Construction Industry

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On June 10, I will be co-chairing and my colleague Colm Nelson will be a panelist during the annual mid-year WSBA Construction Law Section CLE.  This program is a full-day webinar presented by the WSBA in partnership with Stoel Rives and will cover construction law updates, public works issues, and judicial perspectives on litigation in…

Traditionally, private owners of construction projects have not considered bonds — either payment or performance bonds by the general contractor — because of the additional cost and because they felt confident that the contractors and their subcontractors, suppliers and vendors on their projects would meet the obligations of the contract terms. However, in today’s volatile…

The year 2021 was an interesting and unsettled one in the construction industry — bids and projects grew in numbers in some market sectors and regions yet slowed or halted in others. An aftereffect of this activity was a variety of claims and disputes, which, coupled with the ongoing pandemic and increasing market uncertainty, particularly…

At the forefront of concerns for those in the construction industry is the escalation in material prices and disruptions to supply chains that were in large part a byproduct of the pandemic. Project owners and contractors want to understand their rights with regard to these risks and also how the risks should be apportioned. In…

Today, the construction industry faces a myriad of challenges – as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, rapidly increasing construction material costs, labor and material shortages, and a hot housing market are potential obstacles for project owners and contractors that, despite their best efforts and intentions, could prevent them from completing their construction projects on time.…

The roles of designers and contractors are being combined for more and more construction projects, an approach that comes with both benefits and risks. Several methods of project delivery are commonly in use, none of which is entirely exclusive — different projects may include different and overlapping roles for owner, designer and contractor. In my…

While all of us begin 2021 still confronting the challenge of COVID-19, construction project owners face particular pandemic-related issues in their industry, including the need to maintain strict best practices for projects and manage scheduling and labor challenges for existing and new projects. In my latest article for the Daily Journal of Commerce, I…

In too many cases, the developers, builders and designers of a construction project focus on starting work and pay inadequate attention to making sure important details of their insurance coverage are fully in place. Coverage denials can result from deferring to “standard” insurance forms, relying on informal broker assurances and not taking the time to…