Dallas Austin

The premise is simple–infrastructure should be “resilient”. The practice is more difficult.  Since Hurricane Sandy, a significant amount of research has been conducted on designing and constructing “resilient” infrastructure.  Almost all of the research has focused on increased surface temperatures of the earth and associated increased risks of flooding and catastrophic rain events, such as Hurricane Harvey.  Little attention has been paid to increased probability of extreme cold weather events precipitated by disruptions in Artic weather patterns. But as the Texas Valentine�

The Texas Legislature is underway and heading towards May 31, 2021, when the Regular Session will end.  We are also fast approaching the deadline by which bills and resolutions, other than local and emergency bills, must be filed which is March 12, 2021.  Here are three pending pieces of legislation which may be of particular interest to members of the construction industry. 1. Contractor Liability SB 219 – Civil Liability and Responsibility for the Consequences of Defects in Plans, Specifications, or Related Documents for Construction and Repair of Real Property Improvements (Companion Bi

March 19, 2021 marks one year since Governor Abbott’s first Emergency Order relating to social distancing and business shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. To say a lot has happened over the last 12 months may be the understatement of the very young decade . Add an historic snow and ice storm that impacted the entire State in mid-February, 2021 and you can get the feeling we are reenacting the story of Exodus, ten plagues and all. However, for members involved in the design and construction industry, the exodus has largely been to, not from, Texas.  While some Texas-based or Texas-he

Britney Spears probably did not envision that title of her most famous song would apply with equal vigor to love (her interpretation) and contract provisions requiring mediation as a condition precedent to filing arbitration (our interpretation).  A recent case from the Houston Court of Appeals styled Mark S. Burke, et al. v. J.B. Roberson, Jr., et al. shows how many times a party may have to do it (arbitration) again when it fails to fulfill a mediation condition precedent in the contract. A “binding dispute resolution” clause is found in most standard form construction contracts.  It o

Developers, owners, designers, contractors, and every other member of the construction industry spend enormous amounts of time negotiating risk transfer mechanisms.  Endless hours and pixels are dedicated to lengthy indemnity, additional insured, and waiver of subrogation provisions.  And while those clauses are an important part of most every contract in the industry, they only go so far.  An equally important and often overlooked risk transfer mechanism is a properly drafted scope of work.  This includes not just what’s in, but also what’s out. A.    You’re either in… Scopes of