Residential Contractor Boot Camp
Construction Delays in the Time of Coronavirus: A Legal Perspective
On July 1, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered summary judgment in favor of a national homebuilder against its insurance company, United Specialty Insurance Company (“USIC”), holding...more
Builder’s risk insurance is a cornerstone of effective risk management in the construction industry. It offers protection against a variety of physical and financial risks that can impede the successful and timely completion...more
The Court of Appeals’ opinion in N.C. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Young, (No. COA24-594) addresses how a court is likely to assess the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify under an insurance contract, and the interplay...more
On Monday, June 9, 2025, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Missouri real estate developer could not recover insurance proceeds for lost rental income arising out of a retaining wall failure that caused delays...more
Owners can trigger an insurance policy without formally alleging a tort claim if the contractor's defective work could support a tort claim. The Oregon decision may allow property owners to assert only a breach of...more
A federal district court, applying New York law, has held that a “voluntary payments provision” precluded coverage for an insured’s post-tender costs to remediate its engineering errors because the insured admitted and...more
U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Hamilton v. US Att’y Gen - immigration... Florida Supreme Court - Tallahassee - In re R Reg Fla Bar - amended rules...more
Welcome to our fifth issue of The Site Report for 2025! In this edition, we address North Carolina's insurers' duties, the increases and decreases in construction for renewable energies, construction and tariffs, and the...more
Utica National Assurance Company issued a liability policy to Bond Painting Company. Bond’s employee was injured working at a construction project at premises leased by Amazon.com Services Inc. and filed a bodily injury...more
On March 19, 2025, Judge Reed O’Connor in Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. N. Tarrant Infrastructure LLC, No. 4:23-cv-01043-O, 2025 WL 863470 (N.D. Tex. Mar. 19, 2025) held that under the Eight-Corners Rule, Liberty...more
In a long-awaited decision that helps contractors obtain coverage for construction defects, the Oregon Supreme Court in Twigg v. Admiral Ins. Co. 371 Or. 308 (2025) ruled that coverage under a commercial general liability...more
The recent ruling in Berkley Insurance Company v. Suffolk Construction Company, issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, has highlighted several significant lessons for subcontractors,...more
Businesses and homeowners in Oregon often assume their insurance will cover a contractor’s faulty work. That assumption was put to the test in Twigg v. Admiral Insurance Co., 373 Or. 475 (2025), an Oregon Supreme Court...more
On April 21, the Colorado Supreme Court held that there is no exception to the economic loss rule (“ELR”) for willful and wanton conduct. In Mid-Century Ins. Co., v HIVE Constr., Inc., the court drew an important distinction...more
In a case that could have far reaching implications for business and construction litigation, the Colorado Supreme Court issued an opinion on April 21, 2025, providing some greater clarity on the economic loss rule under...more
Earlier this month, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a significant decision that holds implications for insurers and their insured contractors and subcontractors, particularly concerning summary judgment procedures in...more
Bob Robison Com. Flooring Inc. v. RLI Ins. Co., 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 6369 (8th Cir., Mar. 19, 2025) - Eighth Circuit, predicting Arkansas law, concludes that an ensuing loss exception to a “Defects, Errors, Or Omissions”...more
“Ensuing loss” provisions have long been the subject of nuanced arguments in insurance litigation. The provisions, which sometimes afford coverage for a “covered loss” stemming from an expressly excluded peril, serve as...more
In Bob Robison Commercial Flooring Inc. v. RLI Insurance Company (2025 WL 852889 (8th Cir. 2025), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit determined that an ensuing loss provision of a builder’s risk...more
Multiparty construction mediations are often complicated due to the number of liability, causation, and damages issues. Whether the mediation occurs prior to litigation or after litigation is initiated, there are several...more
Key Points: Supreme Court of Idaho on December 31, 2024, reversed and remanded district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of builder who asserted negligence claims against its insurance company and sought damages...more
1. COURT UNTANGLES CONSTRUCTION ACT PAYMENT NOTICE PUZZLES - A subcontract dispute required the court to rule on the validity of a payment notice, and a payless notice, under a JCT 2016 design and build subcontract, with...more
In Curtis Park Group, LLC v. Allied World Specialty Insurance Company (2024 WL 5194886 (10th Cir. 2024)), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit determined that an insured real estate developer could not recover the...more
First Circuit Court of Appeals Rules That Standard Commercial General Liability Policy Excludes Coverage for Downstream Property Damage When General Contractor’s Scope of Work Covers Entire Building - It is well-accepted...more
A recent holding in Fairfax County Circuit Court reinforces the importance of contractors giving timely claim notice to their insurers. The case, St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co. v. HITT Contracting, Inc., decided on...more