Arbitration v. litigation: dispute resolution considerations for construction professionals
12/7/21
By: Nicolas Bohorquez An often-overlooked side effect of litigation, particularly in the construction industry, is the impact that it has on day-to-day operations. The more involved and protracted the litigation, the more your company must reallocate its resources (i.e. time and money) to tend to the litigation instead of focusing on projects that generate revenue. Despite the headache, litigation serves a necessary purpose to protect what owners and their employees…
California District Court rules third-party employees on Tesla jobsite can bring direct claims against Tesla for alleged labor law violations
11/30/21
By: J. Austin Anderson In 2014, U.S.-based company Eisenmann was selected to act as a general contractor for a large-scale construction project at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California. Eisenmann contracted with Slovenia-based construction company Vuzem to provide labor for the project. Ex-Vuzem employees, all residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, or Croatia, have now…
Caution to Contractors – How your subcontractor’s defective work can cost you in the Eleventh Circuit
9/30/21
By: Hannah-Kate Gosch Are general contractors covered when the cost of repairing or removing a subcontractor’s defective work results in the loss of use of the tangible property which is not itself physically damaged? The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently addressed this issue in Tricon Development of Brevard, Inc. v. Nautilus…
Pennsylvania House of Representatives introduces anti-indemnity bill
9/23/21
By: Joshua Ferguson The Pennsylvania House of Representatives introduced House Bill 1886, legislation amending Act 164 of 1970, which relates to Indemnification Agreements in certain contracts. Like Act 164, the bill itself appears to cover agreements between ”architects, engineers or surveyors and owners, contractors, subcontractors or suppliers.” Beyond the limited Act 164, Pennsylvania does not have an anti-indemnity statute regarding contracts for the industries identified above. …
We’re not in Kansas anymore: standards for buildings in tornado country
7/23/21
By: Kyle Virgin The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently released its draft version of the 2022 edition of its building standards and, for the first time, the standards may very well include guidance on the design of facilities, such as schools and hospitals, to withstand tornadoes. Similar natural disasters, e.g. hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, have…
