Colorado statutory “property damage” caused by an “occurrence”
August 04, 2011 —
CDCoverage.comColorado General Assembly House Bill 10-1394 was signed into law by the Governor on May 21, 2010, codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-808 (2010)
13-20-808. Insurance policies issued to construction professionals
(1) (a) The general assembly finds and determines that:
(I) The interpretation of insurance policies issued to construction professionals is of vital importance to the economic and social welfare of the citizens of Colorado and in furthering the purposes of this part 8.
(II) Insurance policies issued to construction professionals have become increasingly complex, often containing multiple, lengthy endorsements and exclusions conflicting with the reasonable expectations of the insured.
(III) The correct interpretation of coverage for damages arising out of construction defects is in the best interest of insurers, construction professionals, and property owners.
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Reprinted courtesy of CDCoverage.com
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Real Estate & Construction News Round-Up (12/07/22) – Home Sales, EV Charging Infrastructure, and Office Occupancy
December 26, 2022 —
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogThis week’s round-up explores decreasing home sales, electric vehicle charging stations, office occupancy levels, and more.
- With home sales dropping and more buyers abandoning their plans, forecasters have rarely disagreed as much as they are now regarding where the housing market is going next. (Nicole Friedman, Nick Timiraos, The Wall Street Journal)
- Contractors and construction technology firms are watching as skilled workers look for new jobs in a turbulent economy. (Matthew Thibault, Construction Dive)
- The ability to conveniently charge electric vehicles away from home is a top concern for many owners, indicating the strong need for an extensive and reliable external charging infrastructure. (Robert Charette, IEEE Spectrum)
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Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team
Best Lawyers Recognizes Hundreds of Lewis Brisbois Attorneys, Honors Four Partners as ‘Lawyers of the Year’
September 19, 2022 —
Lewis Brisbois(August 18, 2022) - Best Lawyers has selected 149 Lewis Brisbois attorneys across 46 offices for inclusion in its list of 2023 Best Lawyers in America. It has also recognized four Lewis Brisbois partners on its "Lawyers of the Year" list: Chairman & Founding Partner Robert F. Lewis (Insurance Law); Portland Managing Partner Eric J. Neiman (Litigation - Health Care); Akron Managing Partner David Kern (Tax Law); and Roanoke Partner Paul C. Kuhnel (Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants).
Please join us in congratulating these four partners and the following attorneys on their Best Lawyers recognition.
- Nashville Partner Tara Aaron-Stelluto:
Copyright Law
- Pittsburgh Partner Andrew F. Adomitis:
Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
- Fort Lauderdale Partner Vincent F. Alexander:
Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
- Miami Partner Seth Alhadeff:
Litigation - Insurance
- Seattle Partner Randy J. Aliment:
Commercial Litigation
- Phoenix Partner Dina Anagnopoulos:
Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Madison County Partner Charles S. Anderson:
Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
- Reno Managing Partner Jack G. Angaran:
Insurance Law, Litigation – Construction, Litigation - Real Estate
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Lewis Brisbois
Want to Build Affordable Housing in the Heart of Paris? Make It Chic.
November 01, 2022 —
Marie Patino & Kriston Capps - BloombergThe project at 12 Rue Jean-Bart is a modest one, just eight units of affordable housing on a narrow lot in Paris near the Luxembourg Gardens. The social housing project nevertheless caused a stir with neighbors in the 6th arrondissement, one of the city’s more affluent areas.
When local politicians backing the project came to visit the building during its construction, neighbors shouted from windows across the street that it was a shame to build social housing here, according to Jean-Christophe Quinton, the Paris-based architect who designed the small in-fill development.
Local resistance was a persistent feature of the project throughout its three-year-long construction, Quinton says; the building regularly faced harsh scrutiny in local newspaper Le Parisien.
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Marie Patino, Bloomberg and
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Navigate the New Health and Safety Norm With Construction Technology
August 03, 2020 —
Jeremy Larsen - Construction ExecutiveSafety has always been a pressing issue in construction, and as states reopen and construction projects pick up steam once again, the industry will become even more closely scrutinized than before. Construction safety looks a lot different than it did six months ago. In addition to the concerns around keeping workers safe on construction sites, today’s contractors are faced with a whole new category of risk, and with new health and safety measures that may vary by county, state or region. New requirements range from social distancing and limits on the size of crews, to requiring masks and temperature checks for all workers.
OPERATING IN THE NEW NORM
This sudden onset of COVID-19 put otherwise healthy businesses into a state of chaos that, months later, is still hard to navigate. By March of 2020, reports indicated that nearly one-third of construction projects had come to a halt. Now, as the industry emerges, balancing business continuity efforts with trying to get crews back to work and jobsites moving again will no doubt present challenges. New health and safety measures, plus the fact that no one wants to touch paper in the field, will add another layer of administrative and procedural oversight to the construction process. Of course, these measures are absolutely needed, but construction businesses can’t ignore the fact that it changes the very way projects and jobsites are managed. And, without the right tools in place, it may be a bumpy ride.
Reprinted courtesy of
Jeremy Larsen, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.
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Mr. Larsen may be contacted at
jeremy.larsen@viewpoint.com
Approaches to Managing Job Site Inventory
January 04, 2018 —
Jessica Stark - Construction InformerOriginally Published by CDJ on August 30, 2017
There is no question that organization on the job site can mean the difference between efficient performance and costly errors. A simple mistake can cost a company thousands, which is why details are carefully articulated and supervisors become better scrutinizers than magazine editors. But for some reason, many companies don’t consider managing job site inventory under this same attentive category, or perhaps they don’t know about the technology available to help them do it.
For contractors, keeping track of every piece of material and equipment lowers losses and keeps crews busy. This is especially true for contractors in the trades who often have specialized equipment in inventory such as power supplies, HVAC “smart energy” components or inspection equipment. Once everything is accounted for, the possibility of loss is decreased and there’s a chance to evaluate the use of all materials and equipment. This can show the efficiency of allotted resources. Is there enough equipment on the site to get tasks completed? Is there a need for more? Less? Having excess equipment can sometimes prepare a crew for problem scenarios. But it can also mean the construction company is overpaying for unneeded resources. However, the only way to know is by effectively managing job site inventory. That includes all equipment and materials
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Jessica Stark, Construction Informer
Do Not File a Miller Act Payment Bond Lawsuit After the One-Year Statute of Limitations
November 01, 2022 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesUnder the Miller Act, a claim against a Miller Act payment bond must be commenced “no later than one year after the date on which the last of the labor was performed or material was supplied by the person bringing the action.” 40 U.S.C. s. 3133(b)(4). Stated another way, a claimant must file its lawsuit against the Miller Act payment bond within one year from its final furnishing on the project.
Filing a lawsuit too late, i.e., outside of the one-year statute of limitations, will be fatal to a Miller Act payment bond claim. This was the outcome in Diamond Services Corp. v. Travelers Casualty & Surety Company of America, 2022 WL 4990416 (5th Cir. 2022) where a claimant filed a Miller Act payment bond lawsuit four days late. That four days proved to be fatal to its Miller Act payment bond claim and lawsuit. Do not let this happen to you!
In Diamond Services Corp., the claimant submitted a claim to the Miller Act payment bond surety. The surety issued a claim form to the claimant that requested additional information. The claimant returned the surety’s claim form. The surety denied the claim a year and a couple of days after the claimant’s final furnishing. The claimant immediately filed its payment bond lawsuit four days after the year expired. The claimant argued that the surety should be equitably estopped from asserting the statute of limitations in light of the surety’s letter requesting additional information. (The claimant was basically arguing that the statute of limitations should be equitably tolled.) The trial court dismissed the Miller Act payment bond claim finding it was barred by the one-year statute of limitations and that equitable estoppel did not apply.
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David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
Construction Contracts and The Uniform Commercial Code: When Does it Apply and Understanding the Pre-Dominant Factor Test
November 01, 2022 —
Keith Sparks - Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLCThe Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) replaces the common law in many commercial transactions, providing provisions and a framework governing the conduct of business. The UCC attempts to develop uniformity among state laws on commercial matters as many of these contracts involve parties from different states. The UCC has been adopted in almost all states, including Washington, and substantially mirror each other throughout the country.
The question that is most commonly presented, in the Construction law context, is when does the UCC apply and control?
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Keith Sparks, Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLCMr. Sparks may be contacted at
keith.sparks@acslawyers.com