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
design-build
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…
Design-Build and EPC Contracting Approaches Under Fire by Contractors
By Eric Grasberger on
Posted in Design Build Agreements
In a recent article in the ABA’s “Under Construction” publication (link here) the author describes a trend among some major contractors, including SNC-Lavalin, Fluor Corporation and Granite Construction, to leave the DB and EPC space. Other large contractors have announced similar intentions. The problem appears to be that the DB and EPC delivery methods…
Design-Build Certification
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…
Termination Clauses a Must for Owners
By Eric Grasberger on
The recent termination of the joint venture of Skanska-Hunt from the Washington State Convention Center project (article here) is a good reminder of the importance of well-written termination clauses in your owner-contractor contracts. The reasons for termination (or “severance,” a slightly kinder word) can be many, including failure to agree on pricing (the reason…
Be careful what you ask for Idaho
In the last two decades, the Idaho State Legislature has authorized design-build contracting for many different types of public projects. It appears that the Legislature will continue this trend for highway projects. In February, a House committee voted to print a bill that would allow the Idaho Transportation Department (IDT) to award design-build contracts for highway projects. …
Is your project’s design work insured? Here’s an insurance policy to keep in mind
By Stephen Kelly on
Posted in Insurance
With all the stuff to worry about during a construction project, one of the areas that’s commonly overlooked is insurance coverage. Owners and contractors often assume that the parties they’re contracting with have adequate insurance, or that the information on an insurance certificate (which, by the way, isn’t binding on the insurance company)…