Construction Attorney Blog: Construction Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Construction Law Blogs

Construction Law

Construction Attorney Blog

A construction law blog for architects, attorneys and contractors.

Post Frequency: 0.2/day

Last Entry: July 24, 2009 at 18:35:53

Fifth Circuit holds that manifest disregard is not basis for reversal

Posted on July 24, 2009
A 5th Circuit panel that included Sandra Day O'Connor has held that there is no longer a nonstatutory basis for vacating an arbitration award, following Hall Street. Saipem America v. Wellington, No. 08-20247 (June 9, 2009).

LEED project managment software

Posted on July 24, 2009
The hot new topic for designers is LEED. While there are many legal issues that will unfold in the near future, there are new software products that address some of the management issues. This post by Houston Neal covers construction...

Subcontractor's Mechanics lien allowed where bank seized general's funds

Posted on May 21, 2009
The Illinois Supreme Court, in Weather-Tite v. University of St. Francis, No. 107108 (May 21, 2009), has ruled in favor of the subcontractor in enforcing a mechanics lien. The owner had hired a general contractor who, in turn, had subcontracted...

Where owner does not pay undisputed amounts, contractor is entitled to attorneys fees

Posted on May 20, 2009
In a recent decision, an Illinois appellate court in O'Connor Construction Co., Inc. v. Belmont Harbor Home Development, LLC, No. 1-07-2346, remanded the case back to the trial court for a determination of attorneys fees. The court noted that the...

To access blog feed reader register for free. (You will also learn about new ways to read and access the freshest law blogs.)

Liability for green design

Posted on May 20, 2009
Gary Cole has written an interesting blog entry about designers' liability for green projects here: http://lawarkblog.blogspot.com/

Risks in LEED design

Posted on May 13, 2009
There is an interesting discussion of some issues and risks to design professionals involving LEED projects at http://www.consilienceblog.org/. Here is a quote: Lenders should review the owner-architect agreement and construction contract to make sure the responsibilities in planning and constructing...

Cannot record Lis Pendens for arbitration case if no litigation has commenced

Posted on May 13, 2009
A California case, Manhattan Loft v. Mercury Liquor, 2009 WL 1219732 (May 6, 2009), has ruled that a lis pendens notice cannot be recorded unless an underlying court case has been filed. In this case, two arbitration proceedings were commenced...

Non-signatories bound by arbitration agreement in wrongful death case

Posted on May 13, 2009
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Graves v. BP America Inc., No. 8-40575 (May 6, 2009), has held that the surviving spouse and children of a worker killed in an accident were bound by the decedent's employment agreement that...

Appeal from order denying stay of arbitration is immediately appealable under FAA

Posted on May 08, 2009
The Supreme Court in Arthur Andersen v. Carlisle, No. 08-146 (May 4, 2009) held that a party in federal court can take an immediate appeal under section 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act from an order refusing a stay of...

violation of building code insufficient to establish proximate cause for accident

Posted on May 08, 2009
The Illinois appellate court in Strutz v. Vicere, 2009 WL 1175107 (1 Dist., April 29, 2009), held that the plaintiff failed to establish proximate cause despite a medical expert who testified that the fall was consistent with a "head-first" type...

Violation of "good engineering practice and ethics" does not equate to a breach of a duty of care

Posted on May 08, 2009
In Hamon Contractors, Inc. v. Carter & Burgess, Inc., 2009 WL 1152160 (Colo.App., April 30, 2009), the court reviewed an affidavit of the plaintiff's expert wherein he opined that the defendant had violated good engineering practice and ethics. This, by...

Trial court has jurisdiction to determine whether statute of limitations bars arbitration

Posted on May 08, 2009
In Day Masonry v. Independent School Dist. 347, 2009 WL 1182053 (Minn.App., May 5, 2009), the appellate court held that a trial court can stay arbitration if the movant can demonstrate that the applicable statute of limitations has expired. The...

In Dean v. Barrett Homes, 2009

Posted on April 20, 2009
In Dean v. Barrett Homes, 2009 WL 1025565 (N.J.Super.A.D., April 15, 2009), the court held that the economic loss rule barred a tort action by the subsequent purchaser of a home against an EIFS manufacturer. The Deans bought the house...

Idle Equipment not entitled to Lien in Missouri

Posted on April 20, 2009
A Missouri court has affirmed a trial court ruling in favor of a lien claimant, but at an amount reduced by the trial court to reflect the value of the idle time for the equipment. Missouri Land Development v. Concord,...

Economic Loss Doctrine bars Nevada claims against Architect

Posted on April 19, 2009
In Terracon Consultants Western, Inc. v. Mandalay Resort Group, 2009 WL 790364 (Nev., March 26, 2009), the Nevada Supreme Court answered the following question submitted by a federal court: Does the economic loss doctrine apply to preclude negligence-based claims against...

Summary Judgment in Arbitration Upheld

Posted on April 17, 2009
The court in Campbell v. American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, Inc., 2009 WL 995577 (D.Minn., april 14, 2009), denied a motion to vacate an arbitration award. The plaintiffs had brought an arbitration against an insurance company for which...

Sole Proximate Cause Defense Reaffirmed

Posted on April 16, 2009
The Illinois Supreme Court, on April 16, 2009, reaffirmed the validity of the sole proximate cause defense in Nolan v. Weil-McLain (Docket No. 103137). This was an asbestos case where all but one defendant settled out and trial proceeded with...

Arbitrators award attorneys fees, contract notwithstanding

Posted on April 15, 2009
On April 9, 2009, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in ReliaStar Life Insurance v. EMC National Life, affirmed an award by a panel of arbitrators that imposed a sanction of attorneys fees and costs on the losing party for...

Non-signatory bound by agreement to arbitrate

Posted on December 28, 2007
In a recent federal case, Southern Illinois Beverage Inc. v. Hansen Beverage Co., 2007 WL 3046273 (S.D. Ill., Oct. 15, 2007), the court held that a non-signatory to a contract that contained an agreement to arbitrate could be bound by...

Florida Supreme Court follows Texas' Lamar Homes

Posted on December 21, 2007
On December 20, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling in United States Fire Insurance Company v. J.S.U.B., Inc. Here is an excerpt: We conclude that defective work performed by a subcontractor that causes damage to the contractor?s completed...

Limitation of Liability in new AIA Document

Posted on November 11, 2007
One of the new 2007 AIA documents is B103 -- Owner-Architect Agreement for a Large or Complex Project. This document differs from the flagship owner-architect agreement, B101, in that the owner is expected to hire cost and scheduling consultants, and...

Seventh Circuit Rules for Injured Construction Worker - Interprets Section 414 of Restatement

Posted on November 09, 2007
In Aguirre v. Turner Construction, decided September 7, 2007 by the Seventh Circuit, the plaintiff was injured when he fell from a scaffold while working for a masonry subcontractor. He sued the general for negligence based on Section 414 of...

Finality in the Initial Decision under the 2007 A201

Posted on November 09, 2007
One of the new provisions of the 2007 AIA Documents is the establishment of an Initial Decision Maker. See Section 15.2 of AIA Document A201. In the past, this role was fulfilled by the architect, but there were often problems...

The new AIA Documents and Arbitration - What Rules Apply?

Posted on November 08, 2007
One subtle change in the new 2007 AIA documents involves the incorporation of the Rules of the American Arbitration Association into the agreement, assuming that arbitration is selected as the dispute resolution method. For example, AIA Document B101, Owner-Architect Agreement,...

New AIA documents and Arbitration

Posted on November 08, 2007
Much is being written about the 2007 AIA Documents, which were released in early November. One of the much-discussed differences in these documents is the fact that arbitration is no longer the default dispute resolution mechanism, being replaced by a...

False Claims lands Engineer in jail

Posted on August 30, 2007
In United States v. Vitillo, 490 F.3d 314 (C.A.3 (Pa.), 2007), an engineer was sentenced to 36 months' imprisonment for violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 666, which prohibits an "agent" of a local governmental agency that receives more than $10,000...

Fiduciary duty of an architect

Posted on June 22, 2007
The issue of whether architects owe a fiduciary duty to a client occasionally shows up. The majority of courts seem to come down on the side of no such duty. Two recent cases reflect these differing views. In Carlson v....

AIA plans change to Statute of Limitations provisions

Posted on March 15, 2007
The AIA is planning to release a revised version of the major AIA documents (General Conditions, Owner-Architect agreements, etc.) this fall. For a number of months, draft versions have been distributed to various groups for comment. It appears that the...