections conducted by city personnel, they often were not fixed in a timely manner, again according to city records.” Read the court decision
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Albert Reichmann, Builder of NY, London Finance Hubs, Dies at 93

January 17, 2023 — Laurence Arnold - Bloomberg
Albert Reichmann, the longtime president of his family’s Olympia & York Developments Ltd., builder of the World Financial Center in New York and the first phase of Canary Wharf in London, has died. He was 93. He died on Dec. 17, according to the National Post and a notice on the website of Steeles Memorial Chapel, a Toronto-area funeral home. As the eldest of the three Orthodox Jewish brothers behind Olympia & York, Reichmann held the title of president. In practice, his brother Paul — who died in 2013 — was the company’s “idea man and deal-doer,” in the words of Anthony Bianco, a former Businessweek writer whose book on the family called Olympia & York “the greatest property development company in Western history.” Before its 1992 bankruptcy, it was the largest private owner of commercial property in New York City. Forbes magazine calculated the brothers’ cumulative net worth at $9.2 billion at its height in 1988, making them among the world’s richest people. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Laurence Arnold, Bloomberg

Cameron Pledges to Double Starter Homes to Boost Supply

March 05, 2015 — Svenja O’Donnell – Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to double the number of homes built for first-time buyers by the end of the next parliamentary term in a bid to tackle Britain’s housing shortage. In a speech in Colchester, Essex, on Monday setting out the final part of his Tory party’s six-point campaign platform for the May 7 election, Cameron said 200,000 properties will be built by 2020 under his starter-homes plan. Prices of the homes, only available to first-time buyers under the age of 40, will be capped at 450,000 pounds ($692,000) in London and 250,000 pounds outside the capital. Reduced planning constraints will make it easier for developers to cut building costs, allowing the homes to be sold at a 20 percent discount. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Svenja O’Donnell, Bloomberg
Ms. O’Donnell may be contacted at sodonnell@bloomberg.net

Former Mayor Arrested for Violating Stop Work Order

October 30, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The former mayor of Springfield, Florida has been arrested on charges of insurance fraud. More than a year ago, an investigator for the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation found that an employee of Walker’s construction company was working without workers’ compensation and issued a stop work order. Walker’s employees continued work. The charges were delayed because Walker challenged the stop work order. Once it was determined that the stop work order was issued properly, Walker was charged with a third-degree felony. Read the court decision
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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (06/28/23) – Combating Homelessness, U.S. Public Transportation Costs and the Future of Commercial Real Estate

August 07, 2023 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, we examine the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding water supply responsibilities, the federal reserve chair’s reaction to possible banking losses, several analyses of the future of commercial real estate, and more!

California Representative Maxine Waters has introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at combating homelessness and fixing the increasingly tumultuous affordable housing situation. (Eliza Relman, Business Insider)
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the federal government in a case that decided responsibility over water supply as well as the overall dissemination of water usage for the Navajo Nation. (Ariane de Vogue, CNN)
Unlike other nations with similar construction, the United States’ public transportation has extremely high costs. (Darian Woods, Corey Bridges, Viet Le, NPR)

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

Housing in U.S. Cools as Rate Rise Hits Sales: Mortgages

April 28, 2014 — John Gittelsohn and Prashant Gopal – Bloomberg
After a roller-coaster decade of boom-bust-boom, the U.S. housing market is going downhill just when many economists thought annual sales would be heading up. Sales of previously owned properties in March tumbled 7.5 percent from a year earlier to the slowest pace in 20 months, while purchases of new houses sank 14.5 percent from February, according to reports this week. Mortgage applications to buy homes plunged 19 percent from a year earlier, indicating slowing demand during what is typically the busiest season for deals. The housing market’s underlying fragility is emerging as outside influences that fueled a two-year rebound are receding. Mortgage interest rates are rising from record lows as the central bank withdraws its stimulus, and investors, who had helped drive national prices up more than 20 percent as they went on a buying spree, are now retreating. Mr. Gittelsohn may be contacted at johngitt@bloomberg.net; Mr. Gopal may be contacted at pgopal2@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of John Gittelsohn and Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg

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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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES