Statue of Limitations for Negligence Instead of for Breach of Contract Requires Dismissal of Action against Architect

by Kent Holland | Feb 9, 2011 | Newsletter Article

A professional liability claim against an architect was governed by a three-year statute of limitations applicable to non-medical, professional malpractice rather than the six-year statute for actions based on breach of contract.  Regardless of whether the alleged...

Limitation of Liability Clause Protecting Owner is Not Voided by Owner’s Breach of Contract or Alleged Bad Faith

by Kent Holland | Feb 9, 2011 | limitation of liability clause, Newsletter Article

A Limitation of Liability clause (LoL) in a contract was upheld by a court notwithstanding allegations that the project owner had acted in bad faith in its treatment of the contractor.  It was held to apply, however, only to the damages that would be awarded under the...

Standards Needed for Mold Exposure, Testing and Remediation

by Kent Holland | Feb 9, 2011 | Newsletter Article

Currently, federal or state established standards of safety thresholds for mold exposure are are non-existent.  Scientific agreement has not even been reached on whether mold (or various types of mold) are hazardous or injurious to health.  Nor are there standards for...

Engineer Had No Duty to Warn General Contractor’s Employee of Danger

by Kent Holland | Feb 9, 2011 | Newsletter Article

An engineer was not liable for injuries sustained by an employee of a construction contractor where the engineer’s contract did not make the engineer responsible for site safety and where the engineer did not take any action in the field to supervise or control the...

Multi-Million Dollar Claim Invalidated by Court Due to Contractor’s Failure to Give Timely Notice

by Kent Holland | Feb 9, 2011 | Newsletter Article

Where construction contracts contain language obligating the contractor to submit claims for extras or changes to the owner or higher-tier contractors within a certain period of time after it incurs increased costs or delay. In addition, many contracts also require...

No Liability under New York Labor Law for Project Owner and Lender where Worker’s Injury

by Kent Holland | Feb 9, 2011 | Newsletter Article

The strict liability imposed by Section 240 of the New Labor Law appears to have been somewhat clarified in the decision of Rupert Blake v. Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, Inc., 2003 NY Slip Opinion 19690, Court of Appeals (Dec. 2003).  In this case,...