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On June 24, 2021, a portion of the Champlain Towers South in Sunrise, Florida collapsed, trapping and killing scores of residents. While it will take many months to determine the causes of the collapse or who was responsible for it, several of likely many more lawsuits have already been filed.  Those lawsuits provide an early glimpse of liability theories and potentially responsible parties. What happened? In October 2018, the Condominium Board for the Champlain Towers South received a structural engineering report from Morabito Consultants. The report was prepared to fulfill the 40-year insp

Google the term “record temperature” in 2021 and you will find a swath of news about droughts and extreme heats sweeping across the country that are far from normal. 115 degrees in Portland, Oregon and 108 degrees in Seattle, Washington are hot even by Texas standards.  Extreme heat poses unusual challenges that impact all phases of a construction project, from design through final completion. Some of these challenges may be managed by designing around them, others by contracting to accommodate them, and still others by training employees to deal with them. In this article, we examine how

In recent years, solar panels have taken the forefront in America’s push for renewable, sustainable energy. You may own some solar panels yourself – a few installed on the slope of your roof or a couple laying in your backyard. But what about constructing a 900-acre solar panel farm, like the proposed Bear Ridge Solar Project in Niagara County, New York? What are the various hurdles to constructing even a few acres of solar panels? We will discuss a few below. Long Project Schedules If an individual or a company is taking the leap to build a solar farm, they will need to plan everything o

The El Paso Court of Appeals recently broadened the horizon of liability for contractors who work with the Texas Department of Transportation (TexDOT) to construct or repair roads. In A.S. Horner v. Rafael Navarrette, the El Paso court took on an issue of first impression under Texas law: Does Texas law extinguish liability for TexDOT contractors only during the construction process, or does it limit their liability after construction is completed, too? The case arose from an accident which injured Navarrette, a fire-fighter and paramedic who responded to an accident one night in El Paso. Nava

In landmark legislation that seeks to reverse over 100 years of Texas case-law, the 2021 Texas Legislature passed CSSB 219 which relieves construction contractors from having responsibility for defects caused by design professionals.  The Bill states, “A contractor is not responsible for the consequences of design defect in and may not warranty the accuracy, adequacy, sufficiency, or suitability of plans, specifications, or other design documents provided to the contractor…” The Bill also specifically prohibits the responsibility for the design of a project to be shifted from the design