Insurance Company not Obligated to pay Damages agreed to by Contractor under Settlement Agreement with Owner where Damages not Allocated between Covered and Non-covered Damages

by Kent Holland | Apr 13, 2020 | Newsletter Article

While a declaratory judgment action was pending to decide whether a CGL insurance carrier owed a duty to defend and indemnify a contractor against claims by its client, a marina, for damages arising out of defective work, the contractor and marina entered into what is...

Contractor has no Duty to Inspect for Asbestos Before starting Renovation of Single Family House (under Colorado law)

by Kent Holland | Apr 13, 2020 | Newsletter Article

Under the Colorado asbestos regulations applicable single family residential construction, a contractor owed no duty to inspect the premises for asbestos before beginning construction. Absent such a duty under the statutes or regulations, the court considered and...

Fiduciary Duty not Owed by Contractor in Absence of Contract Language Expressly Stating So

by Kent Holland | Apr 13, 2020 | Newsletter Article

Alleging shoddy workmanship, fear that its contractor wouldn’t finish the project, and a lack of detailed accounting under the cost-plus contract, the owner made only a partial payment on a draw requested by the contractor. Contractor and its subcontractors filed...

Differing Site Condition Claim Win for Contractor

by Kent Holland | Mar 20, 2020 | Newsletter Article

A contractor prevailed under the differing site conditions (DSC) clause of a highway bridge construction contract by meeting the requirements of the so-called Stuyvesant test, which requires a contractor to prove that “(1) the conditions indicated in the contract...

CPM Schedule is Required in order to Prove Delay Claim. Jury Verdict Method Approved for Measuring Damages in Absence of Detailed Documentation

by Kent Holland | Mar 20, 2020 | Newsletter Article

A contractor filed a request for equitable adjustment (REA) to the District of Columbia (D.C.) government asserting that the District caused $1.2 million in delay and impact costs, and other damages arising out of a road reconstruction project. It appealed a deemed...

Questions Concerning whether there was Negligence and whether an Indemnification Obligation was Triggered must be Decided by Jury and not on Summary Judgment Motion

by Kent Holland | Mar 20, 2020 | indemnification clause, Newsletter Article

In a decision we previously reported on (see   our article link), a federal district court granted summary judgment to two engineering firms, concluding as a matter of law that the allegations in the complaint did not raise questions of negligence to be determined by...