Related Links: Clarity Needed on Individual Surety Assets Did Officers Divert Funds at Surety First Sealord? (subscribers only) Even if you are in the surety business, you may not have heard of the Safety Signs case. If you have, you probably hope it will be resolved soon and go away. The case involves a subcontractor, Safety Signs LLC, that made a claim under a payment bond the surety refused to pay. Under the technical details of Minnesota state law, the surety's refusal to pay was entirely legal.The American Subcontractors Association filed an amicus curiae brief in January urging the Supreme
February Starts Slide 7% At a seasonally adjusted rate of $435.4 billion, new construction starts in February dropped 7% from the previous month, according to McGraw-Hill Construction's latest Dodge starts data. "Diminished activity in January and February indicates that [recent] upward trends remain hesitant," says Robert Murray, MHC's chief economist. On a year-to-date basis, total new starts for the first two months of the year was $62.5 billion, up 5% from the same period a year ago.Utility Rejects Smart-Grid Costs The Colorado Public Utilities Commission on March 21 rejected a request by power provider Xcel Energy, Denver, to recoup the
Photo Courtesy Pritzker Prize The Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, completed in 2001 in Imbari-shi, Ehime, Japan. Related Links: The Pritzker Architecture Prize Tokyo-based architect Toyo Ito joins previous recipients Kenzo Tange, Fumihiko Maki, Tadao Ando and the team of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa as the latest winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, founded by the late Jay A. Pritzker and his wife, Cindy, sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation and awarded since 1979.ITOThe seven-person jury calls Ito's architecture innovative, fluid and superbly executed. Over 40 years, Ito, 71, has designed libraries, theaters, parks, houses, shops, office buildings and museums,
Employment Picture Improves The construction industry posted strong employment figures for February, adding 48,000 jobs, the largest monthly gain in several years. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly employment report shows construction's unemployment rate fell to 15.7% from 16.1% in January. Last month's rate also was better than the year-earlier level of 17.1%. DOE Will Boost Scrutiny Of New Energy Project Funding Energy companies and researchers looking for help from the U.S. Energy Dept. in commercializing renewable-energy and energy-efficiency technologies will face increased scrutiny in the coming years as the agency abandons grants in favor of cost-sharing agreements, a
Related Links: Homepage for the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee Highlights of the 2013 EJCDC model contract changes Model contract documents are a starting point for what construction project team members consider fair treatment, so the five-year updates to the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee family of model contracts are important. The EJCDC model contracts, which go on sale this month, contain significant modifications in the change-order and dispute-review process.These changes have the potential to head off the kinds of poisonous conflicts that ruin so many projects and threaten to bring losses and possible ruin to the companies involved.EJCDC model
Related Links: ENR's Individual Surety Special Report Editorial: Why Bond Assets Need Scrutiny ENR's recent special report on individual surety suggests that an overhaul of individual-surety asset rules is needed now more than ever. The Security in Bonding Act, which passed the House last year but died in the Senate, has been resubmitted to the House by Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), and Congress soon will have another chance to make certain that surety guarantees pledged on federal projects are backed by legitimate, easy-to-verify assets.The U.S. has seen enough mystifying complexity in securities in recent years to learn that, in financial
New York Photo by Kevin Daley/National Park Service Monumental Work: The National Park Service says work is ongoing to repair damaged infrastructure at Liberty and Ellis islands. Related Links: ENR New York ENR New York's Featured News Liberty and Ellis Islands May Reopen in Summer It may be a few more months before visitors can walk around the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island again. The National Park Service (NPS) says it hopes to partially open the Liberty and Ellis island parks this summer, a few months shy of a year after the Oct. 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy
Photo Courtesy of Richie Bros. Auctioneers The gavel pounded for internet bidders at the Florida equipment auction. Related Links: Equipment Dealers Jump Into the Auction Market IronPlanet Wins Auction Lawsuit Against Ritchie Bros. Hammer Time at Richie Bros. Auction Nearly a third of the $176-million gross sales at last month's Ritchie Bros. Orlando auction went to internet bidders, setting a new company record. "Prices were strong for the smaller heavy construction items as well as one of the nicest selections of cranes that we've ever sold in our yard here in Orlando," says Steve Kriebel, regional sales manager for the
ENR Art. Dept. Related Links: A Bold Individual Surety Claims His Coal-Backed Bonds are Rock Solid The following are completed or ongoing cases involving Edmund C. Scarborough and his company, IBCS, in federal district courts. The cases don't include lawsuits against the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (settled), the U.S. Army (ongoing) or those in state courts or actions involving state departments of insurance.13 involve or involved Scarborough or IBCS-related bonds in which Scarborough or IBCS was the plaintiff or defendant. 6 involve a payment bond going unpaid when a contractor could not pay subcontractors for a project. Three
Photo Courtesy of AC Martin Partners The 73-story tower would be the tallest building in downtown Los Angeles. The New Hollywood Star At 73 stories and 1,100 ft tall, the planned $1-billion Wilshire Grand is set to take the crown for the tallest building in downtown Los Angeles. Developed by Korean Air Lines Co., the project features a 900-room hotel, office, retail and seven levels of below-grade parking. Design of the roughly 2-million-sq-ft building was revealed earlier this month by Los Angeles architect AC Martin Partners.The building also would be the city's first modern high-rise not to have a flat