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DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Employer’s Liability Exclusion Bars Coverage

November 18, 2025 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The court held the policy’s Employer’s Liability Exclusion precluded coverage for the injured individual who was deemed to be an employee of the insured. Craft v. Access L.L.C., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179794 (W.D. La. Sept. 2, 2025). Charles Craft worked for FL Crane & Sons, Inc.. The general contractor of the project, Lemoine Company, LLC, hired FL Crane to do work on the project. Lemoine rented a crane from Morrow Equipment Company, LLC, and hired a crane operator from Skyhook Ops, LLC. Burlington was Skyhook’s insurer. Craft claimed his left arm was injured while working atop a scaffolding when Skyhook caused the scaffolding system to be pulled apart when operating a crane. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

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New York Amends Prompt Payment Act: Retainage Above 5% in Private Construction Contracts Now Void

February 10, 2026 — Mark A. Snyder, Levi W. Barrett, Patrick T. Murray & Skyler L. Santomartino - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
In 2023 New York overhauled its Prompt Payment Act. The 2023 amendments, largely aimed at restricting the amount of retainage that can be withheld on private projects, were unclear about whether parties could contract around the statute, as they can with other provisions of the statute. The State Legislature recently clarified that issue. On December 19, 2025, New York enacted a new law, tightening the State’s Prompt Payment Act retainage laws by amending the Prompt Payment Act under General Business Law § 757. Under § 757, the new law renders void any contract provision in private construction contracts that requires retainage in excess of 5% of the total contract sum, meaning owners cannot hold more than 5% from their prime contractors and prime contractors cannot hold more than 5% from their subcontractors. Reprinted courtesy of Mark A. Snyder, Peckar & Abramson, P.C., Levi W. Barrett, Peckar & Abramson, P.C., Patrick T. Murray, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and Skyler L. Santomartino, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Mr. Snyder may be contacted at msnyder@pecklaw.com Mr. Barrett may be contacted at lbarrett@pecklaw.com Mr. Murray may be contacted at pmurray@pecklaw.com Mr. Santomartino may be contacted at ssantomartino@pecklaw.com Read the full story...

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Quick Note: Liability Insurer’s Duty to Defend and Duty to Indemnify

September 30, 2025 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
A liability insurer has two duties: a duty to defend and a duty to indemnify. A recent insurance coverage dispute summarizes these two duties, which are critical for parties to understand and appreciate in the context of insurance coverage claims:

An insurance company’s duty to defend is distinct from and broader than its duty to indemnify. “The allegations of the complaint govern the duty of the insurer to defend.” “The question of duty to defend is answered based upon a review of the underlying pleadings filed against the insured as well as the insurance policy itself.” If the allegations fairly bring the case within the terms of the policy, the duty to defend the underlying lawsuit arises. However, if the allegations do not fall within the insuring agreement or fall within an exclusion, the duty to defend never arises.

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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Environmental Due Diligence - What's The Hold Up?

November 18, 2025 — W. Tyler Lloyd - The Dispute Resolver
Construction projects do not occur overnight. Regardless of project size, projects take anywhere from months to years to design, build, and complete. Perhaps one portion of the construction project that is always subject to criticism, particularly on large infrastructure projects, is environmental review and the applicability of environmental laws, requiring specific environmental thresholds, and the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). Contractors are well aware of the timeline and potential impacts that NEPA review might have on a project, and many contractors and national groups have expressed a desire to ensure that NEPA does not interfere with or altogether block the deployment of large infrastructure projects. On federal funded or assisted projects, contractors must comply with strict environmental oversight because the project is tied to federal funding or federal agency accountability. Contractors must also comply with environmental and sustainability mandates under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”). The FAR requires federal construction project contracts to include clauses concerning hazardous materials, emergency planning, waste reduction, environmental management systems, and greenhouse gas disclosures. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of W. Tyler Lloyd, Stites and Harbison, PLLC
Mr. Lloyd may be contacted at tlloyd@stites.com

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9204 Meet 8850. Public Works Claims Processes Now Apply to Private Works, With Some Differences

November 21, 2025 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Contractors working on public works projects are likely familiar with the statutory claims resolution process under Public Contract Code section 9204. Section 9204, which went into effect in 2017, and which has been amended a couple of times since, provides a claims resolution process for public works projects with the goal of resolving claims before litigation. Section 9204, which currently expires on January 1, 2027 (it has been extended once so far), provides for a three-step process: (1) submission of a claim by the prime contractor and response by the public entity; (2) if the claim is rejected in whole or in part by the public entity, a meet and confer conference between the prime contractor and public entity; and (3) if the claim is not resolved at the meet and confer conference, mediation (or other non-binding dispute resolution process) between the prime contractor and public entity. A similar statutory claims resolution process has now been enacted that applies to most private works projects. The bill, Senate Bill 440, goes into effect on January 1, 2026, and is codified at new Civil Code section 8850. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

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Notice Provisions in Contracts Matter

September 08, 2025 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Notice provisions in contracts matter. Oftentimes, contracts or legal documents contain notice provisions. If not, they should. The notice provision should include the address where the notice needs to be sent, any specified person the notice should be addressed to, and the vehicle for the delivery of the notice (e.g., e-mail, certified mail, overnight courier, a combination, etc.). Seems common sensical, right? In a recent case, discussed here, an agreement dealing with an easement required one party to pay its share of maintenance within 30 days of its receipt of the demand for payment. If the party failed to pay, the easement was terminated. The problem was there was no notice provision or address for where the demand for payment should be sent in the agreement. Public records for the party showed two different addresses. Notice was only sent to one address and the person that signed for the “demand for payment” was arguably not even an agent of the party. Hence, a disputed issue of material fact that turned on the legal text as to whether the demand for payment was even received to allow for the termination of the easement. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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Texas Case Exposes Cracks in the Government Contractor Immunity Shield

November 09, 2025 — Elaine Silver - Engineering News-Record
It started with a horrific crash. Pedro Alfonso Castaneda, the mainstay of a Texas family of five, had finished shopping at a plumbing supply store on an August afternoon in 2019, when he pulled up in his Toyota Tacoma pickup at an intersection adjacent to a busy highway overpass construction project in Pinehurst, Texas. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Elaine Silver, Engineering News-Record
ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com

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R-E-C-I-P-R-O-C-I-T-Y ~ Find Out What It Means to You (Updated August 2025)

September 15, 2025 — Robert A. James & Marc Coats - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
UPDATED August 2025: What a difference eight years make. This article was originally published in 2014 and was updated in 2017. We have again updated the links to the relevant agency resources. The question frequently arises for participants in a nationwide construction contracting industry. Simply stated, is a licensed contractor in good standing in State A permitted to offer to contract for or to perform work requiring a contractor’s license in State B? Roughly half the states have statutes or regulations on point. 6 Bruner & O’Connor Construction Law § 16:17. Some states have easy requirements, like Nebraska (contractors only need register), while others have no exceptions or onerous requirements, like Alaska (residential contractors must take a 16-hour cold climate course and pass an exam). Reprinted courtesy of Robert A. James, Pillsbury and Marc Coats, Pillsbury Mr. James may be contacted at rob.james@pillsburylaw.com Mr. Coats may be contacted at marc.coats@pillsburylaw.com Read the full story...

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