Monthly Archives: June 2012

Alvin H. Butz, one of the Lehigh Valley’s largest construction companies, has broken ground on a new project in Allentown. Phase II of the Butz Corporate Center is a $10 million building located on Hamilton Street. The 6 story, 50,000 square foot Class A office and retail space will bring approximately 150 jobs to the Allentown area. It follows on Phase I of Butz’s corporate center project, which opened in 2006 and is estimated to have created 200 jobs in the city.

Does a contractor’s insurance company have a duty to defend the contractor in a lawsuit for faulty workmanship where the contractor has evidence that it did not cause the property damage? A Pennsylvania Court recently held that an insurer had no duty to defend under these facts.

Pennsylvania House Bill 2470 was referred out of the House Finance Committee to the House Rules Committee today. The legislation, which is a major initiative of Pennsylvania residential home builders’ organizations, is designed to extend approvals already obtained for development.

In the case of Bricklayers of Western Pennsylvania Combined Funds, Inc. v. Scott’s Development Company, the majority of the Pennsylvania Superior Court, sitting en banc, overruled the lower court’s decision to dismiss a mechanics’ lien claim by the trustee of the employee benefits fund for the union on the basis that the trustee lacked standing to file the lien under the Pennsylvania Mechanics’ Lien Law (hereinafter “Lien Law”) for unpaid contributions to union members because neither the trustee nor the union were a “subcontractor” under the Lien Law. Under the Lien Law, only a “contractor” and “subcontractor” are permitted to file a lien claim against the owner of real property for debts due to a “contractor” or “subcontractor” relating to improvements made to the property. Under the Lien Law, a “subcontractor” is defined as:

On March 31st of this year, Congress passed a stopgap highway transportation funding bill for the 9th consecutive time. That 90 day extension avoided a complete cutoff of funding to construction and state transportation funds and is set to expire again on June 30th. With Democrats and Republicans in Congress still battling it out, a 10th stopgap bill now seems more likely.

Television has glamorized contractor criticism of late. Often times, a rip-out and rebuild is recommended when it is unnecessary. This type of sensationalism makes for good TV, but the suggestion that a home with a construction defect be completely ripped apart, requiring complete re-construction, is often not a smart move legally.

On May 21, 2012, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court addressed an issue which comes up often but has not been addressed by Pennsylvania appellate courts. The issue: Does a general contractor’s use of a subcontractor’s bid in the general contractor’s bid constitute an acceptance of the subcontractor’s bid?

2013 appropriations bill to fund military construction and various Veterans’ Administration needspassed the House on Friday, June 1, 2012. While it did not do so without significant debate over PLA’s and Davis-Bacon requirements, the entire delegations of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey voted in favor of it.

Opinions vary in the construction industry as to whether the economy has turned the corner. Many report an uptick in available projects, while others say the pickings remain slim. There are any number of reports and polls to consider when reaching a conclusion about the current state of the construction economy and where we are headed. At least one more suggests the possibility of better times.