Federal Tax Spotlight: Energy Incentives for the Construction Industry in 2020
2/27/20
By: Catherine Bednar While many individuals and businesses are currently focused on the upcoming deadlines for filing their 2019 tax returns, it is also an ideal time to consider potential tax benefits for 2020 construction projects. Those in the construction industry seeking to take advantage of available tax incentives should keep up-to-date on developments in…
OSHA Issues Guidance on the Usage of Headphones on Construction Sites
2/13/20
By: Erin Lamb In late 2019, OSHA released a letter of interpretation in response to employers’ questions regarding the rapidly increasing use of headphones on construction sites. The convenience, simplicity, and decrease in price of wireless headphones have made them wildly popular. Manufacturers and advertisers have taken advantage of that popularity to advertise wireless headphones…
Statute of Repose Does Not Bar Claims Resulting from Improper Maintenance
1/9/20
By: Tom McCraw The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently held that the six-year statute of repose (G.L. c. 260, § 2B) did not bar a homeowner’s insurer’s subrogation claim against a gas company for damages caused by the company’s failure to maintain a gas meter that caused a fire on the homeowner’s property in February 2015.…
Pennsylvania Taking Steps to Help the Small Contractor
11/21/19
By: Josh Ferguson There are currently two bills in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives intended to limit the ability of property owners, managers and general contractors from pushing their liability onto the sub-contractors. Pennsylvania State Representatives introduced House Bill 1887, which would allow for only limited indemnification within construction contracts. The Bill would amend Act…
Georgia’s Statute of Repose Bars Contractual Claims Involving Deficient Construction
11/21/19
By: Jake Carroll Georgia’s statute of repose provides an eight (8) year deadline for actions seeking to recover damages for deficiencies in construction.[1] The period runs from the substantial completion of the work, and was enacted with the intent of establishing an outside time limit on actions arising out of the improvement of real property.…
How Technology is Changing the Construction World
10/8/19
By: Aaron Miller The construction industry is growing at an enormous rate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the industry to add over 800,000 jobs between 2016 and 2026, finishing top amongst goods-producing industries. Part of the reason for such a high rate of growth in the construction industry is the advent of new technology…
The Statute of Repose Defense is Expanded
9/23/19
By: Jeff Alitz In John C. Rankin v. South Street Downtown Holdings, Inc v. Truexcullins and Partners Architects, decided August 6, 2019, The New Hampshire Supreme court extended the application of that state’s Statute of Repose to bar not only direct claims filed by plaintiff’s, but also to claims for indemnification and contribution that are…
Georgia Federal Judge Enforces Contractual Liability Limitation, Cuts Jury Verdict in Half
9/19/19
By: Jake Carroll A federal judge in Georgia enforced a limitation of liability clause in a construction contract for engineering services—reducing the jury’s award from $5.7 million to just over $2 million. See U.S. Nitrogen LLC v. Weatherly, Inc., No. 1:16-CV-462-MLB, (N.D.Ga. Sept. 16, 2019). The case arose from the design and construction of an…
California Prompt Payment Act: A Tool In The Tool Belt To Secure Payment
9/13/19
By: David Molinari In the construction industry, payments come slowly. Prompt payment laws exist in some form nationwide and can vary from state to state. These laws serve to create timelines for when payments must be made and institute interest penalties for late payments. In California, the contractors are armed with Civil Code 8800 et…
Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Construction Claim Arbitration and Res Judicata
8/20/19
By: Catherine Bednar The Supreme Court of Connecticut recently affirmed the Appellate Court’s determination that when a property owner and a general contractor enter into binding, unrestricted arbitration to resolve disputes, the subcontractors are presumptively in privity with the general contractor for purposes of precluding subsequent litigation against them. In Girolametti v. Michael Horton Assocs., 332…
Resilient Design: A Future Requirement?
6/17/19
By: Catherine Bednar Today’s headlines reflect an increasing awareness of climate change and its impacts – rising sea levels, heightened flood risks, and potential wildfires, to name a few. Scientific research and political debate over the causes/effects of and policy responses to climate change will undoubtedly remain at the forefront of our news. Related to…
The Referee Has Decided David Beckham Is Back in The Game
5/6/19
By: Samantha Skolnick Soccer has become Atlanta’s new craze. In 2017, Atlanta’s soccer team Atlanta United broke the Major League Soccer (“MLS”) attendance record in its final regular-season game exceeding the 800,000 mark in its first year in the league. They finished the season with 819,404 tickets sold, soaring above the league’s single-season record of…