Courtesy California Expo Rail Authority Concrete is placed on a bridge deck last month for the light rail line expansion to Santa Monica. A Los Angeles light rail line being expanded by Skanska USA faces a court challenge that could shut down work.The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hand down a decision by Aug.7 in a challenge by local residents to Phase II of the Los Angeles Exposition Rail line, now under construction through the city’s west side and due to start operating in 2015.The main issue is whether a construction authority has the discretion to use existing or
Related Links: Supreme Court June 24 Order on NLRB v. Noel Canning Link to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Jan. 25 decision in Noel Canning v. NLRB The U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 said it would review a case during its next term that could have a significant impact on the way presidential recess appointments are made.A broad decision by the court in the case, National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, could limit a president’s ability to put a personal stamp on the board, other federal agencies and federal courts. The high court is nearing
Photo courtesy Savannah River Site Waste processing facility at Aiken, S.C., site was set for completion in July 2012. Related Links: Baker Concrete v. SRNS NNSA Letter DOE Looking at Cost, Schedule Problems at S.C. Nuclear Site Independent DOE Review (January 2013) of Construction Quality and Fire Protection System Design at the Savannah River Site Waste Solidification Building Claiming the Fluor Corp.-led team that manages and operates a federal nuclear-waste site in Aiken, S.C., intentionally misled it about the status of design completion on a $90-million plutonium and uranium waste-disposal project under way, Baker Concrete Construction Inc. sued the joint
The federal government announced its largest construction-related False Claims Act settlement of 2013 earlier this month involving alleged disadvantaged business enterprise fraud by a collection of Ohio-based engineering-related companies.The U.S. Dept. of Justice says it has reached a settlement with Dayton-based TesTech Inc., TesTech owner Sherif Aziz, Dayton companies CESO Testing Technology Inc., CESO International LLC, and CESO Inc., and their owners, David and Shery Oakes. They have agreed to pay $2.88 million to resolve the fraud allegations, DOJ says.The allegations were brought with the assistance of a whistleblower, former employee Ryan Parker, who will receive $562,370 of the settlement
Related Links: Study: Global Contract Disputes Worth Less, But Last Longer Construction disputes around most of the globe took longer to settle in 2012 than the year before, according to a new survey.The Middle East topped the chart in terms of both the length of disputes and the values involved.The average time needed in 2012 to settle construction disputes increased by 20%, or about 60 days, to 12.8 months.The money at stake in the disputes declined slightly, to $31.7 million.The data came from the newest Global Construction Disputes Report published by EC Harris, a U.K.-based built asset consultant and a
Related Links: Forrester Correspondence with District of Columbia over Joint Venture Project Prices (Embedded at bottom of page) District of Columbia Announcement of Forrester Settlement One of the Washington, D.C. area's biggest general contractors agreed to take $1 million less than it had requested for a big district high school renovation project because the district said the company had misrepresented its work with a minority-owned business enterprise on the project and two others.The contractor, Rockville, Md.-based Forrester Construction Co., made itself the majority and controlling partner of the joint ventures, entitling it to most of the profits, without informing the
Related Links: Planning To Punish Structures With Rain, Hail, Wind and Fire Maryland closed a loophole in its building code with a law signed May 16. The measure prevents jurisdictions from weakening Maryland's Building Performance Standards for wind design and windborne debris resistance."The legislation signed by Gov. [Martin] O'Malley (D) corrects a previous flaw in the...statewide building code," says Debra Ballen, general counsel and senior vice president of public policy for the Institute of Business & Home Safety—a Tampa, Fla.-based insurance industry group. The flaw Ballen refers to allows local amendments to weaken the wind resistance provisions in Maryland Building
Related Links: U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit May 7 Ruling NLRB Fact Sheet on Posting Requirement In a victory for employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has quashed the National Labor Relations Board's "posting requirement" rule, which the agency issued in August 2011.The final rule, which has not gone into effect because of the legal dispute, requires most businesses to post notices in conspicuous places informing workers of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Some of those rights include forming, joining or assisting a union as well as collectively bargaining through
Related Links: Disputed Shift by Insurance Brokers Entangles Contractor Clients Watch Out for Workers' Comp Costs Effective this March, the Insurance Services Office (ISO) revised its forms and endorsements for commercial general liability. This latest round of CGL changes is the largest the industry has seen in years. Major and minor modifications, along with new endorsements, could significantly affect, and in some cases narrow, the scope of CGL coverage moving forward. While insurers are obligated to notify insureds about changes that affect policy coverage, as always, the burden of due diligence ultimately falls on contractors to understand their coverage and
Related Links: April 23 Court Ruling (PDF) Earthjustice Amicus Brief The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has handed environmental groups a victory in their battle to restrict mountaintop removal mining, but coal advocates say the recent decision is not necessarily the death knell for the practice.The appeals court ruled on April 23 that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority under the Clean Water Act to retroactively veto a previously approved U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging permit.In 2011, EPA overturned a 2007 Corps permit issued to the Mingo Logan Coal Co., a subsidiary of