Anaheim California Expert Witness Engineer Directory

Oregon Supreme Court Provides Much-Needed Clarity on the State’s Law Regarding Whether Damage from Construction Defect Constitutes An “Occurrence”

September 08, 2025 — Ali H. Jamwal - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
The Supreme Court of Oregon recently ruled that a general contractor’s tort liability for its defective work may constitute a covered “occurrence” within the meaning of the ISO commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy, providing much needed clarity on the issue under Oregon law.[1] However, property damage arising solely from a contractor’s contractual obligations does not constitute an accident, and thus, is not an “occurrence.” [2] Plaintiffs, Weston and Carrie Twigg, hired Rainer Pacific Development LLC (“Rainer”), a general contractor, to build their home. Admiral Insurance Company (“Admiral”) insured Rainer under a CGL policy. After substantial completion, the Twiggs notified Ranier of various construction defects, which caused property damage. Ultimately, the Twiggs prevailed against Rainer in an arbitration wherein the Twiggs alleged claims of breach of contract, resulting in property damage. Rainer tendered the suit to Admiral, who denied coverage, and the Twiggs, as judgment creditors, sued Admiral, seeking to be paid for the damages awarded in the arbitration. Admiral moved for summary judgment, claiming it had no duty to indemnify because the contractor’s breach of contract was not an accident, there was no “occurrence.” The trial court granted Admiral’s motion for summary judgment. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Plaintiffs appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Ali H. Jamwal, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Mr. Jamwal may be contacted at AJamwal@sdvlaw.com

Consequential vs. Direct Damages and Waiver of Consequential Damages

September 03, 2025 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
In a recent case, a design professional tried to argue it had a “get out of jail free” costs for repair and remediation costs an owner sustained due to structural engineering errors and omissions. The “get out of jail” free card was based on a waiver of consequential damages in their contract. The contract, however, did NOT define consequential damages which gave the design professional the argument that the damages the owner claimed should be deemed consequential. The trial court, finding that such damages were NOT consequential in nature and not contractually waived by the owner, discussed the difference between consequential and direct damages (see below). In doing so, though, the trial court explained:

Based on the definitions of the relevant terms and the facts of this case, the Court finds that [Owner’s] costs of remediation and repair are not consequential damages that were waived in the Agreement. [Design Professional] was contractually obligated to provide plans, including structural engineering plans, for the construction of a hospital in a large project coordinated among many sophisticated parties. The costs of remediation and repair did not “result indirectly from” [Design Professional’s] plans, nor did they arise from “dealings with third parties” in either the more “traditional” sense (such as lost profits or loss of reputation) or the causative way described by the Keystone Airpark court. Instead, the costs to repair and remediate are the “direct, natural, logical[,] and necessary consequences of” [Design Professional’s] deficient plans. Thus, recovery of these damages is not barred by the consequential-damages waiver in the Agreement.

Orlando Health, Inc. v. HKS Architects, Inc., 2025 WL 1919349, *7 (M.D.Fla. 2025) (internal citations and footnotes omitted).

While a waiver of consequential damages in construction contracts are commonplace, there are implications which need to be discussed and vetted during the preparation and negotiation of the contract. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Absent Separate Covered Peril, Ensuing Loss is Not Applicable

May 23, 2025 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district's granting of summary judgment to the insurer, finding that the exclusion for faulty workmanship was applicable despite the ensuing loss provision. Bob Robinson Commercial Flooring Inc. v. RLI Ins. Co., 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 6369 (8th Cir. March 19, 2025). The general contractor hired Bob Robinson Commercial Flooring, Inc. (BRCF) to install a vinyl gym floor with painted volleyball and basketball Iines at a middle school. BRCF installed the gym floor and subcontracted the painting portion of the project to Robert Liles Parking Lot Services (Liles). Liles's painting work was faulty by including crooked lines, incorrect markings, and smudges. The general contractor rejected the gym floor. Because the defective painting could not removed from the vinyl flooring, BRCF had to remove and replace the floor and paint new lines at a cost of $181,415.39. BRCF submitted a claim for the loss to RLI Insurance Company seeking coverage for the total loss. RLI rejected the claim because of an exclusion providing it would not pay for defects, errors or omissions due to workmanship or construction. The exclusion included an ensuing loss provision, which read, "But if a defect, error or omissions as described above results in a covered peril, we do cover the loss or damage caused by that covered peril." Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

A Homeowner’s Guide to Recovering After the Palisades Fire

June 16, 2025 — Paul Dashevsky - GreatBuildz
If you’ve been impacted by the massive palisades fire in Los Angeles, we’ve prepared a comprehensive guide of things to consider as you’re starting the process to recover from the fire. If you’ve lost your home to the fire, we offer our deepest condolences and are available to advise you on options to rebuild your property. If your home has been partially affected by the fire, whether from fire damage, water damage or smoke damage…this guide is meant to help provide you the steps you can take to start recovering from this disaster to move back into your home. Find Temporary Housing If you think you’ll need to be out of your house for an extended period of time, your first step is finding accommodations for yourself and your family. If you can’t stay with family or friends for an extended period of time, you’ll need to start looking for options such as extended stay hotels, Airbnb rentals, apartments, etc. Here are some resources to consider that might be helpful with rental assistance, etc after the LA wildfires. Please remember to ask your insurance company if they have a list of rental options in the Los Angeles area. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Paul Dashevsky, GreatBuildz

Contractor Sues for $5.7M in Pay for Iowa Jail Project

September 03, 2025 — Annemarie Mannion - Engineering News-Record
A Lincoln, Neb.-based construction company is suing Woodbury County, Iowa, and companies involved in the design and construction of the $70-million Woodbury Law Enforcement Center in Sioux City, Iowa, claiming it is owed $5.7 million for work on the project that was delayed by 17 months due to problems that the contractor says were not its fault and that it has suffered reputational harm related to county-initiated publicity. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Annemarie Mannion, Engineering News-Record
Ms. Mannion may be contacted at manniona@enr.com

Make Sure You Comply with Florida’s Pre-Suit Notice Requirements for Construction Defects

March 18, 2025 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Welcome to Florida! If you deal with construction defects in Florida, then you know, or certainly should know, about Florida Statutes Chapter 558. Chapter 558 contains the pre-suit notice requirements before instituting a construction defect lawsuit. They are a “must know” if you practice in the construction defect world. While I may not be a huge proponent for the Chapter or view it as value-added when you factor in numerous considerations, how I feel is of no moment. The pre-suit requirements are still the governing “law of the land” for Florida construction defects lawsuits. A recent case demonstrates this point. In Moss & Associates v. Daystar Peterson, 50 Fla.L.Weekly D509a (Fla. 3d DCA 2025), a condominium unit owner sued the condominium association and general contractor in a lawsuit grounded on construction defects. The unit owner claimed his unit was damaged by water intrusion due to the contractor’s faulty workmanship regarding renovations and repairs to common areas of the condominium. There was not a dispute as to the unit owner’s failure to comply with the pre-suit notice requirements of Florida Statues Chapter 558. The general contractor moved to stay the lawsuit pending the unit owner’s compliance with the pre-suit notice requirements. The trial court denied the stay request. On appeal, the Third District Court of Appeal held that Chapter 558’s pre-suit notice requirements were a statutory requirement that the unit owner had to comply with in order to institute a construction defect lawsuit. Thus, the Third District quashed the trial court’s order and granted the stay. (“By [the trial court] instead concluding that no stay was yet required, the trial court failed to apply the plain language of section 558.003, thereby departing from the essential requirements of the law.”). Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

When a Neighborhood Floods, Foreclosures Often Follow

June 02, 2025 — Leslie Kaufman - Bloomberg
As climate change worsens extreme weather around the US, floods are increasing the risk of home foreclosure, according to a new report by First Street Technology Inc., a climate-data company. A big part of the reason why is that unlike damage from hurricane winds and wildfires, flood damage isn’t covered by standard home insurance. Only a small percentage of Americans hold separate flood insurance. First Street analyzed 55 wind, wildfire and flood events that took place in the US between 2000 and 2020. It then compared the foreclosure rates in affected areas to those in unaffected areas nearby for three years before and after the event. Foreclosure data was collected from county assessor offices. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Leslie Kaufman, Bloomberg

When Actions (May) Speak Louder Than Words: Inadvertently Altering or Waiving Contract Terms Through Course of Performance

September 15, 2025 — Jordan Heath - ConsensusDocs
This article discusses instances where parties’ actions during the life of a contract can influence a court’s future interpretation of the contract’s terms, or, in some cases, even waive a contract term. While this article doesn’t examine every situation where this might occur, it highlights two different situations that general contractors need to be aware of. First, this article explains the idea of “course of performance.” If litigation arises and a contract provision is subject to multiple interpretations, then the parties’ actions during the life of the contract can be used to interpret the provision. This can lead to unexpected outcomes or different results for one (or both) of the parties to the dispute. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Jordan Heath, Jones Walker
Mr. Heath may be contacted at jheath@joneswalker.com

ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES