Design Immunity Defense Gets Special Treatment on Summary Judgment
This may be one that is more for the lawyers than it is for the contractors or owners. If you’ve ever filed a motion for summary…
CalOSHA Updates its FAQ on its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Regulations
As we reported in early December, CalOSHA adopted emergency temporary regulations requiring, among other things, that employers implement a written COVID-19 prevention program, that notice be given…
Close Enough Only Counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
In State Farm General Insurance Company v. Oetiker, Inc., Case No. B302348 (December 18, 2020), a manufacturer sued in subrogation action under the Right to Repair…
California Contractor Tests the Bounds of Job Order Contracting
Most contractors have heard of design-bid-build, design-build, construction manager at risk, and even public private partnerships, various project delivery methods, which, at their heart, focus on…
Owner’s Slander of Title Claim Against Contractor Recording Four Separate Mechanics Liens Fails Under the Anti-SLAPP Statute
Most mechanics lien actions follow a pretty standard process: A mechanics lien claimant, either a contractor subcontractor, material supplier, or laborer, performs work but is not…
2021 Construction Outlook: Slow, Uneven Recovery Expected
The way we started 2020 was a lot different than how we ended 2020. Here’s a recap: The Start of 2020: When we started 2020 construction…
Roadway Contractor Owed Duty of Care to Driver Injured Outside of Construction Zone
For the roadway contractor it appeared to be an open and shut case: Plaintiff car driver was stopped at a standard one-way “reversing lane closure” traffic…
2021 California Construction Law Update
This Christmas looks to be a Blue Christmas as the nation grapples with rising infection, hospitalization and death rates due to COVID. But there’s always 2021…
Deadlines. . . They’re Important. Project Owner Risks Losing Claim By Failing to Timely Identify “Doe” Defendant
Earlier this year I filed a complaint in a court which I won’t identify other than to say that it wasn’t the San Francisco Superior Court.…
Contractor Haunted by “Demonized” Flooring
The most un-Halloween of Halloweens has come and gone. If you ask me though, between COVID, protests, fires, hurricanes, the passing of a Supreme Court Justice,…
Court of Appeal Holds That Higher-Tiered Party on Construction Project Can be Held Liable for Intentional Interference with Contract
In Caliber Paving Company, Inc. v. Rexford Industrial Realty and Management, Inc., Case No. G0584406 (September 1, 2020), the 4th District Court of Appeal examined whether…
A Primer on Insurance for Construction Projects
People who live in glass houses should have insurance (in addition to not throwing stones). So too should your construction project. The risks inherent on a…
