LEED Version 4 Approved by U.S. Green Building Council
7/25/13
By: Matt Foree The Board of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently approved version 4 of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. This version was the subject of lengthy commentary, delays, and controversy. The new version of LEED will launch at the Greenbuild Conference and Expo, scheduled for November 18-23 in…
Construction Defects Can In Fact Be Accidents
7/24/13
By: Jonathan Kandel The Supreme Court of Georgia has further clarified the scope of coverage for construction defect claims under commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policies. In Taylor Morrison Services, Inc. v. HDI-Gerling America Insurance Company, No. S13Q0462 (Ga. July 12, 2013), the court clarified that a construction defect claim constitutes an “occurrence,” as…
Dangers of Hiring Independent Contractors
7/22/13
By: Leanne Prybylski Many contractors hire independent contractors, rather than employees, to avoid paying taxes and benefits. Contractors should be aware, however, that the costs of misclassifying employees as an independent contractors could end up being more expensive than it would have been to pay the taxes and benefits for the employees in the first…
Contractors are Under Greater Scrutiny for Compliance with Davis Bacon Requirements
7/9/13
By: Kamy Molavi Recently, we at FMG’s construction law group have seen several cases involving the Davis Bacon Act. Davis Bacon is the federal law that requires all workers to be paid the “prevailing wages” on federal contracts. The law also applies to a non-federal contract if the project is at least partially paid…
Georgia Court of Appeals Decides Rare Case on Electronic Discovery
6/27/13
By: Bart Gary On June 18, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals decided a case involving electronic discovery. In a business dispute, and in response to about 100 unique requests for production of documents from the plaintiff, defendants scanned all paper documents in their files in the form and order in which they were keep…
6/2/13
By: Bart Gary This year’s session of the General Assembly saw several new laws and amendments affecting the construction industry. Mechanic’s Lien Law The General Assembly adopted a change to O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361 regarding the amount that may be claimed in a lien. Effective July 1, 2013, the amount of a lien may be either (1)…
Right of Contribution among Joint Tortfeasors is Still Viable in Georgia
4/2/13
By: Bart Gary Most believed that the right of contribution among joint tortfeasors (two or more persons whose negligence combine to cause injury or damage) was abolished in Georgia in 2005 when the tort reform legislation went into effect. On March 28, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeal issued its opinion in Zurich Amer. Ins.…
3/28/13
By: Bart Gary Many contracts, especially construction contracts, will contain a provision whereby one party, usually a subcontractor, agrees to add the other party to the contract, usually the general contractor, as an additional insured on the former’s insurance coverage. Where the additional insured has its own coverage, the question arises as to whether there are…
Keys to Effective Hold Harmless Agreements
2/7/13
By: Bart Gary The Hold Harmless (Indemnity) Clause of a contract is like the lifeboats on a cruise ship — they just hang around until disaster strikes, and you hope they still work. Periodic review keeps them from becoming obsolete or worse. Indemnity simply means reimbursement, restitution, or compensation. Typically the indemnity provision applies in…
Statutes Affecting Indemnification Agreements in Construction Contracts
11/6/12
By: Kamy Molavi It is quite common for parties involved in construction projects to include indemnity provisions within their construction contracts. In recent years, a majority of states have enacted anti-indemnity statutes that restrict, modify, or invalidate indemnification agreements in construction contracts. With respect to the degree of fault against which indemnity may be barred,…
Using the Common Interest Doctrine to Protect Information from Disclosure
8/14/12
By: Kamy Molavi
Various methods are used in litigation to limit the disclosure of information and documents to opposing parties. One is to invoke a privilege. The most common privileges are the work product doctrine and the attorney-client privilege.
Some jurisdictions have adopted a principle related to the work product doctrine and
Georgia Court of Appeals: General Conditions Costs and Interest Cannot Be Included in Claim of Lien
7/12/12
By: Kamy Molavi
On July 11, 2012, the Georgia Court of Appeals issued an opinion in the case of 182 Tenth, LLC v. Manhattan Construction Company (2012 WL 2819414). The Court ruled that “items of general conditions costs described in the payment applications were not lienable because they were not labor, services, or materials which