Anaheim California Building Consultant Directory

Construction and AI: What Contractors Need to Know from ABC’s New Report

November 05, 2024 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has just released its fourth annual construction technology report, which dives deep into AI’s evolving role in the construction industry. “ABC contractor members and the overall contracting community want more information on AI and how it can help them improve safety, quality and profitability—and win more work,” said Matt Abeles, ABC vice president of construction technology and innovation. The newly released ABC AI Tech Report delivers on this need, highlighting AI-driven case studies, resources, and thought leadership from ABC’s Tech Alliance. Understanding AI’s Role in Construction The report provides a comprehensive AI Resource Guide, breaking down the basics of artificial intelligence and how it applies to construction. Understanding AI is key for contractors to stay competitive in the rapidly changing industry. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

Civil Engineers: Montana's Infrastructure Grade Declines to a 'C-'

December 23, 2024 — American Society of Civil Engineers
Helena, MT — The Montana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) today released the 2024 Report Card for Montana's Infrastructure, assigning 14 categories of infrastructure a cumulative grade of 'C-', which is on par with the national average from the 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. This is a one-notch decrease from the 'C' grade Montana received in its last report in 2018, citing increasingly severe weather events putting strain on aging and underfunded assets, and one of the fastest growing populations requiring expansions of transportation, water and energy infrastructure. The report includes the first-ever chapter on Montana's broadband infrastructure, assigning an 'I' grade for 'incomplete' due to a lack of sufficient condition data; however, the chapter does note that 71% of Montana residents have access to adequate broadband service, and the IIJA provided nearly $630 million to expand this access across the state. ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 160,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.

Supreme Court Upholds Prevailing Wage Statute

August 19, 2024 — Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
Historically, the prevailing wage was calculated by averaging the wages within a certain industry and county. However, in 2018 the Washington Legislature amended the statute so that the prevailing wage would be assessed based on the highest wage set by collective bargaining agreements in the county. The amendment (RCW 39.12.015(3)) reads as follows: (3)(a)…the industrial statistician shall establish the prevailing rate of wage by adopting the hourly wage, usual benefits, and overtime paid for the geographic jurisdiction established in collective bargaining agreements… (b) For trades and occupations in which there are no collective bargaining agreements in the county, the industrial statistician shall establish the prevailing rate of wage by…conducting wage and hour surveys. So, for example, if union engineers bargain for a wage, that is the wage all engineers in the county must be paid on public projects. The legislature passed this law for the sake of efficiency because it took significant resources for the Industrial Statistician to compute the prevailing wage for every trade and every county, but the law has significant knock-on effects. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC

Best Lawyers Honors Hundreds of Lewis Brisbois Attorneys, Names Four Partners ‘Lawyers of the Year’

September 16, 2024 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
(August 15, 2024) - Best Lawyers has selected 171 Lewis Brisbois attorneys across 47 offices for its 31st edition of The Best Lawyers in America. It has also recognized four Lewis Brisbois partners on its "Lawyers of the Year" list: San Diego Partner Gary K. Brucker Jr. (Litigation - Real Estate); Weirton Managing Partner Michelle L. Gorman (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants); Roanoke Partner Paul C. Kuhnel (Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants); and Los Angeles Co-Administrative Partner Steven R. Lewis (Product Liability Litigation - Defendants). Please join us in congratulating the following attorneys on their Best Lawyers recognition! You can see the full list of attorneys named to Best Lawyers' Ones to Watch in America here. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

OSHA Finalizes PPE Fitting Requirement for Construction Workers

December 31, 2024 — Jonathan H. Schaefer - Construction Law Zone
On December 11, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it finalized a revision to the personal protective equipment (PPE) standard for the construction industry. The final rule adds specific language to the existing standard requiring employers to provide properly fitting PPE for construction industry workers. This change aligns the construction industry with the standards in place for the general industry. According to OSHA, many types of PPE must properly fit workers. Improperly sized PPE can ineffectively protect workers, creating new hazards for them, such as oversized gloves or protective clothing being caught in machinery and discouraging use because of discomfort or poor fit. OSHA stated that the longstanding issue with improperly fitting PPE particularly impacted women, as well as physically smaller or larger workers. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Jonathan H. Schaefer, Robinson+Cole
Mr. Schaefer may be contacted at jschaefer@rc.com

Massachusetts Appellate Court Confirms Construction Defects are Not Covered Under Commercial General Liability Policies

January 21, 2025 — Bill Wilson - Construction Law Zone
In a case of first impression in Massachusetts, Lessard v. R.C. Havens & Sons, Inc., 104 Mass. App. Ct. 572 (2024), the Appellate Court confirmed that construction defects, without more, do not constitute property damage within the meaning of a commercial general liability policy (CGL). In Lessard, the homeowners filed suit against an insured homebuilder for construction defects in their home. After the homeowners won a jury verdict, the homebuilder’s insurer intervened and sought a declaratory judgment that it owed no duty to indemnify the homebuilder under its CGL policy. The superior court entered a declaratory judgment in favor of the insurer, and the homeowners appealed. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Bill Wilson, Robinson & Cole LLP
Mr. Wilson may be contacted at wwilson@rc.com

Historical Long-Tail Claims in California Subject to a Vertical Exhaustion Rule

December 03, 2024 — Will S. Bennett - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.

California’s complex saga of long-tail injury coverage under general liability policies took an interesting turn in the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Truck Ins. Exch. v. Kaiser Cement.¹ In Truck, the court made it clear that Insureds can access excess policy limits without first exhausting all triggered underlying primary coverage, provided the underlying limits for the same policy period have been exhausted.

A Brief Summary of the History of Coverage for Long-Tail Claims in California²

Understanding the contextual significance of Truck requires a brief survey of California’s gradually developed case law with respect to long-tail progressive injury and damage claims. A “long-tail claim” typically involves progressively manifesting damage, injury, or disease that develops over a period of multiple years. Because general liability insurance is traditionally triggered based on the timing of when bodily injury or property damage occurs, the progressive nature of these claims has led many courts to analyze when injury or damage occurs in these claims. In doing so, California courts have generally found that these injuries occur across numerous years, thereby triggering numerous policies.³

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Will S. Bennett, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Mr. Bennett may be contacted at WBennett@sdvlaw.com

Los Angeles Is Burning. But California’s Insurance Industry Is Not About to Collapse.

January 14, 2025 — Jerry Theodorou - R Street
Five fires are raging in the Los Angeles outskirts currently – the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, the Lidia Fire, the Sunset Fire, and the Hurst Fire. They have been stoked by a trifecta of 100 mph wind gusts, elevated heat, and bone-dry grass and shrubs serving as tinder. The severity of the fires has raised questions about the role of climate change in the conflagrations and insurers’ claims-paying capacity. But while we recognize the immensity of the hardship and tragedy to many Angelenos from the fires, we also must recognize that California’s insurance industry is not about to collapse. Many have ignored or missed recent reforms to California insurance regulation that are poised to make the private market more sustainable, and help stem an exodus of insurers from the Golden State. Whether the intensity of wildfires is exacerbated by climate change is an open question. An R Street study found that natural catastrophes have increased in severity, but not in frequency. And the main reason catastrophe severity has risen is an increase in the built environment – there is simply more stuff now to be destroyed. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Jerry Theodorou, R Street
Mr. Theodorou may be contacted at jtheodorou@rstreet.org

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