February 2012

House Bill 1969 is currently working its way through the legislature, and has made its way past three committees without major changes.  The bill, frankly, is a strange one, in that it purports to extend the prompt payment measures set forth in Hawaii's procurement code (and thus applicable to public projects), to private jobs.  Even more strangely…

In Pencoyd Iron Works v. Axis Constr. Services, Ltd., 2012 Phila. Ct. Com. Pl. LEXIS 23 (January 18, 2012), the trial court enforced a pay if paid clause in a subcontract, finding the subcontractor assumed the risk of nonpayment in the event the general contractor was not paid by the owner.  The language of the…

Judge Patrick Border issued a Minute Order yesterday granting summary judgment to insureds in an enormous ongoing construction defect litigation class action lawsuit.  The Minute Order, which I will attempt to include in a later post, does not identify the reasoning for the decision, but this is a big, post-Group Builders, post-legislation case that requires insurers…

The Hawaii State Senate defeated a bill its opponents said would have effectively removed the state from active involvement in building design and construction standards.

The Senate voted down Senate Bill 2692, which would abolish the State Building Code Council, and provide for a transition from the current to the new proposed law, and requires…

The ICA issued an opinion today affirming summary judgment in favor of a designer's motion for summary judgment on the grounds that professional negligence claims were barred by the economic loss doctrine.  In the case, a building owner contracted with a general contractor to install a thermal eneregy system.  The general contractor subcontracted mechanical engineering…

Critics of the rail project often complain that the $5+ billion anticipated price tag for the project does not approximate the project's actual cost.   Former governor Ben Cayetano has staked his mayoral candidacy on his challenge of the rail project, noting that the monies slated to be used for the rail project are sorely needed elsewhere.  …

On February 10 , UHERO issued its forecast for the first quarter of 2012.  The forecast was mixed, noting a disappointing 2011 and the lingering failure of Hawaii's construction sector to bounce back from the recession.  This is some of what the report had to say about construction: 

"In the construction sector, it is necessary to talk

…

In Southern Seeding Service, Inc., v. W.C. English, Inc., 2011 N.C. App. LEXIS 2432 (December 6, 2011), the North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's determination that a "no damages for delay" clause prevented a subcontractor from claiming delay damages under a separate "equitable adjustment" clause.  The court held the trial court's blending…