Karl Oles

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Karl Oles, a partner of the firm practicing in the Construction and Design group, has for more than 30 years helped owners, architects, engineers, and contractors solve complex legal problems through negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and trial. Karl has also drafted, negotiated, and analyzed multimillion-dollar design and construction contracts on a wide variety of construction projects. He has served as an arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association’s construction panel. He is coauthor of the current standard treatise on Washington lien law (available for free by following this link). He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for Litigation-Construction from 2013 to 2018.

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Every Construction Project Comes With Risk, but It Can Be Managed

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Contracts, Risk Management
In my latest article for the Daily Journal of Commerce, I provide a few suggestions for contractors, and perhaps project owners as well, to manage risk through a construction contract. Provisions that can be included in a contract to achieve that end might include: The owner limits its potential claims to direct damages and waives … Continue Reading

Benefits and Risks of Involving a Project’s Contractor in The Design

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Industry, Design Build Agreements
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 … Continue Reading

Differing Site Conditions An Issue in the Seattle SR 99 Tunnel Litigation

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Claims, Construction Litigation, Washington
In late 2019, the Washington State Department of Transportation and Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) engaged in a nine-week trial of claims arising from construction of the new State Route 99 tunnel under downtown Seattle. One major issue for the jury was whether STP had encountered “differing site conditions” – unknown underground conditions that differ materially … Continue Reading

An Owner’s Guide to Accessibility Claims in Washington

By Karl Oles and Loni Hinton on Posted in Building Codes, Damages Claims, Washington
When owners engage architects and accessibility consultants to design their projects, they naturally expect good design, but they must also be sure the design provides all users with the practical ability to use and enjoy the end result. Civil rights acts such as the ADA and Fair Housing Act were enacted to provide certain protected … Continue Reading

Stoel Rives Helps WSDOT Defeat a $640 Million Claim

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Claims, Construction Litigation, Infrastructure
The biggest construction project in Seattle in recent years has been the replacement of a seismically compromised waterfront viaduct with a tunnel carrying State Route 99 under downtown. The project was delayed for about two years while the contractor repaired damage to its tunnel boring machine. The contractor claimed that the damage was caused by … Continue Reading

Upcoming Seminar on Public Works

By Karl Oles on Posted in Bids/Bid Protests, Construction Contracts, Insurance, Public Construction Contracting
My partner Colm Nelson and I are on the panel of a seminar on June 5 sponsored by the Seminar Group.  The program is called “Bidding Public Works & Construction Contracts.”  There is still time to sign up at the Seminar Group website.  Colm is talking about insurance.  For my presentation, I took the opportunity … Continue Reading

Update on Alaska Way Viaduct Replacement

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Industry, Design Build Agreements, Infrastructure, Public Construction Contracting, Uncategorized
Occasional visitors to Seattle may be surprised to discover that their favorite route from the airport to downtown has changed. State Highway 99 no longer links to the Alaskan Way Viaduct into downtown Seattle.  The waterfront viaduct has been closed and demolition has begun.  The Battery Street tunnel that connected viaduct traffic to Aurora Avenue … Continue Reading

New Fall Protection Regulations Being Studied

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Industry, Labor and Employment Issues, OSHA, Risk Management, Safety/Personal Injury
The Washington Department of Labor & Industries, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, is considering changes to Washington’s fall protection regulations. These are rules intended to protect construction workers from injury caused by falls on a jobsite.  The Division has been interested in this topic since 2013, when the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration … Continue Reading

A New Architectural Icon Opens in Seattle

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Industry, Notable Projects
The dramatic “Spheres” at the new Amazon headquarters in downtown Seattle have joined the Space Needle, downtown Seattle Library, Smith Tower, and Pacific Science Center as architectural icons of the city. The project includes meeting spaces for Amazon employees and a botanical garden with over 40,000 plants.  Information about the building and its contents can … Continue Reading

Managing Risk from Gaps in Your Construction Project

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Industry, Risk Management
Experienced project developers know that managing risk on a major project involves initial planning, design, construction, and commissioning. These tasks call for different skill sets — making it tempting to think of them as separate — but they need to be coordinated to prevent the creation of troublesome gaps in areas of responsibility. In my latest … Continue Reading

Remember the Statute of Limitations

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Claims, Damages Claims
Contract claims and negligence claims are subject to different statutes of limitations, and if you are a participant in a construction project and believe you have been injured by another, it is important to understand what claims you may have, what statute of limitations applies to those claims, and when the limitations period may run … Continue Reading

Criminal Charges for Contractor in Trench Collapse

By Karl Oles on Posted in Risk Management, Safety/Personal Injury, Uncategorized
A contractor’s duty to provide a safe workplace includes a duty to comply with safety regulations about worksite conditions, worker equipment, and work methods. Those regulations are enforced by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (“L&I”), which has authority to inspect worksites and to impose fines and stop work orders. In a recent case, … Continue Reading

What’s Up with Bertha?

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Litigation
Regular readers of this blog know that Stoel Rives represents the State of Washington Department of Transportation (“WSDOT”) with regard to construction of the new highway 99 tunnel in downtown Seattle. The giant tunnel boring machine, named “Bertha” (not “Big Bertha” as is sometimes reported), finished its work in April and is now undergoing a … Continue Reading

Design-Build Certification

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Contracts, Construction Industry, Design Build Agreements, Formation of Construction Entities, Public Construction Contracting
One should never stop learning, so next week I will attend a three-day seminar presented by the Design-Build Institute of America. If I complete the seminar and pass a test, I will become a Designated Design-Build Professional.  The DBIA has an informative page about certification on its website. In preparation for the seminar, I completed … Continue Reading

Construction Successes in the Seattle Area

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Industry, Infrastructure, Public Construction Contracting, Uncategorized
It seems that lawyers spend a lot of time dealing with problems and crises, but it is healthy to celebrate successes as well. Here are a few things around Seattle that we can celebrate. Sound Transit continues its expansion of the light rail system. The station next to Husky Stadium opened in March, connecting folks … Continue Reading

Expect the Best, Prepare for the Worst – Drafting Construction or Design Contracts

By Karl Oles on Posted in Commercial Construction Contracts, Construction Contracts
When embarking on a new design or construction contract, all parties hope the road will be smooth and that any bumps can be handled by agreement. However, real disputes do occur.  When they do, a well-crafted contract can provide rules for resolution.  It is best to formulate those rules before disputes arise.  In my recent … Continue Reading

An Introduction to Design-Build for Public Project Delivery

By Karl Oles on Posted in Design Build Agreements
Design-build is growing in popularity with public owners. But it presents challenges and potential pitfalls for the unwary. In my recent article for the Daily Journal of Commerce, I address some of those challenges and pitfalls and offer considerations that go into a successful design-build project.  Read the full article here. “An Introduction to Design-Build … Continue Reading

Lien Rights of Employee Benefit Plans Clarified in Washington

By Karl Oles on Posted in Bond Claim, Construction Liens, Labor and Employment Issues, Liens
A question left open in Stoel Rives’ recent Washington lien law treatise relates to the lien rights of employee benefit plans. The rights granted in RCW 60.04.011(4) (where benefit plans are included in the definition of “furnishing labor”) were called into question by two Washington Supreme Court decisions barring employee benefit plans from pursuing lien-like … Continue Reading

Lien Rights of Architects and Engineers

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Liens
In my latest Daily Journal of Commerce Construction column, I discuss the construction lien rights for architects and engineers in Washington and Oregon.  In these states, once construction lien rights have arisen the law requires further acts (such as sending notices to the project owner or recording formal notices within specific time frames) to keep … Continue Reading

Announcing a New Washington Lien Law Treatise

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Liens
We are pleased to announce the publication of a new Stoel Rives Washington state lien law treatise. Written by construction law attorneys Karl Oles and Bart Reed, the treatise builds on two earlier works: Professor Brian A. Blum’s Mechanics’ and Construction Liens in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, and Michael F. Keyes Construction Lien Practice and … Continue Reading

Seattle Tunneling Machine Bertha Makes National News

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Claims, Infrastructure, Public Construction Contracting
The City of Seattle is replacing the two-level highway viaduct that dominates the downtown shoreline with a two-level tunnel. A very large tunnel boring machine, named Bertha in honor of an early Seattle mayor, has been excavating the tunnel for several months. In December, Bertha encountered an unknown obstruction and came to a halt. Seattleites … Continue Reading

Don’t Threaten Me!

By Karl Oles on Posted in Construction Claims, Construction Contracts, Construction Litigation
A 2013 decision from New York reminds us that threats can be costly. In Mometal Structures, Inc. v. T.A. Ahern Contractors Corp., from the Eastern District of New York, Mometal was hired by Ahern as structural steel subcontractor. The project was delayed for reasons that were not Mometal’s fault. Mometal tried to get the information and approvals it … Continue Reading
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